UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Israel-Occupied Palestine in an effort to defuse mounting tension between Israel and the Palestinians as the Israeli occupation army killed five more Palestinians Tuesday bringing the number of Palestinian victims of Israeli repression to as many as 51 in less than three weeks..
More than 3000 other Palestinians are thought to have sustained varied injuries from live bullets rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades or from tear-gas inhalation.
Moreover Palestinian eyewitnesses and some human rights groups have accused Israel of executing in cold blood a number of Palestinian youngsters on the mere suspicion that they were planning to stab Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Around nine Israeli soldiers and settlers were also killed and dozens injured in the same period.
The violence often dubbed as the Third Palestinian Intifada or uprising started after government-backed Messianic Jewish fanatics carried out forced encroachments nearly on a daily basis into the Aqsa Mosque one of Islam’s holiest sanctuaries.
Messianic Jewish groups including government ministers make no secret of their desires to see the Islamic Shrines at the Haram al-Sharif destroyed by whatever means necessary in order to build a Jewish Temple in the area.
Most Palestinians consider the Aqsa Mosque a matter of life or death since it symbolizes their national existence. Hence the repeated storming of the Mosque by fanatical Jewish groups is viewed by most Palestinians as the ultimate provocation.
On the other hand Israel seems thoroughly intoxicated with arrogance of power as a result of Israel’s military might and also by Jewish domination over the American government especially Congress.
Following his arrival in Tel Aviv Moon reiterated platitudes repeated ad nauseam about the Palestinian question.
However the UN Chief avoided blaming Israel for effectively killing the proposed two-state solution through settlement expansion which most observers contend has eliminated any remaining prospects for the establishment of any viable Palestinian state.
“It is not too late to avoid a broader crisis” Moon insisted. “In my meetings today and tomorrow with the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships I will be appealing to all to take concerted steps to limit new incidents on both sides. Violence only begets violence.”
Moon added that extremists on either side or those who think violence is the answer must not be allowed to further fuel the conflict.
“Beyond the immediate tensions what is missing is the resolve to restore a political horizon for talks and a political process that delivers real results and hope” Mr. Ban noted. “Violence only undermines the legitimate Palestinian aspirations for statehood and the longing of Israelis for security.”
Underlining that “the status quo is only making things worse” the Secretary-General stated that this conflict has gone on for far too long.
“We must for the future of our children turn back from this dangerous abyss safeguard the two-state solution and lead people back onto the road towards peace” he urged adding that the UN and himself as Secretary-General will continue to support all efforts to create the conditions for a return to meaningful negotiations and a just and lasting peace.
Moon’s visit is unlikely to contribute to the restoration of calm especially in light of Israel’s failure to stop tampering with the delicate situation at the Aqsa Mosque.
Moreover the deadly Israeli response to Palestinian protests over the Aqsa crisis and also the vanishing of real hopes for Palestinian statehood seem to have created an incendiary situation which can only be contained by drastic UN action against Israel’s lebensraum policies in Palestine namely the settlement expansion.
However such an intervention by the UN is highly unlikely due to US hegemony over the international organization.
The US Israel’s guardian-ally has used its veto power at the UN Security Council numerous times to kill dozens of UNSC resolutions that would have forced Israel to withdraw from the occupied territories and allow for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.
Moreover the virtually unlimited military support for Israel by the US has made the Zionist state a virtual military superpower that is capable of defying the entire international community including the U.S. Hence the UN failure to resolve the Palestinian question.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who is notorious for his dishonesty and mendacity has been saying that Israel will not seek to change the status quo in Jerusalem’s al-Haram al-Sharif.
However those familiar with Netanyahu’s mindset and twisted language realize too well that Netanyahu when referring to the status quo is only alluding to the fait accompli where fanatic Jews are allowed with army escort and protection to enter the Islamic sanctuary not to visit the place as Israeli propaganda alleges but rather to hold Talmudic rituals in order to desensitize Muslim objections and to arrogate a foothold at the 1400-year Islamic sanctuary.
Hence Israel bears absolute and full responsibility for the current violence engulfing the area first for knowingly killing all prospects for peace due to unrelenting settlement expansion and second for tampering with the powder keg at the Aqsa Mosque.
