IN the backdrop of the recent killing of a young Arab-Israeli by Jews police, the new European Union Foreign Affairs Chief Federica Mogherini has appealed for establishing a Palestinian State. International reports show that the top EU diplomat shared her concerns about how the world cannot ‘afford’ another war in the Gaza Strip. Considering the latest wave of violence in July and August that left over 2000 Palestinians and around 80 Israelis dead, this move to acknowledge and support the Palestinian State might just be what the people of that region (and in a larger context, the world) needs.
The EU diplomat aimed at working toward peace between Israel and Palestinians and also be more involved in the Middle East than before. The recent clashes erupted when one of the Shuafat refugee camp’s residents ploughed a car into pedestrians in Jerusalem last week, killing a policeman and injuring nine other people before he was shot dead. On Friday, a young Israeli also died of injuries sustained in the attack — the second of its kind in a fortnight.
The EU diplomat said that Israel’s settlement building on lands the Palestinians want for a future state ‘is an obstacle to a negotiated peace.’ This newspaper opined in the past regarding the ridiculous yet effectively malevolent Israeli attack strategy, where they targeted almost 100 Palestinian civilians for the death of one Israeli. It definitely raised a question — Does Israel really want peace or do they just want to wipe out the Palestinians? It is about time when the first world states make an effort to help build the broken land of Palestine instead of being involved in partisan politics in backing Israel up. Many crimes against humanity were being committed by the Israeli forces during their attacks against unarmed and unaware civilians in the past few years.
Recognizing the Palestinian State by European countries ‘like Sweden’ is no doubt a welcome initiative. But mere recognition is not enough for peace. The leaders of the Western world, more so the United States, must accept that the Palestinians have a right to their fair share of land to shelter its people and live in peace practicing their religion without the fear of bloodshed. The world has to come a long way in resolving conflict and may this situation be taken up as an opportunity to resolve one of the greatest — also the longest — conflicts the world is facing.
The Israeli government, the Prime Minister of Israel in particular must realise sheer brutality would never bring peace in the region rather it may endanger the very existence of Israel itself because brute use of force is eventually responded by equal brutality. The EU proposal seems a realistic solution in establishing peace in Middle East.
