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END THE OSLO PROCESS NOW
The Sham called the "Peace Process" is taking the Middle East into Disaster
By Rageb Damian*
"The only reasonable solution to this ever-escalating
mess requires realizing what disastrous ends the Oslo
so-called 'Peace Process' has led us to, and that
this was the purpose in the first place."
"The prospects for a peaceful, long-term solution
for the conflict have never been dimmer. All this
while the alliance between the US-Israel-Arab
regimes guarantees 'stability' of US interests
while neglecting the national and human rights
of millions of Arabs."
Seven years ago, the handshake between the PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was supposed to usher in a new era, one of peace and prosperity for the people of the Middle East. While the rhetoric certainly touched the nerves of many who were eager for an end for a decades-old bloody conflict between the Jewish and Arab populations of Israel/Palestine, those aware of the reality of the Declaration of Principles signing ceremony were hardly cheering.
Instead of a process that would be based on equality between two sides,
of realizing true justice between the two sides of the Middle East conflict,
we had a process that escalated the conflict to new heights. We had
on our hands a process of further dispossessing the Palestinians and denying
them their historical rights and their
rights to National Independence. We had a continuation of the
Israeli Occupation, now carried out by Arafat's Authority and in cooperation
with the US and Israel. Arafat thugs has since further demoralized
their own people, facilitated the construction and expansion of illegal
Israeli settlements on Arab lands, suppressed even any vestiges of political
opposition.
We have for the past seven years observed matters deteriorate from bad to worse: killings of Palestinians have continued, more land than ever have been taken away from the rightful owners, more deterioration of the social fabric of the Palestinian society, more frustration and resignation to a fate worse than death, that of life in a "jail" guarded by Arafat's men with Israel giving the instructions and looking on.
While the situation on the ground have gotten more and more complex, consisting of many gray areas, one thing is clear: the process by which the affairs of Israel and Palestine are dealt with has been nothing but a disaster in the making. Injustice reins supreme, hatred runs deeper than ever. The Middle East has become more and more a stockpile of dangerous weapons with the US-arms merchant cashing in. The prospects for a peaceful, long-term solution for the conflict have never been dimmer. All this while the alliance between the US-Israel-Arab regimes guarantees "stability" of US interests while neglecting the national and human rights of millions of Arabs.
At this low point in Arab history, the response to this challenge of foreign hegemony does not yet exist. Arabs continue to have despotic, backward, and in many cases criminally brutal regimes that have sapped the life of a once proud people, who at one point of their history, led the world in scientific advancements and military power.
The Oslo process has created a complex system of domination that is
unique in its ability to survive. The Israeli army in cooperation
with Arafat's Authority has managed to disenfranchise the Palestinian people
and force them to live on reservations like the old South African black
"bantustans". This has facilitated the
continuation of Israeli occupation for years to come. Arafat's
Authority's corruption and its creation of a bloated corrupt bureaucracy
have managed to weaken the Palestinian people's ability to respond to the
challenges facing them. It has managed instead to steal Palestinian
dreams, dreams that many of the freedom loving
movements of the world shared with the Palestinians. Dreams of
freedom, of human liberation, and of removing the barriers among people
of different backgrounds and persuasions.
We dare to ask that why in the year 2000, when the world is involved with so many different challenges, does the US continue to support the further escalation of violence through the Oslo peace process? Why has the US continuously opposed any real solution for the Palestinian issue? Why has it supported despotic, despicable regimes like Egypt and Saudi Arabia?
The only reasonable solution to this ever-escalating mess requires realizing what disastrous ends the Oslo so- called "Peace Process" has led us to, and that this was the purpose in the first place. The solution will consist of calling off this terrible deception called the "peace process" and returning to pre-Oslo principles that promised a real and dignified settlement for the conflict, ones that emphasized the equal right of Palestinians to the land, ones that recognized their aspirations to true statehood and real sovereignty, ones that promised the right of return for the millions of Palestinian refugees and real justice to the primary victims of conflict, the Palestinian people collectively.
* Rageb Damian is a Palestinian graduate student and can be reached
at Rageb@MiddleEast.Org
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