Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Two State Solution for Israel and Palestine..




Tun Dr Mahathir's comments on President Obama's speech in Cairo is most eloquent and the views received from readers most illuminating. After all that is said, what do we do to help promote peace and bring back sanity to the warring factions. Is the two-state proposal by Obama acceptable?

The demands made on the Palestinians and Hamas by Obama to  promote a peace talk on the lines of the Road Map proposition, are heavy. Those made on the Israelis, as usual, are patronizing and 'benign'.
The question is: can Hamas through its aggressive approach or the Suicide Fighters through their gruesome activities force a political settlement to the issue? Can Iran or the Arab countries help? Meanwhile the Palestinians continued to be massacred by an overwhelmingly powerful foe.      
The two-state solution is the only avenue that promises result. Obama has articulated some of the conditions for moving towards this goal. Why don't the Palestinians state their own needs and requirements for the two-state solutions: things like the return of appropriated lands, funds to rebuild what had been destroyed, opening up job opportunities, ensuring safety and non-aggression, setting up a council to defuse sensitive issues and incipient conflicts etc. 
Harping back of the injustice and tragic history of the past would not revive the dead. We can only move forward and create a more acceptable future than what we face now. I think the Palestinians and Hamas should start putting their heads and minds together to articulate their requirements for the two-state solution, rather than pursue a policy of continued harassment and self-destruction.   
 

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