Arab countries must supply weapons to Palestinians so that they can defend themselves against Israel's brutalities
29 January 2023 Editorial Desk
The situation in Palestine flared up again as Israel's new far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir made his controversial visit to Al Aqsa mosque in violation of the status quo on January 3. With Thursday's raid on Jenin that killed about a dozen of Palestinians, it is being speculated that a third Palestinian 'Intifada' (uprising) is in the offing, and for some, it might have already begun.
In an apparent retaliation of the attack on Jenin, a teenage shooter launched an attack near a synagogue in the East Jerusalem settlement on Friday in which seven Israelis were killed and three were wounded. This was the deadliest attack Israel has seen in years. Following this attack, 42 Palestinians have been detained. As occupiers, Israel has been treating the Palestinian statehood as nothing of consequence. Therefore, the situation in occupied Palestine is going to become very tense and violent in the days to come.
Amid this horror of fresh bloodshed, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, starts a tour to the Middle East from today when he will also go to Israel and the West Bank and talk on Israeli-Palestinian relations and preserving the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Mr Netanyahu can defy the USA about the two-nation theory for the US's interest in the Middle East. But all the Muslim countries must feel humiliated for the Palestinian Muslims. It is a question of how much indignity the Muslims countries can take.
As long as Israel continues in its settlement activities in the occupied Palestine with the tacit approval of the US - and its active support in the UN Security Council - a peaceful solution can never be achieved between Israel and Palestinians. The Palestinians and the rest of the Muslim world have now accepted the two-state solution. In fact, this two-state solution is now slipping out of hand.
With Benjamin Netanyahu again coming back to power and far-right politicians in the government, peace has again lost its chance. The far-right politicians like Ben- Gvir want to rebuild the Temple Mount in the place of Al Aqsa.
It has been rightly pointed out by a Middle East journalist that since the end of the second Intifada in 2005, Israel has gradually adopted a policy by which they have established the occupation of the Palestinians as a security problem, rather than a political one. And when Israel is the occupier and killing Palestinian civilians including journalists, women and children, the US invariably comes with the same statement telling the world that Israel has a right to defend itself.
Still, the rich Arab countries' strife with each other and normalization of relations of several Arab countries with Israel, the Palestinians now feel alone before the Israeli barbarity. Controlled by Saudi Arabia, the OIC has become an organization that only issues statements without empowering the Palestinians with strategic and economic means. Everybody knows about Netanyahu's hatred against the Muslims.
It is only natural that in the face of Israeli brutality and an inactive world only condemning Israel, the young generation of Palestine is now holed up in a corner to demand arms of resistance. It is a matter of great regret that the world has failed the Palestinians with peace and justice for them remaining ever elusive.
