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Give
peace a chance in Palestine
Today the world marks the 60th anniversary of
one of the great injustices in human history. On May 14,
1948, almost an entire people was uprooted from their homes,
the UAE daily newspaper Gulf News regretted in its
editorial. ''As the Israelis throw the biggest party of all
time to celebrate the creation of their state on historic
Palestine - with the help of Britain which had promised them
a 'national homeland' on that Arab land - the Palestinians
in the Diaspora, some six million of them, are still waiting
to return home, with no real hope at the end of the
tunnel,'' it said.
In its comment, the newspaper said :''Nevertheless they are
as determined as ever to fight on for their right to return
to their land. This right is sanctified by international law
and United Nations resolutions, particularly resolution 194.
This right is in fact at the heart of the Arab-Israeli
conflict and all those who are familiar with the conflict
have long realized that no settlement, at least a just and
lasting one, could be achieved without securing the
Palestinians' right to return.
''Sixty years is a very long time. Many things have changed
since the war of 1948. Israel has grown into a nuclear power
with a mighty army that has managed, on more than one
occasion, to defeat Arab armies. Most importantly and to its
advantage, Israel has the unconditional support of the
world's great power. ''But this will neither change the
reality nor alter the right of the Palestinians to their own
independent state nor can it erase the great injustice the
Palestinian people have been suffering for the past 60
years. Moreover, it will certainly not intimidate the
Palestinians into giving up. They continue to stand firm and
for that they earned the admiration of generations of Arabs
and peoples around the world.
''The epic struggle of the Palestinian people is one of
courage, patriotism and steadfastness despite the great
odds. The little children of the intifada, facing off the
mighty tanks of the Israeli army with small rocks, have
become a global symbol of defiance and the courage to resist
an oppressive occupation. ''Today, as we mark Al Nakba, we
admire the Palestinians' steadfastness and persistence in
the face of occupation, oppression, collective punishment,
systematic torture, arbitrary detention and on the spot
executions. But it is also an occasion to stress a few
fundamental points: - The anniversary comes as the
Palestinians, in the occupied land, are growing more divided
than ever. Blood has been shed for the first time in the war
of the brothers in Gaza. The land, or whatever is left of it
devoid of Israeli colonies, is also divided between the
Hamas camp (Gaza) and the Mahmoud Abbas-led national
authority (the West Bank).
The fighting and the subsequent division is like another
Nakba. And it is prolonging the original one. Since the
death of the legendary leader, the late president Yasser
Arafat, the Palestinians have been distracted by internal
fighting. Occupied Jerusalem and other cities meanwhile are
being eaten up piece by piece by the occupiers. There is no
feasible end to the conflict without a united Palestinian
authority that can negotiate a peace settlement. The
Israelis, who are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the
creation of the Jewish state, should also realize that peace
projects are a two-way street. They cannot expect to achieve
peace and security and keep the occupied land. The Arabs,
through their recognition of UN resolution 242, upon which
the two-state settlement project is based, and with the
recent Arab peace initiative, have offered the Israelis a
historic chance of a just and lasting peace within
internationally, and most importantly Arab, recognized
borders.
The Israelis must realize that peace cannot be secured
whilst imprisoning an entire people, killing Palestinian
leaders, starving Gaza and confiscating land in the West
Bank. The 60th anniversary could very well be an occasion
for the Israeli people to contemplate the direction of their
state and the future of their children. For six decades the
world has been either shamefully silent on the Israeli
crimes against the Palestinian people or atrociously
complicit in many of those crimes. The international
community must acknowledge the long struggle of the
Palestinians and finally move to implement the countless
resolutions passed by the UN to restore the rights of the
Palestinian people. It is time for the United States also to
pressure its Israeli ally to seize the historic opportunity
of settlement offered by the Arab peace initiative. The year
of this extraordinary anniversary could also be the year
that the Middle East finally witnesses the real peace
settlement and the end of 60 years of Palestinian suffering'
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