Whenever we Arabs talk about rescuing Palestinians and Palestine, we always think of it in terms of settling the Arab-Israeli conflict. And this is correct, for peace is the utlimate guarantee for the safety and security of people (both Arab and Israeli) and for territorial integrity.
But what happens when peace does not materialise, as the case is now? What should be done?
The question is especially important now when the Israeli government is endangering the safety and security of the Palestinians and swallowing up more Palestinian territory, thus seriously threatening the chance of establishing a viable Palestinian state.
A number of Arab countries is helping the Palestinians, officially through the Palestinian Authority and unofficially through several NGOs and acts of charity. This is good, and much needed.
The field hospitals which Jordan has set up in the West Bank and Gaza, for example, proved to be extremely important for the Palestinians, and not only in times of war or during acts of violence committed by the Israeli occupiers.
The various charity caravans (carrying much-needed medicine, clothing and food items) sent by Jordan and other Arab countries regularly are also significant, especially since very many Palestinians suffer from poverty and unemployment.
Furthermore, what Jordan has done over the years to protect, restore, maintain and sustain the holy sites in Jerusalem (both Christian and Muslim) has also been crucial for their survival. To this should be added other forms of sporadic but important support to schools, universities and other institutions.
While, as I said, this is all good and essential, what is needed in the absence of a valid, sustained peace process is a rescue strategy.
Israel’s occupation of Palestine has been going on for many decades. Judging from the way things have been going, it looks like it will be continuing for some time to come. As long as the occupation is in place there needs to be a meticulous strategy drawn, and effective mechanisms of implementation put in place, to support the Palestinians in concrete and tangible ways - not sporadically or partially, as is happening now, but in a sustained, comprehensive fashion.
The Arabs do not have to wait for peace to happen and for the Palestinian state to be declared in order to support it in meaningful, effective ways. The support should be given now. All sectors in Palestine -economic, administrative, social, educational, medical, technological - need vital support, according to a plan. This is the only effective way of enabling the Palestinians to survive and then prevail.
Yes, Arabs should continue to want peace to happen in Palestine, and should do all they can to bring peace about. At the same time, however, they need to think, urgently, of a long-term, sustained and meticulous strategy to rescue the Palestinians.
This is the least they can do now that peace making is halted and many of us are simply watching the tragedy which is unfolding in front of our eyes.
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