Why not a Palestine state now?

As Israel is heading for a new regime, essentially to tacke the Palestine issue, the Mideast focus is shifted, once again, on the question of statehood for Palestinians who have been under virtual siege form Israeli forces with blockades and genocides. A right-wing coalition led by the Likud party could lead to friction with the Obama administration, which has pledged to move swiftly toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Differences over Palestinian statehood are likely to scupper Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to forge a broad government with his main rival, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, wants to shift the focus of U.S.-sponsored peace talks from thorny territorial issues that would set the boundaries of a state to shoring up the Palestinian economy. There is across-the-board agreement on Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas but there is a big gap between Kadima and Likud on the two states for two people. Assuming that the Jews have preferred to have continuous wars with the defenseless Palestinians, the hawkish Netanyahu, a former premier, has said any Palestinian state must have only limited sovereignty and be demilitarized. Livni has said Kadima would not join a government that does not commit clearly to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel plays its own destructive politics by shuffling the regimes in Tel-Aviv to kill Palestinians under ever-newer pretexts. Now, under his mandate from President Shimon Peres, Netanyahu has another 36 days to win parliamentary approval for a government. Kadima won 28 of parliament's 120 seats, to the Likud's 27, in a February 10 election which gave a split verdict. Polls were held as the ruling Kadima coalition led by Livni could not form a government on differences with other splinter groups on issues liker Palestine. But a strong nationalist bloc emerged from the ballot and Netanyahu has the support of 65 right-wing lawmakers, enough to form a narrow government.

Recently, U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, held talks in Israel with Netanyahu and leaders of the outgoing government on ways to revive peace talks. He also visited the occupied West Bank. Outcome of talks depends on what Osama decides about Palestine state. West have always rallied behind the Israeli fascism solidly and opposed the Palestinians, now Hamas. 

The US-led west made the PLO a useful tool to control the Palestinians summoned to endorse the PA's political agenda whenever needed. Israel and USA asked PLO to first recognize Israel state on Palestinian lands if they needed any talks on Palestine. In 1993, PLO chairman Yasser Arafat recognized the State of Israel in an official letter to its prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin. Again, under pressure from the US and Arafat, PNC members met to nullify clauses of the Palestinian constitution that deny Israel's "right to exist", and again, in 1998, under Israeli pressure, and in the presence of former US president Bill Clinton they were summoned once again to stress Israel's right to exist. In response to Arafat's letter, Israel recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Arafat was the Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee from 1969 until his death in 2004. Arafat succeeded by Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) and splitting the PLO vertically to appease the Israel-Western regimes. .

I

The Fatah and Hamas sides have fundamental differences over how to deal with Israel. While Fatah has renounced violence, Hamas refuses to recognize Israel. Hamas is prepared to accept a short-term truce but it reserves the right to fight Israel, until Israel surrenders the territories annexed by it illegally and by force and stop killing the Palestinians under vague pretexts to advance its own goals at home and abroad, including influencing the poll outcomes. Having failed to make Israel to agree on Arab peace plan, recently, Arabs shook hands with the Israeli leaders and Israel unleashed holocaust in Palestine.

By representing only the Fatah group, PLO is on the cross-roads now. Earlier, the PLO, however existed, in the minds of some as a symbol of a unifying body that expressed a nation's political aspirations. A division in Palestinian movement has eroded both strength and credibility of the Palestinians and enhanced the fascist designs of Israel. Earlier, the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo in 2005 to revamp the PLO, which would allow Hamas and other organizations that operate outside its political structures to join. But the agreement was never activated. Each side accused the other of delaying the much-needed reform. Then, the disagreement appeared factional and political, as opposed to a substantiated one, predicated on principles. But the Israeli war on Gaza has created a political reality that cannot be discounted as factional. Indeed, the reverberation of the post-Gaza war can be felt throughout the Middle East, and even beyond and it will be some time before the full political and non-political impact of the war is fully realized.

Efforts to secure reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, on the one hand and, on the other, Israel and Palestinians, have gained strength in February 09 since Israel's three-week military offensive in Gaza which ended on 18 January. Solving Fatah-Hamas differences is seen also as an essential step if an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal were to happen - although with Israel also at a political crossroads analysts say that could be a long way off. Leaders of the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have opened reconciliation talks in a renewed effort to create a unity government. Delegations from each side, and other Palestinian factions, met at the office in Cairo of the powerful Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. About a dozen Palestinian groups were invited to take part in the national dialogue, whose aim is to set up a unity government. Both groups agreed to release detainees from the other side. They also pledged to stop attacking each other in the media to foster goodwill between the two sides.

