Back in 2006 I wrote an article for Arab News entitled “Criticism
of Israeli Foreign Policy does not equate to Anti-Semitism.” I had taken issue
with the fact that the Kadima Government in Israel had decided that it was
appropriate to, in the words of the former Chief of Staff of the IDF to “Bomb Lebanon
back to the Stone Age.” My TV screen was filled with images of daily artillery
and aerial bombardment of Southern Lebanon and the Israelis and the USA were
hailing this as “birth pangs of a New Middle East.” The Israeli justification
for this slaughter was simple – Hezbollah, the Shiite Militia that dominates much
Lebanese politics, had the audacity to dig into Israel and kidnap three members
of the IDF. While nobody was justifying Hezbollah’s actions, no right-thinking
person thought that Israel’s response was proportional to what they had lost. The
sane part of the world argued that the only winners of that conflict were –
Hezbollah.
My issue in this article was not so much with the Israeli’s but
with the Americans who had chosen to applaud Israel for its clearly
disproportionate response. I remember writing that “The nation that saved us
from the Master Race has allowed God’s Chosen to commit an atrocity.” My reward
for this line was to receive a deluge of emails – some calling me an “anti-Semite”
spreading lies about the Israeli state to those encouraging me to carry on. The
most interesting responses were from the USA. There were those who sent me literature
on prophecies relating to the land and there were those who spoke in fear of a “domineering
cabal.”
I’m brining up this topic again because the Donald and Bibi,
also known as the President being Impeached and the Prime Minister being indicted
in a corruption trial, managed to pull off the “Deal of the Century” between
themselves to declare the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to the magically
legal (which not even the Israeli Supreme Court accepts). As expected, the
Palestinians rejected the deal as did the 22-members of the Arab League. Peace
will definitely not be achieved and if anything, the “Deal of the Century” will
only intensify the conflict. So, what do we need to do?
I’m old enough to remember a time when there were
politicians who were willing to state the obvious – both sides need to be led through
their anxieties. In the 2001 in the Sharm El Sheikh Fact Finding Committee chaired
by Senator George Mitchel (the man who brought the Catholics and Protestants of
Northern Ireland together), it was found that there was a direct correlation between
“terrorist activity” and settlement building. There was an obvious vicious
cycle. The more the Israelis built settlements in the occupied West Bank, the
more the Palestinians resorted to “terrorist tactics,” to try to claim back
their land, which in turn lead the Israeli military to crack down harder. It
was clear to anyone who had more than a brain cell that the problem was obvious.
The settlements had to be removed, which in turn would reduce the desire of the
Palestinians to hit back, which would in turn negate the need for Israeli
crackdown.
The most interesting part to this whole situation was the fact
that the Israelis and Palestinians were trying this out. In 1994, the Israeli
Prime Minister of the day, Yitzhak Rabin took the bold step of swopping land in
return for peace. Rabin, a general who had dedicated his life fighting for the
State of Israel, understood that there would only be real peace if land was
swopped or as the Old Rogue used to say – returned. The move was something that
everybody could agree with.
Unfortunately, Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish Settler
and he was succeeded by a populist called Bibi Nethanyahu, who made very clear
that he was against everything Rabin wanted. His view of things was simple –
land for peace was OK as long as the Palestinians understood they were supposed
to sit in the shit.
How did so much great hope die with one man? The answer is
very simple – there is an idea floating around that says “God” (Yahweh to the
Jews and Allah to the Muslims) is a real estate broker who has given that slice
of the desert to one group of people. While this might sound simplistic in the
modern age, it has been proven to be an idea that is as powerful as is toxic. This
idea has enabled extremist to flourish and international laws be damned.
I think of the time Ariel Sharon fell into a coma. In his vegetative
state, the man who made his name butchering Arabs (read brown people), was condemned
not for his butchery but for his one vaguely decent act, which was to get the IDF
to remove settlements from Gaza (needless to say, he still ensured the IDF
controlled all the vital areas for survival (airspace etc). He was condemned for
…. wait for it…. giving away God’s land by Pat Robertson, a televangelist who
also doubles up as a media mogul.
The solution is simple. God needs to announce that he is
handing over real estate brokerage in the desert to humanity so that humanity
can do something Godly for a change. Christ was very clear that he did not approve
of starving anyone nor was he a proponent of “apartheid.”
I’m not saying that the Palestinians have been saintly but
they are clearly the weaker party and they have been on the wrong end of a very
powerful military force that’s backed up by the world’s most powerful military
force. Every time the more powerful party does something to them, the world falls
into the trap of the likes of Mr. Robertson, and everyone scolds the
Palestinians for not accepting their fate – they are scolded for having the audacity
to fight back. It’s a case of the world tells them to stop using the gun and
negotiate with the tongue, while the other side continues to build settlements
on Palestinian land.
Once God informs the world that he is not interested in
being a real estate broker, it then becomes easier for people to do the Gods
work by living in peace. With God in the business, you’ll have people of European
decent claiming that it’s a violation of God’s will if any of that land is
given to people of Semitic decent and doing everything in their power to help
other people of European decent to keep the land away from people of Semitic
decent.
Once we allow God to exit the real estate business, we can
encourage cooler heads on both sides to come to the negotiating table. You had
people like the late Saudi King Abdullah, who was willing to push the Arab
league into recognizing Israel in return for withdrawal to its 1967 borders.
You had people like Yitzak Rabin, who could shake hands with old enemies like Yasser
Arafat and the late King Hussein of Jordan.
We’ve had great men like these who were willing to do God’s
work by going against what they were conditioned to believe. Once God explains
that he, unlike the Trump is not in the real estate business, will we then
achieve a Godly peace.
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