Time for Palestine to declare independence?
By Wei Seng
Time to fly the flag high?
A belated Happy Lunar New Year to all readers of ERPZ.net!
I have been sitting on this newspiece for more than a month, rereading and mulling over its contents. What the writer proposes seems like an act of brinksmanship. Is it really "an idea whose time has come"?
In The Guardian last month, Simon Tisdall proposes that a sovereign Palestinian state be declared, one recognised by the US and the United Nations. Sounds like a silly idea without basis for support, even though he argues that because of current circumstances the status quo is untenable. Indeed, the Palestianian Authority's Fatah government has been undermined, and the only way for it to regain the trust of its citizens and its recognition of legitimacy by Hamas and the world would be to declare independence, regardless of whether talks with Israel are successful or not. But it is naive to believe that the US would support such a move even if it is unhappy with Israel over its continued refusal to listen to the US.
Supposedly many states (mostly smaller nations) recognise in theory an independent Palestine. But without the backing of major powers, it would not be worthwhile to mount a declaration of independence without starting another Israel-Palestine war.
The happenings in Tunisia and then Egypt between the time this article was published and today changes the whole picture again, which makes this article I feature all the more relevant. It might really be time for Israel to start thinking about Palestine, because should Mubarak's government collapse and give way to a Muslim Brotherhood regime, it would mean the isolation of Israel in the Middle East with the departure of its closest ally and neighbour.
Is it really time for an independent, sovereign Palestine state?
Israel’s Siege Mentality
By Wei Seng
So is Israel or Palestine under siege?
Recently, much has been said and written about Israel's violent interception of a flotilla, carrying humanitarian aid, attempting to bypass Israel's blockade of Gaza. For those not too sure about what exactly happened, CNN has a brief FAQ regarding the incident. Of all the pieces written about this incident, I like in particular The Economist's analyses of Israel's actions - in essence, Israel's perceptions that the world is against Israel, and its heavy-handed approach to everything about Palestine, is going to make the country more of a pariah than ever.
The first article in this week's The Economist, appearing in the Leader section, asserts that Israel's "macho attitude" - read: tendency to use violence first - is making Israel weaker: it "is accelerating a slide towards its own isolation". Israel is stuck in a vicous cycle: the more the hawks in government think the world hates Israel, "the more it tends to shoot opponents first and ask questions later, and the more it finds that the world is indeed full of enemies".
The second article discusses how Israel's blockade has become counterproductive, instead playing into the hands of Hamas in Gaza and allowing them to "tighten (their) grip on virtually everything in the strip". The violent interception of the aid flotilla has also become counter-productive, forming a new enemy out of ex-ally Turkey as several Turkish on board the flotilla were killed in the capture of the flotilla.
Just when Israel's relations with the US looked like they were about to be mended. These are indeed testy times for Israel, United States and the Middle East.