Volume 8 ·
No. 2
Web Posted: December
2000
Barak,
Netanyahu and Israel involved in political brinkmanship while Palestinian deaths
rise.
Displaying
political agility, current Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, recently announced
that he would be resigning with the desire of paving the way for a special
election, in which he will seek his Labor Party’s nomination and hopefully
re-election.
If
victorious, Barak would reestablish confidence in the current peace process
allowing it to continue.
Why is this
needed? The answer is obvious.
Currently,
the peace process is in shambles. Arafat
has returned to carrying his revolver. Even if this move is only symbolic, it
shows the deterioration of the process that once found him shaking hands on the
West Lawn of the White House with the late Israeli Prime Minster Yitzhak Rabin
with the self satisfied President of the United States Bill Clinton looking on.
The involved
parties, presumably those to be engaged in dialogue are spouting acerbic
rhetoric. Trust is low, Arab
nations are calling on others to break ties with Israel, hard line Israeli
settlers are taking violent action against Palestinians, and amidst the
confusion and conflict, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moves
back in the picture.
This
recent action by Barak however, may have preempted or at least halted the
growing level of support for him and the Likud party. Barak trounced Netanyahu
in an election 19-months ago but it appears as if Barak is losing support while
some opinion polls even have Netanyahu enjoying growing popularity.
The Israeli
Knesset will be considering a constitutional amendment to allow Benjamin
Netanyahu to run for Prime Minister in the February election. However, just to
illustrate how bizarre the entire peace process has been, the current
provocateur of the uprising Israeli hawk Ariel Sharon is going to be Barak's
major obstacle in continuance of this process.
Less than
two months ago, the relationship between Barak and Sharon appeared to be
mutually beneficial as Barak defended Sharon and his travels to the holy Al-Asqa
mosque, while Sharon – who is considered a war criminal by many – laughed in
the face of the Palestinian and the Arab world.
Not only has
Barak been politically weaving in and out of situations with Palestinian
Authority Yassir Arafat, he also is having to display political flexibility
among hard-liners and moderate Israelis.
Back in
America, Bill Clinton’s term ends on January 20th 2000. While he
has been successful in the past at getting the Israeli government officials and
Palestinian Authority officials to the table, it does not look like he will be
able to exert enough influence to commence peace talks once again, leaving them
to sort this out among themselves.
While
some continue attempts to justify murder of innocent defenseless Palestinian
children and protesters, an Israeli group founded by Knesset members found
Israel responsible for the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip.
According to
a recent study conducted and released by the Israeli Center for Human Rights
in the Occupied Territories, Israel uses “excessive and disproportionate
force” against the children and other demonstrators in the Gaza Strip.
The
organization also found that most of the Palestinians who have been killed by
Israeli soldiers were unarmed -
children with stones being mercilessly gunned down by soldiers with guns.
There can be
no peace structured on injustice, and until the Palestinian people receive
justice, there will continue to be bloodshed.
It is
unfortunate that the most venerated holy land, which is central to all of the
world’s revealed monotheistic religions, is the world’s most notable
bubbling cauldron of conflict, suffering and death.
The death
toll in the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip since September 28th
has risen to over 300, almost all of them Palestinian demonstrators.
Look for
more clashes and shedding Israeli and Palestinian blood because Sharon
will continue his reign of terror against the Palestinian people.
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