Dear Editor,
Nowhere is safe in the Gaza and on the occupied West Bank of the Jordan River. Hospitals are targeted and bombed, ambulances, schools, universities, and basic infrastructure. Even fuel for hospitals is not allowed in. No one is safe. At the time of writing some ninety-two UN staff members have been killed and twenty-six injured. Journalists too have been targeted, so far thirty-nine were either shot or died by the bombs raining down on Gaza. These have all been recognized as illegal actions. Israel has violated UN Security Council resolutions and international law. Why are they allowed to get away with this? The simple truth is that they are supported fully by the United States government and the European Union.
The leaders of these countries have been making pilgrimages to Israel to demonstrate their full support. The US Secretary of State and its Secretary of Defense have sat in Cabinet meetings of the regime. The chorus is that “Israel has a right to defend it-self”. This has been the mantra for a while now, but more particularly since the Hamas led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. In the process, some fourteen hundred Israeli civilians were killed and some two to three hundred, including Israeli soldiers, were taken as hostage. Those who condemn the actions of Hamas refuse to consider that Israel created the conditions for what took place on October 7.
They have held more than five thousand Palestinians in their prison for years without trial. These include women and children who were subjected to torture. The only way Palestinians are released from the prison is by exchange of prisoners. That appears to have been the objective of the attack on October 7, which went very wrong.
This situation has exposed the double standards of the “Western democracies” and it has undermined international institutions, such as the United Nations and its bodies such as the International Criminal Court.
The world witnessed the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of the Russian President because the Russian Government removed some children out of harm’s way from a war zone in the Ukraine.
In the meantime, there is an outcry from the rest of the world for a ceasefire and for a lasting solution of the problem. The Russian, Chinese and many Arab states have called for the establishment of a Palestinian state based on the UN resolution which recognized the borders of 1967.
It is apposite to note that the US and EU countries have called for a two-state solution, but they have stayed away from mentioning that it should be based on the 1967 borders. The time has come to find a permanent solution that is just and based on international law. The United Nations must take the lead in this process. The United States, which had pushed out other participants over the years, has ruled itself out as the only participant. It is not an honest broker, it is totally on the side of Israel.
There should be a return to a process which would involve the permanent members of the Security Council. Another option could be to add participants from Latin America, probably Brazil or Mexico, and a state from the African Continent, possibly South Africa. To put Israel to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority alone would be a disaster. The people of Palestine have no confidence in Abbas and his group in the West Bank. He is seen as an Israeli puppet. Moreover, they are not equal partners. Israel has enormous power, on the other hand the Palestinians are almost powerless.
Therefore, the logical alternative to direct negotiations between the two contending parties is an international alternative as mentioned above. That could lead to a viable two state solution with the two peoples living side by side in peace. As time passes by, they could develop into friendly relations. Nothing else is likely to work.
Sincerely,
Donald Ramotar
