generalspeaking

Back To Square One

On all fronts, it would seem. The Palestinian Authority is now bringing before the United Nations its case for a unilateral recognition of an independent Palestinian state. A declaration by the world body accepting a sovereign Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, and with boundaries commensurate with June 1967 borders. Which is to say a Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

When last the United Nations offered this to the Palestinians through the original 1948 plan for Partition, dividing the area between Jews and Arabs, it was scorned as unfit to even consider. The Palestinians were mortally, morally offended that what they claimed as their own, (though they did not own it; Egypt and Jordan did) the total area inclusive of what was designated as geography of the State of Israel was denied them, was beneath their consent and contempt.

With the collusion of the surrounding Arab states, the Palestinians felt they just had to sit back and let events overtake UN complacency in its decision-making. The joint attack on Israel failing to resolve the 'problem'. Instead, the United Nations committed itself to supporting the world's lengthiest, unresolved 'refugee' situation, expending immense sums of international aid dedicated to the consolidation of that refugee status for over a half-century.

All the makings of a nascent state were still there, awaiting the earnest determination of the Palestinians and their purported leaders to commit themselves to building the civic infrastructure and proceeding to demonstrate that they were capable of providing for an independent state, to advance toward the future. Instead, they languished in a perpetual state of aggrieved victimhood and struck violently, repeatedly, at their 'aggressors'.

When the Oslo Accords were signed between the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinians as a framework for future negotiations with Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat and Bill Clinton, resulting in Israel actively assisting the new Palestinian Authority (devolving from the PLO) to begin building a nascent state infrastructure, Israel helping to train and arm Palestinian police and militia, Arafat was unable to restrain his tribal instincts to turn against Israel, mounting the First Intifada.

Now, with Israel having had to respond to continued assaults from Hamas in Gaza with Operation Cast Lead, the PA exercised another option to abandon peace talks. In the process yet again defeating its own future. Needless to say, the assurances bred of the ambiguously-stated expectations of the new American administration gave the PA the impression it could demand everything of Israel, and sacrifice nothing itself.

With Israel viewing its initial gains from Cast Lead evaporating now that Hamas has launched itself into ever more strenuous tunnelling under the unseeing eyes of Egypt, the realization is there that yet another incursion into Gaza may be required. Hamas fired off a rocket just recently proving that it could destructively reach Tel Aviv. The old home-made rockets have been replaced with far more sophisticated weaponry, thanks to Iran.

Hezbollah too, has been busy replacing its stockpile of depleted weaponry from the Israel-Lebanon assault, thanks again to Syria and Iran, and under the watchful eyes of the UN forces installed on the Lebanese border to prevent this. Israel, ever cognizant of the world's condemnatory eyes on its activities, self-protective as they are, restrains its military force from exacting the full price from its enemies' ongoing invitations to battle.

The world wrung its hands in dismay over Israel's 'disproportionate' response to Hezbollah's assertively deliberate provocations, frantic over the damage being done to Lebanon's infrastructure. Accusing Israel of vindictive assaults against an unarmed and innocent civilian population behind whom Hezbollah's militia hid, launching attacks from crowded civilian enclaves. With the mounting casualties the world insisted Israel be brought to heel.

In Operation Cast Lead, Israel was forced, once again by outraged world public opinion, to withdraw under the same circumstances. Where Hamas militants, otherwise known as terrorists serving a terrorist agenda with a terrorist entity, sent off their rockets from among crowded civilian areas, inviting responses that would take the lives of those very civilians among whom they hid for cover.

Both Hezbollah and Hamas, proxy militias funded and trained and encouraged by Iran have had their munitions well re-stocked and their resolve newly burnished; to destroy the State of Israel and return the entirety of the geography to the Palestinians. As though the destruction of Israel and the re-possession of the geography will produce justice, and will bring the Middle East to a state of amity between nations.

As a family of nations with a common heritage and similar cultures bred of tribalism, finding comfort in a divided faith whose proponents remain incendiarily opposed to each other to the point of murderous onslaughts, dysfunction and vilely brutal aggression between them will not cease with the removal of the common irritant that Israel's creation and existence represented.

They would and will turn ravenously on one another much as they have always done; distrusting, hating and intent on wreaking their Shia- or Sunni-inspired revenge upon one another, in honour of Islam and its Koranic interpretations.

Labels: Human Fallibility, Human Relations, Human Rights, Israel, Middle East

posted by Pieface @ Monday, November 16, 2009