Palestinian State - Figment of Imagination?

Map showing the West Bank and Gaza Strip in relation to central Israel (situation of 2007) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The idea of a two-state solution has been doing the rounds for many years to achieve a peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. Most countries in the world including the US, EU have expressed support for a two-state solution. A solution to the Israeli Occupation since the Six Day War of June 1967 has been discussed in international forums for many years, including negotiations with the Palestinians. There has been no progress towards a two-state solution.

While we all want a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, there is no sign that this is going to happen any time soon. The reasons are numerous and complicated. It is not because PM Netanyahu said that under his watch, there will be no establishment of Palestinian State. There is no situation on the ground that is conducive to negotiations.

In order to even arrive at negotiations, there must be a desire on both sides to reach a settlement. The Palestinian Authority under

Mahmoud Abbas and his chief professional negotiator for peace, Dr. Saeb Erakat represent nobody but themselves. According to the latest polls, Hamas support in the West Bank is on the increase and support for the PLO- oriented PA (Palestinian Authority) is on the wane. Even if a peace agreement between Israel and the PA is reached, Abbas will never sign because Hamas will never accept it. Hamas will only accept a "Peace Treaty" that delegitimizes Israel's right to exist. Israel’s establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank is not an issue. As far as Hamas is concerned, Israel is occupied territory since 1948 and this is their mantra that is well outlined in the Hamas Charter which has not changed. The PA has had no general elections since 2006. It has no democratic institutions and no accountability to its people. Transparency in government is non-existent. They know that Hamas is breathing down their necks waiting to take over the West Bank if elections would take place. The result for Israel would be disastrous!  The PA and Hamas have signed an agreement even though it is shaky.

There is total instability in the Middle East with warring factions ranging from ISIS, Jabhat al-Nusra, the genocide of the Yazidis and Christians. Hezbollah, who are allies of Hamas, Salifis and many other Islamist terror groups are engaged in partisan terrorist activity. With all due respects, how on earth can one see a fertile ground for a two-state solution? One must also bear in mind that all these groups have an insatiable, pathological hate for Israel. These terrorist nationalist groups are hell bent on Israel's destruction. The UN is impotent and many of its members spend time on bashing Israel on "human rights abuse" concerning the Palestinians. The chaos in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon is hardly an issue. Iran and Turkey are also involved. The former is supporting Hezbollah and Syria’s butcher, Bashar el Assad, while the latter sits on the fence. The occupation and building settlements are opposed by many of us, however, we realize that the alternative is worse. If Israel relinquishes the occupied territories, it will be filled by Hamas and the West Bank will deteriorate into a second Gaza and Hamas terror, tunnel digging for the infiltration of Hamas terrorists into Israel will increase. This will be the alternative to the occupation. It is a reality and not an ideology. Ideology against the occupation and the reality of a barbaric scenario without the occupation is obvious. This is the choice we really have. Sorry for this pessimism! If only this was not the case. The biggest enemy of the Palestinian Leadership (Hamas and the PA) is the strong belief in their fantasy world of glory.  They create a reality based on their fantasies. In this attempt, they have much in common with ISIS and their terrorist ilk, despite their constant denials.

The earthquake disaster in Nepal has overshadowed most news items in Israel. Israel has bent over backwards to send IDF rescue teams to save as many Nepalese victims as possible. Field hospitals have been established and many lives have been saved. Rescue teams have arrived from all over the world, each doing what they can to alleviate the suffering and working round the clock.

There are groups of journalists in Israel of the likes of Gideon Levy who feel that Israel should be rehabilitating Gaza and not be putting in such effort to save lives in Nepal. He is wrong for many reasons (some of which will be outlined later in this article) and there are many double-standard, self-styled human rights activists who feel the same way.

The Gaza War - Operation Protective Edge - broke out in July 2014 and lasted 50 days. Of course, the Palestinians in Gaza underwent traumatic suffering no matter how one views it. Large densely populated areas in Gaza were destroyed, leaving many people homeless. This was not the result of a natural disaster but Israel's military reaction to Hamas aggression, which Gideon Levy and his colleagues of like mind, ignore. The attempts at firing missiles into Israel by Hamas terrorist militants as well as digging tunnels to carry out murderous acts of terror created a situation whereby the IDF was forced to act in order to defend Israel's citizens. Hamas was warned but they took no heed. The result for the Palestinian population was tragic. It was grist for the mill of human rights activists sympathetic to the Hamas-oriented Palestinian cause and all that it entails.

