Fredrik Malm is a member of parliament for the Liberal Party and candidate for Parliament.
Fredrik Malm (fp) on the road to peace in the Middle East: The Palestinians should learn from the Kurds
Published: 2008-12-28, Updated: 2008-12-28
(Malm in Kurdistan)"By constantly manifest an implacable for the existence of Israel, the Hamas leadership reinforced the perception among Israelis that there is no alternative but to again and again to violence to ensure that Palestinians in Gaza moved back to square one." It provides Member of Parliament FREDRIK MALM (fp).
For three years since Israel evacuated its settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip. After the peace process collapse and subsequent four years of Palestinian uprising was no counterpart to negotiate. The settlers were bought out or worn out, and Israel closed the border and controlled coastal and luftfrum. But the evacuation from Gaza meant the fact that the Palestinians for the first time since the Palestinian National mevetandets birth gained control over the entire Gaza Strip.
Gaza could become the good Palestinian example. Despite the enormous misery and a mixture of hatred and fear Israel had the Palestinians a chance to lift themselves out of an existence marked by militant opposition, the death cult and extremism. A positive development in Gaza would pave the way for a new process on the West Bank. And it would undermine the Israeli krigshökarnas fear of a Palestinian state-building.
But it was exactly the opposite. Hamas won the elections in Palestine and was isolated by the outside world. They operated out rival Fatah by force and fired rockets daily into Israel. Islamic laws were introduced. Resources were channeled to military purposes with the aim to equip the new war against Israel. Palestinians have often appeared as defenseless. Hamas changed this to make the Palestinians as irresponsible. This will be their strong cooperation with and dependence on Iran, which further strengthens the threat against Israel.
Yesterday, as Israel took the step of targeted air strikes hit the dozens of Hamas Fasteners in Gaza. Several hundred have been killed, most of them from Hamas security apparatus. The death figures horrifies and always killed several civilians even when military targets are attacked. This is only the beginning. Israel will implement some form of ground offensive in order to further smash the Hamas infrastructure. If the conflict entering the streets and houses in danger death rate soar.
But let us draw a brief parallel to another area. After the Gulf War in 1991 drove the Kurds to Saddam Hussein's army from northern Iraq and set up a self. It was the first time in decades as the Kurds, who lived in the area for millennia, also controlled it. Iraqi Kurdistan was then a larger ruin than Gaza, and had nearly 200 000 people killed in the genocide, and several million refugees returned from neighboring countries.
The Kurds had no income since the UN sanctions against Iraq also included them, and Saddam Hussein, imposed on top of that a blockade against northern Iraq where the power supply and the supply stopped. The Kurdish parties came soon in the civil strife, just as Hamas and Fatah did.
The parallels between Iraqi Kurdistan and Gaza are many. But there is a significant difference: the Kurds never used their newly won freedom to fire at Arab communities or to support the War against the rest of Iraq. Internal conflict was solved by a ceasefire and a - certainly less democratic - the separation of powers. Despite enormous problems, traumas since the wars, hostile neighbors, political leadership from the guerrillas and little educated population so kavlade Kurds up our sleeves and took the responsibility to build something. Nothing perfect, not fully democratic - but a zone of stability that does not threaten its neighbors and is seeking bilateral talks. And above all, an area that is being developed.
The Palestinian nationalism has followed an entirely different trend. Its overarching objective has been to not accept the existence of the State of Israel. With time, the PLO / Fatah have become increasingly moderate and open to negotiations, but they have lost many Palestinians support as a result of corruption and abuse of power. Instead, Hamas has strengthened the trend of Palestinian intransigence - which is also constantly growing in pace with the Israeli attacks, the daily humiliations at checkpoints, martyr propaganda in Arab media and the lack of Palestinian democratic alternative.
By constantly manifest an implacable for the existence of Israel, Hamas ledarksap enhanced sense among Israelis that there is no alternative but to again and again to violence to ensure that Palestinians in Gaza moved back to square one. And through an iron grip around the enclave it difficult for Palestinians to get even to square two.
There are essentially only one way to ultimately break this våldssprial. It is a Palestinian leadership in Gaza, which has the primary aim to develop Gaza and make life bearable for those who live there - instead of looking for new conflict with Israel. This must be done while Israel gives the Palestinians the opportunity to walk the road, something Israel has not made an effort to significantly to facilitate. By highlighting the checkpoints in the West Bank, facilitate the movement of Palestinian workers, facilitate trade and importation of supplies, so Israel can also send a signal to the Palestinians to iron grip can be easier if the Palestinians decide to walk a different path. And on the day the Palestinians choose leaders who want to walk this road, the new challenge for Israel - to accept and facilitate the process.
FREDRIK MALM
1 comment:
The author uses false parallel. He seems to forget that the Kurds had eventually helped a foreign force to invade and occupy Iraq, to topple and execute Iraqi leaders, disband the Iraqi army and have a Kurdish president for the whole Iraq.
Will the writer agree that Palestinians follow the Kurdish model and do that for Israel? topple the government, put up show trials, destroy all infrastructure, disband the Israeli army, kill all their scientists, and intellectuals? then put a Palestinian as a president for Israel?
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