UNHAPPY NEW YEAR

Today is the Islamic New Year (that is calculated according to the moon calendar). But no one in the Islamic world has any reason to celebrate, no one has hopes for a happy new year, because it has already had an extremely unhappy start as Palestinians are dying in their hundreds in Gaza. When watching those horrific scenes of a catastrophe that is too awful for words, then every half-way intelligent human being should ask himself if this is a legitimate method of achieving security and peace for Israel? What is more, who would be so naive to believe that if the traumatized surviving Palestinians for generations to come wouldn't take revenge one day for the death of so many innocent civilians including women and children, if there were able to do so? The satisfaction with the military "success," as the Israeli government might view this operation, might be short-lived.


I don't know why, but suddenly the terrible attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 came to my mind, despite its totally different circumstances and historically incorrect comparison. Nevertheless, I thought about the satisfaction the Japanese military must have felt after this great military strike in their eyes. Hardly four years later, however, the "pay-back" they received caused so much worse suffering.


Unfortunately, anyone speaking of a Palestinian - Israeli peace process now sounds as if he was mocking its people. As usual, the much wiser and skilled artists of diplomacy will be left to pick up the pieces afterwards, but I am worried that this time there won't be any pieces left to pick up.