Israel and peace are clearly incompatible

Hassan Al-Haifi
Any person watching the theatrics of the Middle East peace process is bound to wonder: How much is the world closer to seeing a real genuine peace in the Holy Land? In fact, all the signs are showing that for all intents and purposes, peace is simply not anywhere near being “around the corner”.


The problem does not so much lie in the weakness of the efforts or the insincerity of the proponents of a peaceful resolve to one of the most complex and intertwining conflict of modern times. The essence of the problem lies in the approach and the missing understanding of how the problem came into being. Furthermore a genuine and sincere conviction by all the parties concerned is inescapable that there are fundamental issues that underlie the arrival to a durable and just peace. For any objective and long time observer of the Middle East to overlook that peace without redress to the victims of a this Zionist nightmare planted in the midst of a region that taught the world the essences of human rights, tolerance and morality is at best impossible, but certainly unforgivable.


Moreover, one is inclined to believe that continued peace talks are utterly impossible, while one of the wrongs that initially created the problem is allowed to proceed at full pace, energy and resolve. Such presumption really borders on the ridiculous and absurd, on top of awarding the culprit a reward for a continued insistence that might makes right. The total neglect of the internationally recognized legitimate rights of the Palestinians even now when, at the same time, the Palestinians are being almost goaded to an obviously predictable staged effort to achieve “meaningful peace”, cannot be viewed as sound groundwork for Palestinian – Israeli talks. On the contrary, the insistence that Israel could be allowed to proceed with its Zionist agenda in the occupied West Bank cannot be expected to raise any hope amongst even the most optimistic observers that indeed the tracks are paved for a peaceful conclusion of this conflict that is now going into its second century. Never mind that this agenda in all its manifestations is clearly still being unabashedly pursued although there are daily evidence that portrays this phenomenon as of one of the most dreadful cases of man’s inhumanity to man.


The recent behavior of the Israelis in Washington is a clear suggestion that the latter have simply decided to make their Zionist agenda the only acceptable grounds for any “peaceful settlement”. This is not simply attested to by open declarations of the Israeli Foreign Minister at the General Assembly. The ongoing onslaught of Israeli bulldozers knocking down whole Palestinian villages and towns in the West Bank and whole blocks in the Holy City of Jerusalem are mercilessly, rapidly and aggressively being evicted of their indigenous Arab inhabitants and wrecked and erased off the maps. Almost simultaneously, and coming behind an exaggerated and probably almost unnecessary display of military might and mob rule against helpless and unarmed uprooted men, women, children and members of Palestinian families, cement mixers and ready-made raised steelwork work to replace centuries of history and legitimacy, with sumptuous dwellings for heavily subsidized illegitimate trespassers arriving from distant lands. This is the ethnic cleansing that has been the theme of the internationally declared illegitimate occupation of the West Bank and formerly the tiny pocket of densely populated Gaza – which is still unquestionably, the largest prison in the world, despite the Israeli withdrawal. The prisoners in Gaza are not the normal criminal elements one finds in many institutions of penal reforms and penitentiaries. The people of Gaza are already the largest agglomeration of hopelessness, despair, misery and wanton suffering. Comprising hundreds of thousands of evicted Palestinians from as far back as 1948, living in the most humanely unbearable habitat for three generations, the inhabitants of Gaza have multiplied to become 1.5 million cases of systematic and slow extermination. The very same machine responsible for this relentless program of mass agony in Gaza is the very same machine that insists on producing illegitimate demographic “facts on the ground” in the West Bank of Palestine, while making a mockery of a seemingly sincere endeavor at peace – making pursued by the current US Administration headed by President Barack Obama. It is inescapable to note the diplomatic arrogance that has characterized the behavior of the Israelis in Washington and over the well organized pro – Zionist leaning mainstream US media (by choice, crossed interests or by sheer arm – twisting). The Israelis have neither a desire or intent to “compromise” on any issues at stake in any peace talks with their expected cohabitants of the Holy Land, who are now undergoing a process of elimination. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra – right wing Administration in Israel are obviously not in a hurry for peace. US President Obama is already on the toughest credibility tightrope, as he has yet to show how genuine and sincere is his Administration’s quest for peace in the Middle East. The US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton’s “understanding” of Netanyahu’s position on the refusal to halt illegitimate settlement construction surely does not help reinforce this genuineness and seriousness, nor does it obviate any sincerity to reach a peaceful and just settlement.


Michael Bloomberg, bona fide Mayor of New York City and deservedly so!
This observer could not help but recognize that Mayor Mike Bloomberg, now on his third term as the sagacious Mayor of the fabulous City of New York, has candidly and unabashedly expressed his deep understanding and respect for religious tolerance. Mayor Bloomberg openly stated without hesitation that he sees no comprehensible reason to oppose the construction of the Islamic Cultural Center on Park Place, Manhattan, or anywhere else in NYC. He recently stated this in an appearance on CBS David Letterman’s, The Late Show. It is this kind of independence that should be displayed by the Mayor of the Greatest City in the World, without competition. New York should be honored with His Honor’s full – time devotion to keeping New York humming, truly sophisticated and cosmopolitan.

Yemen Times
Issue 1404