Israel-Palestine Conflict: The shaky ceasefire is still a pivotal window of opportunity

US President Donald Trump – of all people – became the “sine qua non” for the ceasefire that all of us peace loving people around the world had been praying for during the last two years of the ugly Gaza conflict.

I’m not a fan of Trump and his politics, but I couldn’t disagree with this assertion. Indeed, without Trump – and with war-crimes-accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left to his own devices – the death, destruction, and horror we have been witnessing from Gaza would still be raging on.

Therefore, let’s allow Trump to enjoy his moment in the sun, his biggest foreign policy achievement since he stormed into the White House. But while he’s prancing around like the peacock he is – when he’s not spewing fire and dirt like the tempestuous Trumpster Dumpster he also is, talking about “beautiful bombs” and so on – South Africa and the whole international community need to recognise this shaky but significant window of opportunity that’s been opened.

The Gaza ceasefire reminded me of our own era of bloodshed and oppression, and our painful and difficult transition to democracy.

FW de Klerk, the last apartheid president, played a similarly pivotal role that could not quite be praised but had to be welcomed and grabbed with both hands by those who yearned for peace and democracy. For that he was rewarded with the Nobel Peace Prize, which I believe he didn’t deserve.

Former president Nelson Mandela was diplomatic but straightforward about De Klerk, putting him down as being “by no means the great emancipator” some thought he had transformed into. Others were more dismissive and disdainful of him, always remembering that he sat in on the old State Security Council's meetings where the fates of anti-apartheid activists like Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata and Victoria Mxenge were decided on in cold blood.

The window for peace may not be ajar in Gaza but it’s slightly open, for now. The nascent ceasefire is still very shaky. Indeed, it’s too early to celebrate or praise anyone – least of all Trump. It’s too early for many things, but it’s never too early to dream, and to work to revive the dream of peace under the Two-State Solution. The struggle continues.