The Hamas use of innocent Palestinians as human shields is well documented with Hamas rockets being fired from UNRWA property and from civilian areas added to the tragic death rate of many innocent Palestinians. One must also note that the Hamas leadership was hidden in shelters underground and not a squeak was heard from them while Palestinian human shields surrounded their “hidey holes” and took a battering. The "brave-fearless-in-rhetoric" Khaled Mashaal sitting on the gold pots in Qatar, Ismail Haniyeh as well as many other Hamas leaders in an underground shelter were conspicuous by their absence. They came out of their holes when a cease-fire was declared to sprout their rhetoric of bravado and fantasy victory.

Nepal is not Gaza and the latter's leadership is hostile to Israel. They would not have allowed the IDF to go on a lifesaving mission to help those Palestinians caught up in the tragedy. This would be against their interests of portraying Palestinian suffering at the hands of the “cruel occupier - Israel”! There were cases where Palestinians did arrive in Israeli hospitals for medical treatment. How can one expect Israel to rehabilitate Gaza when Hamas was responsible for the tragedy as well as declaring war on Israel and not a natural disaster? Hamas was the cause of Palestinian suffering and destruction! The "peace loving" NGOs and their journalistic ilk avoided publishing the truth. Truth in Hamas eyes is based on fantasy in most cases as well as dishonest reporting.

After Operation Protective Shield, a ceasefire was declared and the destruction to Gaza was horrendous and the toll in death and destruction in Gaza was high. The blame for this must be laid at the doorstep of Hamas, who acted irresponsibility, crippled by their fantasies of victory, glory and irreconcilable hate for Israel that goaded them on to create a disaster for the Palestinians.

Today acts of terror against Israel still occur. Individual Palestinians go on the rampage periodically ramming their vehicles into innocent bystanders or stabbing people in the streets. These terrorists are imbued with an irreconcilable hatred for Jews and carry out individual terrorist acts.

The reality as portrayed in this article is not conducive to a Two State solution. It is a sad truth. It will remain a figment of the imagination to those, who are naive and ignorant to the reality on the ground in a sea of enemies surrounding Israel and the chaos in the Middle East of today.

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Holocaust Context Today

It has become rather trendy to equate the Israeli occupation with all sort  of stereotypes and mantras. The occupation is a problem caused by the inability of the Arab states to recognize Israel's right to exist. Mainstream Palestinian thought today is according to the Hamas Charter. The PA is weak and has very little support in Palestinian street. Most Palestinians want peace but the PA leadership claiming to represent them, fear Hamas.

We are all aware of the wars that Israel fought to defend its citizens against Arab aggression prior to the June 1967 Six Day War. Israel was forced to carry out a preemptive strike after President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, had closed off the Tiran Straits, choking Israel's shipping just after he (Nasser) ordered the UN observers to leave the area. Israel won the war and occupied the West Bank, Golan Heights, Gaza, the Sinai Peninsula and East Jerusalem. Prior to 1967, Israel never had occupied Palestinian lands and yet the desire to destroy Israel from the day of its establishment remained in the mindset of the Arab countries. As far as Hamas is concerned, the whole of Israel, established since 1948 is occupied territory and not just the areas occupied after the Six Day War.

What is happening today? Various Palestinian terrorist groups or "Freedom Fighters" infiltrate Israel carrying out terrorist attacks against innocent Israelis. Many act on their own as individuals, ramming civilians in Jerusalem with vehicles at their disposal, stabbings or suicide attacks. “Peacemaking” NGOs, who have adopted the Palestinian cause against the Israeli occupation, arrived as volunteers to get involved in so-called coexistence projects. Superficially it seems noble but in practice, these organizations are indulged in spreading lies and hate against Israel as well as exaggerating the plight of the Palestinians and IDF abuse of them. Their silence on Palestinian terror gives a clear sign as to whom they support.

These NGOs are funded by many European countries and the whole plan is to delegitimize Israel by creating falsehoods about Israel's treatment of Palestinians. The BDS movement is a ramification of these NGO activities to wear Israel down in the hope of capitulation to Palestinian "freedom movements” such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other splinter terrorist groups whose aim is Israel's total destruction.

