Peacemakers killed
During the past days, the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was again in the news and that about nine years after his death. The reason: it seems he was poisoned by the radioactive substance Polonium. This substance is not unknown for those reading newspapers as the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was also killed by this. And it may be a weapon of governments as this substance can't be bought in supermarkets.
President Yasser Arafat was a very controversial figure to say the least who was ones the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and leader of the Fatah political party and former paramilitary group, which he founded in 1959. He fought against Israel and for the self-determination of the Palestinians, killing many Israelis. While originally he opposed the existence of Israel, it seems he moderated his position in 1988 by accepting UN Security Council Resolution 242. Later he continued to find solutions for the problems in the Middle-East such as during the 1993 Oslo Accords that he reached with Israeli's PM Yitzhak Rabin under the supervision of the US President Bill Clinton. The picture where PM Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands while President Clinton stands behind them is well-known and both Mr Arafat and Mr Rabin received, together with Shimon Peres (now President of Israel), the Nobel Peace Price in 1994. Later more efforts were made to reach a deal while many criticised those trying to reach agreements. But these later talks were no longer with PM Rabin as he was assassinated.
Indeed, powers against peace in the Middle-East opposed the agreements and thus in 1995, two years after the Oslo Accords, PM Yitzhak Rabin was shot by someone from within his own community, i.e. by an extremist Israeli whose name is not worth being mentioned unless he admits he was wrong. Indeed, PM Rabin probably knew that by signing the Oslo Accords he may also have signed his death warrant. Still, even then he continued meeting people in public places as he assumed he could trust his own people, and during one of those meetings he was shot.
After PM Rabin's murder, Mr Arafat continued meeting Mr Rabin's successor PM Ehud Barak during the 2000 Camp David summit, still under the supervision of President Clinton, when another effort was made to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although this time no agreement was reached. PM Barak's successor PM Ariel Sharon forced President Arafat to stay in his Mukata'a headquarters in Ramallah. It was during this imprisonment that President Arafat fell ill and was allowed to fly to France where he died in a hospital. The following nine years there were a number of speculations around the causes of his death until now it seems an investigation suggests his death was due to Polonium poisoning. There is of course still no evidence who killed him. There are speculations the Israeli may have killed him, but as in the case of PM Rabin, a Palestinian (man or woman or more) who was unhappy with his President's efforts to reach an agreement on peace may as well have killed his President. Indeed, evil people never accept that peace will be reached in the Middle-East as peace blocks their chances to gain power, even when their own God is telling them He wants peace (indeed, it is a religious war, therefore God can be mentioned).
Thus, the main players who moved from fighting each other to shaking hands, although reluctantly, were killed by forces that try to block any effort to reach a peace agreement. Therefore, good luck for everyone who tries to reach a deal. After President Arafat's death, Mr Mahmoud Abbas became Palestinian president and there were some peace talks with PM Sharon, ones a successful commander of the Israeli army who became PM and then endorsed the Road Map for Peace that was put forth by the United States, European Union, and Russia. He also evicted many settlers from occupied territory after which rabbis called for the "Angel of Death" to kill him and later, in 2005, he suffered a stroke although he is still in a coma and not death. Then Mr Ehud Olmert became prime minister before Mr Netanyahu became prime minister in 2009.
Earlier, Mr Netanyahu was a member of PM Sharon's government and because he opposed the withdrawal from Gaza, he resigned, trying to force new elections. Mr Netanyahu is still PM and each time he agrees with some peace talks or release some Palestinian prisoners, you can be sure he will announce an extension of settlements in the occupied territories while also bombs will start flying from the Palestinian region into Israel. Many will remember the moment Presidents Obama and Sarkozy were together and didn't know their microphones were working while discussing the Israeli PM and how they are unable to trust him. Similarly, as PM Netanyahu doesn't trust other sides, he probably will never be able to reach an agreement as he will always think others are lying when they say they want peace and thus even moderates will be considered hardliners, increasing the chances they or others become hardliners. This doesn't mean he or other countries should be naive (indeed, why Iran needs nuclear energy remains a mystery), but he should not exclude the possibility some people may be sincere when they say they want peace. But because so many words were broken in the past, trust hardly exist anymore in that part of the world.
There will still be a long way to go before people in the Middle-East have peace. And the trouble is many other countries in the world are drawn into the troubles. Only when people in that region start seeing each other as humans and not as someone from a specific religious group can peace arrive and happen what God wants: peace amongst people. But some religious and political leaders may not want this to happen as peace may reduce their power. But if God wants to rule the whole world, his capital can't be only from Israelis or Palestinians but should be the capital of all people in the world and thus we should all unite. Also, Palestinians demand they can return to their homeland such as the Jews have demanded since they were thrown out their land almost 2000 years ago. Therefore, I would assume both groups understand each other while its seems they do not.
