Column

If the loud, eloquent, angry protests over Israeli air raids and ground invasion of Gaza in India, in ‘the Arab street’ and in parts of Europe could get Palestinian civilians out of their nightmare, then there would be no need to doubt the rationality and usefulness of the righteous indignation. The cruel truth is that it is of no help.

The more friends of Palestine raise their voice and put forward grand conspiracy theories - a public advertisement in an Urdu newspaper describes it as the enmity of Jews and Christians for Islam and Muslims - the more the ground reality in besieged Gaza remains the same, and even gets worse.

It may seem heartless to reprimand people who are voicing their anger and anguish out of sheer helplessness. The loud grief is understandable and to an extent justified in the case of Palestinians.

Blaming Israel, condemning Israel and asking for international pressure on Israel has its limited use. Marshalling international opinion against an obdurate Israel, which refuses to implement the Oslo accords in good faith, is absolutely necessary. But it is not sufficient. Palestinians need a strategy to deal with an immoral and tyrannical Tel Aviv.

There is a need to take a critical look at Hamas actions. For example, precipitating a conflict where the Islamist organisation cannot hold itself against the military strength of Israel is bad policy. Hamas launching rockets into southern Israel cannot be defended in military terms.

It reveals bankruptcy of strategy and common sense. The argument that Hamas has no other option is not true even in the face of an unreasonable and mulish Israel.It has to be understood clearly that neither Hamas nor Hezbollah in Lebanon fit the bill of an Islamic terrorist organisation as Israel and some Americans would like to assert.

Both are Islamist in their politics. There is no reason to agree with their Islamist agenda even as one does not with Zionism. In many ways there is an ideological equivalence among them. But their political relevance cannot be questioned. Hamas has to be at the negotiating table.

The leaders of Palestinians have committed blunders galore. In 1947, they should have accepted the United Nations plan which would have ensured a better deal than what the Oslo accords have. They did not and went to war along with other Arabs. It was a disaster as was the war in 1967.

Fatah’s terror tactics in the 1970s did not help either. Meanwhile, the Fatah was turfed out from Jordan, from Syria and then by the Israeli-supported Christian Phalangists in Lebanon in 1982. Hamas is trying out the tested and failed methods of the Arabs and Fatah. Israeli treacheries against peace as in the Suez Canal crisis of 1956 and the refusal to implement Oslo accords sincerely are there for everyone to see. But the moral brownie points do not help the Palestinians.

What can the Palestinians do? They should strengthen their position in the territory they wrenched from Israel, economically and socially. The road to statehood is indeed a long one because Israel is bound to put impedimentsat every point. Palestine has to emerge as a strong state, which would include ultimately, a militarily strong state as well.

It cannot depend on the mere goodwill of Israel and of the international community.
The military power of Palestine has to be premised on Israel’s existence. It is meant to defend its territorial integrity, not for ‘wiping out’ Israel.

The Palestine problem has persisted for so long because of the refusal to accept the existence of Israel. The moral credentials of the state of Israel are extremely suspicious, but this holds true of many of the state in West Asia and in much of Africa.

The Palestinians need to acceptexisting political contours. It is not an easy for the Palestinians to reconcile to a reality which is so bitter and tragic. But if they do, they would have created a peaceful and hopeful future for young Palestinians which they so badly need.