Position Paper: Palestine

In 1947, the UN changed the face of the world.  It chose to arbitrarily partition Palestine, a state already in existence under the rule of the British Empire, and affect the lives of thousands of people against their will for nearly two generations.

That decision however is 64 years old.  It is done.  It is in the past.  Get over it.  What is needed now is movement, and preferably in a forward direction.

‘Talking’ has not worked for the several decades that it has been trumpeted as the answer to Middle East peace.  It seems that a new solution must be found.  The Palestinian people, and their leader, have found that solution, and that is what is now at stake.

To formalise Palestine as a nation once again; to give people a permanent place to exist, will seal a border, and prevent the abhorrent land grab pursued by Israel against the chorus of objection from international powers.

This solution and course of action is not only the beginning of a new age for Palestine, but provides a kick up the arse to those nations unwilling to budge on the issue because of too many Jewish votes being at stake in the next election.  That is politically weak.

I am not anti-Semitic, the majority of the world is not anti-Semitic.  The tragic atrocities of the Second World War are recognised as a key part of the history of the 20^th century.  They must never be allowed to happen again.

We should respect the right of Israel to exist, but it is wrong to pander to that nations whim, and allow them to continue to build on lands that are not their own, and to subjugate the Palestinian people into insignificance.

We should respect the right of Palestine to exist, but it is wrong for Hamas and Fattah to bomb and terrorise Israeli citizens in their homeland.  That is what feeds the constant vicious circle that prevents peace from being established.

What I am against is the Zionist view that expansion, and eradication of Palestine and its people, through military force and land grabs is right.  It is not.  Israel should reflect on Iran’s view that the Jewish homeland should be eradicated, and compare it’s own actions and attitude to those promoted by the Amadinejad regime.  Those views are false and intolerable, but the principle is what is at stake here.

It is not for those at the UN, elected or not, to chart the course of another nation’s future.  Neither is it fair for one nation to decide the fate of another, or of a people.  The attempted extermination of a people is what brought this situation about in the aftermath of the Second World War.  We must move on from those genocidal views.

It is hypocritical for nations to dictate terms to another.  The will of the people of each nation should demand the course of their democratically elected governments’ actions. That is what democracy is about.  Demos = people. 

The Palestinian people have chosen statehood, and that surely is a will that must be respected.  As much as the will to free Eygpt, Libya, Tunisia and other Arabic states from their dictators should be respected and supported.

To deny Palestine its right to exist as a recognised state is two-faced, and invites arguments about other, more powerful nations, being told what to do with their borders, government structure or military hardware.  It is not right, and it must stop.

No nation should act as a global policeman.  That is the role of the UN, and the Security Council.  Yes, we should recognise the right of every nation to protect itself, and ensure its safety and security, but it is not right to sanction the interference in another nations internal affairs, or its existence.  Those are mistakes of the past, and that is where they must be left.

My own opinions set out here, only go as far as my back door.  Each nation has its own choice to make about this issue, and it would be hypocritical of me to say that any decision against the Motion for Statehood is wrong for that nation to have made.  Let us think for a moment what this is about.  This is about politics, yes, but it is also about people.

The UN has already chosen the fate of a nation and its people in its first acts 64 years ago.  That has lead to decades of war, death and destruction.   Let us not make such a mistake again.

If I could I would urge all nations to vote in favour of the accession of Palestine to be the 194^th Full Member of the United Nations, and for all governments to recognise this new state.  Any attempt to veto or abstain will place nations, governments, and leaders at the mercy of the judgement of future generations.  And we know all too well what happens to those on the wrong side of history.