A brilliant presentation as usual by Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory, in contextualising what is currently happening in GAZA and the occupied territories as part of the continued Israeli/Palestinian conflict in general. Some key points mentioned;
- Political incoherence by foreign actors translates to non-compliance; pure and simple.
- Historical Context (gonna be a long one here so bear with me); She eluded to the importance of building bridges between Jews and Arab communities but missing a cardinal point which is the fact that Arab communities have always been a melange of Muslims, Christians and Jews which brings me swiftly to a related point which I repeated in many of my blogs as follows;
- People around the world have been conditioned through clever biased interventionists to view the conflict as a series of isolated escalations with no historical context beyond a group of people trying hard to build/defend their own newly born state. A context that began even pre-the creation of the state of Israel where Arab Christians, Jews and Muslims living side by side in complete harmony for centuries throughout the Middle East – Egypt being a shining example of this (or should I say was). In fact jewish businesses and even well known actors/artists thrived in this region to the extent that many even migrated to this region from other parts of the world where they were either persecuted or just not given opportunity to flourish. These were communities that were part of a multicultural/multiethnic society that contributed plenty and became shaped by this environment. I can name plenty including a very popular Egyptian singer Leyla Mourad (real name Leila Zaki Mordechai Assouline) just for starters. The main point being that there was indeed life before this conflict began with the creation of the state of Israel at which stage cracks began to make their way into these societies due to either treasonous actions of a few or suspicions of some whether or not valid of supporting the new state which led to the migration of many families from the region and of course the start of the military conflict from one side in defence of Palestinian territory and from the other in defending a newly founded state sometimes with gruesome tactics. Important to note here as well that many jews decided to stay in their homeland despite the challenges and not migrate to the newly founded state or the west despite lucrative opportunities/offers made to attract them-an inspiring story in of itself. So first step in understanding this conflict is to understand the unfiltered/unbiased historical context pre and post creation of the state of Israel and the manner it was rammed through a once peaceful region through foreign meddling that understood little about the region beyond the extent of a colonial vision and the “herd” they controlled as a way to optimise their access to national/natural resources. That said let be clear I never had a problem with the creation of the state of Israel as a homeland for jews who have been persecuted in Europe for centuries ending with the disgusting actions of Nazi Germany in WWII. The problem I do have is with the manner in which this state was created and the disgusting way Palestinians are being treated and used as scapegoat for crimes committed against jews before and during WWII.
OK, so now what? Well, I am slowly coming to the conclusion that in the same way jews that have suffered the atrocities of the holocaust have been compensated – and rightly so – by nations that have committed these crimes and others that have turned a blind eye to them – same should apply to Palestinians vis-a-vis nations that continue to support the genocide that’s been happening within Palestinian territories for decades and to be honest even non-Palestinians that have been displaced due to this conflict. This can no longer be a matter of pure politics (colonial or otherwise) in my opinion but should become a solid foundation for legal action to cover damages against states that have contributed to the creation of this conflict both politically or militarily and allowed it to spiral out of control for decades considering both the economic and more importantly the human cost involved that has touched many on both sides of this conflict, particularly the weak Palestinian side that is powerless to defend its interests. The concept of political will can/should no longer be basis for inaction nor long gone history be used as an excuse and legal/financial accountability should now be in sharp focus. Nations that have aggravated the situation in the Mideast and continue to this day meddling into affairs of this region can no longer wash their hands from the damage/harm committed and have a moral and (legal duty) to compensate people affected for their ignorant actions in the region. It’s not for wealthy gulf states to take responsibility for funding compensations/re-development because this mess was not their doing. So lets put accountability where it belongs and begin fixing the mess or at least keep a tally on costs of this conflict and engage legal professionals to start the ball rolling.
That’s my take.