"Meanwhile...back in Gaza!"
Well, yet another meeting has been convened to discuss the Palestinian tragedy. The latest talkfest, one organized by that well-known world peacemaker George Bush, will end up like all the others: full of sound and fury achieving absolutely nothing.
How can the issue be resolved when America and Israel hold all the cards, when Palestine is still under the crushing yoke of a brutal forty-year occupation, when the strategic and military goals of both America and Israel do not include a sovereign, independent Palestinian nation.
How can a resolution be achieved when Jews in Israel and elsewhere are praying that the talks fail, that they don't have to give any land back or close any settlements, that they alone will control Jerusalem, that they will remain the lone, regional military superpower, that they will achieve their dream of a Greater Israel, a fitting place for the fanatical Children of God, etc?
How can a resolution be achieved when Abbas is part of a government that was voted out of office by the Palestinian people (Fatah), when he is seen by many Palestinians as a weak collaborator who, unlike Arafat, has a history of fawning to both Israel and America, when he is strongly opposed by Hamas (the legitimate Palestinian government)?
The political farce continues. The cruel occupation continues. The terrible injustice continues. The calculated genocide and dispossession continues.
Meanwhile America and Israel, the conscienceless architects, remain unmoved and unpunished.
UPDATE: 28/11/2007
- The peace meeting is being held in an American Naval Academy. Ironic, eh?
- Mr Olmert is said to have said that 'he had come to Annapolis despite the obstacles posed by continuing violence against the people of Israel'.Hang on, but isn't Israel an occupying power, the one that kills Palestinians at will, who keeps them incarcerated in barbwire cages, surrounds them with concrete walls, starves them, takes their land, bulldozes their houses, imprisons them without charge, etc? Perhaps that's why the Palestinians don't like Israelis and seek to do them harm. Just a thought!
Someone should tell Olmert.
Photo Link.
13 comments:
All sides concede already that Annapolis is a waste of time. The money wasted could have been put to much better use for Palestinians in the Gaza.
The binational one-state solution is now the only solution.
That will never happen, Damian, while Jews cling to their delusion that they are God's Chosen Children and that have a divine right to occupy all of Palestine.
As well, it will never happen while America continues with its imperialist agenda, one which sees Israel as its Middle East proxy.
The Palestinians will only get justice and their own state if they fight for it! Cheers.
The alternative then, Daniel, is simply more of the same for another sixty years.
There will come a point where the world will have take matters in to their own hands. Just as the UN created the state then so the UN can demand that the state now incorporate the Palestinians. The UN's mistake in 1948 was to create a racist state in the first place. The world needs to demand that the mistake be rectified.
There will never be a peacful Israel while the Palestinians remain barred from their lands.
I have very few expectations of anything coming from this conference.
It stinks of a half hearted attempt at the fag end of Bush's time in office to try and gain some sort of creditable legacy. Clinton did exactly the same thing.
Why else would it be left to the final months of a 8 year period when he could of really given it the time and effort to work rather than this rushed get together.
Damian, exactly how does the U.N. force a nuclear-armed country that is run by fanatics (who are used to calling all the shots) to toe the line?
Lucy, like all the other token conferences, they (America and Israel) are just wasting time while they both consolidate their hold on the Middle East as well as ensuring that no other country can become a threat militarily (Iran, etc).
If America goes bankrupt, the whole equation will change!
Daniel, to a certain extent you've answered the question yourself; "If America goes bankrupt, the whole equation will change!" That change will include the way the US supports Israel. They would be forced to re-evaluate Israel's postition.
It's not a matter of 'forcing' the Israelis to do anything; it's more a matter of persuading them that the one-state solution is the only one that will work. It'll take time but eventually people will see the logic in it - especially if they are encouraged by the rest of the world. Clearly the two-state solution after 60 years of being talked about is simply not going to happen.
The fact that Israel has nuclear arms is neither here nor there; who would they use them against?
Damian, a couple of points: religious fanatics of any kind are incapable of seeing the logic in anything. And Israel will use nukes if they have to against anyone who threatens the achievement of their imperial, theologically-based delusions.
Cheers!
The Israelis may use nukes against an Arab nation that becomes an extreme threat to them but they wouldn't use them against any other nation - especially another nuclear armed nation. If it did happen, other Muslim nations would be so incensed that they would retaliate against Israeli interests world wide. It may also come to the point that the one Islamic nation that does have nuclear weapons, Pakistan, may feel inclined to use it.
The other point is that Zionism is for the most part secular and not based on religion - the religion bit is just used as part of the propaganda and rhetoric to try and justify a Greater Israel. Of course there are those that are religious zealots but for the main part the Zionists are purely secular and their desire for a Greater Israeli is based purely on greed.
