[ad_1]
It was an illusion.
This Monday, May 14, 2018 was the day the last, fleeting remnants of that illusion finally died.
On the same day Israeli troops killed more than 50 Palestinians taking part in what they called the Great March of Return, Israel and American leaders studiously ignored the bloodbath in Gaza and celebrated the inauguration of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.
The split television screens encapsulated the absurdity of it all. On one side, vivid images of volleys of tear gas, thick black smoke billowing from burning tires, panicked medics rushing away the wounded and the dead. On the other, elegantly dressed Americans and Israelis heaped praise on one another, called it a historic occasion, with barely a nod to the madness afoot an hour and a half’s drive away.
No single day highlights just how far this conflict has strayed into the disjointed, the absurd, the hopeless.
Under the Trump administration, the United States has utterly abandoned any pretext of evenhandedness. And the Palestinians have been abandoned altogether.
The moribund Arab League called for an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. Low would be a wildly optimistic description of expectations of the meeting.
Saudi Arabia joined in the condemnation, but it was lip service. Arab condemnation is a debased currency. It counts for nothing.
While they don’t have diplomatic relations, Tel Aviv and Riyadh see eye to eye on far more than what separates them.
Today the Palestinians are alone, divided between bickering factions. There is still emotional support among ordinary Arabs for the Palestinian cause, but it doesn’t translate into action. For now.
The Arabs are distracted, while the Israelis live in what they call their “bubble,” life in a modern, fast-paced society that keeps them isolated from the ugly reality of a grim, decadeslong military occupation.
The more than 2 million Palestinians crammed into Gaza will not disappear or begin to accept their fate or forget the homes their grandparents or great-grandparents lost in what was Palestine. The Palestinians in the West Bank won’t quietly accept their slow, relentless relegation to reservations hemmed in by walls and barbed wire.
It might seem that nothing will change. For now. But nothing remains the same. A problem ignored is not a problem solved.
A storm is coming.
[ad_2]
Source link