On May 24, 2024 two researchers of sustainable development Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares wrote an article in Al Jazeera on “How the Arab world will enable Palestine to win its war of liberation.”

They said “Israel war on Gaza has become Palestine’s liberation war”, and the “brutality of the war and blatant disregard for international law have shaken global politics to the core.” “But with Arab unity, Palestine will with its liberation, pave the way to peace and security in the Middle East through a two-state solution.”

They said, “Even though the United States government acknowledges the need for a two-state solution, it blocks it in practice, being the sole veto last month against Palestine’s membership in the United Nations. Israel counts on the US to continue to prevent the emergence of a truly sovereign State of Palestine. Yet even this obstacle can be overcome.”

The article said that the Arab Nations, with impressive unity, are circumventing US resistance as shown in a meeting of the Arab League in mid-May in Bahrain when they suggested “a global conference to implement the two-state solution.” They Bahrain Declaration called for an “international conference under the auspices of the United Nations to resolve the Palestinian issue based on the two-state solution.”

The article to 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and the Arab Islamic leaders meeting in Riyadh in November after the outbreak of Gaza war in October 2023 and said “Arab unity on the two-state solution has been strengthening for more than two decades.” “Since then, Arab-backed diplomacy for the two-state solution has been accelerating, even as Israel’s war on Gaza has continued unabated. After numerous delays and vetoes by the US, the UN Security finally backed an immediate ceasefire on March 25 although Israel brazenly ignored the resolutions.”

The article said, “The UN Security Council voted overwhelmingly for Palestine membership in the UN with only the US voting against, and on May 10 the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly backed Palestine’s bid for UN membership.” And on May 22, Norway, Spain and Ireland announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state.

It referred to South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) charging Israel with genocide and gave an interim judgement on January 26, saying it is plausible Israel is in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, and issued an emergency order for Israel to immediately stop its operation in Rafah. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defense minister Yoav Gallant along with three Hamas leaders.

The article said that the US was trying “one last gambit, the age-old trick of divide and conquer – trying to break Arab unity over Palestine by making a side deal with Saudi Arabia.” That this gambit “will almost surely fail as the Arb countries are recognizing the unprecedented power of Arab unity to establish peace in their region.” And “they are not only on the side of justice for Palestinian people, but also on the side of overwhelming world opinion.”

The article ended enumerating virtues of global conference that would envisage end of the US, and bring about a change in its position in view of 500 million Arab population, its strategic location, economic role, and centrality in the world energy system and the wider Islamic world of nearly two billion Muslims.

Rami G. Khouri is a well-known scholar at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon and holds a non-resident senior fellow position at the Arab Center in Washington. He has written a large number of articles on the Palestinian issue; recent articles on Aljazeera are titled: Watching the Watchdog on how the Western media follows the administrations toe-line in presenting a distorted picture of the events in the Middle East.

An Al Jazeera article on July 5, 2023 is titled “Believe it or not, justice will prevail in Palestine” he wrote, “the situation in Palestine is indeed grim, but numerous other developments across countries and sectors indicate that the Palestinian cause is gaining ground in two particular domains. Diplomacy at the UN and global civic activism both show that the Palestinians are enjoying growing support against Zionism and Western colonial interests, which had prevailed virtually unopposed and stifled Palestinians and their rights for decades.”

Regarding diplomacy at the UN, the article referred to “the UN General Assembly for the first time ever officially commemorated the 75 th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) –Palestinians use the word Nakba to describe Israel’s ethnic cleansing and forced expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians in 1947-1948, to make way for the Jewish of Israel that Zionism sought.

Israel and its surrogates frantically try to stop advocacy for Palestine around the world, or to silence criticism of Israeli policies that respected human groups, such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’Tselem, classify as apartheid.”

“At the heart of this confrontation is the Palestinian right to engage in legitimate, non-violent political action through the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement, which call for international pressure on Israel for ior its denial of Palestinian human rights. BDS echoes the global boycotts decades ago that helped end South Africa’s racist apartheid system.

Zionists dislike the comparison; but they cannot stop it, hard as they try to do so through their preferred method branding as an anti-Semite anyone who speaks for Palestinian rights or criticizes Israeli policies.

In its attempt to block pro-Palestinian activism, Israel has pressured public and private institutions to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism which wrongfully equates hate against Jewish people with criticism of Israel.

