Powell did not Fail, Really he did not!

by Sami Awad

United States Secretary of State Colin Powell has just completed his "peace" mission to the Middle East achieving absolutely nothing other than an embarrassment to United States, the international community, the United Nations and the rule of international law. Israeli withdrawal from recently occupied cities was not achieved; on the contrary, the occupation was deepened with Israeli Prime Minister Sharon's statement that Israel had the right to go into Palestinian territories anytime it felt like in the future, even if it withdraws now. On the other hand, Secretary Powell was not able to get a declaration from the Palestinian Authority, a declaration that will transform the Authority into a police force for the Israeli government without any political returns.

The failure of this mission is not due the very sensitive effort carried out by Secretary Powell. It is not due to the over confidence and trust that was placed in him by the international community to force both the Palestinians and the Israelis into implementing recent UN resolutions-especially the ones calling for immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupied Palestinian cities. The failure of this mission is not due the fact that everyone knows how important security is to Israel and how important nationhood is to the Palestinians. It is not even in the fact that reality has shown that Israel has more influence within US policy than maybe even the US government had perceived. The failure of the diplomatic mission (and every other mission or process of peace in the Middle East) is summed up in four words spoken by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during an interview with CNN two days ago; four words that have been the concealed foundation of Israeli policy for the past 35 years. Sharon said: "There is no occupation."

Simple words that went in passing to many observers and politicians, but are truly the words that have put us in this cycle of continuous violence and death, and are the foundation of a policy that, if not changed, will never lead this region to peace. The Israel government has convinced itself that it is not occupying any one or any land. It believes that it is not militarily confining millions of Palestinians to virtual house arrest and preventing them access to food, water and medicine. It is not shooting-to-kill anyone that is walking on the streets or hanging laundry on the roof of her house. It is not treating these people as sub-human, controlling their every move, their every word, their every aspiration and their every dream. No, there is no occupation and therefore there is no need to sacrifice anything in order to achieve peace with these "foreign" non-Jews that refer to themselves as Palestinians that either have to be controlled or, better yet, removed from the land. Settlements are not illegal; Palestinians living next to them are illegal. Even if Palestinians were there hundreds of years before these settlements were built illegally on their land. Israelis continue to claim that they offered too much for the Palestinians in Camp David and it was going to be a great sacrifice. This again falls back to the idea that they are giving the Palestinians of their own and not what is rightfully due to the Palestinians according to international law.

Palestinians, Arabs, the Europeans and even the United States have acknowledged that the occupation is a cause of much of the violence taking place and that a political settlement where there is an end to occupation is the only way to minimize, if not eliminate threats of violence to the security for all those living in the Middle East. But this Israeli government is saying that occupation does not even exist, so what is the world talking about? Ariel Sharon believes that he is treating the Palestinians in the same manner that a police department treats gangsters in the inner cities of the United States. To him, pulling out of the occupied territories is like the United Nation's passing a resolution demanding the Los Angeles Police Department to pull out of East Los Angeles. This is not only an insult to the Palestinians, the United States, Europe, and the United Nations, this is also an insult to those in Israel who work hard for peace and justice in this part of the world.

These words spoken by Sharon are the most racist, biased and sickening words spoken thus far and are a clear sign as to where he is going and what he ultimately wants to achieve: a greater Israel with strictly controlled Palestinian cantons. Denying the occupation is like denying that Apartheid existed in South Africa, racism existed in the United States, discrimination existed against Jews in Europe, and denominational hatred exists in Northern Ireland. The world did something then and it must do something now. A peace process can only begin when there is recognition of the conditions and needs of all those involved. No negotiation can take place for any resolution until Israel recognizes that there is an occupation and that the Palestinians have genuine and legitimate rights and claims. Then you can ask for sacrifices on both sides in order to achieve peace and security. Until that time comes, the Palestinians need to declare that they have no partner in the current Israeli government for peace and are looking for an alternative government in Israel to achieve peace with. If Israel can make such statements why not the Palestinians as well? The world needs to take every step to increase the pressure on Israel to bring it to recognize and accept the fact that there is an occupation in order for a peace process to take place, building on a foundation of trust, justice and security.

In Peace,

Sami Awad

Executive Director

Holy Land Trust