Annapolis or no Annapolis, in Palestine the killings go on [Archives:2007/1115/Opinion]

Perhaps there have never been any people, who have been subjected to an ongoing systematic campaign of killing, imprisonment, isolation, torture and all the other agonizing trials and tribulations that could only come with Zionist occupation, as the Palestinian people have. More than that, no people have been neglected and left to surrender their fate to an ugly hate mongering chauvinistic regime that insists it can thrive on a steady campaign of ethnic cleansing while picturing it as an acceptable norm.

Furthermore, that the rest of the world can regard itself free from any responsibility for letting this machine of Zionist oppression unleash its machinery of death and continue to systematically do away with the remaining helpless Palestinians still left in the Holy Land surely raise questions about the state of the conscientiousness left in the world.

The acceptance of the ongoing slaughter of the Palestinians seems to have become an accepted fate even to the rest of the Arab states. The daily deaths and assaults created by the Zionist homicide machine is not even worthy of coverage as headline news, breaking news or even any news for that matter in the Arab media, especially the English media (newspapers and television). Is it has because Zionist homicide has become so much a part of the daily life of the occupied West Bank and the not so independent Gaza – Palestine – in case people have forgotten that there was once an idea of creating a Palestine state out of the two areas? Even the word Palestine is stated almost embarrassingly in most of the media, in the Arab world. Stress is given now to the “people of the West Bank or Gaza (with the added 'now controlled by Hamas'.

Apparently, the international community has, for all intents and purposes, given a de facto recognition to death by Zionist ordnance as justifiable. Why waste time, calling for UN condemnation, when the US veto is bound to block such an effort anyway? Never mind that the rights that have been violated in the Holy Land actually never have been allowed to exist in any territory ever occupied by Israel whether in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1982. The Arabs were misled to believe that the Arab military coups were going to rekindle the realization of all national aspirations of the Arabs including the liberation of their brothers in Palestine. However because of their failures in all directions, Arab military regimes always cover their own demise by creating new fiascos.

In most of the Arab States where governance is established by the nozzle of tank guns even the guns that they purchased are actually meant to ensure that the military continues to keep their hands on the reins of power forever and the military brass can continue to waste the resources of the land until nothing is left to be channeled to improve the welfare of the overwhelming majority of the population. How can they hope to improve the welfare of the people when they have rendered access to the resources of the land as a privilege to themselves, since we are led to believe after all they are the vanguard that will someday bring liberty and relief to their Arab brothers in Palestine. That is the argument they use to supposedly accord such juntas legitimacy and to keep their people shackled. Yet the fact is that all their presumed “efforts” towards bringing progress to their constituents have proven to be a mockery of social justice and sound governance.

Our non-military Arab regimes have also decided to take no action or even say anything while their brothers in Palestine are mowed down, beaten, besieged and denied even the most basic of sustained life such as clean air and water. Why this menacingly frightening silence on the horrible daily plight of the Palestinians remains a mystery to most of the Arab citizens of both the traditional regimes and the juntas? It is no mystery that most of the people in the Arab countries would love to help the Palestinians in one way or another.

However, there simply are no channels left open by which to send help whether in cash or in kind. Even strong pronouncements of support to Palestinians or protests against the daily torture of the Palestinians is now unwelcome by most Arab governments, if not met with the severe repression and sometimes war!

One wonders, have the Arab Governments forgotten on behalf of whom are they ruling? If one asks any random pickings of citizens from most of the Arab states, one will find the quick unanimity in the answer and the almost unanimous contempt of all of them of their respective governments, traditional or otherwise. The discussion continues

I would like to thank Dr. Alan Balboni of the University of Nevada for providing the inspiration for the above article.

Hassan Al-Haifi has been a Yemeni political economist and journalist for more than 20 years.
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