David and Goliath

For many years I was a member of the Trade Union Friends of Palestine (TUFP) - and like any sensible person I still support the establishment of an independent Palestinian State - as a necessary condition for bringing peace to the Middle East.

In the present conflict which centres on Gaza - there is no doubt that Israel is being provoked by the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israeli territory - and that the forces behind these attacks are not really interested in peace.

Quite the opposite - they were no doubt hoping to produce the kind of overwhelming military response that Israel has unleashed - which can only result in serious civilian casualties while producing ever more bitterness and resentment.

So while I would not - for a minute - sympathise with the indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli civilians which have been an ongoing occurrence in recent days - I would nonetheless observe that this is a very one-sided fight.

Because Israel is a recognised state - with all the rights and responsibilities that such a status confers - Israel has the economic, political and military muscle to fight fire with fire - if needs be.

But in doing so Israel is missing a rather obvious point - or so it seems to me anyway

Which is that if successive Israeli governments had put a tiny fraction of the effort they have poured into fighting Hamas and Hezbollah in recent years - and instead made a peace and reconciliation their top priority - then we would have had a two-state solution long ago.

In reality this is a David and Goliath situation - since the West Bank and Gaza are both impoverished and powerless, relatively speaking - compared to their Israeli neighbours at least. 

Gaza in particular has become a stronghold for Hamas - a more difficult partner for peace than the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) - which still controls the West Bank.

Yet even on the West Bank there is no sign of progress towards a two-state solution and an independent Palestine - as Israel continues to build more and more Jewish settlements which occupy more and more Palestinian land - in stubborn defiance of United Nations resolutions.

Islamic terrorism is a problem for sure - one that requires international help to tackle - but the real road block to peace is Israel which continues to occupy and effectively control the fledgling Palestinian state - while steadily promoting an outrageous 'land grab' on the West Bank.   

Alongside the military war that is being fought - a propaganda war is also taking place and Israel is losing that one hands down - because to an objective observer it appears as if Israel is
not really interested in peace either.

In fact it looks as if Israel is quite prepared to continue bombing the civilian population in Gaza - who are effectively living in a hellish prison from which they have no place to run.