“Mr. Netanyahu: Tear Down This Wall!”

Posted January 18, 2014

by Jerry Alatalo

“Five great enemies to peace inhabit within us: viz., avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride. If those enemies were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.”

– Petrarch (1304-1374)

Shortly after shaking hands with PLO leader Yassir Arafat in front of the White House with Bill Clinton sharing the stage, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was shot and assassinated in 1995. Mr. Rabin had just delivered a speech to over 100,000 Israelis at a Peace Rally, then left the podium and was gunned down with three bullets by a young right-wing Israeli law student. Bill Clinton called Yitzhak Rabin a “martyr for peace” at his memorial service, some eighteen years ago.

Mr. Rabin may have represented the last best chance to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a just, peaceful manner. The Palestinian people remain locked in an “open-air prison”, an apartheid system equal to that in South Africa before international pressure came to bear in an intensity which overcame all resistance from the South African regime, resulting in Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and election as president of his nation.

The same pressure from the world’s people will be required to end apartheid in Israel as it relates to the Palestinian people. President Ronald Reagan’s strong suggestion, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”, referring to the wall between East and West Germany, leading to the dismantling of it, needs to become borrowed by President Barack Obama, referring to the wall in Israel. The United States government has enabled the present condition of apartheid between Israel and Palestinians, through direct monetary aid every year in the billions, and even more importantly, diplomatic and political cover.

The implications of continuation of Palestinian apartheid conditions are those related to war and peace in the Middle East and profits for weapons manufacturers in America, Israel, England, France, as well as other weapons manufacturing nations. The situation in Israel-Palestine is such that, with most of the world’s people behind a peaceful, just resolution of the decades old conflict, Barack Obama should deliver a Ronald Reagan-like “wall” statement to decisively turn things around and get the entire matter resolved.

If Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu do not find it necessary to take this important issue on directly and powerfully, for a fair resolve in the best interests of Palestinians, Israelis, and the entire population of the Middle East region, then, just as during all historic moments of great and just change on Earth, the Earth’s people will make all the difference. Humanity shall come together and demand a fair, just solution for the Middle East’s obvious apartheid conditions in Palestine.

The following video is of a radio interview hosted by Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese –  of Veterans for Peace members Tarak Kauff and Ellen Davidson about their experience during a recent trip to the occupied territories of Palestine. Mr. Kauff describes how impressed he was with the spirit of a people who have had to endure decades of injustice reminiscent of Native Americans and the black majority in South Africa. He notes that he found more dignity in the tent of a Palestinian family than found in the luxurious halls of the United States Congress.

Ms. Davidson shares her view that a two-state solution is nearly dead, and that the Israeli government is responsible for its demise. The Palestinian people are suffering in their version of Native Americans’ “Trail of Tears”, forced from the lands of their ancestors, unable to live and survive in a dignified manner as is the God-given right of every human being. Although a “taboo” subject in America, the fact remains obvious that the plight of the Palestinians represents one of the most urgent human rights issues of 2014.

Just as in South Africa before the end of apartheid, the United States government is hanging on to the role of enabling Middle East apartheid to the bitter end, before the world demands an end to this major world injustice. The time has come to deal with Palestinian apartheid with the highest moral, ethical, and spiritual maturity humanly possible. The situation there has become a world cancer that can no longer be ignored or wished away; it is time to heal the cancerous conditions and allow the people in Palestine, Israel, the Middle East, and the world relief from the horrific disease-based consequences.

Many people around the world have the view that humanity is the most advanced species in the universe. Regarding the over 65 year conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, evidence of human beings’ advanced status remains to be seen; this situation does not support the claims of superior intelligence or morality or ethical behavior. Perhaps the human race will take the opportunity to truly advance morally, ethically, and spiritually, either from hearing one or more of the world’s most prominent leaders – or the entire population of this Earth – powerfully and earnestly suggesting:

“Mr. Netanyahu: Tear Down This Wall!”

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(Thank you Margaret Flowers @ YouTube)