Palestine not for sale When I interviewed Late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 1997 it was at a very odd time 1:30 am ,at Rashpati Bhawan , during his visit to India. I asked him a question: Mr. Arafat What do you expect from Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu? Arafat Kept silent and looked at me for a while and I could see the anger in his eyes .I repeated the question two times till he answered with one word: NOTHING and opened widely his palms. Two years ago, I raised the same question to president Mahmoud Abbas when I interviewed him in Delhi, while Netanyahu was serving his second term as the Prime Minister of Israel and asked him: What do you expect from Mr. Netanyahu on the peace process? He said: We “talk for the sake of talk”. I argued with him and told him about me asking late Arafat the same question and his answer .I told him Mr. Arafat was a leader to reckon with and had a good supports among Palestinians that he could cause another uprising if he is hurts and no progress on the peace process and yet he was worried about the severity would have caused on his people at the hand of Netanyahu .I told Mr. Mahmoud at your current position with divided Palestinian house and inability to mobilize the street and yet you are going for negotiation ?His answer was we have no other option but to talk. What I did not tell Mr. Abu Mazen that if you declared your resignation in a public speech protesting about the deadlock and no progress on the peace track because of the unwillingness of the frequent Israeli governments to find a just solution to the Palestinian plight ,then I am sure Mr. Mahmoud Abbas would have been remembered as a hero and a patriotic leader to the Palestinian cause . The sudden announcement of resuming peace talks between the Israeli and the Palestinian comes at a time when the Palestine issue was gaining international recognition and the international community realizing the injustice done to them and that without just and a comprehensive peace which will guarantee an independent sovereign Palestinian state , there will be no peace in the Middle East between the Arabs and Israel. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas found hopes of moving the peace process forward and even Mr. Netanyahu claimed that it is for Israel strategic interest to strike the deal within nine month for a conflict a century old! It was the European Union pressures on Israel because of its policy toward building settlement in occupied Palestinian territories and the intention of the European Union to extend aids to Gaza strip that prompted the Israeli government to push for dialogue .The worries of confrontation in the UN General Assembly in September also made Tel Aviv to activate its Jewish Lobby in the US to pressurized president Obama to bring both sides for the negotiations without any pre condition .It was Israeli lobbyist ,Martin Indyk former US ambassador to Israel and special envoy of US for Israel and Palestinian negotiation , who put pressure on the White House along with Samantha Power ,Suzan Rice and John Kerry himself that made Obama succumbed to the pressure and yielded to Israel demand to show his backing to the demand of the 4th strongest power in the world and the only nuclear power in the Middle East ,by bringing the weakest of all the Palestinian authority to the negotiation table ,so they can block EU projects in Gaza Strip and pre empty any move by the international community to internationalize the Israel-Palestine conflict once again when Israel succeeded in making it a bilateral issue and continue to treat Israel with kid`s gloves. In fact on the eve of her appointment as the US UN permanent representative, Samantha Power, proved once again her loyalty to Israel and vowed in the US Congress to support Israel in the UN and boost its agenda by sabotaging any attempts by Palestinian on human rights and self determination. The Israel Arab conflict is a century old and Israel continue to occupy territories from all neighboring countries Syria , Lebanon , Egypt and annihilating Palestine by confiscating lands , destroying Palestinians houses , withdrawing Identity card from Jerusalem Arab residents to continue its policy of converting the city into a Judaism one by building more settlements ,Apartheid wall and forcing a status quos situation .This daily harassment ,detention and denying the Palestinians` their basic human rights meant to add more misery and forced them to leave .Then the question really is what for you are negotiating ? What is you want to achieve from the peace talk? The Palestinians despite being in disarray, depressed and oppressed, they are resisting and still surviving under occupation but yet they will never give up their rights and no one can claim that he is negotiating for a lasting peace on their behalf when the other side is not offering them even a permission to build up a bathroom in their house in Jerusalem. On second of August was Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day which united many countries on a single cause .Many capitals witnessed demonstrations, rallies and pro Palestinian speeches where sympathizing leaders ,echoed the general global sympathy with the Palestinian cause and vowed to support them ,protect Jerusalem in particular and Palestine in general .Some leaders went to say that no one has the right