64 and Counting: Another Sad Anniversary

I cannot seem to have the words to express fully what I feel now.

Palestinian villages were destroyed and "depopulated" during the Nakba, and the destruction has never ended.

(LONDON) - It is the dawn of yet another sad anniversary. Today, every Palestinian around the globe remembers the day we were all made homeless. When will it ever end?

Much has been said and written about the so-called “Arab Spring.” Some of it welcoming, some hopeful and others down right hostile. My reaction was in a different category; cautious optimism with a tinge of cynicism. I asked what I thought were pertinent questions and opined when it appeared to be the right time to speak my mind. My worst fears were realised over Libya.

"To The Victor Go The Spoils" spelled out these fears, which was published here and on other forums. But there was still another nagging question: Why now and why all together? I advanced the 'constructive chaos' theory and cautioned about the aftermath. After all, when a man like Professor Bernard Levy is advancing the cause of change in Libya, what do you expect?

Then there was the Paris conference followed by that infamous meeting in Doha between members of the Libyan National Transitional Council and the Israelis. Now we can all see, with our own eyes, the chaos in Libya and I can't bear to think of what mayhem is still to come there.

During his recent visit to Tunisia Mr. Abbas had to cancel a scheduled visit to Libya, for ‘security concerns’. To affirm his fears, some of the armed militias in Tripoli attacked the office of the Prime Minister yet again. If you pray my fellow Arabs, the time is now.

I wrote to the leaders of 'Al-Nahda' in Tunis and wished them luck and implored them to safeguard the 'Amana' revolution. Then this bombshell from their Minister of Sport, Mr Tariq Diab, saying that “he will accept help from Israel” and that he has no problem with “normalising relations with Israel”. It has now been reported that the head of Al-Nahda, Mr. Rashed Al-Ghannoushi, during a recent visit to the USA assured AIPAC that “Palestine does not concern us.”

As if that wasn’t enough, they have just renewed the emergency laws.

Am I justified in asking, what is going on in Tunis?

I did the same with Egypt and challenged the Muslim Brotherhood to make public any agreements with the USA they may have made behind closed doors. When offering my condolences to the Christians in Egypt over the death of their Coptic Pope, Shenouda III, I asked them to remember that despite all the challenges they are still part and parcel of the Egyptian nation.

If the Egyptians are to sail the good ship ' New Egypt ' to safety unity is a must. Mubarak may have gone but his legacy is still alive and kicking. Only a few days ago demonstrators in the streets of Cairo were set upon by ‘unknown’ assailants, resulting in 20 deaths and hundreds of injured. The elections are looming and only God knows what the results will be. The future does not look promising even for the most optimistic. Without Egypt there are no Arabs and without the Arabs there is no Egypt.

Iraq: If you are in any doubt as to what the ‘constructive chaos’ theory is, have a look at Iraq. The country has been destroyed, disfigured and soaked in blood and the tragedy continues. Not only is it fragmented and divided on sectarian and ethnic lines, Interpol has just issued a red point warrant against the Vice-President Mr. Al-Hashemi, for allegedly committing terrorist acts, murder and inciting unrest.

Mr. Al-Hashemi has taken refuge in Kurdistan and when you know how close Kurdistan is to Israel and that Mr. Al-Hashemi has just completed a tour of the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Turkey you are entitled to wonder what the future holds.

Ali Abdullah Saleh himself has gone, but what about the Yemen? What is really going on in there? Who are the players? And who is to benefit? Where are they heading? Who can answer these questions?

Bahrain is business as usual. Demonstrations are met with brute force, more blood and resources are lost and the future looks very bleak. Despite all this, they just had the Grand Prix there, as if to say nothing is wrong in this country.

The other Gulf Corporation Council countries including Saudi Arabia, which have not been directly touched by the Arab Spring, are even more remote now from the Arab arena and the Palestinian Nakba than ever before. They are so focused and interested in quelling or countering the perceived Iranian threat that they are actively seeking allegiances and closer ties with the USA and Israel.

The international press is littered with innuendo, rumour and actual stories of the clandestine meetings and deals that have been forged between Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Israel. All in the name of security. Whose security I wonder?

And what is the ultimate price for securing those archaic dynasties of the Gulf and Saudi Arabia?

There can only be one answer: More penetration by America and Israel, more dominance of the New World order, more gains by Israel and the obvious losers are the Arab nation at large and Palestine in particular.

Morocco and Algeria are not really affected in this sense nor are they actually involved in Arab affairs. The Moroccans, very cleverly, manipulate the Islamic movement into accepting the minimum of change and the monarchy is more entrenched, more pro-Western and more open to cooperation with Israel than ever. Algeria, on the other hand, is stable on the surface but the Islamist movement is lurking in the background, waiting for an opportunity to bounce back. We all remember the bloodbath that followed the Islamist victory after the elections in 1991.

Everything that has been going on hinges on Syria. Syria is pivotal to what the future holds for the entire Middle East. The bloodshed continues and the situation, despite the UN/Arab League efforts, is deteriorating into carnage.

It is now public knowledge that America, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are actively arming and financing the insurgents.

The accusations and counter accusations are rampant and the neighbouring countries are poised and ready for the final assault. With Jordan conducting the largest ever army maneuvers in its history, again, your prayers are very much needed.

Jordan itself is in a very precarious and unenviable position. There is unrest in the streets, high unemployment amongst the young and the cost of living is beyond ordinary Jordanians. The country is on its knees financially and desperately in need of help. This makes it susceptible and vulnerable to outside pressures.

There is yet another change in government, normal in Jordan you might say. Whatever Jordan does will have a direct impact on Palestinians living there and in the occupied territories. It has been reported that Jordan is thinking of withdrawing Jordanian passports from some 1.7 million Palestinians including members of the PA.

What are we to make of all of this?

The PA and Hamas are still at loggerheads, the divisions are wider than ever. Any chance of reconciliation, if not completely impossible is indeed very slim.

Mr. Abbas has recently been on his travels all over the world, trying to garner some support for the lamented PA and the discredited peace process.

Mr. Haniyeh is doing the same, as if Hamas’ Gaza is a different country and Mr. Masha’al is residing in Doha, Qatar after abandoning Damascus and Syria. Now there’s a surprise.

The rhetoric, the blame game and the accusations are aplenty. If you need any more convincing that the idea of a united Palestinian front is dead and buried look at the recent reshuffle of the PA cabinet that Mr. Abbas and Mr. Fayyad have agreed upon.

What does that say to us about the proposed government of national unity?

And what of the so-called peace process? It would be an insult to any interested party’s intelligence to mention the words peace and process when you are talking about Israel. They never, ever entertained any idea of peace and the process that they are interested in is the complete gradual theft of the entire landmass of historical Palestine and beyond.

Mr. Abbas has written a letter to Mr. Netanyahu outlining his position regarding the revival of the stalled peace negotiations. Did Mr. Abbas get an answer? Not in the way of courteous equals.

Mr. Netanyahu answered by announcing 2,500 more new housing units in East Jerusalem, an 1100 room new hotel in East Jerusalem and the legalization of the three out-posts in the West Bank. Now he is trying to postpone the dismantling of the existing illegal settlements that were scheduled to be removed.

Just to ensure his political survival Mr. Netanyahu has just forged a new allegiance between the Likud and the Kadima party. You don’t need to be a genius to deduce what this marriage made in hell will mean to the Palestinians.

A very bleak scenario. It all emanates from the mood of despair one finds oneself in on the eve of yet another anniversary of The Nakba.

In times like this I recall the great Mahatma Ghandi, who said:

'When I despair I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it... always.’