News Opinion

Palestine - Hopes for a US Imposed Peace Deal

Aaliyah Anon, South Africa, Sunday 18 May 2008

On a rather more sombre note to my usual style. On 15th May, 21,915 Black balloons released marking each day of Israeli occupation and a 2-minute silence. As the world celebrated Israel’s birthday, the Palestinian people were left to mourn. After 60 years of conflict, will there ever be any peace?

Thousands of Palestinians has taken to the streets of Gaza and the West Bank to mourn Israel’s 60th anniversary by releasing black balloons, and holding a two minute silence to mark the ‘nakba’ or catastrophe of the Jewish state’s creation.

In Hamas controlled Gaza, the anger could not be contained, as thousands of angry protesters marched to the border with Israel, risking gunfire from the police. Whilst in the West Bank, President Mahmoud Abbas spoke of his people’s pain and suffering by calling an end to the to continuous Israeli settlement construction on Palestinian land.

In Gaza, Hamas has called for Mr Abbas to abandon the illusions of “US based Peace talks” and has urged Palestinians to join the resistance against Israel. Mr Abbas stating “Sixty years have passed, it’s time to end the suffering of the Palestinian people”. And yet, both factions cannot even agree on unity, with the west bank and Gaza diametrically opposed to one another.

Anger rose amongst the Palestinians as US President George Bush celebrated with PM Ehud Olmert in Masada, Israel yesterday, and honoured Israel as ‘ a homeland for the chosen people’ in a speech to the Country’s Parliament. What the Americans do not understand is that speeches like these are construed as the utmost ring-wing material in the Muslim world, almost akin to the Ahmedinjad’s rhetoric.

Regardless, what was absent from Bush’s speech was any mention of his hope to seal a peace deal, fuelling accusations of bias by the Palestinians. Undoubteldy, such words and actions fuel continuing resentment against the Bush Presidency. Too many years have gone by without peace, and too often has the US Presidency failed to use its powers to impose such a peace.

The non-resolvement of the Palestinian issue is the direct cause of terrorism, whether the Western establishments wish to acknowledge this or not. There must be peace and justice on both sides of the spectrum, with mutual understanding. Israel is here to stay, and so any talk of ‘driving Israel to the sea’ is pure nonsense. The tragedy is that the Jews and the Arabs are semite brothers, sharing a single forefather – Abraham. And yet, as in biblical fashion, these brothers continue to tear at each other.

Many US Presidents have come and gone with little impact if any on securing anything for the people of Palestine. Peace was achieved in Bosnia with US imposition, peace was achieved in Northern Ireland with US imposition, we only hope and pray that the next US President does the same for Palestine.


Aaliyah Anon ~ who I am is not important, what I stand for is

Note: The Author of this article chooses to remain anonymous, and so goes via a pseudo name.