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| A slogan certain individuals may consider theirs while others will mainly notice the large green word. |
President Yasser Arafat was a very controversial figure to say the least who was ones the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and leader of the Fatah political party and former paramilitary group, which he founded in 1959. He fought against Israel and for the self-determination of the Palestinians, killing many Israelis. While originally he opposed the existence of Israel, it seems he moderated his position in 1988 by accepting UN Security Council Resolution 242. Later he continued to find solutions for the problems in the Middle-East such as during the 1993 Oslo Accords that he reached with Israeli's PM Yitzhak Rabin under the supervision of the US President Bill Clinton. The picture where PM Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands while President Clinton stands behind them is well-known and both Mr Arafat and Mr Rabin received, together with Shimon Peres (now President of Israel), the Nobel Peace Price in 1994. Later more efforts were made to reach a deal while many criticised those trying to reach agreements. But these later talks were no longer with PM Rabin as he was assassinated.
Indeed, powers against peace in the Middle-East opposed the agreements and thus in 1995, two years after the Oslo Accords, PM Yitzhak Rabin was shot by someone from within his own community, i.e. by an extremist Israeli whose name is not worth being mentioned unless he admits he was wrong. Indeed, PM Rabin probably knew that by signing the Oslo Accords he may also have signed his death warrant. Still, even then he continued meeting people in public places as he assumed he could trust his own people, and during one of those meetings he was shot.
After PM Rabin's murder, Mr Arafat continued meeting Mr Rabin's successor PM Ehud Barak during the 2000 Camp David summit, still under the supervision of President Clinton, when another effort was made to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although this time no agreement was reached. PM Barak's successor PM Ariel Sharon forced President Arafat to stay in his Mukata'a headquarters in Ramallah. It was during this imprisonment that President Arafat fell ill and was allowed to fly to France where he died in a hospital. The following nine years there were a number of speculations around the causes of his death until now it seems an investigation suggests his death was due to Polonium poisoning. There is of course still no evidence who killed him. There are speculations the Israeli may have killed him, but as in the case of PM Rabin, a Palestinian (man or woman or more) who was unhappy with his President's efforts to reach an agreement on peace may as well have killed his President. Indeed, evil people never accept that peace will be reached in the Middle-East as peace blocks their chances to gain power, even when their own God is telling them He wants peace (indeed, it is a religious war, therefore God can be mentioned).
Thus, the main players who moved from fighting each other to shaking hands, although reluctantly, were killed by forces that try to block any effort to reach a peace agreement. Therefore, good luck for everyone who tries to reach a deal. After President Arafat's death, Mr Mahmoud Abbas became Palestinian president and there were some peace talks with PM Sharon, ones a successful commander of the Israeli army who became PM and then endorsed the Road Map for Peace that was put forth by the United States, European Union, and Russia. He also evicted many settlers from occupied territory after which rabbis called for the "Angel of Death" to kill him and later, in 2005, he suffered a stroke although he is still in a coma and not death. Then Mr Ehud Olmert became prime minister before Mr Netanyahu became prime minister in 2009.
Earlier, Mr Netanyahu was a member of PM Sharon's government and because he opposed the withdrawal from Gaza, he resigned, trying to force new elections. Mr Netanyahu is still PM and each time he agrees with some peace talks or release some Palestinian prisoners, you can be sure he will announce an extension of settlements in the occupied territories while also bombs will start flying from the Palestinian region into Israel. Many will remember the moment Presidents Obama and Sarkozy were together and didn't know their microphones were working while discussing the Israeli PM and how they are unable to trust him. Similarly, as PM Netanyahu doesn't trust other sides, he probably will never be able to reach an agreement as he will always think others are lying when they say they want peace and thus even moderates will be considered hardliners, increasing the chances they or others become hardliners. This doesn't mean he or other countries should be naive (indeed, why Iran needs nuclear energy remains a mystery), but he should not exclude the possibility some people may be sincere when they say they want peace. But because so many words were broken in the past, trust hardly exist anymore in that part of the world.
There will still be a long way to go before people in the Middle-East have peace. And the trouble is many other countries in the world are drawn into the troubles. Only when people in that region start seeing each other as humans and not as someone from a specific religious group can peace arrive and happen what God wants: peace amongst people. But some religious and political leaders may not want this to happen as peace may reduce their power. But if God wants to rule the whole world, his capital can't be only from Israelis or Palestinians but should be the capital of all people in the world and thus we should all unite. Also, Palestinians demand they can return to their homeland such as the Jews have demanded since they were thrown out their land almost 2000 years ago. Therefore, I would assume both groups understand each other while its seems they do not.
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