to surrender a dearth of Palestine territory to anyone and insisted that the main cause of turbulence in the Arab world is Israel and its policy of destabilizing the region to ensure its hegemony and expands more by occupying more territories at the cost of anarchy and instability in pretext of protecting itself. The US has achieved a diplomatic breakthrough by bringing both unequal parties to the negotiating table and then Israel will ensure that US will not be part to the bilateral negotiation with PLA team. According to sources Netanyahu broke a secret deal with his right wing coalition partners by allowing building of 3500-4500 settlements in the occupied territories in exchange of allowing prime minister Netanyahu releasing Palestinians from jail mostly who completed their terms. When US led the world to liberate Kuwait, Madrid peace conference was announced and the Arab countries went to negotiate with Israel hoping to reach to a peaceful solution with the Americans as an a honest broker .Former prime minister of Israel Yitzhak Shamir stated that they are going for the sake of negotiation and let it last for 20 or 30 years more .Talk for the sake of talk because Israel will never evacuate “occupied Arab lands” since Israel does not consider it an occupied territories but its” divine legitimate land “. US had a written confirmation ( Israel`s Asset)from assassinated late president of Israel Yitzhak Rabin`s willingness to withdraw from occupied Syrian Golan prior to the 4th of June 1967 .Hence Damascus went to Madrid Conference. Oslo accord was signed after secret negotiation with the Palestinian leaders who many resigned in protest or pulled out because it was not the accord they thought they were fighting for. Ailing late King of Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel to ensure a recognition by Israel to his kingdom and not as an alternative to Palestine for the Palestinians .US administration ignored the Israeli asset and claimed that president of US changed and so the commitment is dead. Israel ended occupation of South Lebanon and withdrew partially from there. Palestinian continued to struggle for their independent state and nothing achieved. Israel continued its policy in the region and forcing recognition to its intention of a” Jewish State”. What next? The imbalance negotiation is for the sake of negotiating and fooling the international community while Israel will continue to pursue its objectives. According to Oded Yinon`s Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen centuries cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/articles/article0005345.html ,the plan till date is working as per Israel objectives of dominance in the region and further dividing the Arab world into ethnic and religious lines . On Palestine front, if you watch this painful video you will know the actual plan of the Israel by annexation of lands, denying Palestinian of their basic rights, where a woman was denied to enter her home in the pretext she does not have a valid document of ownership and then the Israeli soldiers took the mother to custody and the children crying and confronted the Israeli soldiers(youtube/watch?v=zftnqQ4sL3A). In due course, Israel will blame the Palestinians for the failure of peace talk and then work on dissolving the PLA. Hamas on the other hand is facing isolation after interfering in Syria and Egypt situations and it is threatening its own authority in Gaza with the inhabitants planning a rebellious movement (Tammarud) against its misrule in the strip which will divide the Palestinians more and ensure no reconciliation between different groups and even Israel is thinking of re- occupying Gaza again. Even some of military leaders said Israel should think of occupying Sinai Peninsula if the situation in Egypt deteriorates and among many American think tanks they are trying to promote the idea of Jordan as the alternative home for Palestinians. The recent EU decision to declare the military wing of Hezbollah Lebanese political party as a terrorist outfit ,while they are seeking the party protection in South Lebanon to its UNIFIL troops stationed there .The only achievement from this political decision by EU is a pretext to Israel to another adventure against Lebanon . On Iran, according to a senior analyst, Israel is cautiously trying to buy time and thinking of Post Obama in the White House where the Republican will take over who will favor an Israeli attack on Iraq Nuclear installation .At the meantime calm down the military option against Iran till then while finishing small players surrounding her and supporters of Iran including Syria of course. Peace is elusive in the Middle East and can prevails only when Israel ends occupation and accepts living in harmony with neighbors if peace is its strategic option and two states is the solution . For Palestinians it is for their interest to keep the world in their sides , expose the true intention behind the talk and seek the support of international community to achieve their aspiration to live in peace in their legitimate land. Israel must understand that peace cannot be bought but achieved and the road to it is well known and Palestine is not for Sale. Written by Dr. Waiel AWWAD waielawwad Senior Journalist
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 10:54:57 +0000
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