The alternative to a binational one-state solution is...?
There is a great deal of dispute as to how much Judaism is involved in Zionism, Damian. The waters are very muddy and will remain that way I suspect!
The alternative? I feel sure that Israel will never accept the binational option.
Israel the state of course will never accept the binational option but in the end it may not be up to the Israeli state but more up to the Israeli and Palestinian people. The people of the world, through an assertive and determined United Nations, could also play a role. In the end the vicious cycles of violence that have been going on for sixty years will become intolerable and the world will simply become fed with it. I sense that this is now beginning to happen albeit very slowly.
The fact is most people in the world today see that the carnage and death in all of the Middle East and Central Asia is as a direct result of the Israeli-Palestine conflict; the conflict between the West and Islam is an extension of the conflict between the Israelis and the Arabs. Of course, it's a lot more complex than that but basically that's about it. Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and many of the other conflicts will also fade away. It won't happen overnight, but the end of the Israeli-Palestine conflict will make a world of difference.
I agree with your sentiments, Damian. The underlying problem is religious belief of course. Do away with all religions and many of the world's problems would simply disappear!
Easier said than done of course. Many people seem to need a theological crutch.
While I agree this is an utter farce try and see it from another angle.
Any other Jihadist state preaching intolerance and propagandising its people to hate and murder would rightly have sanctions imposed on it, especially if it had a half dozen militias firing rockets at its neighbours.
This is exactly what we have here.
The talks are doomed to fail because unless you include Hamas, as the democratically elected voice of Gaza then any agreement is worthless unless Fatah is willing and able to enforce it and there is nothing to suggest that they are.
The next problem is that Hamas, should they be invited would make for unrealistic demands suchas right of return, increased aid and would do little to act on their word.
Besides, what they say at the peace talks is always somewhat different to what they say at their mass rallies.
This is one monumental waste of time. I think you somewhat sweeping when you say "Jews in Israel and elsewhere are praying that the talks fail". It's fair to say that some jews will be hoping the talks fail but have no more confidence they would succeed than you or I. If you read the comments of Jews and Israelis alike in the Israeli newsmedia you would know this.
You would also know that there is a huge movement of Israelis who campaign to halt the illegal settlements in the west bank.
However, were there a referendum of dwellers in the west Bank you would probably find very few actually care about the land since much of it is arid and worthless without considerable investment. There is also the fact that many arabs would prefer the liberal secular society of Israel than to be rules by the Bandits in Hamas and Fatah. Even some Gazan freely admit that the occupation was preferable.
Arabs on the west bank have noticed an ongoing correlation between the lack of terrorism and the lack of Israeli incursions. If Gazans and Hamas had twigged this they might have seen some improvement by now.
And as for accusing the Israelis of being Fanatical children of God, have you watched any Hamas rally footage of late? Or even read the Hamas charter? You want fanatic racists then you need look no further.
The truth of the matter is that the people of Gaza and to some extent the West Bank are being manipulated, fed a pack of lies and distorted history bundled with a religious zealotry. Why? Because without an external focus of hate the Palestinains would turn on them, especially if they knew how often and how badly they had been sold down the river by successive leaders and Arab states.
Essentially, Israel exists and will continue to do so. There is an offer of statehood on the table but one election does not a democracy make and borders do not equate with a state. A state is something you build over time.
The Palestinian territories have a higher aid per capita than any other group on the plant. What have they done with that money that warrants a state?
They have free water and electricity, have all the governmental resources they could ask for free of charge. All they have to do is keep it running and stop syphoning off money into swiss bank accounts and arms deals.
One is also puzzled why Israel is considered the sole opressor. Gaza also borders onto Egypt and Egypt keep the blockade also. Now why do you suppose that would be? Wouldn't have anything to do with terrorism no?
It boils down to either a complete surrender by Israel (not going to happen), An American backed Fatah taking control and implementing some social change and spending aid money on things the AP territories need (in order to acheive statehood) OR letting the thugs of Hamas continue to oppress Palestinians and terrorise Israeli civilians while they cling on to unrealistic and frankly obscene demands while stealing money intended for the people who need it most.
If your option is the latter, please tell me this. Why should the west or indeed Israel part with another penny?
Are there not more deserving aid cases in the world?
Thanks for your detailed comment, North JNR. It is a view held by many but especially by those considered to be Israeli-apologists.
I looked closely at your comment to see whether you thought Israel was guilty of anything. I could find nothing. By contrast, according to you, the Palestinians were guilty of everything!
It seems you think that the Palestinians have never had it so good. North, why don't you move there if you think it's so good?
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