"The
term 'Palestinian terror' used by Rubio in his tweet is justified. However,
even if terrorism must be condemned on every occasion, one must be aware that
the cruel murders perpetrated by terrorists tend to reflect a revolt against
real injustices and genuine harm. … Such is the case with the Knife Intifada,
which is something the American right and many people in the world fail to
recognize. … Secretary of State John Kerry mentioned this timidly in his recent
speech at Harvard University. … but he forgot to mention that the Obama
Administration is also to blame for the collapse of 'two states for two
peoples.'"
"Let the Obama Administration stop blaming
Israel for Palestinian terror," tweeted Senator Marco Rubio, one of the
most serious Republican candidates for president in regard to the weeks of an
ongoing "Knife Intifada." Young Palestinians are attacking Jews in
Jerusalem – using mainly kitchen knives and choosing their victims randomly.
Oftentimes the attackers are unaffiliated, belonging
to neither Hamas nor Islamic Jihad, nor do they execute someone else’s orders,
instead attacking spontaneously. They are then killed by Israeli soldiers and
police. More than 20 Palestinians who had managed to murder 10 Jews have been
killed.
The term "Palestinian terror" used by
Rubio in his tweet is justified. However, even if terrorism must be condemned
on every occasion, one must be aware that the cruel murders perpetrated by
terrorists tend to reflect a revolt against real injustices and genuine harm.
Such is the case with the Knife Intifada, which is
something the American right and many people in the world fail to recognize.
Secretary of State John Kerry mentioned this timidly in his recent speech at
Harvard University, which provoked the ire tweeted by Senator Rubio. (at 00:26:40 - video, right)
"Over recent years the Jewish settlements
have massively increased and the current wave of violence is a result of the
frustration that causes," said Kerry.
In 1993, in the agreement signed in Oslo
- the Palestinians renounced violence and Israel agreed the creation of the
Palestinian Authority, which was to be the nucleus of an independent state.
Unfortunately, the agreement turned out to be a fiction. In all the years that
followed, Israelis settled on the West Bank – in other words, precisely where
an independent Palestinian state was to arise.
Posted By
Worldmeets.US
At the time of signing the agreement in Oslo,
there were 250,000 Jewish settlers on the West Bank and East Jerusalem
(occupied since 1967). Today there are three times more - about 750,000. In
practice, this means that the project of "two states for two peoples"
has collapsed. The Israeli right, for years under the leadership of Benjamin
Netanyahu, has achieved its goal - there is no chance for the creation of a
Palestinian state. Young Palestinians are aware of this fact and live with a
sense of hopelessness, so in desperation resort to knives.
This is not just about the appropriation of territory.
Twenty years ago, national income per capita in Israel was about $10,000. Today
it is three times as much. The country has developed spectacularly. But what of the Palestinians? In 1995, per capita income
amounted to $2000. Now it is a few hundred dollars higher. In East Jerusalem,
84 percent of Palestinian children live in poverty (the data was reported two
years ago by the Israeli Association for Civil Rights).
It may be almost a cliche to say that Americans aren't the only people feeling let down by the Obama presidency, but...
In fact, it is not the fact that the Palestinians
have taken up knives that should surprise - but that they waited until now.
Kerry is therefore correct, but he forgot to
mention that the Obama Administration is also to blame for the collapse of
"two states for two peoples." When Netanyahu announced further plans
to expand settlements, all Washington was able to manage were symbolic and
utterly meaningless written protests. America, which supports Israel
financially to the tune of $3 billion per annum, could protest in a much more
meaningful way. But when the Palestinians wanted symbolic recognition at the
U.N., the United States - quite non-symbolically - slashed subsidies to the
Palestinian Authority.
That is one of the reasons Israelis and the
Palestinians will likely always live in a country under a permanent state of
emergency separated by military blockades - the former slaughtered by the
later, the later discriminated against by the former.
