HaDerech, The Road

«Light outlines of a difficult problem, not to call it close to impossible»

From the decision of the Human Rights Commission of the UN, which has clearly positioned on the Palestinian side, it has condemned the Israeli military offensive side, we can ask, how much link these resolutions? The answer, at the risk of denying the course of public international law, which clearly is not binding at all and in all, the UN policy is a symbolic politics, and this therefore does not provide mechanisms that actually require one or both parties to a ceasefire.

In numbered years, Israel has not complied with a series of resolutions issued by this court on the conflict-not wanting to indicate that these resolutions are always opinions, therefore we can conclude that it is important that the UN ruling, but the pressure of the same it is difficult to envision.

In Latin America, the voice was a little different than the one issued by the U.S. or most of Europe on the resolution, we have seen a very cautious Merkel and Obama in their statements, and several countries that have been more emphatic in condemning Israeli military actions calling them unjustified, indiscriminate and disproportionate even, this has resulted in human rights violations of the Palestinian population, as these findings; United States in its position shown against the resolution, and these lofts in official positions question us the role of diplomacy and diplomatic missions to establish dialogue and action fields away from military action.

It is clear that diplomacy plays a role, the size of it in this case passes value judgments, but it is even clearer that this depends on the actors and the pressure on the influences to exercise, see Western historical powers supporting Israel, and those who over the years have held a pro-Palestinian attitude. Some countries are «conservative» positions where they do not want to openly criticize Israel or Palestine, but the legitimate right of the Israeli defense against the rockets from Gaza is recognized, this point has no argument, but then, to what extent was necessary the intervention by land?

For the Netanyahu government, and for most Israelis, this intervention is necessary, is not only two weeks of rocket attacks, have been fourteen years on towns in southern Israel, intensifying in recent days about Tel Aviv and other cities near the strip.

UN decisions have largely ignored this fact, Israel has stated that he informed the citizens of Gaza in places that are military targets, also has allowed the passage of food and medical care, but you need to understand, Israel have to destroy the points of origin of the rockets, defend the population is one of the first obligations of each State, Israel does, is not the same by the Palestinian Authority.

The Netanyahu government has said it will not stop the actions to destroy the tunnels that serve to subtract Hamas rockets and other weapons from the Egyptian side; Israel has discovered tunnels that have been built in the north, with purpose to penetrate kindergartens and places of concentration of civilians.

Must accept the fact that Israel has been for several years which has put the initiative conversations have taken action to bring peace, but Palestinian groups show no interest in building a coexistence with the Jews, they have opted for extreme positions, and sell the world the pain of its civilian population, which is for them a guarantor of international support, but not a problem to solve.

It is a fact that while Israel builds a nation, one of the most modern in the world, the joint rule of the Palestinian National Authority only has endeavored to attack Israel, and not dignify the lives of its own civilian population; just look at the quality of lives of over one million Arab Israeli citizens, they enjoy full rights and equality between men and women, full employment, and opportunities; this only indicates the fallacy that shows the world, where Israel intends to exterminate the Arab presence.

International opinion sees the Palestinians suffer their dead, blames Israel for this, but who blames Palestinians from their hard iron position about not to build peace and then want to destroy the only Jewish state in the world?

Since then Hamas has rejected offers Israel for talks, hide behind the «existing Israel’s blockade of Gaza» but this block does not exist and is not as dear to him calling, Israel allows occasionally exit and enter things to Gaza, as every state has the right to protect its border due to the same hostility from there, they even share a border with Egypt, and warned that the Egyptian government has decided to close in recent days the border with Gaza, OK, may take weapons and rockets, why not use this border for food and goods? This refutes the idea of ​​a total blockade by Israel.

Hamas has been cynically to exercise power, but the same which keeps its control situation in Gaza for Hamas to accept a ceasefire now is back to what it was before, the situation in Gaza is not the best, Israel recognizes this, but likewise withdrew from the Gaza Strip, and this has had its own government the expected result, people in the world don’t know about self-determination in Gaza – they have it-, and the Israeli army has no presence there for years, and yet they maintain attacks against civilians in Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beer Sheva.

