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Is Palestinian blood cheaper than others?
Protection of innocent Palestinians should be the only plan at Cairo meeting toda.
- Gulf News
- Published: 23:32 December 27, 2008
How many dead Palestinians will it take for the world to act? Can United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon tell the families of the 195 innocent people who were massacred by Israel yesterday why he wouldn't even try to protect Palestinians in Gaza the way he does citizens of other countries? Is Palestinian blood cheaper than Myanmarese, American and French or for that matter Israeli blood?
Maybe these painful questions should be posed to Arab states which have failed to come to the rescue of Gaza. The ravaged, miserable strip had been under siege for more than one year. Its people have been without food and power for many months. And they have not asked for anything more than a sense of human solidarity with their plight. And instead of getting the independent state which US President George W. Bush promised to deliver by the end of the year, the Palestinians are today burying their dead. The massacre is Israel's gift to the Palestinians and the Arabs who today celebrate the new Islamic year.
For long enough, Arabs have been pleading with Israel to embrace peace. Meanwhile, the Jewish state is busy with an election that will see its politicians compete with one another in butchering Palestinians. Kill 100 and you are assured of a seat in the Knesset. Kill 200 and become a minister.
One really wonders what the Arab foreign ministers are going to say when they meet in Cairo today and tomorrow. Calling on Israel again to 'choose the path of peace'? Appealing to the international community to 'exert pressure' on Israel and the US to revive the peace process? Too little too late.
Today the Arab League has to draw the line very clear. The Arab peace initiative is no longer an option. Israel has rejected it anyway. The protection of Palestinians should be the only plan on the table today.
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