Roadmap for peace takes a left turn at Albuquerque

I’m sure by now most of you have read or heard about the incursions into Palestinian territories by Israel. Supposedly, this was to put pressure on the Hamas Government to locate and return a kidnapped Israeli soldier. But, as we find out it is actually designed to topple the Hamas Government. Now, no confirmed report has come from Israel affirming this, but the attacks on the Palestinian infrastructure, the kidnappings of government ministers, and the air-strikes and artillery pounding the Gaza Strip make me think that this is exactly the case.

These recent actions of the Israeli military are devastating to the Palestinian people. I can understand the need to respond to attacks upon Israel. Any country should be allowed to defend itself from attack. However, I question the need to knock out roads, bridges, and power stations. I suppose some Israeli apologists will make the claim that all of these are used by the “terrorists” who attack the Israeli military. I don’t buy that. I’m sure the ratio of “terrorists” to civilians is infinitesimal when you look at the broader use of this infrastructure. Could the Israelis’ actions be considered crimes against humanity? Sure they could. But the bigger question is who will bring these charges to the UN’s Human Rights Commission? My gut instinct is no one. One of the main themes of UN’s Commission on Human Rights specifically focuses on

…the question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories…

Since it is doubtful that anyone will bring about charges against Israel, I wonder what method of redress the Palestinians have. It is bad enough that tax payments to the Palestinian government have stopped since the election of Hamas. The withholding of those tax payments is slowly choking the Palestinians. I also think it important to note that Israel is NOT a signatory to the UN Commission on Human Rights.

How much longer can the Palestinian people hold out against the Israeli attacks on their infrastructure? Not long I would guess. Before any of you try to paint me as a “terrorist sympathizer” let me also say that it is tragic that the actions of a few can stain people’s impression of Palestinians as a whole. The military arm of Hamas, which appears to be separate from the governing entity, is a group to be denounced for sure due to their violent and bloody past and history of calling for the “destruction of Israel”. Israel is not going away, it will not be wiped off the map no matter how many times groups such as Hamas call for it. Whether the kidnapped Israeli soldier is returned unharmed or not, the peace process in the Middle East appears to be permanently damaged. Will they ever find their way back to the Road Map for Peace? Perhaps not, but I hear the weather in Albuquerque is beautiful, albeit hot, this time of year.

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