Israel's right-wing government will not easily bow down to international pressures to end its recurring hostilities against the Palestinians in the Middle East, an Israeli peace activist said Monday
Israel's right-wing government will not easily bow down to international pressures to end its recurring hostilities against the Palestinians in the Middle East, an Israeli peace activist said Monday.
The international community's renewed efforts to expedite the peace process in the region following US President Barack Obama's landmark speech to the Arab world in Cairo - in which he promised a fair solution to the Middle East crisis - is likely to be met with failure if there is no change of power within the Jewish nation.
"The problem is not the Americans, not the Palestinians, not the world, but the right-wing party in Israel," Latif Dori of the Israeli Committee for Israeli-Palestinian dialogue told reporters on the sidelines of the UN Asian and Pacific Meeting on the Question of Palestine held in Jakarta.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intransigently resisted US demands to accept Palestinian statehood and freeze the settlement construction in the West Bank. He said Sunday he would deliver a major speech outlining his principles on achieving peace next week, but gave no hint whether the hawkish leader would recognize a Palestinian neighbor.
"That is just his tactic," Dori said, accusing Netanyahu of merely buying time. "For eight years he has spoken about peace, but has done nothing."
Dori, based in Tel Aviv, is a leading figure of the leftist Mapam Party. He is one of six Israelis attending the UN meeting in Jakarta along with Amira Hass, a left-wing journalist from the daily newspaper, Ha'aretz.
Opening the two-day meeting, Indonesia's Deputy Foreign Minister Triyono Wibowo lamented the ongoing "humanitarian crisis of historic proportion" in the Gaza Strip, calling on the international community to hold Israel accountable for crimes against humanity.
"There cannot be two sets of laws or codes of international conduct, one for Israel and another for the community of nations," he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement read by UN under secretary general Noeleen Heyzer he was encouraged by Obama's commitment to bring peace in the Middle East.
He called on Israel to stop the "routine incursions" carried out by Israeli defense forces in Palestinian territories, saying "the time has come for Israel to fundamentally change its policies.as it has repeatedly promised to do."
Pakistan, the only nuclear power in the Islamic world, in its statement demanded the total withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem.
Abdel Rahim Malouh, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization who should have represented Palestine in the meeting, was denied his right to travel by the Israeli authorities.
He said in his statement: "If confronted with continued defiance, practical measures will be necessary to bring an end to the destructive and unlawful Israeli practices, which are endangering the viability of the future independent state of Palestine and the prospects for peace and stability in the region."
Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.