Many of us were deceived by these European funded NGOs into believing in the nobility of their cause for peace. These "peacemakers" glorify the Palestinians. They do not know the history of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict or Middle Eastern history, let alone Palestinians.

They equate Israel's treatment of the Palestinians with apartheid South Africa and Nazi Germany. They even talk about Israel's acts of genocide against Palestinians. These self-righteous, ignorant, double standard, hypocrites come to Israel to spread their ignorant lies. Why do they not go to Syria, Iraq and Yemen, where there is bloodshed, killings of a dimension that boggles the mind? In these countries Arabs kill each other and no condemnation of worth is uttered in the UN. What about the persecution of Christians in these countries who are being killed like vermin as well as Muslims who do not follow Jabhat el Nusra and ISIS? This proves that underneath all the NGO "peace motives" is a more sinister all encompassing, race hatred - anti-Semitism! They deny this of course, by saying that they hold the Jewish People and Israel to a "higher standard" and feel they must speak out against the "cruel oppression of the Palestinians" that Israel commits, calling it "war crimes" against Palestinians.  There are some Israelis in the employ of these NGOs, who invent stories about torture of Palestinians and create a new truth by uttering lies and distortions that are publicized in the media sympathetic to the Palestinian cause whatever that represents. Tell a lie often enough and it becomes the truth. This was evident in Operation Naked Edge in July/August 2014 in Gaza.

The aftermath of this last war in Gaza witnessed a rise in anti-Semitism the likes of which has never been experienced since the end of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. The sympathy for the Palestinian fight against the occupation has taken root in Europe. Attacks against Jews, destruction of synagogues and this is all the result of a resurgence of classic anti-Semitism that has reached a zenith in France with an attack on a kosher Supermarket in Paris as well as anti-Semitic attacks gaining momentum in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and many other European countries. It is a weird mix of classic anti-Semitism and Islamist extremism that has overtaken Europe. IS has its roots in many mosques in Europe, brainwashing European youth to their cause for establishing a caliphate in their home countries with fiery Imams delivering the most rabid anti-Semitic sermons that has become anti-Christian as well.

The Western world stands in silence while the US kowtows to the wily President Hassan Rouhani of Iran - the charming sugar-coated bitter pill of the cruel, despotic ayatollah regime of Khamenei and its hate of the US and Israel. Pathetic! Is President Obama the modern Neville Chamberlain appeasing Iran? Time will tell and that time is on Iran's side, not on the side of the civilized world. The Holocaust denials - part of Iran's stock and trade, as well as of many NGOs active in the Palestinian quest for freedom from Israeli occupation.

These self-righteous, hypocritical, double standard NGOs should be sent to Syria, Iraq and Iran to monitor human rights and torture, where they can promote peace. Israel is easy meat for them. In the above mentioned countries, they will be beheaded in no time while their allies in the UN will remain apathetic to their plight.

The attempt at creating conditions for committing genocide against the Jews has never been as rife as it is today since the end of World War 2. The anti-Semitism has even spread to places as far as South Africa, Australia and even New Zealand firing the imagination of many Muslims in these countries Thank you, European NGOs, for fomenting anti-Semitism and xenophobia internationally in countries where it was never an issue.

Speech of President Mahmoud Abbas to UNGA 24th September 2014

Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 24th Sept 2014 

One of the news items, over Rosh Hashanah - Jewish New Year 2014, was the speech of President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly.  Israelis did not find the speech pleasant to their ears. There were demands for an immediate end to the occupation and emphasis on so-called genocide committed by Israel against innocent Palestinians in Gaza. He blamed Israel for the intense suffering in Gaza as well as the destruction of homes of Gazans. Naturally the comparison of the Israeli occupation with the old apartheid regime of South Africa was also mentioned a number of times. He attacked Israel for its aggressive occupation policies, which he viewed as creating intense suffering of the Palestinian people. He also stated that the Gaza War - Operation Protective Edge was the most devastating, and caused the most suffering to innocent Palestinians.

When one listens to this speech in its entirety and not selected rhetoric as the Israeli Press, supportive of the Netanyahu Coalition publishes; we are able to judge the context of this speech more objectively.

