Anis Ibn Baddouda around the world

Rover, wanderer, Nomad, vagabond, Call me what you will... Anywhere I roam... Where I lay my head is home...

August 12, 2006

Queremos Paz… pero como ?

As astonishing and dramatic the situation in the Middle East may look, it doesn’t seem that a sustainable solution is on the way to be found…

How is it possible to find a solution when the balance of powers is so unequal? When one side is allowed to ignore the international laws, treaties as well as UN decisions and the other side is left alone to face its destiny…

An autonomy given to the Palestinian authorities without territorial sovereignty nor respect of a free election results… How is a permanent solution possible when violence is the only response made by the Israeli state to every issue? like the unnecessary destruction of Lebanon, the killing of more than a thousand civilian, the ongoing military operations in Ghaza and the kidnapping of ministers and deputies of the Palestinian authority parliament.

It is “known” that violence creates a vicious circle, which only outcome is escalation and more violence. I say “known” cause’ it never seems known by any of both sides and the same process is happening over and over again: the previous Israel-Arabs wars, the Lebanon civil war, Intifada I, Intifada II, the actual Lebanon war and it's unfortunately not an exhaustive list of the conflicts that happened in the Middle East and which ending is only deaths and destruction.

In my previous post “Queremos Paz” I sound a bit harsh with the Palestinians and Lebanese, assuming that Tsahal is an evil monster that should never wake up from its sleep as it will destroy everything around it; wondering if it was worth it, all this destruction for kidnapping the soldiers in Ghaza and in North Israel?

But is it right to put the responsibility of keeping the peace in the area only on the Arabs when Israel’s operations are still on (prior to the war)? And at the same time withholding all the Arabs demands in a stand by situation… No Palestinian state, no real autonomy, no settlement of the prisoners and the refugees issues…

But let’s not get into the “who started?” game coz it will never end…

Unfortunately the balance of powers is so uneven, no one is backing the Arabs, no one is pushing for a real solution… and the idea that keeps coming back to my head is that Israel and the Israelis are more humane, that Arabs blood is cheaper and that it doesn’t really matter if they die…

Suffice to see the reports on CNN and BBC world to see this fact, long reports on destroyed cars or big holes in houses touched by Hezbollah rockets… what about the other side? what about the destruction of a whole sovereign country and a 1000 deaths toll and a humanitarian and ecological tragedy… you know what ? it’s OK they are only Arabs after all…

Reactions like the US one, sending missiles and blocking cease fire talks or Stephen Harper’s (Mister Canadian prime minister) who said that Israel’s military operations were justified and proportional are just shameful and inhumane… it makes me feel sick and wish I was a bird, a bull or a dog but not a human if this is what it means to be a human…

A dead person is a dead person, no matter what’s the religion, the origin, the language or the ethnic background. I’m bleeding at the sight of Lebanon being destroyed but not rejoicing when seeing the Israeli civil victims or counting their numbers while praising Hezbollah… Violence is a bitch no matter where it comes from, Tsahal, Hamas, Hezbollah, ETA or the Oklahoma City freak.

I’m hoping for a lasting peace in the region, but unfortunately it won’t be for tomorrow; when there is no real political will to find a permanent solution for this everlasting stinky situation.

In the meanwhile the horror reality TV show is still on, enjoy…

A.