Jimmy Carter was the U.S. President from January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981. He is known for hosting peace talks at Saint David between Menachem Begin, the Israeli Prime Minister and the Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt that led to their Noble Peace Award in 1978.

Carter wrote a book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, published by Simon and Schuster in November 2006. In his book, Carter argued that Israel’s continued control and constructions of settlements were the primary obstacles to comprehensive peace agreement in the Middle East.

That perspective and the used of the Apartheid in the title of the book generated lot of criticism, although subsequently the same words were used by peace organizations such as B’Tselem, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Jewish Voices for Peace.

Yvonne Ridley, a British Muslim wrote an article in Middle East Monitor on February 20, 2023 on his 98 th anniversary and called Carter the first (and only) US president to identify Israeli apartheid.

Carter published an article in the New York Times om November 28, 2016 titled “America Must Recognize Palestine.” And CNN on November 29, 2019 wrote an article “Jimmy Cater to Obama: Before you leave office, recognize Palestinian state.”

Mary Robinson is currently president of the Elders organization. She was the 7 th president of Ireland and resigned from that office on September 12, 1997 to take appointment of UN High Commissioner and resigned from UN in September 2002.

The Elders was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007 as a group of independent leaders working for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet.

On October 25, 2023 the elders in a statement warned that Palestinian and Israeli lives must be valued in global response to crisis. The elders condemned the horrendous terror attacks launched by Hamas on October 7, 2023, the killing of innocent civilians, the holding of hostages, and the continued indiscriminate missile attacks on Israel. These are mass atrocities for which the perpetrators must be brought to justice, preferably in a court of law.

They also condemned the Israeli government’s unacceptable collective punishment of the population of Gaza through siege, the scale of the military assault and its death toll, and the forcible transfer of civilians within the territory. As well as the continuing land and home incursions and demolitions in the West Bank and settler violence against Palestinian communities. Those are not legitimate acts of self-defense: They are clear violations of international humanitarian law, and some amount to atrocities for which there needs to be criminal accountability.

The statement referred to statement by President Biden warning Israel not to repeat the mistakes made by the United States after Al Qaeda terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the worst of which was the invasion of Iraq. A ground incursion by Israeli troops into Gaza could cause risk inflaming a wider regional escalation of the conflict. The cycles of violence and impunity must be broken , and the international community must clearly about crimes on both sides and hold those criminally responsible.

Then on December 18, 2023 Mary Robinson issued a warning ahead of UN Security Council meeting that President Biden support for Israel indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, US is increasingly isolated, with allies like Australia, Canada, India, Japan and Poland suppoting an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

And on May 15, 2024 the common dreams organization highlighted an article by the Elders Chair, Mary Robinson on the unique leverage the United States has with Israel and issued calls for Biden to stop arming Israel for its assault on the Gaza Strip. She had an on-camera interview just before her country’s prime minister, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House.

In his meeting with Biden, Varadkar “should not spend too much time on the dire humanitarian situation, and the ships, and the rest of it,” she asserted. “He has the opportunity to deliver a political message in a very direct way. The United States can influence Israel by not continuing to provide arms. It has provided a lot of the arms...that have been used on the Palestinian people.”

She said, "We need a cease-fire and we need the opening up of Gaza with every avenue... for aid to get in, because the situation's so bad, and we need the political way forward, which is the two-state solution," she added. 'So we need an Israeli government agreeing to that, and only the United States can put the pressure [on Israel].'

She made multiple statements during the Israeli assault on Gaza, including call on Israel to comply with the ICJ's January ruling and warning Biden that his 'support for Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza is losing him respect all over the world' and her “calls for Biden to stop arming Israel.”

Conclusion

Israel war on Gaza and Israel’s Defense army’s assault on the world’s most densely populated and poverty-stricken enclave, land air and sea blocked by Israel with indiscriminate bombing that has killed 36,000 Palestinians, including women and children with thousands more buried alive and unaccounted has jolted the world conscience as never before with global protests demanding Israel to immediate stop this human slaughter and humanitarian crisis.

In its latest savagery, the Jewish Voices for Peace called Israel a rouge state when on May 26, the Israeli military carried out an unspeakable massacre in a humanitarian zone in Rafah, bombing tent camps filled with displaced men, women, and children and killing at least 45 Palestinians, and hundreds others wounded.

The images from that night will never leave us when human beings including babies were torn apart, asphyxiated and burned alive, their plastic tents and makeshift wooden shelters set ablaze as Israeli missiles rained down on them. These are actions of a rogue state and the direct result of decades of impunity for systematic abuses and countless war crimes. This genocide must end now – and the U.S. must impose an arms embargo on Israel.

