Remember that Greek king Sisyphus who because he upset Zeus was destined to roll a boulder up a hill and watch it roll down again for all eternity. I'm sure the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas can identify with that poor fellow. He doesn't have to worry about the wrath of the Greek deities; worse, some of the world's most powerful countries have ganged up with Israel to ensure, try as he might, his aims cannot succeed.
Sure, the majority of world's leaders privately sympathise with the Palestinian state as evidenced by the standing ovation Abbas recently received in the UN General Assembly, but few dare to put their money where their mouth is for fear of repercussions from the stars-and-stripes crossed dragon that reverently pays obeisance to Zionism while breathing fire in the direction of anyone who dares to criticise the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
Credit should go to the Palestinian leader for proceeding with his people's UN statehood bid when he knew at the get-go that not only would it not be passed because the US will use its power of veto, he was threatened by Washington and Tel Aviv with all kinds of dire consequences for taking the UN route. And, as we now witness, theirs were far from being empty threats.
As reported by the Independent, the US Congress has punished the Palestinians with a $200 million (Dh734 million) cut in food, health and reconstruction aid, a move one Palestinian official has termed ‘collective punishment'. Member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia Congressman Gary Ackerman doesn't think that's enough pain.
Last Monday, he spoke to heads of Jewish organisations outside the UN saying, "There may need to be a total cutoff of all aid to the Palestinians for pursuing this course of action which is very dangerous and ill-advised." With those words, you might imagine the Palestinians were planning an armed third intifada rather than taking advantage of their legal options under international law.
The Quartet — the UN, the EU, the US and Russia — may talk a good talk whereas, in fact, it's also trying to stymie or stall the Palestinian bid with a wishy-washy hastily cobbled together peace proposal that fails to address crucial issues. Surely, this cannot be a serious body when it has appointed former British prime minister Tony Blair as its Middle East envoy charged with taking care of Palestinian affairs.
After all, this is the man who spearheaded the Iraq blunder arm-in-arm with former US president George W. Bush and was less than truthful before the UK's Iraq Inquiry. This is a person itching for the US or Israel to bomb Iran and who came out strongly against Palestinian efforts to gain UN membership. At a time when the Palestinian leadership has risen from its knees to say it like it is, Nabeel Shaath, one of the President's senior aides admitted that Blair "talks like an Israeli diplomat, selling their policies," and is, therefore, "useless". Indeed, many believe Blair, a convert to his wife's Catholicism, holds closet Evangelical Christian Zionist beliefs.
Moreover, Blair has recently been accused of using his high-powered connections to line his own pockets and of once cosying up to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi to the extent of being flown around in his private jet. Blair might say he's done wonders for the West Bank's economy but, even if that's true, it plays into the agenda of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who tries to boost the Palestinian economy as a soporific to keep West Bank residents comfortably off so they'll think twice about rocking the boat with demands for statehood.
Despite Netanyahu's tricks and treacle before the UN General Assembly when he pleaded with Abbas to meet with him in New York to talk peace — knowing full well the Palestinian leader had already flown off — he wasted no time in blessing 1,100 illegal new Jewish housing units in occupied Jerusalem. This did provoke a mild telling off from the US State Department, the UN and the Quartet — and unusually from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel — but without any real punch in the form of warnings or sanctions, such condemnation is laughed off
Now that the Palestinians claim to have the nine UN Security Council member countries willing to vote in their favour, it appears the UN panel charged with the admission of new members has decided to drag its heels, hoping that Abbas will proceed down the Quartet's road to nowhere so the White House can be spared the embarrassment of using its veto.
Faced with Israeli duplicity and intransigence, the West's conspiratorial usual suspects and the silence of the Arabs who have been frozen in inaction for decades, I fear Abbas and whoever may succeed him will be rolling that heavy boulder uphill for many years to come.
Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com. Some of the comments may be considered for publication.
