Benjamin Netanyahu: The fate of millions of people lies in the hands of one man

 

Like it happens with all controversial politicians, there are two sides of Benjamin Netanyahu: one is the ideologically driven individual that wants the Bigger Israel no matter what and the other is the mortal individual that got into many dubious dealings that led the Israeli Judiciary to chase him.

The present Benjamin Netanyahu cannot get a Knesset majority and lives in borrowed time. He knows that the moment he steps down as Prime Minister of Israel the Judiciary will catch up with him and his reputation and his personal life will be dealt a deadly blow. Therefore, he will do whatever it takes to stick to power, even if this means all out war with Israel's neighbours. For Benjamin Netanyahu the ends justify the means and the lists of casualties and material losses will be his legacy. Long gone are the days of Yitzhak Rabin when lasting peace between Jews and Palestinian was mesmerizingly close.

Menachem Begin and  Anwar Sadat had achieved peace between Israel and Egypt leading to the restoration of territories that had been taken from Egypt in war. Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat held the keys to Paradise, but Paradise was not meant to be. A Far Right Jew killed Yitzhak Rabin and killed the peace process.

As far as Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned, peace is his greatest enemy. His support for Jewish thugs who call themselves Nationalists led to the incidents in a Mosque in Jerusalem during Ramadan and the Palestinian response followed. At the moment, a case is going through the legal process in Israel that is directly linked to the rights of Palestinians to live in Jerusalem. Jewish Far Right activists claim that Palestinian homes in Jerusalem belong to them. This is the core of what is happening right now. Jerusalem, like the rest of the occupied territories, has been subjected to ethnic cleansing with Israeli Arabs stating that in Israel itself they are being treated as second class citizens.

Benjamin Netanyahu does not represent Israel and does not represent what Israel stands for, but his actions are affecting the wellbeing of Jews inside and outside Israel. In this particular situation, Jews and Palestinian are being held hostage by Benjamin Netanyahu for reasons that have nothing to do with Israeli security, but more to do with an extremist agenda and his unwillingness to face the courts and be accountable. This is why Israelis and Palestinian are dying.

 

Palestine never existed as a state, but as territories of other states

 

Regardless of the judgement of the International Court of Justice, there never was a State of Palestine. There were territories that belonged to other states that went to war against Israel and having lost wars against Israel they lost part of the lands that they controlled. Talking about war crimes is an idiocy. The said wars happened a long time ago and for decades lands taken from Arab states have been controlled by Israel.

The Organisation of the United Nations has no right to go around telling what can be done or cannot be done. It can only make statements that more often than not are no more than empty words because reality on the ground takes precedence. Any settlement can only be kept or changed by force and force is something that the Organisation of the United Nations doesn't have. Whether the rest of the world likes it or not, the Golan Heights - for example - are part of the State of Israel having belonged in the past to Syria. The sames goes for Gaza and West Bank. In a treaty signed by Israel and Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula was recovered by Egypt. 

Whether the rest of the world accepts Jerusalem as capital of Israel is irrelevant. Who controls Jerusalem? Israel. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that as long as Jerusalem is controlled by Israel and is an integral part of the State of Israel whatever the world says about it will not change an iota. All the talk about Jerusalem being an international city is bollocks.

World history is full of 'this belongs to me and this belongs to you'. Looking at the map of Europe itself, national borders have changed after a series of conflicts. The Europe of Metternich is a clear example. Looking at the map of the Americas much of a similar nature can be said. Much of the south of today's United States are occupied territories. They used to belong to Mexico and to other countries including Spain. The Louisiana was bought from France. 

The Six-Day War was a time of territorial acquisitions for Israel. Egypt, Syria and others waged war against Israel and lost. Their intention had been to wipe out of the recently formed State of Israel. So, they lost. Bad luck. Are they called 'occupied territories' because Syria and others didn't sign a peace treaty with Israel? Well, for all we know, for decades the attackers have not been at war with Israel and this led to a status quo. With peace settlements or without peace settlements, the reality on the ground is that for decades acquired territories have been under Israeli rule and wil presumably be under Israeli rule for the foreseable future.

There is an unhealthy war of words that is not conducive to peaceful coexistence. If the rest of the world were to be treated according to the same standards Israel is measured with, there wouldn't be peace anywhere. European countries would be at war with each other trying to recover 'occupied territories'. Is it about Danzig and Memel or Gdansk? What about huge chunks of Germany given to Poland and others? What about parts of Italy and Austria that are now part of neighboring countries? What about the status of Baltic Republics? Are we going to suddenly start ignoring reality?

I heard a Member of the House of Lords talk about what is happening today in the Soviet Union. Really? Apparently the noble Lord is not aware of the fact that the Soviet Union came to an end in 1991. It is all too good to talk about the UN Plan for the partition of Palestine, but it is useless talk. 

Much of what Western politicians talk via mass media is sheer nonsense when it comes to geopolitics. Just a few days ago, there was a military coup in Myanmar (Burma). Suddenly, we heard them talking about taking action against the military in Burma. They talk as if they owned Burma which, of course, they don't. Burma, apart from being a sovereign nation is a sovereign nation with close ties with China. China and some European countries have huge economic interests in Burma. The UN, the USA, or whoever else, can protest about the status of Muslim minorities in Burma until they become red in the face. Nothing is going to change.

In the meantime, those who pretend to have a say about what is happening elsewhere should pay closer attention to what is actually happening in their own countries.