Hazardous
Intent:
US Brokers In Palestine
By Remi Kanazi
09 October 2006
Countercurrents.org
Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice is back in the Middle East and she is in a
"very concerned" state. For someone who has played Israeli
ambassador to the Middle East since her tenure began, her on again,
off again concern for the plight of the Palestinian people has become
more predictable than orange alerts during election season. In her newest
stint, providing false promises and pernicious rhetoric, Rice vowed
to "redouble" US efforts to "improve conditions for the
Palestinian people." Rice, however, came to the table empty handed,
with photographers trailing closely behind to capture images of hope,
concern, and heartfelt declarations. Nevertheless, eye-catching headlines
and West Bank photo ops will not put food on the table for the Palestinian
people, nor will it end the economic, physical, and political blockade
imposed upon the Occupied Territories by the international community.
If Rice was concerned for
the well-being of the Palestinian people, she wouldn't have waited until
hundreds of Palestinians had perished at the hands of Israeli forces
to take interest. A humanitarian would have intervened to stop Israel's
siege and immediately combated its effects: the rise in poverty and
unemployment, the drop in wages, constant food shortages, and the heightening
of tensions between factions in Gaza and the West Bank. At any point,
Rice could have rode in on her white horse to fulfill last year's promises:
the implementation of bus convoys between the West Bank and Gaza, the
sustained entryway and exit through the Rafah border and a bolstering
of freedom and democracy throughout the region. Furthermore, the feeding
tube that had been inserted into the Palestinian economy -- made necessary
by 39 years of occupation -- would not have been pulled with her expressed
support.
The BBC quoted UN special
rappoteur on Palestinian human rights, John Dugard, as stating, "In
effect, the Palestinian people have been subjected to economic sanctions
-- the first time an occupied people has been so treated." Moreover,
as we've seen in Lebanon, the enforcement of Israel's requirements --
i.e. abiding by UN resolution 1701, which Israel clearly violated by
conducting a Special Forces mission in the sovereign state of Lebanon
-- has not been enforced, adding to the multitude of double standards
already in place. The Palestinian government is expected, and pressured
on a variety of levels, to accept Israel's right to exist, end armed
struggle, and accept the Oslo Accords and all previous agreements (a
condition which hardliners in the Israeli Knesset refuse to do). These
demands come at a time when Israel unabashedly flouts international
law and refuses to implement just one UN resolution pertaining to it.
Nonetheless, this continues to be standard US policy -- safeguard Israel
from criticism and punishment at all costs.
The Future of Palestine
The Palestinians for their
part have fallen into the trap set by Israel and America -- divide and
conquer each other. Hamas and Fatah know well that the way forward is
together rather than in disgruntled factions vying for power. Civil
war status will bear fruit for no one. It will only serve as a catalyst
for further Israeli attacks and augment the future bombing campaigns
in Gaza. Now that its first round in Lebanon is over, Israel will undoubtedly
use the coming days to focus on Gaza.
The Palestinian voice has
been its strongest when unified. It is crucial that the two parties
join together, whether based on the joint Hamas-Fatah prisoner document
or on negotiations of their own making. The Palestinian people's best
foot forward will emanate from cohesion rather than submission to Israeli/American
pressure. Those in the Occupied Territories were taught a lesson by
the blockade: in the absence of complete acquiescence, the international
community is willing to coerce, strangulate, impoverish, and kill in
the name of the greater goal. This lesson should have been learned after
the years of the international backed sanctions on Iraq, the NATO bombings
of the Balkans, and America's relentless pursuit to conquer Vietnam.
Yet current and past victims seem to let these events become distant
memories, while its proponents justify crimes with omission and attempt
to cleanse themselves of fault with post-invasion phrases like "in
hindsight."
The Palestinian people cannot
continue to let the international community omit their struggle, nor
can it let the international community degrade the value of their lives
with taglines and catchy phrases. There is too much at stake: the future
of Palestine, the security and well being of its people and the right
to create a life of its own design.
Remi Kanazi is the primary writer for the political
website www.PoeticInjustice.net.
He is the editor of the forthcoming book of poetry, Poets for Palestine
(for more information go to Poetic Injustice). He can reached via email
at [email protected]
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