Hopelessness

I have finally, after many years of hoping for a decent settlement to the Israeli/Palestinian question, have regretfully decided it is a hopeless quest and no solution is possible, nor will a solution ever be possible. John McCain has suggested that Bill Clinton who enjoys great international prestige should be sent there to act as an independent broker for a solution. First of all I have no idea why John McCain thinks he has any credibility or relevance at all when it comes to foreign relations, and second, there is no way any American can now claim to be a neutral observer. The U.S. has been so overwhelmingly supportive of Israel no matter what criminal acts they have committed it is ludicrous to believe we could act as an objective broker in this unfortunate on-going disaster. It would be wonderfully magical if Clinton agreed to take on such an impossible task and something might come of it, but it cannot happen.

It cannot happen because the Israelis don’t want anything. That is, usually when there is a dispute over something, both sides have something in mind they wish to achieve or gain and they also usually consider what is offered to them and what they would have to give up. In this unfortunate situation the Israelis have nothing to gain as they don’t want anything other than the status quo. They have made this quite clear in recent years. And, as they don’t want anything except what already exists they have nothing to gain. Indeed, whatever solution would be proposed means they would lose something rather than gain anything. This renders diplomacy or compromise totally irrelevant. It may be the case that Israel claims to want peace but that is just nonsense as they have made it quite clear they want nothing except the present situation to continue, a situation that leaves them entirely in control and makes any other solution impossible.

The Israelis have slowly and systematically been encroaching on Palestinian land and water, expanding their illegal settlements, destroying Palestinian orchards and farmlands, allowing the settlers to murder and plunder at will, making It impossible for a genuine or viable Palestinian state to come into existence. At the same time they have targeted and killed Palestinian leaders, murdered Palestinian civilians, including children almost at will, cut Gaza off from the rest of the world and reduced their rations to a barely livable level. They have also imprisoned and tortured Palestinians whenever they desired. They have repeatedly violated international law, ignored the United Nations, thumbed t heir nose at everyone, and done exactly as they pleased. When challenged they usually claim they have a right to defend themselves. But they make no attempt to do anything that would actually lead to a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question. They have done all of this in full view of the entire world that has just stood by apparently helpless to intervene. The United States, much to our everlasting shame, has not only done nothing for the plight of the Palestinians and, in fact, has aided and abetted these terrible Israeli war crimes.

If nothing else the history of Israel from the beginning to the current situation is testimony to the utter and complete stupidity of the human species. It is obvious, and has been for a long time, that no military solution is possible, but this does not stop the same response to violence every time a problem presents itself. You might think the participants would have learned by now that more killing is not going to achieve anything, but, then, when your ultimate goal is mainly to rid yourself of Palestinians, who cares how many get killed. What is being played out in the West Bank and Gaza is little different than what happened in the U.S. when American Indians were displaced from their lands, or what happened in Australia, or, indeed, in any other colonial situation. We like to say colonialism is dead but it lives on in Palestine and no one seems to care. It is disgraceful and a sad commentary on the human race. Despair and depression are bad enough but the sense of hopelessness is far worse. It is much to the credit of the Palestinians they have not yet succumbed to it.

The difference of race is one of the reasons why I fear war may always exist; because race implies difference, difference implies superiority, and superiority leads to predominance.

Benjamin Disraeli