Deadlocks · defusion
A truth commission
Investigate and publicly record what each side did, including massacres and expulsions, trading full testimony for a chance to move on.
An independent body, with members from both peoples and outside, that hears victims and perpetrators, establishes the facts of disputed events (Deir Yassin, Hebron 1929, Lydda, Kfar Etzion, October 7, specific strikes in Gaza), and publishes an agreed record, with or without amnesty.
The deadlocks it addresses
Where it has been tried
- South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1996–2002) — partly. It established a public record of apartheid-era crimes and helped a peaceful transition; many victims felt justice was traded away.
- Colombia's truth commission (2018–22) — partly. Part of a peace agreement; its report was contested but became the reference.
What you have to believe for it to work
- Both societies can hear their own side's crimes named
- The facts of the worst events can still be established
These are the assumptions the future solution builder will let you set yourself.
What has to happen first
- A peace agreement or at least an end to the fighting
- Access to archives on both sides
How it can fail
- Each side uses it to prosecute the other's crimes and hide its own
- Amnesty offends victims