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Dismantling the Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories is key to peace |
TEL
AVIV, June 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – An Israeli writer
called Friday on Israeli settlers, in the occupied Palestinian
territories, to give up their dream of “Greater Israel”, return to
Israel, and put an end to the suffering of both Israelis and
Palestinians.
In
his editorial Friday, June 14, 2002, Editor of Israeli daily
newspaper, Ha’aretz, described the very strong Israeli settlers as
the main obstacle before peace and security in the Middle East.
Hanoch
Marmari said, “The act of settlement has been the source of bitter
controversy since the day you pitched your first tent. You have never
enjoyed the blessing of the general public. Convinced of your
righteousness, you chose to shut your ears to any rumblings of
discontent.
“The
time has come for us to turn to you with a most painful request: to
give up the dream you have cultivated for years and come home. Come
home of your own free will, not because you are forced to. Come home,
recognizing and accepting that this is what must be done. You will be
welcomed with open arms,” added Marmari.
Implicitly accusing the settlers of being anti-peace, Marmari said,
“Even though the peace camp is bruised and beaten, and the peace
process lies is ruins, you cannot celebrate your victory.
“With
the conflict that was meant to be resolved by the Oslo Accords
bursting into flame once more, buffeting us with new gales of hatred
and bloodshed; with Palestinians and Israelis killed every day in
paroxysms of blind cruelty, their deaths doing nothing for anyone;
with your dream of rolling vistas turning into a life of bulletproof
shields and flak jackets, it is hard to take any joy in the weakness
of the left and the right-wing government's lack of inspiration.”
Intensifying
his stance further against the Jewish settlers, the Israeli writer
accused them of “hog-tying our national leadership. It may be true
that no one can force you into accepting anything against your will.
“But the clock of history is ticking, and the State of Israel is
wearing itself out in a senseless conflict… Now you are asked for
more: You must explain to yourselves where you are heading - and where
you are taking the State of Israel in the process. You have been the
locomotive pulling the political train.
Shifting his attack to Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel sharon, Marmari
accused him, implicitly along with other Israeli Premiers, of seeking
only the votes of the settlers to hinge to power, regardless the
security of the State of Israel itself.
“The bitter truth is that we have no leader strong enough to stand
up to you. The whole Israeli right takes its cue from you, and you are
the first to disrupt any plan for political compromise. The two Prime
Ministers who tried to bypass the obstacles you placed in their path
paid the price for it - one with his life (Rabin) and the other by
being driven out of public office (Perez).
“Your
power paralyzes governments; they cannot act, even to cut losses and
save lives. Fear of angering you has filled every Israeli Prime
Minister, rendering one after another incapable of evacuating so much
as a single caravan - even when the largest fleet of bulldozers in the
Middle East is at their command,” he charged.
Going straight to the point, Mamari said; “Come home. The Israeli
author Amos Oz called out to you from the podium at the huge peace
rally at Rabin Square last month, but his emotional plea seems to have
left you unmoved. We are home, you replied defiantly. We have no other
place to return to.
“Have another look at the definition of home. Maybe you will reach
the conclusion that home is where consensus is - not in the rocky
fields of controversy. Rest assured that when you do leave behind this
home you cultivated and bid farewell to a great dream that will never
come true, we will embrace you with warmth and esteem.”
At
the end of his editorial, the Ha’aretz Editor put his point forward
saying, “The key to peace for the State of Israel is in your hands.
You are sitting on it. Get up and use it.