A unity agreement fell apart after Israel and its international backers refused to deal with Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel. In January 2006, Hamas won Palestinian Authority legislative election annoy8ng the Israel-US-EU combines and angering the Fatah group supporting them. Hamas went for negotiations for a unity government by the Israel-USA asked Fatah leader Abbas to reject the any unity move from Hamas, whom they unwittingly call "terrorists", and in March 2006 - Hamas government sworn in. USA and EU suspended ties with Hamas government and unleashed anti-Hamas campaigns. Inter-factional fighting in Gaza came to a head in the summer of 2007 when Hamas fighters ousted the pro-Fatah security forces and overthrew PA (2003) control. As well as continued tension, both sides have been accused of conducting politically motivated arrests and torture of rival faction members. Egypt revived the call for Palestinian reconciliation talks in November. However, Hamas withdrew from the talks, complaining that Fatah continued to arrest Hamas members in the West Bank. But in February-March 2007 - Fatah and Hamas agreed to form coalition to end growing factional warfare, but, again, under pressure form Israel-USA-EU, the move was aborted. Fatah PLO fought with Hamas and dismissed Hamas government in June 2007 but Hamas seized control of Gaza from Fatah after continued fighting. Unity government dissolved, Israel tightens blockade of Gaza Strip supported and aided by the USA and EU and other anti-Islamic nations.

After the holocaust in Palestine and polls in Israel, Israel and Arab nations are taking steps to undo damages in Gaza, but loss of innocent lives cannot be compensated just like that. The Palestinian Authority ((2003) has announced $600m (£417m) for reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. Most of it will come from donors. The Palestinian Authority would contribute $50m of its own money to assist Gazans. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, speaking recently to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, said he would push for a war-crimes investigation into Israel's attacks. "People who committed those crimes have to be held responsible so that these crimes cannot be repeated," he told reporters after a speech which garnered a standing ovation. "We are stretching out our hand for peace with Israel. But what was done is regretfully crimes of war."

Israel literally rules over the Palestinians and ruin their lives. Israel collects taxes in Palestine and keeps it to bully the poor Palestinians who suffer in many ways. Poverty, malnutrition, diseases roughly characterize the life pattern of Palestinians.  About half the population in the Gaza Strip is dependent on UN food aid, since Israel imposed a blockade on the territory 19 months ago. The problem with UN, like the US-led anti-Islamic nations, is that the UN, along with most of the Western world, does not deal directly with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Aid delivery became increasingly difficult during Israel's offensive against Hamas which began in late December.  Israel confiscates aid from outside.

II

The life of the remaining Palestinians are miserable to state the least and future holocaust measures by the USA-Israel combine would end the Palestinians as a nation, leaving the lands for Jews to enjoy with American companionship. Many Palestinians are still hoping that the PLO can be revamped without the need for further fragmentation. Palestinians have a part-time government, the Palestinian Authority (PA) supposedly controlled by the Palestinian Liberation organization PLO, established by Yassir Arafat. But what exactly the PA and PLO are ding as Gazans are being pounded for weeks by fascist Israel with Western support and media accolades. 

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is a political and paramilitary organization regarded by the Arab League since October 1974 as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Founded in Jerusalem in May 1964 following an earlier decision of the Arab League, its goal was the liberation of Palestine through armed struggle. The original PLO Charter (issued on 28 May 1964) stated that "Palestine with its boundaries that existed at the time of the British mandate is an integral regional unit" and sought to "prohibit... the existence and activity" of Zionism. It also called for a right of return and self-determination for Palestinians. In 1974 the PLO called for an independent state in the territory of Mandate Palestine. Ably supported by USA, UN and many European states, Israel refused to return the Palestinian lands and the PLO group used even pressure tactics from Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria to force Israel to surrender the stolen lands, Israel strengthened its military power with support form Western regimes and even obtained nukes illegally. Palestinians were pushed into tiny parts of their own country: the Gaza Strip and West Bank. In 1988, the PLO officially endorsed a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side contingent on specific terms such as making East Jerusalem capital of the Palestinian state and giving Palestinians the right of return to land occupied by Palestinians prior to the 1948 and 1967 wars with Israel.

The PLO's state of idleness now is relatively a new phenomenon. The PLO was established in 1964, at the behest of Egypt's Jamal Abdul-Nasser. It served a complementary role at the time, but grew more independent from Egypt, although not entirely independent from Arab politics or the hegemony of specific leaders and parties. Nonetheless, the PLO served an important role over the years, for it embodied various Palestinian institutions such as the Palestine National Council (PNC), the Palestine Liberation Army (PLA), the Palestine National Fund (PNF), and more. But Oslo demanded a new political arrangement that expected a non-democratic body to represent Palestinians, for obvious reasons. Thus, the PLO stands marginalized, almost entirely. Palestinians in Diaspora, especially those lingering in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere, feel particularly disowned, for the PA didn't represent them and the PLO was no longer a formidable body that mattered in any truly meaningful way.