Gaza is one of the places with the highest population density in the world, its population has nowhere to flee out but the seventy overwhelmed shelters built by the UN, not by the government, which supports the theory of human-shields and is for Hamas a nonsense to go back to the time before this, to the revival of the conflict so they do not value more or less dead people, it is important to have this shock on world opinion, this victimization of Gaza, Israel’s role as executioner is the same, and so transmitted to the public showing he has no choice but to succumb, this has been the situation for over twenty years. After the letter of Oslo, the situation in Gaza has changed but has not improved, having this more because of Hamas then the Israeli intervention.

The economic situation in Gaza is aimed to be precarious, and what we see is only as Hamas has focused on capitalizing on the deaths for their own benefit. And in all this, what has been the role of Abbas?, And the Palestinian Authority? From Ramallah what has been done to reconcile the warring factions?

There’s another problem to add, the unity government was clearly concerned after the episode of the death of the three young Israeli -Eyal, Gilad and Naftali-called «settlers» to justify their perishing in the hands still unknown but presumed by extremists in the West Bank side. Was used by Abbas that this episode was a purpose of the Israeli government to weaken the unity government between Hamas and Abbas, as this had been established as a real option for ending the conflict and bringing players in the trance to withdraw of a possible war, nothing more false than this; you cannot claim that the death of young people is a political objective to weaken the enemy, is an action by the Palestinians that Israel has in its policy every right to repel future similar actions.

Another fact is that the current war of defense is not as unquestionable as it sounds, coming behind other political reasons that led us to the present moment, even from the time of the release of Palestinian political prisoners, Israel has sought more than defend, power opposed to the constant threat of Hamas, has also criticized the Israeli tactic to warn citizens before attacking, as an excuse to avoid the international law of war, where and to stay are not seen as civilians but combatants, does a fighter stays willingly? Yes, that is a civilian? Hamas is the order of its own civilian population, and this has done that today, more than six hundred civilian deaths register.

The situation in Gaza is precarious, and everyday images arrive, it is understood that the trigger for this situation is the death of the three young Israelis, but many wonder if the running game is really a reaction to a government crisis Netanyahu product pressure foreign Minister Lieberman and the more conservative members of his cabinet who advocate more radical end to Hamas and its presence in the Gaza Strip.

But it is noteworthy that this statement offensive Hamas responds to the problem is occurring lately with Egypt, as the new government of President Abdelfatah Al-Sisi not accept Muslim brothers. Here I want to explain in detail: most of the rockets fired into Israel, come from Iran, these are brought into Gaza through tunnels or trucks crossing the border from Egypt, making Sinai in a place of transition between the radicals Egyptian and Iranian interests in the Gaza Strip; but now the situation has changed, because in all this time one way or another allowed this cross Egypt, and now the new government closer to the ideology of Mubarak, whose partnership interest to the West and regain sovereignty and greater control over their territory, have prevented the deal with our Muslim brothers not allowing more connection to Hamas.

However, most involving the landscape of the Middle East, why Hamas has asked Qatar to be included in a possible table?

Israel and Egypt refuse this request, and it is clear the negative influence of Qatar in the region for several years, this country has supported the most extremist Islamic groups, going from Al Qaeda, Hamas, and even the Actual Syrian government. The presence of Qatar has questioned the once strong U.S. influence in the area today with Obama is almost zero, is not on the agenda of the U.S. government any real action to curb these new alliances in the Middle East that increasingly threaten the existence of the State of Israel, coming ever closer to Europe and Latin America.

But the Israeli government is right marked tendency finds much support in the United States-which reveals that marked many pressures beyond-government supporters openly support the settlements in the West Bank, the construction if there are increased, but no new settlements for ten years, which is a differentiating factor, because public opinion is believed that these settlements continue to proliferate even in the hills of Judea, which is not true, international law calls for building in other areas outside the boundaries of the country: colonization, therefore these people are designated settlers, do not share this name because at the time of the construction of these places, I was no government, no authority over the territories concerned, and sovereignty from Israel has exercised de facto for many years.

I explore that one thing to recognize the Palestinian government or not, other than that they are Palestinian Israelis see these as the occupants of a territory, and that assessment is valid to the extent of the Israeli argument that there is no occupation by failing Palestinian government over the territory; if occupancy if the «busy» recognizes what the «occupier», that’s a fact, so much so that the demolition was ordered in past years certain settlements and the construction of new cities not ordered.