We must also bear in mind to whom this speech was directed and the reasons.

Musa Abu Marzouk, the Hamas leader in Cairo, (it is interesting to note that he was not expelled from Cairo by President Fattah  el-Sisi of Egypt, whose hate for the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas is well known) has stated that Hamas is prepared to cede the control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas.

According to Palestinian polls as mentioned in my previous articles, Abbas has very little Palestinian support. Most Palestinians still support Hamas in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Undoubtedly, Mahmoud Abbas feels that he must show his audience that he is in full control and he condemns the Israeli Occupation. He also stressed the urgency to end Israel's unjust domination of the Palestinians immediately. This, in his view, would strengthen his flagging support in Palestinian street. Ok, so the speech was not the kind of music Israel wanted to hear but we must understand why his speech sounded so aggressive.

Many omissions in his speech were so conspicuous by its absence. There was no mention of Hamas aggression against Israel by its firing of missiles indiscriminately into Israel for killing as many Israeli citizens as possible. We are all aware of the Iron Dome system that intercepted most of the missiles, preventing high casualty figures as well as saving many Israeli lives. There was no mention of Hamas-built tunnels in Gaza for terrorists to infiltrate Israel in order to carry out mega suicide attacks against innocent people nor was there any mention of Hamas human shield tactics to create the genocide picture of bloodshed and killing that served Hamas propaganda against Israel. It is no secret that Hamas had purposefully endangered Palestinian lives by firing from schools, hospitals, UNRWA sites and areas where there are high concentrations of Palestinian homes. This explained the tragically high Palestinian death rate.

The Hamas "heroic" leadership was hidden underground in bunkers safe from all the Israeli air, land and sea attacks. Khaled Mashal, the Hamas political leader in Qatar, gave instructions to carry on the war against Israel. This was done from his luxurious abode far away from the suffering of the Palestinians, whom he claims to represent.  No money was spent for bomb shelters for Palestinians in order to save their lives. They had the money spent on the lavish underground shelters for the Hamas leadership in Gaza. The shedding of innocent blood of Palestinians served Hamas propaganda against Israel as well as increasing anti-Semitic attacks against Jews all over the world by the incredible union of fascists and left wing "bleeding heart" wacko "humanists", sympathetic to the “freedom fighting” Hamas, with the same double-standard hypocrisy peculiar to pseudo-religious monotheists of the three Abrahamic religions.

Perhaps it was not prudent for Mahmoud Abbas to raise these facts during his speech. He continued his tirades against Israeli "genocide" in order to gain the support that he does not have.

However, it is significant to note that he made no mention of accusing Israel of "War Crimes" against the Palestinians at the International Criminal Court.

The latter part of the speech left the door open to negotiations on solving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by peaceful means and the urgency of getting the process started immediately. He did mention the murder and burning of a Palestinian teenager but he never mentioned the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, nor did he mention the condolence visits by many Israelis to the home of the parents of the Palestinian teenager before Operation Protective Edge.

There were parts of the speech that one could not deny. Israelis have forgotten the vandalism committed by Jewish right wing extremists Price Tag against Palestinian property, including churches, mosques, and olive trees. I have written many articles condemning these barbaric acts by Price Tag and the abuse of Palestinians under occupation by settlers and the Israeli Authorities.

Nevertheless, as much as the occupation is an evil that is bad for Israel, the Palestinians and the stability of the region, we must also be cognoscent of the fact that, if this tragic problem is not addressed in a fair and just manner satisfying all the parties, this festering sore will eat into the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians, creating more violence, unnecessary bloodshed, instability and devastation.

No solution and a continuation of the status quo will strengthen Hamas and the possibility of ISIS forming a union with Hamas to form a Caliphate by infiltrating into the occupied territories the consequences of which will be a disastrous nightmare. We must remember that ISIS or IS or ISIL and Hamas have a similar ideology of killing opponents, the former does it by beheadings, the latter by public shootings in the head. An intolerant Islamist dictatorship is the goal of both these groups in the Middle East. Hamas has a stronger emphasis on Israel's destruction at this stage, replacing Israel with an Islamist, Palestinian state. We must also bear in mind that the strength of the present ceasefire is dependent on Hamas desire to keep it.

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