Page Title
Editor's corner/ Over a cup of tea
Heidi M. Pascual*
Publisher & Editor
* 2006 Journalist of the
Year for the State of
Wisconsin (U.S.-SBA)
Publisher & Editor
* 2006 Journalist of the
Year for the State of
Wisconsin (U.S.-SBA)
Historical turning point: Obama’s prescription for peace between Palestine and Israel
“Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or
France to the French...What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral
code of conduct...If they [the Jews] must look to the Palestine of geography as their national
home, it is wrong to enter it under the shadow of the British gun. A religious act cannot be
performed with the aid of the bayonet or the bomb. They can settle in Palestine only by the
goodwill of the Arabs... As it is, they are co-sharers with the British in despoiling a people who
have done no wrong to them. I am not defending the Arab excesses. I wish they had chosen
the way of non-violence in resisting what they rightly regard as an unacceptable
encroachment upon their country. But according to the accepted canons of right and wrong,
nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of overwhelming odds.” --
Mahatma Gandhi, quoted in “A Land of Two Peoples” ed. Mendes-Flohr, on the Palestine
Conflict (1938)
This is the root cause of the Palestine-Israel conflict: the dispossession of Arab Palestinians
of the land they tilled, by force or deceit. As history would further tell, the UN partition of
Palestine into Jewish (Israel) and Arab (Palestine) states raised questions as to whether or
not this action of the United Nations -- through the aggressive work of the United States--
conflicted with the basic principles for which the UN was founded, namely, to uphold the right of all peoples to self-
determination. U.S. President Truman was then quoted in “Anti Zionism,” ed. by Teikener, Abed-Rabbo & Mezvinsky, “I am
sorry gentlemen, but I have to answer to hundreds of thousands who are anxious for the success of Zionism. I do not
have hundreds of thousands of Arabs among my constituents.”
But of course, that’s water under the bridge. We’re no longer in the 1940s and Israel is now a country. But the conflict
exists, because the root of the problem has grown worse. Occupation of territories through force or deceit was supposed
to be a thing of the past when colonial rulers expanded their reach for power. After the Six-Day War in 1967, however,
Israel started its settlements in the occupied territories—the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the City of Jerusalem. Under
international law, any population transfers from the occupying power to occupied territory is prohibited (Art. 49), and in
2004, the International Court of Justice found Israel in violation.
I believe this was one of the main reasons President Obama offered his prescription to solve the Palestine-Israel
conflict—for Israel to return to territorial lines before 1967, with mutual land swaps. Obama clearly saw the injustice there.
But then again, Israel has power and might nowadays. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even told Obama very
recently -- to his face -- that Israel would never go back to such an “indefensible” 1967 borders. The land swaps that
Obama proposes would actually still change the territorial boundaries of Israel and Palestine, but would ensure security
between the two contiguous countries. Obviously, Netanyahu isn’t at all interested in revisiting facts and legality of Israel’s
actions.
determination. U.S. President Truman was then quoted in “Anti Zionism,” ed. by Teikener, Abed-Rabbo & Mezvinsky, “I am
sorry gentlemen, but I have to answer to hundreds of thousands who are anxious for the success of Zionism. I do not
have hundreds of thousands of Arabs among my constituents.”
But of course, that’s water under the bridge. We’re no longer in the 1940s and Israel is now a country. But the conflict
exists, because the root of the problem has grown worse. Occupation of territories through force or deceit was supposed
to be a thing of the past when colonial rulers expanded their reach for power. After the Six-Day War in 1967, however,
Israel started its settlements in the occupied territories—the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the City of Jerusalem. Under
international law, any population transfers from the occupying power to occupied territory is prohibited (Art. 49), and in
2004, the International Court of Justice found Israel in violation.
I believe this was one of the main reasons President Obama offered his prescription to solve the Palestine-Israel
conflict—for Israel to return to territorial lines before 1967, with mutual land swaps. Obama clearly saw the injustice there.
But then again, Israel has power and might nowadays. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even told Obama very
recently -- to his face -- that Israel would never go back to such an “indefensible” 1967 borders. The land swaps that
Obama proposes would actually still change the territorial boundaries of Israel and Palestine, but would ensure security
between the two contiguous countries. Obviously, Netanyahu isn’t at all interested in revisiting facts and legality of Israel’s
actions.
The GOP was quick to assault Obama's
position, clearly adding salt to injury now
being felt by the Jewish community in
America, a political strategy that is seen to
withdraw Jewish political support for
Obama's 2012 re-election bid. I am quite
sure that Obama truly wants to solve the
Middle East conflict in a just manner, no
matter what the consequences may be in
his political career. It is a risk he is willing
to take when he offered the controversial
peace solution.
I salute President Obama for his
conflict-resolution offer to Israel. It just
proved to me how reasonable and just
our president is -- an action never before
done by any other U.S. presidents.
Whatever happens next must take a
global support for Obama's offer for
peace. In many ways, his offer is also a
strong peace pact that will douse the
fervor and hatred of extremists against
America.
We should, as peace-loving Americans,
support our president. Obama shows a
kind of leadership that is hard to come by
-- he is the Solomon of our time.
position, clearly adding salt to injury now
being felt by the Jewish community in
America, a political strategy that is seen to
withdraw Jewish political support for
Obama's 2012 re-election bid. I am quite
sure that Obama truly wants to solve the
Middle East conflict in a just manner, no
matter what the consequences may be in
his political career. It is a risk he is willing
to take when he offered the controversial
peace solution.
I salute President Obama for his
conflict-resolution offer to Israel. It just
proved to me how reasonable and just
our president is -- an action never before
done by any other U.S. presidents.
Whatever happens next must take a
global support for Obama's offer for
peace. In many ways, his offer is also a
strong peace pact that will douse the
fervor and hatred of extremists against
America.
We should, as peace-loving Americans,
support our president. Obama shows a
kind of leadership that is hard to come by
-- he is the Solomon of our time.
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