ŞAHİN ALPAY
s.alpay@todayszaman.com
| Last Friday, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority, despite pressure and threats coming from the United States, the European Union and Israel not to do so, formally asked the United Nations to recognize Palestine as its 194th member state. He was greeted with a standing ovation by the UN General Assembly, reflecting the support of the peoples of the world for a free Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel within recognized and secure borders. | |
| Abbas was absolutely right in what he said in his address to the General Assembly: “I do not believe anyone with a shred of conscience can reject our application for a full membership of the United Nations and our admission as a full member state. … At a time when the Arab people affirm their quest for democracy -- the Arab Spring -- the time is now for the Palestinian spring, the time for independence. … It is a moment of truth and my people are waiting to hear the answer of the world. Will it allow Israel to continue its occupation, the only occupation in the world?” Palestinians have been living under Israeli occupation for more than 60 years, and negotiations for peace on the basis of a two-state solution that have carried on for nearly 20 years have seen nothing but brutal suppression while Jewish settlements on Palestinian land continue to expand. Application for UN membership has become their only hope for advancing the peace process. Israel, which has relied on the unconditional support of the US and the EU, should finally come to its senses and bring to an end the illegal and unjust occupation and oppression of the Palestinians, a people with whom they must make peace and live side-by-side. This is also the demand of the conscientious people of Israel. A group of prominent Israeli intellectuals gathered on Sept. 22 and signed a declaration that states the following: “In front of our very eyes, an insane drama is being acted out. The Prime Minister of Israel is leading his citizens to Masada [that is, collective suicide]. Human morality, Jewish history and the interests of Israel -- all clearly show the way to being the first state in the world to recognize, in the United Nations, our neighbor state and then to enter into negations, based on equality, regarding territorial exchanges and security arrangements. After all, the Palestinian State recognizes the State of Israel in the '67 borders.” This was how Uri Avnery, a former member of the Israeli parliament and a globally respected leader of the Israeli peace movement, commented on the Palestinian application for statehood: “Mahmoud Abbas has taken the excuses out of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's hands. The State of Palestine, under his leadership, is fully ready to make peace with the State of Israel on the basis of the 1967 borders, to resume negotiations if no settlement facts are created on the land subject to negotiations -- but the Palestinians are not ready to continue to live under occupation. … The State of Palestine will not arise tomorrow, and a long and hard road awaits all of us until this state becomes a reality and takes its rightful place as the Palestinians' national state and Israel's partner for peace. Still, today will be counted among the key historical dates in the history of our region. Netanyahu's answering speech was nothing but a cheap compilation of propaganda, with rejection of the Palestinian offer and intransigent refusal to end the occupation packed in ‘security' rhetoric and clichés.” A year ago US President Barack Obama called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state by September 2011. He has reneged on those words and, arguing that peace can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the two sides and, most likely out of fear that otherwise the Israel and Christian Zionist lobbies will hinder his re-election, declared he will veto the Palestinian bid in the Security Council. Let the US use its veto and suffer another blow to its credibility, not only among Arab and Muslim peoples but the vast majority of the entire world, and become as isolated as Israel. This may perhaps help the American people realize that standing against Palestinian independence is not only against the US's national interests but also against the interests of the Israeli people. In unconditionally supporting Palestinian statehood, Ankara has assumed a position that is not only entirely in line with the wishes of the people of Turkey, but also the interests of the peoples of both Palestine and Israel. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that “recognition of Palestine is not an option but an obligation.” I completely agree. Long live free Palestine! | |
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