The Palestine tragedy

THE Palestine tragedy, which began as far back as 61 years ago, has not yet played out, thanks to Israel's intransigent refusal to vacate the land it has usurped from the Palestinian people and the support of its Western friends, principally the US. While the original inhabitants of the land are mercilessly attacked, beaten, tortured and killed, as they are thrown out by the barbaric Israeli armed forces, the superpower labels the poor victims as terrorists and vetoes UN resolutions that point a finger at the Jewish state. Yet it gives the impression of working for a just resolution of the dispute. The tragedy, in the meanwhile, continues with greater poignancy and threatens to become one of the longest lasting suffering of a people in recent times. The Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the rest of the territories under Israeli occupation present a picture of total desolation, with death written at every door that has luckily withstood the repeated onslaughts of the Israeli armed forces. Every stratagem is employed to asphyxiate the Palestinian economy in violation of international law.
According to an Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed almost 8,900 lives during the past two decades. Quite obviously, the main victims have been the Palestinian people. They lost 7,398 men, women and children in that period, and among them, the number of minors alone stood at 1,537. For these poor Palestinian people, 2009 that has still more than a month to go has become the bloodiest year since 1989, with the losses totalling 1,033, including 315 minors. The Gaza offensive (December 2008-January 2009) broke all records of Israeli brutalities, as even innocent children were targeted with bayonets, gunship helicopters mowed down people, and houses and farms were destroyed.