Israel has led to paralyze these new settlements, the fact feasibility of establishing a future Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank as a unit, yet the attitudes in the West Bank and Gaza in their own show unity government the conflict and inconsistency for decision determinations against the Israeli offers.

I want to make clear that the government of Israel is a secular government, but in previous years it has received closer by Orthodox groups that are against the State, but has strengthened Israeli politics, being secular state this provides tolerance for religions within its territory, so it is easy to see Christians, Baha’is, Druze, Muslims and Jews living together, this is not seen in the West Bank, and find it a little ridiculous that in a country like Colombia that support people place and you had murdered Catholic and Christian majority, it is necessary to understand the dominant Islamic radicalism in these territories.

Why is true that Israel has an army, one of the best in the world by the way-and that is bad in Gaza are armed with rockets and weapons from Iran? I answer emphatically, holds that Israel has an army like this, because from its beginnings as the Haganah, its mission is to protect the Hebrew people, and has been there for it, however militants in Gaza have not met this purpose and as such its mission is attacking Israel, so it is inconceivable arm as does Gaza.

Without being a warmonger, and not being in favor of the war, I want to illustrate that it is a vital issue for Israel to maintain the army as it has for years, because it is a matter of life or death, is as sensitive as the fact survive, have the right to live, to have a few miles on a strip of land to create a nation, why condemn Israel for defending itself? Why not similarly condemned the atrocities in the surrounding Arab countries? The so-called divine right that Israel proclaims that land has been ridiculed? and then who has more rooting between Arabs and Jews? Arabs are invading it, have never had a historical link with it, and I think it’s excessive to claim that there is no room in a few square kilometers to the Jews against Arabs over twenty countries from Africa to Asia.

Each weight which makes what matters, and that is fueling some anti-Semitism movement, as we have seen in France and Germany has given certain manifestations. In Germany the issue of anti-Semitism is very sensitive to the historical issue.

Jewish shops were attacked in Europe again, curses for Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East; I think that this attack is to attack the same values ​​of our nation, values ​​that few Arab countries really share.

As difficult concept «anti-Semitism» is, necessary to differentiate the responses to this, have to be key to the situation in the Middle East and not to small radical groups that seek to be anti-Semitic is to draw attention to the penetration of Islam in Europe and pretend to attack multiculturalism.

Conflict as there helps maintain power structures on the Palestinian side, it is dangerous to be deaf and judge without knowing anti-Semitic alliances between left and right to take to the streets together to manifest using the image victimized Gaza.

Nor should we exaggerate and make comparisons that are very dangerous for me, you cannot compare the Nazi regime with the State of Israel, nor allow talk of a holocaust in Gaza: if there is a risk here, and these groups exist, there to work against this phenomenon, hate the Hebrew people is latent even in many sectors, it is important to remember past events, and know that any reference you make in a social network or a public place need to be aware, it is not a number is not a garment, not a football match, it is the raw need to live, thus defending the home is with weapons.

While in a park in Medellin, I was with my friend Dean Toledo, there a man heard us joking around with some Hebrew words, we were approached and hostilely attacked by him with religious and biased arguments, I wonder why people are able to judge without exercising some research, and in the case of feeling with enough information to judge what right feel is to just complain when we do not know everything that has struggled to get a Jewish national home?

The day of Shabbat, rockets fall on Israel, Israel and Hamas still refuse truce proposal submitted by the Secretary of State, John Kerry. So far they have agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire twelve hours this Saturday. There are victims on both sides, the reasons for each side may or may not be valid in the defense taken, but please be aware and sensitive to comparisons and observations makes, remember there is lives, children, grandparents, tradition, and a whole people who longs to live through.

“Peace will come when the Arabs will love more their children then they hates us” Golda Meir, 1957

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/10173606_10202980678011858_8656456320096818970_n.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Gabriel Jaime Uribe López, Estudiante de Derecho de la Universidad EAFIT. Investigador del movimiento Kibutzim y las relaciones internacionales del Estado de Israel de la Universidad de Givat Haviva (Israel), estudiante del Centro Cultural Judaíco. voluntario en trabajo social con desplazados de la Unidad de Restitución de Tierras. Amante de la música, amante de mi ciudad, me mueve la indignación de mi entorno. Leer sus columnas. [/author_info] [/author]