Extra

Ending the Conflict in the Holy Land on the Basis of Peace and Justice

Dr. Amer Araim
Wednesday May 19, 2021 - 04:48:00 PM

There must be an end to the carnage in the Holy Land and the sufferings of the Palestinians and the Israelis, which will be only achieved by agreeing that the Holy Land belongs to the Palestinians(the indigenous people) and the Israelis, that both sides should enjoy being in their homeland, and practicing their respective faiths with freedom from fear, and the threat of expulsion. 

The latest escalation in violence is rooted in the fact that for more than seventy years, the Palestinians have been suffering from displacement and threat from expulsion from the land of their ancestors. The United States has been involved in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict from the beginning, and has been siding with the Israelis. However, this policy has neither resolved the conflict on the basis of peace and justice nor brought peace to the Israeli society itself. Israel by oppressing the Palestinians is creating an atmosphere of fear, and suspicion between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and unless it is stopped, it will lead to further bloodshed and destruction on both sides. 

The Biden Administration, though represents an improvement from the total one-sided policy of the Trump Administration, so far has not contributed to solving the conflict on the basis of peace and justice, which requires, stopping Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories. These Israeli settlements are contrary to international law and relevant United Nations resolutions. Recently, the Biden Administration has prevented the United Nations Security Council from adopting measures to deal with present escalation of violence. It is sincerely hoped that the Biden Administration will facilitate the efforts to bring to an end this latest round of killings and destruction, which must be combined with further action by the United Nations Security Council to establish a permanent peace on the basis of two-state solution. Israel will be on 78 percent of the Mandated territory of Palestine, and the Palestinian state on the remaining 22 percent, and to solve the question of Palestinian refugees on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions, and the principles of international law. 

It is hoped that after implementation the proposed ceasefire, the Biden Administration will begin working within the United Nations Security Council to establish a permanent peace in the Holy Land on the basis of two-states solution. President Biden by resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of peace and justice will contribute to world peace and tranquility. 


Dr. Amer Araim is former Senior Political Affairs Officer of the United Nations, former Secretary of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Diablo Valley College, and member of the Social Justice Alliance and the Interfaith Community of Contra Costa County