By Shamez Babvani and Samreen Hooda
On
Tuesday September 27, the Israeli government announced it would be building
1,100 new settlelement units in occupied East Jerusalem. The fact that the
announcement came as the world powers are scrambling to save the peace process
in the UN suggests that Israel may not be serious about its desire to abide by
the promise of a Two-State Solution. Meanwhile, there has been growing protests
across Israel as the country’s citizens are increasingly voicing their frustration
with a government that no longer listens to their needs. As tensions continue
to mount both domestically and abroad, Israel faces rebuke from most of the
world powers, with the sole exception of its blindfolded ally, the United
States.
After
the fiery attack made by Israeli forces on the Turkish aid flotilla heading to
Gaza last year, the country lost hope of forging stronger alliances within the
Middle East and the wider Arab world. When asked to apologize for a preemptive
strike on a Freedom Flotilla carrying only activists, Israel’s Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu, responded by saying Israel should not be apologetic for
protecting itself. Of course, every sovereign nation has a right to protect
itself from bandits, terrorists, and attacks, though it’s hard to recall the
last time activists were secretly employed to attack a nation. Israel’s strike
killed 9 Turkish activists and injured over 50 others over international waters
in a ship that clearly had the Turkish flag waving above it. We may never know
what the Israeli government was thinking when it refused to simply step up and
apologize for an attack it admittedly took credit for. Besides the clear
humanitarianism of an apology for killing innocent people, some of them shot
multiple times and at close range, Israel also made a huge political blunder.
Turkey has now expelled the Israeli ambassador and cut all military
cooperation, meaning Israel has lost its most important ally in the Middle
East.
With
the reign of Mubarak over in Egypt and with last week’s news of Egyptian locals
storming the security wall in front of the Israeli embassy, you would think
that Israel would be anxious about its future relationships in a predominately
Arab world. Especially now when even local Egyptians who were previously
supportive of or at least neutral toward Israel are protesting against any
support the new Egyptian government may lend to its erstwhile ally. Yet Israel
seems to sidestep all the rules of international diplomacy and play by those of
its own game. This is not the wisest of decisions especially as the United
Nations General Assembly is considering a vote on the issue of recognizing a
Palestinian state. With Israel alienating the only allies it has, the vote may
very well circumvent the default American veto by sidestepping the Security
Council and going straight to the general assembly, where the Security Council
vetoes don’t stand up, and Israel has earned little political capital.
Israel
has a very short window in which to make a major decision. With the fervor of
the Arab Spring changing the regional landscape, the key world players are
beginning to avert their gaze from Israel’s monopoly over the contested region.
At the same time, the renewal of Islamic leadership in the Arab World and the
resurgence of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, will show little, if any,
interest in Israel’s security. In this strenuous time, Israel’s decisions will
prove critical to the future environment of the Middle East, and to its own
future security. Will Israel support the international community and do what
everyone knows needs to be done, or will it continue down the path of pundit
politics and play the injured victim card yet again? Only time will tell. We
can merely hope that this time Israel won’t repeat the mistakes of it’s past.
Whether
Israel, and Netanyahu, realize it or not, abiding by the commitment to continue
peace talks with Palestine is more in Israel’s favor than ever before in
history. If the Israeli government is able to quickly commit to a treaty of
peace with Palestine before the freshly placed Arab leaders have a chance to
commence on the issue of Israel and Palestine, it might just save itself from the
onslaught of Arab resentment and save the region- perhaps even the world- from
yet another war of worldwide proportions. As an Auschwitz survivor famously
once said, “If we forget our past, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.” The
power to save itself from self-destruction is now in the hands of Israel’s
government. Will it repeat the mistakes of its past by turning back on its word
to extend peace talks or will it take the path less trodden and set the stage
for a newer, freer world order? Time is running out. Carpe Annum, Israel. Seize
the year!
-This article was published first on Aslan Media blog on
30/09/2011-Shamez Babvani and Samreen Hooda are Aslan Media Contributors
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