Peace in the Middle East is possible
Annalena Baerbock has been to the Middle East seven times since 7 October 2023, when the terrorist organisation Hamas brutally attacked Israel, for mediation talks. In vain. US Secretary of State Blinken even flew there eleven times in the last 12 months to reach a ceasefire. Also in vain.
US President Biden constantly urged Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to exercise moderation in his revenge actions – also in vain. Gaza lies in ruins and more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed. Even humanitarian aid for the inhabitants of Gaza had to be wrested from the right-wing extremist Israeli government. Israel is now fighting on three fronts against its opponents who want to destroy the Jewish state: In Gaza against Hamas, in Lebanon against Hezbollah and in Yemen against the Houthi militias. And now the threat of a major war between Israel and Iran is growing daily. Both sides are relying on the principle of violence and counter-violence and revenge against revenge.
- Nothing but violence?
- Is this to go on forever?
- Is there really no way out of this vicious circle of violence?
- Where are the voices calling for peace and non-violence in these bleak times?
Surprise! In its weekly column ‘All the best!’ the ‘SPIEGEL’ gives two peace lovers a chance to speak – a prominent Palestinian and a prominent Israeli. Both have published a document together that shows a way out of the madness of violence and revenge and could pave the way to peace. The two daring celebrities are Nasser al-Qidwa, born in Gaza in 1953, who is the nephew of Yasser Arafat and was formerly Palestinian Foreign Minister. And Ehud Olmert, 78, former Mayor of Jerusalem and later Prime Minister of Israel.
‘Gaza is completely destroyed. Everyone can see that this does not solve anything,’ said al-Qidwa in an interview with DER SPIEGEL. ’It may be a bitter irony, but it is war itself, the immense suffering, that could point the way out of the crisis.’
The two have written a document, just two pages long. ‘Proposal’ is modestly written at the top. The questions they address in it are among the most difficult in world politics. How can the Gaza war be ended? Who will rebuild the destroyed coastal strip? Where will the border between Israel and a future Palestinian state run? What could a second-state solution look like?
DER SPIEGEL continues: ‘An Israeli and a Palestinian who have only known each other for a few months are trying to overcome bitterness and cynicism, each in their own camp,’ writes DER SPIEGEL colleague Bernhard Zand. Their goal is to prevent a major war in the region and to revive the peace process that has been declared dead. ‘There is only one solution to the historic conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Namely, that the Palestinians get their own independent, viable and sovereign state,’ says Olmert, voicing what hardly anyone in Israel is willing to say today.
Olmert and al-Kidwa put forward concrete proposals: there should be a “Temporary Arab Security Presence” in the Gaza Strip, with the participation of countries such as Jordan or Egypt or even Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, there should be a committee of political experts to take control and manage the reconstruction. The two-state solution includes Gaza as part of a Palestinian state and even a road connecting the coastal strip with the West Bank – a proposal that, in the eyes of the Israeli ultra-right, is tantamount to sacrilege.
You can read the full interview at Spiegel.de >>
Source
Franz Alt 2024 | Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator