WHO WILL SAVE THE PALESTINIANS? Since the beginning of the recent hostilities between Palestine and Israel,I have read some commentaries on the sad episode.Though,it is painful that most people are ignorant about the fundamental issues involved in the Palestine-Israel conflict.Majority of those that have written on it were more sentimental than rational in their analysis. How It All Started Before the advent of Zionism in the late 1800s,the land of palestine was peaceful and was largely inhabited by a sort of heterogenous population comprising of 86% muslims,10% christians and 4 % jews.The zionists as a group is an extremist minority of jewish population which sole aim is to create a homeland for the jews.After considering various options,they settled for Palestine as their preferred homeland thus started the uncontrolled immigration of jews into Palestine. Initially,this didnt create any problem,but as more and more zionists settled in Palestine with the intent Of taking over the land,tension began to mount and in some cases escalating to fightings. The UN Burden After the 2nd world war,in order to pacify the jews following the holocaust by the Nazi Germany,the UN in collaboration with the US created an independent state of Israel in 1948 in Palestine without a care about the feelings and sensitivities of the palestinians. The partitioning of the land of palestine was so egregious To the extent that 55% of the land was giving to Israel.Whatever happened to the principle of self determination in international law could only be answered by the conspirators. Since 1948,Israel has continued to confiscate and occupy palestinian lands even sometimes usurping the land of neighbouring arab countries such as Syria,Egypt and Lebanon.You can safely say with this aggressive behaviour,Israel is the trouble -maker in the Middle-East. The US Hipocrisy It is no longer news that America is often times behind the conflicts in most theatres of war around the world through their obnoxious foreign policies targetted at maintaing their hegemony in world affairs. Harry Truman ,the American President in 1948 worked passionately actualise the creation of the state of Israel.Till today,Israel is being funded in billions of dollars annually by America. The heavy funding being enjoyed by Israel has made it the military giant in the Middle East. How is America hypocritical in this?You can not claim to be making peace in a conflict in which you have a vested interest,or how do we describe a situation in which an arbiter is busy arming one of the combatant in a duel and yet he is claiming to be suing for peace? The Despicable Roles of the Arabs It beats my imagination,how the arab world can descend to this ridiculous level of immobility and inaction when their brothers are being enslaved in their own land. The arab countries to me,seems incapable of understanding the intrigues and dynamics of world politics. I dont think any special education is required before the Arabs understand that part of the essentials that can ensure their security and progress are technological advancement,unity and true brotherhood. A situation that made the palestinians refugees and second-class citizens in their own land can only breed frustration and extreme anger which will consequently lead to all sorts of extreme measures including terrorism all in the bid to affirm self determination Way Forward Any proposal designed to solve the protracted Palestine -Israel crisis must necessarily involve the following: •A two-state solution recognizing the right of both Palestine and Israel to exist as sovereign states •The immediate ceassation of construction of settlements on palestinian lands •The rights of palestinian refugees to return home •The return of palestinians land that were forcibly taken away from them •Massive rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Palestinian state •Other fine details as may be necessary for peaceful co existence between the two neighbours. Finally,we must know that sentiments and emotion will only becloud our reasoning in arriving at amicable solutions to the Palestine-Israel crisis.Justice as they say is an inevitable condition for a peaceful co-existence at all levels of human relationships. May God make our world a safe haven.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 14:30:49 +0000