WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
For most of my life, Arabs and Jews have been killing each other, and the conflict continues, with no apparent end in sight. Virtually everyone I know has strong opinions on the matter, and come down heavily on one side or the other. There is much bile and hate-filled language used, and moderation has gone out of the window.
I believe that most people are missing the point. Playing the blame game is sterile and futile. There is right on both sides, wrong on both sides, and both parties do sometimes act cruelly and inexcusably.
Surely, the only thing that matters is how do we resolve the issue in a fair, just, and permanent manner, so that each side can learn to live in security, and eventually, in peace?
These are my personal ideas.
1 There will eventually be a cease-fire, and the sooner that happens the better.
2. The warring parties must be separated militarily, probably by a tough and capable UN force of some sort.
3. A viable 2 state solution must be negotiated, guaranteed, and if necessary, imposed by the UN.
If the Jews and the Arabs cannot learn to live together, then they will die together, simple as that.
Incidentally, all this implies a much stronger, more effective United Nations than at present. We must return to the ideals and concepts that brought the UN into existence. The biggest single barrier to this is the US government, which views the UN as a nuisance and an irrelevance.
If the US treats the UN with contempt, and vetoes every positive move, then eventually the world will treat the US with equal contempt, and turn its back on that country.
If it were left entirely to the Bush Administration, the United Nations would have been totally ignored, sidelined, and eventually made powerless by them.
This unbelievable unwillingness to cooperate with anyone by Bush, whether over the Kyoto agreements, the Iraq and Israeli situations, or more recently, they failure of the World Trade Talks is a sign of the ignorance and arrogance of the present American government.
Blair has paid a very heavy price, both at home and internationally. for his quiet but persuasive stance, and he knows it
Blair may be many things, but stupid he is not, and to suggest that he is Bush\'s poodle is ridiculous. Who was it who siad that it is better to be inside the tent pissing out than outsude the tent pissing in ?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5238050.stm
In answer to a question, he pointed out that as early as 2 days after the 9/11 attack, he made a speech in which he said that such terror attacks would not be ended until a viable Palestinian state had been created. He has been saying the same thing ever since, in very many speeches, and pointed out that, at his prompting, George Bush is the first American President ever to commit himself to a 2 state solution.
While not in itself a solution, getting such a commitment is no little achievenent.
Last night, I was watching a highly respected journalist on TV, John Snow, who has done a huge survey of Muslim opinions in the UK. It was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen, seriously.
A majority of young Muslims in Britain think that
1. 9/11 was a Jewish/CIA plot
2. The London bombings were justified
3. MI.5 killed Princess Diana to stop her marrying a Muslim.
I think real life is complex enough without introducing all these fanciful ideas.
50 years ago, Britain France and Israel colluded over Suez. It lead to a drastic change in the World Order, the end of Britain as a sort of Superpower, and the total disgrace of Eden , the British PM. Any world statesman foolish enough to try to repeat that sort of thing would be an idiot, especially as today, the keeping of secrets is harder than ever before.
Final point. When Israel occupied Lebanon the last time, it cost them an aweful lot of casualties, and they hve no wish to repeat that exercise, and even today, their worst fear is that they may become bogged down in South Lebanon. That is the last thing they want, and would be happy if, as Lebanon suggested, it is not UN but Lebanese troops who police the south of the country in future.