The Short End of the Stick [Archives:2000/45/Focus]

COMMON SENSE
By: Hassan Al-Haifi
Perhaps no geographical area has occupied the space of newspapers and the time on the wireless media channels than the Middle East, particularly Palestine. To find a short and simple explanation for this concentration of world attention is perhaps one of the most challenging feats of any writer or correspondent. This is due to the simple fact, which is, that the Palestine problem is a very complex intertwining problem that involves many issues and certainly many parties, directly or indirectly. Thus, to any uninformed observer, the present unusual inequitable confrontation would seem somewhat confusing and incomprehensible. Even to many of the people, with passionate attachment to the problem on both sides of the direct confrontation, the various intricacies that make up the problem are far from being fully comprehensible. Quite often, their passionate and emotional attachment is the driving force that governs their inclinations with this side or the other.

Common Sense has continuously covered various parts of the history of the problem, in one context or the other, but even such coverage, as in-depth as it may have seemed to some, has still not presented a thorough understanding to the reader of the issues involved that would underscore the various forces at play and the positions of the antagonists that are directly involved in the crisis. Nevertheless, it would seem clear by now that, indeed, the problem of Palestine involves more than just the taking of a piece of real estate that lies at the heart of the Middle East, revered by a considerable portion of the population of the world as holy – certainly the symbolic spiritual direction to which the monotheistic religions of the world turn to, in order to come closer to reaching the Divine.
The problem has its historical and spiritual roots and for sure, one cannot forsake the historical significance of the problem. However, it must be borne in mind that as a living manifestation of a long entrenched cultural and spiritual divide among men, the Palestine problem basically surfaced in the last Century and should really be viewed as the working of external designs, with the last to be involved being the people of the area themselves! On the other hand, the problem should not be viewed in terms of economic and political significance, in as much as the other factors seem to prevail in significance beyond what political and economic considerations might be taken into account. In fact the economic and political significance seem to have greater significance when looking at the various tools and devices that help to shape events in the area, rather than as an end into themselves.
The Palestine problem is a human tragedy that continues to unfold and defy solution, even to this day, as efforts are pursued to seek a peaceful end to the problem. Even the road to this seemingly noble attempt is not free from the tragic consequences that normally accompany conflicts of emotional and spiritual attachments often exploited by the very instigators and leaders that find such animosities helpful in their quest for mundane objectives and egotistical satisfaction. The Palestine problem is also a record of failures and miscalculations by many of those who engineered and diligently pursued to achieve these objectives, as well as by those who sought to achieve justice and the correction of a wrong. Again, the difficulty of explaining the whys of the problem are obvious to the observer, when seeking to understand the justifications of each of the protagonists, in light of the facts on the ground, because the facts on the ground simply do not fall into any modeler pattern or easily comprehensible historical and cultural trends.

The Palestine problem is a pressure cooker, with frustration not only accumulating, day by day, among its victims, but also among those who have become the movers, in dictating the course of events in the region, yet failing to respond to the overriding issues really involved the right to be free of occupation and oppression, and the right to some kind of retribution for all the misery and suffering that one of the antagonists has had to go thorough, just so a mythical dream can be visualized, even if that dream is attributed to the implementation of Gods will on Earth. God forbid that His will shall be undertaken by oppression or transgression on the rights of others, but the Zionist idealists see themselves as having a license to implement Gods will by actually defying it! It is one of the most perplexing theological and philosophical misinterpretations that mankind has ever seen since the Almighty has empowered man to rule the Earth. Such dangerous play on words is but a token sample of the perplexing issues that come to be apparent, when analyzing the Palestine problem. Surely, mankind, as a whole, is bound to be accountable for letting such nonsense dictate the tragic plight of human beings, for the sake of allowing arrogance and contempt for Divine Justice (it must be borne in mind that Justice is one of the names of the Lord Al-Mighty and Oppression is one transgression that He has prohibited upon Himself).
When viewed in the universal context, then, the Palestine problem clearly underscores the importance of having a universal coherent moral reference source of guidance, to which all men must succumb to and all men must benefit from accordingly. There cannot and there will never any spiritual designs that cater to the arrogance of the adherents of any creed, for the arrogance within these adherents has removed them from any hope of ever satisfying the will of the Divine. Surely, the designs of the proponents of the Zionist dream have, in a sense, defied Gods own designs for humanity and the universe, and sought to convince all of mankind that their misrepresentation of Gods Will is moral and just. Has all of mankind then failed to understand the essence of justice and equity as part and parcel of the composition of Gods Will? These are important questions that must come to the minds of all those who wish to take part in this most difficult issue, and without such considerations there can be no fulfillment of Gods will on Earth and no achievement of an equitable final peace settlement.
In retrospect, the tragedy in Palestine brings to rise many ifs, in the minds of many well informed observers, simply because the problem, in itself, was never guided by clear dogmatic principles, on the part of the important players in the problem. Moreover, ignorance cannot be ignored as having been helpful to allowing the tragedy to continue, as even the major players seem to have only a minimal understanding of the true implications involved in the problem. This ignorance was strongly encouraged by the proponents of the Zionist Dream, either by barring the truth from reaching some of the players, or by twisting the truth to present the Zionist proponents as sponsoring an inevitable cultural and spiritual leap for mankind!
Nothing can be further than the truth. Thanks to a much smaller world we live in today, the truth cannot be so easily hidden from anyone and efforts to twist the facts on the ground are almost fruitless or impossible, thanks to the rapid strides in communications and in the development of professional journalism.

Last week, the world became truly aware of the obvious disregard for the proper use of force to control civil disruptions used by the Israeli Defense Forces. Of all people, even a correspondent of the CNN Television Network, Ben Wederman, fell victim to the Israeli thirst for blood, as an inexcusable wobble of fire, almost deliberately aimed at a group of correspondents covering the carnage, which Israel is unleashing in the Middle East, resulted in injuring the brave correspondent, who is also the CNN Bureau Chief in Cairo. We thank God that he survived the inexcusable assault and wish him a speedy recovery.. It is not clear, if Israeli troops deliberately aimed the bullet at our comrade at the mike, in view of CNNs attempt to project a wider of the confrontation, although this should not be ruled out, if anyone has any idea of the mentality that governs Israeli military and intelligence strategists (the ends justify the means). However, for sure, it can be interpreted to illustrate that the members of the press should not get too close to the crossfire, coming from one side, thus indicating an apparent curtailment of accurate press coverage of the tragedy in its truest manifestations.
For sure, the Israelis are obviously disturbed that the world will come to realize that, indeed, the Palestinians have gotten the shorter end of the stick having paid the heaviest price in blood and in dignity throughout the last eighty years.

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