Unfortunately, arrogance and adamancy in the attitudes of USA, UK and EU towards Hamas have been boon to Israel to target the Palestinians in Gaza. A unity government could serve for an interim period, preparing for new presidential and legislative elections and co-ordinating the rebuilding of Gaza. The US, Britain and the EU have again made clear that they would rather see non-partisan technocrats in control of the Palestinian territories than a coalition which includes Hamas. PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas denounced Hamas' rocket attacks into Israel, but said "our doors are still open" for a unity government with the militant group.

An Observation

The anti-Islamic nations led by the USA and supported by allies in the East have projected Islam as a serious threat to their own civilization. Terrorism ploy has become a handy weapons used against Muslims. Islamic world is hopelessly divided and the anti-Islamic forces think it their prerogative to invade and annex Muslims nations, loot them and kill the Muslims. Israeli policy ahs succeed because of the deadly attitude of Islamic world, unable to guard against enemies..

Media in Islamic world is controlled and managed by non-Muslims and they determine the news and opinions by and meant for Muslims. The net result is Muslims consider one another as terrorists. The Western media and their Eastern subordinates have successfully spread the rumors about Palestinians as being terrorists, and Jews as democrats following the footsteps of all other "democracies" killing Muslims.  World is made to believe that "Israel is democracy while Palestine is full of terrorism", the concocted stories go like. While Israeli terror goal in Palestine is now clear to the world about, the objectives of Palestinians is not yet clear. More confusing is the fact that the Arabs' role in the issue.

Illegal occupants would behave fascist says and terrorize the owners the same logic is discerned in Israeli attitude to Palestine. It looks funny the Palestinians keep wai9tng for the Zionist Israel to surrender the lands annexed by Israel decades back. Peace Talks always ended with Israeli invasions and holocaust installments with Palestinian pieces on streets. UN, UNSC, EU, USA and others including the proud Arab nations are busy counting the petrodollars.

The latest war on Gaza, which was meant to achieve many things, including crush Hamas, has emboldened and empowered the movement and its supporters, who now insist that any national unity would have to accommodate post-Gaza realities. In other words, "resistance" would be affirmed as a "strategic choice." More, a PLO that is revamped based on compromises that satisfy both camps could also mean the end of privilege and domination of the Ramallah-branch over Palestinian affairs. Thus the pandemonium triggered by Meshaal's declaration.

All democracies like USA, Israel and India, are connected through a sort of piracy to terrroize the world around and foll their own peoples. India supports Indian separatism in neighboring nations. India wants UN to intervene and arrange for dialogue in Sri Lanka where Tamil Indians are fighting for a separate nation and But it does not open for negotiated settlement of Kashmir under its brutal occupation. The same double-standards are followed by all other so-called democracies like USA and Israel. India supports Israel for its weapons and other aids.

Not only Israeli leaders should punish for war crimes in Palestine, but for the war in the first place, waged illegally against the innocent Palestinians under fascist Israeli custody. The emergence of Hamas as a political power in 2006 was perceived as a great threat to the Old Guard, for inclusion of Hamas carried the risk of canceling all the "achievements" scored by the PA since Oslo.

Even with full unity it is not going to be easy for the Palestinians to make Israel see reason to surrrender the territories under their control; since time is running out for them, but with two factions one loving US-Israel combine and other hating  it, it is certainly difficult to achieve independence, even if Israel-US-EU have promised the Fatah about a possibility. What is repulsing is the fact that Arabs are rendered helpless spectators now.

However, one fails to understand why the Palestinians both PLO Fatah and ruling Hamas, jointly, declare a Palestine state or Islamic Palestine, with Sharia' as the ultimate goal of the nation, having its original boundaries marked  so that Israel is tasked by the un and UNSC, USA and EU to surrender the occupied lands from Palestine.

The PLO resurfaces once in while to serve as a rubber stamp for PA policies only to fall silent, and had long ceased to represent all Palestinians or play any important role in shaping political realities in occupied Palestine or anywhere else. PLO, a symbol of Palestinians unity for liberating Palestine from illegal Jews occupants, has undergone tribulations to become a Fatah organization fighting against Hamas whihc is also under Israeli fascist attacks. Is PLO still relevant and in which why? Why not call Palestine government? Why not an alternative to the PLO, and why the fury over a call for a new leadership structure? PLO should be renamed as Palstinian government and Palestinian territories as Islamic Palestine.

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Yours Sincerely,

DR. ABDUL RUFF Colachal

Columnist & Independent Researcher in World Affairs, The only Indian to have gone through entire India

South Asia.