Daily: El Puntal, Villa Maria City – Cordoba Province
Wednesday, November 29 of 2007
Ambassador Suhail Hani Daher Akel, the former Palestinian Ambassador in Argentina, wrote a special article for PUNTAL, VILLA MARIA, on the current situation suffered by his country.
Summer rains and autumn clouds, a dream of violence (view)
By: Suhail Hani Daher Akel
for Puntal Daily
After the last “summer rain”, the sky is covered by “autumn clouds.” This may sound like medieval romantic prose; however, it refers to the last two Israeli military operations which inflicted death and destruction on the Palestinian people as from June 27. On July 12, in the midst of these ferocious attacks, Israel managed to invade and destroy Lebanon with total impunity in 33 days. Ever since the 70’s, the country of cedars has been haunted by the ghosts of its internal confrontations and international lobby, which feeds differences and promote domestic fighting. The recent assassination of Minister of Industry Pierre Gemayel in Beirut serves as an example.
On November 8, the thickest autumn clouds of the Palestinian holocaust swept away the village of Beit Hanoun, a genocide for which the Security Council, with the United States' veto, did not have the courage to condemn Israel. By contrast, the UN General Assembly did it, with 156 votes. As expected, the occupying superpower managed to shelve the resolution, dubbing it a "theatrical farce.” International diplomacy, which seemed to have agreed to the insult, nonchalantly assured the continuity of Israel’s bilateral agreements with Europe, the MERCOSUR and its brand new Industrial Research and Development Agreement signed in Israel with Argentina on November 16. At a clear disadvantage, with fewer agreements and no diplomatic gestures, the Palestinian economy was forced to depend on donor countries. Ironically enough, the Palestinians saw their funds frozen and were condemned to famine giving Hamas their democratic vote. Supported by the United States and Europe, Israel managed to turn the basic needs of a nation into a military and political argument in order to force the Palestinians to relinquish any claims to their ideals and rights in exchange for bread and water, and condemn them to a servile government.
Voices of terror were heard in the midst of Israel's fierce State terrorism. For example, Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Liberman, of Russian descent, proposed “to raise the number of selective assassinations against Palestinian leaders, ignore President Mahmoud Abbas and cancel all agreements signed.” Minister of Infrastructure Benjamin (Fouad) Ben Eliezer, of Iraqi and Jewish origin, declared in turn that "the Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is not exempted from the attacks."
According to the ominous statistics available, the number of Palestinian civilian casualties left by these two operations is astonishing: from June 27 through November 22, Israel killed 400 Palestinians, 30% of them children, injured another 1,050, demolished 110 homes and kidnapped 112 Palestinians. In addition, 1611 attacks were perpetrated by F16 war planes and Apache helicopters. Statistics made on November 20, on occasion of International Children’s Day, showed that between September, 2000 and October 31, 2006, 868 Palestinian children were murdered, 358 in the northern part of Palestine (West Bank), 508 in Gaza and 2 in Israeli territory. In addition, 429 children under 15 underwent inhumane treatment in Israeli prisons. A study by United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) made on November 24, revealed that the socioeconomic crisis caused by the Israeli military operations have pushed 65% of the Palestinian population into extreme poverty.
Then came a truce and the storm was over. Though hardly effective, it was welcomed with enthusiasm by the media and with skepticism in the streets. Palestinian factions promised to honor the agreement with no ambiguities. Israel would then show a defying and threatening attitude. Olmert, in turn, spoke of “patience and contention.” However, no sooner did 24 hours go by than Israeli forces, with hardy any patience, violated the truce and killed 3 Palestinians.
The region is caught up in a network of violence, and the suffering of the Iraqi people is a painful chapter. Ever since the 1991 Gulf War, which was made worse by that of 2003, Iraq has been a victim of the United States, Israel and a superpower alliance. In order to combat the so-called “axis of evil”, the allies turned the millenary Gardens of Babylon into American gardens of death and horror. Without anything to stop them, they kidnapped President Saddam Hussein and took him to an obsolete court of justice. His condemnation to the gallows is unsustainable. It was not his people that removed him from power but an occupying imperial superpower that seized power. If indeed he can be charged with crimes against humanity, he should be brought before an international court like the one intervening in the process against Slobodan Milosevic. The media communicated the unjust verdict with risky optimism to support President Bush’s war policies a week after legislative elections (which he lost) and the protective machinery minimizing the gravity of Israel’s crimes.
The imperialistic association of Americans and Israelis, which deeply marked violence in the region, is taking them to their own disaster. Is it ethical to condemn President Hussein to death, like President Bush did? Or build an apartheid wall, like the one Mr. Sharon had built, in order to enclose Nobel Peace Prize laureate President Yasser Arafat, thus causing his death? Or associate peace, like Ehud Olmert, to the death of Palestinians?
During his trip to Asia, President Bush never stopped threatening North Korea and Iran. He intends to profit from the tragic AMIA bombing in Argentina to increase his belligerent attitude towards the Persian country, in an attempt to open another front without knowing how to cope with the situation in Iraq and, the current Iraqi government imposed by him is eager to interact with Iran. The United States and Israel have therefore left their own nations trapped in these networks of imposed violence.
