Mitra Ebadolahi Ebadolahi is a
fourth-year international development studies and history student
who believes the forces of good will kiss evil on the lips. Please
send comments to mightymousemitra@yahoo.com.
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Despite guaranteed political backlash and a United Nations
tradition of silence on the Arab-Israeli conflict, U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan did something few of his colleagues in the
international community would be willing to do. On Tuesday, he
called on Israel to put an end to its illegal occupation of
Palestinian territories. His moving speech, delivered before an
open session of the U.N. Security Council, represents a significant
accomplishment for the normally-mute U.N.
More importantly, it signals that the international community
has finally and unequivocally recognized one of the most
significant causes of the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict: the
Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
It’s about time. Israel has illegally occupied Palestinian
lands, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, since the 1967
war. This is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949,
which prohibits the building of settlements in occupied
territories. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency estimates three and a
half million Palestinians have been displaced by Israel’s
occupation, and live as refugees in or around these
territories.
Two weeks ago, Israel launched another offensive against
Palestinians,this time targeting youth and other purported
“terrorists.” Twenty thousand Israeli troops have since
been deployed, and on Tuesday alone at least 31 Palestinians were
killed. Reports have also surfaced that Israeli officers have
written numbers on the forearms and foreheads of Palestinian
prisoners to identify them (New York Times, March 12). Such
behavior not only evokes a chilling reminder of the Holocaust, but
it also indicates that Israel continues to view Palestinians as
sub-human creatures not even worthy of their own names.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared
“if the Palestinians are not being beaten, there will be no
negotiations. (Israel’s) aim is to increase the number of
losses on the other side. Only after they’ve been battered
will we be able to conduct talks.” (NY Times, March 4)
Sharon’s statement indicates just how far the Israeli
administration is prepared to literally beat down the opposition in
order to wrench an unfair “peace” from a broken
Palestinian resistance.
It is in the wake of such blatantly violent rhetoric and
escalating brutality that Kofi Annan finally found the courage to
speak out. In his statement, Annan demanded Israel stop “the
bombing of civilian areas, the assassinations, the unnecessary use
of lethal force, (and) the daily humiliation of ordinary
Palestinians” (Reuters, March 12) Annan also blamed Israel
for fueling “the fires of hatred, despair, and extremism
among Palestinians” (Reuters, March 12).
More than 200 members of the Israeli Defense Forces agree with
Annan. (New York Times) In a New York Times editorial, IDF major
Ishai Menuchin decried the occupation for making Israel “less
secure and less humane” (NY Times, March 9). Dissident
Israeli soldiers have formed the Yesh Gvul movement and engage in
selective refusal in order to send a clear statement to Sharon and
his bloodthirsty men: end the occupation, and the killing, now.
To be sure, the violence in Israel has hardly been unilateral.
Suicide bombings and Palestinian uprisings have also claimed the
lives of innocent civilians. As Annan himself noted, such attacks
are just as “morally repugnant” as the Israeli
offensives. Both sides must cease and desist from further violence
if there is to be any hope for a peaceful resolution.
Since September 1999, over 1,550 lives have been lost to the
endemic violence in Israel and the occupied areas (U.N. statistic
from www.commondreams.org). The situation has surpassed crisis
proportions. Rarely does a day go by without the news of another
Palestinian suicide bombing or Israeli raid into a refugee camp or
Palestinian settlement.
Right now, however, it’s up to Israel to decide what comes
next. Their illegal occupation of Palestinian territories is
perhaps the single most powerful catalyst driving the present
violence. Israel must listen to the international community and
withdraw immediately from these territories for fair peace
negotiations to begin. An Israeli withdrawal will send a powerful
message of reconciliation to Palestinian refugees as well as the
rest of the world, and end Israel’s ongoing breach of
international law.
Today, retired U.S. marine General Anthony Zinni will arrive in
Jerusalem to push for a renewed cease-fire agreement on behalf of
the Bush administration. The U.S. convoy will have an exceptional
opportunity to echo Annan’s strong position and demand an
immediate plan for Israel’s withdrawal.
Without such a proposal, all hopes at peace will remain futile,
because the Palestinians will not disappear. They will continue to
fight as long as they can so that they may survive as a people
exercising their own right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.