When violence erupts — in Gaza, Kashmir or any other conflict zone — governments, media and international actors often rush to frame it in stark, moralistic terms. These narratives tend to portray events as isolated, unprovoked, and driven by evil intent. Terrorism, extremism and barbarism become the labels of choice. But beneath the rhetoric lies a dangerous erasure of context. If we are to seriously engage with the roots of political violence and work toward peace, we must resist the temptation to strip away history, grievance and complexity.

October 7, 2023 is now etched in global consciousness as the day Hamas launched a brutal and unprecedented attack on Israel. The Israeli state and its allies were quick to label it a singular act of terrorism — an irrational outburst driven by ideology, and, predictably, blamed on Iran's regional ambitions. This framing, while convenient, elides decades of history. For Palestinians, the attack - however horrifying — was seen by some as an act of desperation, born out of suffocating conditions in Gaza, a territory described as the world's largest open-air prison. Blockades, systemic deprivation, occupation, and a peace process abandoned long since form the backdrop to that day's events.

This clash of narratives — one........

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