The Gaza Conflict is a little more complex to be compared to Bougainville

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Hon. James Marape MP, recently made headlines suggesting that Gaza can learn from the Bougainville Crisis in terms of peace-making in the ongoing conflict with Israel. His comments have sparked widespread discussion, with many in PNG questioning the validity of such a comparison. My response is simple: No, we cannot compare the Gaza conflict to Bougainville. And I say this for very clear reasons, some of which I will outline here.

The conflict between Israel and Palestine is extraordinarily complex and cannot be oversimplified by drawing parallels with Bougainville. The Israel–Palestinian conflict has persisted for over a century, with roots stretching as far back as the late 19th century, and intensified after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 (Morris, 2001). It involves not just two peoples, but decades of wars, failed peace agreements, shifting alliances, and international involvement.

In contrast, the Bougainville Crisis (1988–1998) was driven largely by a dispute over resource exploitation — specifically the Panguna copper mine, operated by Bougainville Copper Limited, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. The mine generated around 40% of PNG’s export earnings at its peak (Regan, 2010), but Bougainvilleans received little benefit, while suffering severe environmental damage and the loss of traditional lands. These grievances fueled demands for independence and triggered a decade-long armed conflict that claimed between 15,000–20,000 lives (Connell, 1991; Regan, 2017).

The Gaza conflict, however, is a different reality altogether. It is a struggle that has been unfolding since at least the 20th century, deeply rooted in questions of identity, religion, nationhood, and sovereignty. Unlike Bougainville, it cannot be reduced to an economic dispute or a matter of environmental grievance.

In any conflict, one casualty is already too many. But the data highlights a stark casualty contrast between Bougainville and Gaza. The Bougainville conflict is estimated to have caused 15,000–20,000 deaths over a decade (Regan, 2017), in a population of roughly 200,000 people at the time — a devastating toll for such a small island region.

Meanwhile, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths since 1948, with the toll continuing to rise in the recurrent wars in Gaza (UN OCHA, 2023). For instance, during the 2014 Gaza War alone, more than 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis were killed in just seven weeks (UN Human Rights Council, 2015). This scale and recurrence of violence show a far greater magnitude of human suffering that cannot simply be equated to Bougainville’s experience.

When we see such a vast disparity in casualties, we are reminded that conflicts cannot be neatly compared. The stark contrast in loss of life underscores the need to examine each war on its own terms, rather than folding them into one narrative.

To suggest Gaza can learn from Bougainville is as if to say PNG is Israel. PNG is not Israel. The Bougainville conflict was a tragic chapter in our nation’s history, but it was not a struggle that pitted PNG against the Arab world, nor was it entrenched in centuries of competing religious, cultural, and territorial claims.

Bougainville’s quest for independence was ultimately negotiated through the 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, which provided for autonomy and a future referendum — a process supported by PNG’s Constitution and international partners (Regan, 2010). By contrast, Israel and Gaza remain locked in a cycle of war without an agreed pathway toward a two-state solution. Comparing the two oversimplifies the sensitivity, scope, and scale of the issues at hand.

Comparing Gaza to Bougainville is not just inaccurate, it is also disrespectful. It trivializes the scale of trauma in the Middle East and, at the same time, risks minimizing the pain still carried by Bougainvilleans who lost loved ones during the Crisis. The Israel–Palestinian conflict is one of the most intractable and heavily debated conflicts of the modern era. To place it side by side with Bougainville is to ignore the vastly different histories, causes, and consequences of both struggles.

With deep respect to our Bougainvillean brothers and sisters: their suffering and resilience deserve recognition on their own terms. And equally, the tragedies of Gaza and Israel must be understood within the unique, deeply entrenched dynamics of the Middle East.

We do our people, and the international community, no favors by oversimplifying conflicts of such gravity.

• Connell, J. (1991). Compensation and Conflict: The Bougainville Copper Mine, Papua New Guinea. In Conflict and Development in the Pacific.

• Morris, B. (2001). Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist–Arab Conflict, 1881–2001. Vintage.

• Regan, A. (2010). “Light Intervention: Lessons from Bougainville.” United States Institute of Peace.

• Regan, A. (2017). Bougainville: Conflict, Peace and Development. ANU Press.

• United Nations Human Rights Council (2015). Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict.

• United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). (2023). Occupied Palestinian Territory: Casualties