College campuses around the world have exploded in recent weeks in protests by pro-Palestinian students, faculty members against Israel’s war on Gaza. In university after university, protesters are demanding that their schools sever and direct or indirect financial and academic links with Israel, including divesting from companies with ties to Israel. Jewish Voices for Peace and other groups joined in the protests at quite locations.

The protests have led to different responses from universities, many have called police and other law enforcements agencies on to campus; more than 2,000 students were arrested at University campuses in the United States. Protests along with encampments have taken at almost all universities in the United States and also spread to other parts of the world – from Canada to Australia, Japan and in multiple European nations.

As tensions have continued to soar, students and administrators in some universities have managed to negotiate agreements that have acceded to some of the demands of the protesters. Among universities that have agreed to specific student demands are Northwestern University in Illinois, Brown University in Rhode Island, Rutgers University in New Jersey and University of California at Riverside. Details of agreements are given in an Al Jazeera article “Pro-Palestine protests: How some universities reached deals with students” published on May 7, 2024.

US President Biden is under increased pressure to call Israel to ceasefire in Gaza, especially among young Americans who have been turned away in this election year because of his ironclad support for Israel.

He outlined a peace plan and claimed it was proposed by Israel to be carried out in three stages; first stage involved a six-week ceasefire with Israeli army withdrawing from populated areas of Gaza, exchange hostages with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and humanitarian aid flooding into the area daily. The second phase would negotiate terms for a “full and complete ceasefire” and eventually “major reconstruction” for the enclave.

Hamas viewed the plan positively, and the UN warned of “apocalyptic conditions” in the southern city of Rafah that Israeli military confirmed was in the center of city, defying international outcry over its offensive there.

The CNN reported the US, Qatar, and Egypt called on Israel and Hamas to finalize the agreement. Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State urged Hamas through the mediators to accept the deal without delay and thanked Egypt and the UAE for their humanitarian assistance and the Qatari prime minister for his role in mediation.

The CNN report said people in Israel took to the streets in several cities against Benjamin Netanyahu calling for release of hostages in Gaza and called for his resignation and early elections. They also called for accepting the latest proposals laid out by the US President Joe Biden. The international community also viewed the Biden plan positively.

Meanwhile, Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto welcomed Biden’s ceasefire proposal as a step in the right direction. He said his country is willing to send peacekeeping troops to maintain a ceasefire in Gaza if required. “When needed and when requested by the UN, we are prepared to contribute significant peacekeeping forces to maintain and monitor this prospective ceasefire as well as provding protection and security to all parties and to all sides, he told a security conference in Singapore.

Palestine continues to be number one issue with Muslims, and they speak and support Palestinians at every UN General Assembly. The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly supported the recent vote for membership of a Palestinian state and a majority of the UN Security Council excepting the negative vote by the US.

Jews were discriminated and marginalized for centuries in Europe and Jewish holocaust took place in Europe. Muslims welcomed them into their lands when driven out of Europe, and even today there are substantial populations of Jews in Muslim countries. Jews from Africa and Arab Jews are discriminated by Ashkenazi Jews in Israeli state and society.

To make up for their past behavior, Europeans treat holocaust negatively and in general are supportive of Israel. But they cannot remain isolated to current massacre in Gaza with the understanding that recognizing existence of a separate state for Palestinians may justify the only right solution. Hungary, Ireland, Poland and Spain have already recognized the state of Palestine, and others may follow soon.

As part of a peace group including Muslims, Jews and Christians from Tucson (Arizona), we went on a trip to Israel/Palestine in November, 2012, met with various peace groups, and visited different locations in the West Bank. We were subjected to pass through the humiliation of Israeli check points at various locations, saw ourselves segregation of Israeli from Arab areas, witnessed Israeli guards parading through the main streets of West Bank, and settlers watching every move of its inhabitants. And wished no human being were ever subjected to such a miserable treatment.

Biden accused Nateanyahu dragging out the Gaza war for his political survival. The United States, Germany and European Union have sanctioned West Bank settlers - considered illegal under international laws.

It is hoped that the international community finally wakes up to the continuing massacre in Gaza and use of starvation as an instrument of war, and cries out loud and clear that Israel must immediately stop this inhuman behavior forthwith, no ifs and buts of any kind.