Each Side Should Take a Step Back to Solve Their Knotty Problem: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 25, 2002

Each Side Should Take a Step Back to Solve Their Knotty Problem: Commentary

Palestine-Israel conflicts have been intensified in recent days, Israel, on the one hand, puts Yasser Arafat under house arrest and, on the other hand, violently strikes Palestine. There is no sign of relaxation in Palestine-Israel conflicts, on the contrary, the situation is becoming increasingly fierce, which has indeed developed to a very dangerous extent.

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Palestine-Israel conflicts have been intensified in recent days, Israel, on the one hand, puts Yasser Arafat under house arrest and, on the other hand, violently strikes Palestine.

Following its large-scale military actions against Tulkarm, on the morning of January 22, it launched attacks on Nabulus, a city on the west bank of the Jordan River, while the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) also declared full-scale war with Israel.

There is no sign of relaxation in Palestine-Israel conflicts, on the contrary, the situation is becoming increasingly fierce, which has indeed developed to a very dangerous extent.

More seriously, the Arab side has felt disappointed and even despaired of Ariel Sharon himself and the Israeli government with Sharon as Prime Minister, while the current Israeli government has repeatedly expressed that it cherishes no expectations of Chairman Arafat and the Palestine National Authority (PNA) under his leadership. With the mutual distrust between Palestine and Israel, obviously there is no basic condition for easing the situation.

As one reviews the past 16 months, one cannot say that whether the parties involved��Palestine and Israel, or the Arab countries; whether the United States, Russia and European Union (EU), or the United Nations have no desire for the solution of the Palestine-Israel issue, nor can one say that they have not made efforts for this, but Palestine-Israel conflicts remain and bloodshed continues unabated and have thus formed a pattern in which each side revenges the other. Today, if they want to untie the fast knot, the two sides of Palestine and Israel must face up to realities, and each tries hard to restrain themselves and cool down.

For the Arab world and Palestine, the most important thing at present is no more than to unite as one, unify their goal of struggle, discard all unrealistic ideas, take peaceful means in coordination with the mediation effort of the international community, strive for a just and reasonable solution of the problem and, through political negotiation, gradually fulfill their desire for the establishment of an independent Palestine State.

Israel should understand that the use of force not only cannot fundamentally solve the problem, but also Israel's peace and tranquility will be out of the question. If it continues to use force, the problem will become more and more complicated, thus making it impossible to repair the already damaged bilateral trust. Since Prime Minister Sharon has repeatedly declared his willingness to make "a painful compromise" to Palestine in return for peace with the latter, then why doesn't it try hard to replace military actions with peaceful means?

As for the United States, since it has openly expressed its agreement to the establishment of a Palestine State, then it should take follow-up actions. The United States has considerable restrictive force to deal with Israel.

It should let the Palestinian people really see that there is hope for the establishment of an independent Palestine State with East Jerusalem as the capital through peaceful means, this not only will facilitate the development of the Palestine-Israel situation, but also will definitely be conducive to the solution of the problem concerning extremist organizations of Palestine and Israel. For this purpose, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has sent 11 letters to the US President George W. Bush, however, people do not see any effective actions taken by the United States.

The ownership of Jerusalem is pivotal and crucial to the Palestine-Israel issue. Only when Palestine recovers East Jerusalem and establish a State there, can Palestine-Israel conflicts die down and can there be the possibility to bring about peace in the Middle East region. Israel should realize this and thereby consider its own actions. The international community should also on this basis extend more realistic and effective support to Palestine.

The commentary, written by Xu Ping, is carried in full on page 3 of People' Daily January 25.)

By People's Daily Online

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