Opinion: Peace in the Holy Land, a broken illusion

It has become every new American President’s Noble Prize winning endeavor, to raise Lazarus from his tomb. It has not happened yet, and it never will.

American President Donald Trump wants to restart the negotiations for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Like his predecessors, he is going to fail. There will never be a lasting peace or an eternal solution in Israel. It is an impossible task to try and fit the convoluted, hateful, paranoid, blood-soaked ancient crumbling pieces together. Many have tried; some like President Bill Clinton came precariously close.

The 2000 Camp David Summit, between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, seemed to hold promise, but finally sputtered and choked on a number of issues, and then, rolled over and died of twisted political, religious and social asphyxiation. A few months later, Arafat let loose the Hounds of Hell by launching the Second Intifada.

One of the celestial mystical problems is that GOD is involved in the prolonged fight in the Holy Land. The Jews believe that the Holy Land was promised to them by God. And if God in his infinite wisdom and infallibility, handed the land to them, then who in Satan’s or man’s name, are the Palestinians to contest this on any level. After the Red Sea parted, and the Jews trudged through the desert they finally came to Jericho, the first city in the Promised Land that was inhabited by the Canaanites. The Jews conquered and burnt the city with the aid of the sound of trumpets, the fury of their parched desert voices; and of course the massacre of the Canaanites. Now, many Palestinians claim that they are descendants of the Canaanites. They were here first. This is their land; never mind what God said. He always talks in parables anyway. They believe that they were invaded, pillaged and conquered then and that they are being invaded, savaged and conquered now.

If there were to be a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli problem, well then, what about the Settlements? Where do the Jewish settlers go after an accord has been signed? Do they stay? More than 60,000 Jews now live on give or take 140 settlements built since 1967 after Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem; and of course, there are 97 outpost Settlements built without Israeli government authorization, which still stand. There also exist Settlements on the Golan Heights captured from Syria in the 1967 war.

These Settlements are considered illegal under international law, but this does not faze the Israelis who beg to differ. So where do the Jewish settlers settle, after a Settlement? Do they, can they, should they, stay on land that will be Palestine?  When Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip in August 2005, they resettled 8,000 settlers who lived in 21 Settlements. But there is a vast uncomfortable numerical canyon between 60,000 and 8,000. The logistics are brain blowing. There are no answers to this unsettling problem.

President Barack Obama wanted a Palestinian State based on the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. The audacity of his hope drowned in the Dead Sea, aided and abetted by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current Prime Minister.

And then there is Jerusalem. The holiest of all the holy cities in the world. The city of David and God’s cherished place of promised dreams. A city of miracles and a land that has the spilled blood of innocent martyrs and misguided prophets splattered, in, around, and on its ancient stone walls and cobbled streets. Islam, Judaism and Christianity all have a history here. They have all shed blood, sweat and tears here. They all have a stake here. A stake through their minds, hearts and souls.

In the Christian quarter of the old city of Jerusalem lies the church of the Holy Sepulcher, the place formerly known as Golgotha {Place of a Skull}. They believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, buried and rose from the dead here. This is the holy of holies for Christians all over the world.

Located on The Temple Mound in the old city of Jerusalem in the Muslim Quarter, is the Dome Of The Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque. Muslims fervently believe that the Prophet Muhammed prayed here and it is from the Dome of the Rock that he ascended into heaven.

This Rock is also important to the Jews who believe the place is the site, where on God’s command, Abraham journeyed to sacrifice his son Isaac. The Jewish quarter is also the home of the Western Wall, a remnant of the structure on which the temple which housed the Holy of Holies once was. A partition of Jerusalem will be as momentous as the parting of the Red Sea; the crimson tide that will flow after that will not be water but blood.

It is obvious by now, that any serious discussion on the Palestinian-Israeli problem will not include Jerusalem. Time after time, Jewish leaders have said so. The Palestinians, of course, are adamant that East Jerusalem will be their Capital, if and when a Palestinian State comes into existence. And so, here is another game of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The leader, be it Israeli or Palestinian, who consents to give up East Jerusalem, will have a short time to live. His or her party and political power and affiliations will be crucified, never to rise again. That is the gruesome realistic ground truth.

The Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, between Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat in January 1974 and September 1975, saw both men get the Nobel Peace Prize and then Anwar Sadat was assassinated on October 1981. The Peace Treaty was one of the primary causes that he lost his life because the Arabs felt that Sadat had not exerted his political muscle in talking about a Palestinian State. Giving up East Jerusalem is a bigger problem for both the Israelis and the Palestinians. So how does anyone, solve this dilemma, with both sides adamant to fight until their last man or woman is standing, to get what they think they need from Jerusalem? And the politicians who make a deal on Jerusalem will all die. How do you reconcile the facts here, sign a treaty, live to talk about it, and see it work?

And on the periphery, with the messianic fanaticism of a suicide bomber, many Palestinians believe that his or her shackles are manufactured with American raw materials and Israeli technology.  They believe it is a simple case of retribution to a massacre in retaliation for a Palestinian State and Israeli atrocities. Hamas and Hezbollah {Party of God} agree with this assessment. Their fighters believe that Allah is on their side and Zionism must be destroyed. “We have tried talking,” an Arab Christian from Bethlehem once told this correspondent, “it has not worked. How long can we turn the other cheek?”

A Hamas sympathizer said, “They keep on hitting us, killing us. How long must we take this? I don’t condone the suicide bombers, but I can understand why they do it. We have nothing. What is there to live for? We are slaves and homeless beggars in our own country. They have destroyed our homes, our olive orchards, our families; they have taken our lands… If it were you they were doing this too, would you not feel like throwing a few stones at them?” Maybe things would have been simpler if the Palestinian house was in good standing. But problems between the late Yasser Arafat’s party Fatah and Hamas remain unresolved since Hamas gained control over the Gaza Strip in June 2007.

And of course, there is the issue of the return of Palestinian refugees. The supporting outside players in this endless morbid game, often act to foster their own interests. Like Iran, Qatar, Turkey and the rest of the Arab world, on the Palestinian side; and The United States of America on the Israeli side, with a few European countries providing thin lip service. And there is the centuries old festering Sunni/ Shiite divide in the Islamic world! Which Arab country will have a major influence in a future Palestinian State? Will that control be Sunni or Shiite?

There also remains the unresolved question under the table: ‘Does Israel have a nuclear weapon?’ Till date, Israel stands beneath a self- painted sign that states in bold letters: “Nuclear Ambiguity.” Ever since they constructed their first nuclear weapon in December 1966 with French help, Israel has officially refused to deny or admit that it has nuclear weapons. Now, if the State of Palestine comes into being, the future may see the Palestinians want to go nuclear, because their neighbor has an undue advantage where weaponry is concerned, (example India and Pakistan) but that is a problem that will stay hypothetical, till the present problems are solved.

And the present, if the past is any indication, will lead to a dead man’s curve; because the mix of God and religions often acts as a negative catalyst when mainlined into a body of fevered politics.

Even if one manages to extricate God from this problem, the President of The United States of America is a poor human substitute to try and solve this almighty mystical problem. So, let us pray…