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Hello Saathi Sahib,
Thanks for highlighting another interesting subject for discussion.
I believe the future of Palestine is intertwined with that of
Israel. Neither can live in peace while the other is suffering.
However your analysis of the current situation seems heavily tilted
in the favor of the Palestinian cause. Who speaks for Israel?
Historically we have never done justice to Israel. Gandhi and Nehru
were against the creation of Israel. India voted against the entry
of Israel to UNO. India did not even establish diplomatic relations
with Israel till 1992 despite the fact that Israel has extended a
hand of friendship lots of times.
There is no denying in the fact that current
Israeli regime has brutally crushed the Palestinian uprising, but do
you blame the Israelis for the situation? Every Arab neighbour wants
to destroy Israel. You portrayed Arafat as great leader of his
people but forgot to mention his dark side. Arafat was an old
toothless lion who became vegetarian in his old age. Initially he
was a terrorist, hell bent on the destruction of Israel and
organized terrorist attacks against Israel. The peace gestures of a
loser in a battlefield, is no peace at all. It was Israel who
offered peace to all neighbouring countries in 1967, but they all
rejected peace and suffered. We must not forget that the war was not
won with any American help. American support for Israel came after
Israel had already established itself as a big power.
To understand Middle East, one has to
understand their history, culture and religion as well. Jewish
religion is probably the oldest recorded religion in the world.
Jewish people have lived in Palestine and most parts of Middle East
since the dawn of time. The biggest challenge to their existence
came with the growing power of Islam. In my opinion Islam has not
been fair to Jews. To understand the mentality of Arabs one has to
read only a few lines in the Koran:
...Those Jews who incurred the Curse of
Allah and His Wrath, some of whom He has transformed into monkeys
and swine...
O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and
Christians for friends.
Verily, you will find the Jews the
greediest of mankind for life and even greedier than those who
ascribe partners [other gods] to Allah.
Would any one feel comfortable amongst a group
of people who refer to them as blood- suckers, asses, monkeys and
pigs, during their prayers 5 times a day? There has been animosity
between the two cultures and religions since the creation of Islam.
Prophet Mohammed wanted all Jews to convert to Islam. In return he
offered them protection and even ordered his followers to pray
facing Jerusalem, the holy city of Jews, instead of Mecca. However
when Jews rejected his overtures, Mohammed turned against them and
unleashed a barrage of abuse as stated in the Koran. In the Koran
there are lot of positive references to Jews as well, but majority
of Muslims read only what they want to read and call it the teaching
of God. There is no reference of Islam in the Jewish Tora as it came
long before Islam.
Anyway coming back to your question. Any peace
in Middle East will be short lived even as I wish and pray there is
a lasting peace. Even if peace is achieved at this time, it is only
a matter of time before Iran acquires the Bomb. And Iran probably
hates Israel more than any other country.
Yours
Sukhdev Singh |