Journal Entry #2 Eine Schande (A Disgrace)
After the shameful Annapolis “peace talks”, I never thought I’d see more shameful and degrading talks such as the ones currently being conducted in Washington. What “peace” is there to discuss? The “peace” that comes through daily Israeli air strikes, land annexations, house demolitions and assassinations.. not to mention other lovely Israeli activities which endanger the stability of the “greater” Middle East and Africa? A “peace” in which Israel controls Palestinian water, electricity, food, medication and even air? A “peace” in which an illegal and inhuman siege is imposed on 1.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza of which 750,000.00 are children? What “peace” is Washington talking about?? Even on the first day of “negotiations”, Israel couldn’t be bothered to stop its illegal settlement building on Palestinian occupied land.
We are also hearing the same “peace-talk” rant about the establishment of the Palestinian state! This is literally funny. Where exactly is this Palestinian state going to be since Israel has annexed the territory on which the Palestinian state is supposed to be established? Anyone who knows anything about the Arab-Israeli conflict knows that the 2 state solution is no longer a viable option for any of the concerned parties as there simply is no land left for the Palestinians to build a state. The only viable option now for a Palestinian state to exist is the one state solution… and the Israelis will do anything to avoid this since it would imply that the majority of the population would not be Jewish.
Obama, Mubarak, Natanyahu, Abdullah and Abbas can sign whatever they want to sign under the table as George Mitchell implied, but that won’t change the realities on the ground. Israel has now occupied the 67 territories for its beloved settlers (from Russia, Eastern Europe…) and the Arab and Muslim people won’t accept a Palestine without the 67 territories and without Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. If Mr. Natanyahu is thinking of giving the Palestinians land somewhere in the desert in exchange for the lands Israel illegally annexed, Israel should think again because instead of having one Hamas in Gaza only, Israel will have Hamas everywhere it looks… and Israel’s emigration rate will continue to rise while its immigration will continue to decline. In any case, sooner or later, Israel will be gone and the Palestinians will be where they always were: in Palestine.
On the first day of Washington’s “peace negotiations”, we are also hearing fascinating statements on “final resolutions to key issues” of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
George Mitchell declared that
“for these negotiations to succeed, they must be kept private and treated with the utmost sensitivity. So what I and they are able to disclose to you today and in the future will be limited”
Very interesting. There is a fear of disclosing what our dear Arab leaders are concocting with Israel and the US. There is a fear that the Arab and Muslim street will rise in fury if it learns about the options our “leaders” are accepting to discuss with Natanyahu. There is a fear of an Arab uprising against the last surviving US regimes in the Middle East. The Washington “negotiations” have barely started and we are already hearing of “final resolutions to key issues”.
Natanyahu:
“ We seek a peace that will end the conflict between us once and for all.”
“it is up to us, with the help of our friends, to conclude the agonizing conflict between our peoples”
“Let us not get bogged down by every difference between us. Let us direct our courage, our thinking, and our decisions at those historic decisions that lie ahead.”
I don’t imagine that “those historic decisions" include Israeli withdrawal from the 67 territories, the Palestinian Right of Return (which hasn't even been mentioned), the evacuation of all illegal settlement, East Jerusalem and on and on…
George Mitchell:
“The parties agreed that a logical next step would be to begin working on achieving a framework agreement for permanent status. The purpose of a framework agreement will be to establish the fundamental compromises necessary to enable them to flesh out and complete a comprehensive treaty that will end the conflict and establish a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians”
Again, I don’t imagine that the “fundamental compromises” will be demanded of Israel and even if they were, since when has Israel complied with International Law, UN resolutions or the many agreements that were signed in a quest for peace?
What is happening in Washington now is a travesty. If the Israelis and the United States think that they can use these shameful "peace talks" to consolidate the illegal Israeli apartheid occupation of Arab lands and declare an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict, they are dreaming. The Arab and Muslim people will not hand Palestine and Jerusalem to Israel simply because a couple weak and corrupt Arab regimes say it should be so. It seems that Arab leaders are so busy plotting that they have totally lost their reality base. They have completely lost touch with their own people and have no idea what power their people are capable of wielding when they finally rise up.
- Anna Massry
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