Meanwhile, in what appears to be a fully coordinated effort with Washington, British Premier Tony Blair echoed Bush’s statement by announcing that the road map could lead to a viable Palestinian state soon. Blair also said that the nominated Palestinian Prime Minster, Mahmoud Abbas, could take office as soon as next week, referring to a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and US President Bush. Such efforts to divert attention from the real issues (the unjustifiable US aggression against Iraq and Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories) should not go unquestioned. Time and again, the unwillingness/inability of the US and its allies to go beyond a shallow interpretation of the Palestinian reality has only caused more frustration, and ultimately more bloodshed in the region. A real assessment is needed of the causes of the Palestinian-Zionist conflict. Israel must be held accountable for its illegal actions in the occupied Palestinian territories as a precondition to any viable solution, and must be made to end its occupation unconditionally. The Palestinian people and their cause cannot, and should not, be exploited as a mere bargaining chip for the greater strategic considerations of the key players in international society. The Palestinian people should not be expected to negate their narrative in order to facilitate and promote the -perceived- self interest of the US and its allies, let alone to be rewarded for their “passiveness” with a politically and geographically-fragmented and unviable quasi state. The Palestinian people have legal rights under international law; they are not merely expecting to be liberated out of the “good will” or pity of the US. The Palestinians have been suffering from a brutal Israeli military occupation for more than 54 years. It will take far more than manipulative, ill-informed, irrational, and short-sighted loudspeaker diplomacy and empty declarations to end their sense of betrayal and injustice. Read More...
By: Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Date: 27/05/2013
By: Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Date: 20/05/2013
By: Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Date: 13/05/2013
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