If the Diplomacy Fails, Try More Diplomacy

tariqMjaved

Eyes of the world are on the suffocated Gazans who are being butchered day and night for no fault of theirs. The hit hard is the vulnerable populace of Gaza that includes the elderly, the infants, the teen agers, the women, young girls and many small children. The current episodes have taken the lives of more than 615 innocent Palestinians and 3 dozen or so of the Israeli combatants till Wednesday-- all in the midst of blessed month of RAMADHAN.

Many Americans and the Westerners are out rallying against the massacre while most of the mainstream media is tight lipped or tend to misreport, yet finger pointing towards Hamas keeps them busy, at least.

Canada and the US officially stand with the mighty Israel, a country, already blessed with highly professional military force including its talented Air force and the expert Navy of course.

On the other side is Hamas equipped with local police force and the ammunition including locally made missiles of much inferior quality having poor delivery for lack of precision - missing targets many a times. Thus, there is no comparison between the strength of two nations in the region.

The Gaza Strip is a Palestinian region on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea that borders with Egypt on the southwest for 11 kilometers and Israel on the (East and North) along a 51 km long border. Sunni Muslims make up the predominant part of the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip.

Angry Israel didn’t tolerate kidnapping of three of its men by Hamas. However, the available evidence suggests otherwise as the alleged kidnapping was not authorised by Hamas' political leadership. The evidence indicates that it was carried out by the powerful Hebron clan which have been carrying out such nasty/rogue attacks in opposition to the Hamas leadership. Unfortunately, the irresponsible kidnapping by the said clan actually triggered an all out aggression against the innocent population of Gaza. Israeli warplanes went ahead intensifying strikes against Hamas, killing hundreds and injuring thousands, while the ground troops advanced deeper into Gaza to widen ground battle.

The bitter fact is the Gazans have been suffering from shortage of food, gasoline, power, medical supplies and building materials throughout the ongoing harshly enforced eight-year siege.

Reacting to the misadventure of Hebron clan and to the murder of three of abducted men is not a sound reason to kill so many Gazans along with so much of property damage.

Historically, during the 1947-48 war, nearly 700,000 Arabs left due to fear, deception and propaganda; they were displaced and their villages were destroyed. More than 60 percent of the total Palestinian population was expelled. “More than 530 Palestinian villages were depopulated and completely destroyed.”

Loss of Palestinian land: 1916-1948 Jewish National Fund purchases 6% of the land near Jerusalem. 1929-1947: 30% of Palestinian lands were confiscated due to registration regulations. 1947: 55% of Palestinian lands were lost to the U.N. Partition plan. 1948: 70% of lands were lost after 1947 war. 1967 to present: 85% of lands have been taken due to restriction of access to land, annexation, settlement expansion, and refugee laws.

http://www.itisapartheid.org/getinformed_sub3_subsub1_text.html

The Nakba: In 1948, approximately 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled to outer Palestine, from Jaffa, Haifa and West Jerusalem to Gaza and the West Bank, or to other countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt in four distinct waves. The Naksa: In 1967, after the 6-day war had destroyed the villages of Imwas, Yalo, Beit Nuba, Surit, Beit Awwa, Beit Mirshum, Shuyukh, Jiftlik, Agarith and Huseirat, approximately 300,000 refugees fled to Jordan, Syria and Egypt. Current estimates put the Palestinian refugee count at 6 million people. Some of these reside in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Since 1948, the World Community has recognized the Right of Return to Palestine under the U.N. Resolution 194.

However, Israel has created its own complicated residency laws, making it almost impossible for the Palestinians to return to lands owned for hundreds of generations by their native forefathers.

Therefore, placing “the criminal” and “the victim of criminality” in the same boat is totally unfair. And, manipulating to transfer the blame is a sign of dead conscience, yet the so called democracies don’t mind practising the malpractice.

Ridiculously, the impotent OIC (Organisation of the Islamic Conference) and the Arab League have been neglecting to safeguard the Muslim lands. The divided Umma offers a perfect environment to the foreign strategists.

Furthermore, the Geneva Conventions and their additional Protocols of 1949-2005 are at the core of international humanitarian law. The body of international law regulates the conduct of armed conflict and seeks to limit its effects. They specifically protect people who are not taking part in the hostilities. Sadly, the Geneva conventions too have little or no value at all.

Since all the World powers are legally obligated to follow the UNO resolutions, the UN Security Council must be able to broker a workable peace deal to satisfy the parties to the current war. Unless the defenseless Palestinians are treated humanely, there is no perpetual global peace.

Cleansing the Epicentre of Anti-Pakistan Terrorism

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Enough is enough: Pakistan has been facing a number of challenges; some are home grown while some are imported - most of which are identifiable only with circumstantial evidence. However, there are many clear cut proofs of foreign meddling as per the rulers’ claims.

Better late than never: Karachi Airport incidence has finally been considered as a wake-up call which actually ignited a large military offensive in the history of Pakistan. “Operation-Zarb-e-Azb” is a reality now. Launching offensive of that magnitude is not a joke, especially, when Pakistan already faces severe economic downturn.

Seemingly, this will be a long ‘deadly war’ full of suffering and sacrifices. Yet, it’s worth fighting to achieve permanent peace and prosperity for 185 million Pakistanis.

Obviously, launching offensive on such a large scale involves allocating huge funds for the purpose. If the operation lingers on for an indefinite period, a severe financial strain is imminent. Yet, for sake of Pakistan’s survival, the operation has to be successful. Success would eventually arrive when safe havens of the TTP militants are eliminated by the Pak Air Force, while the Pak Army keeps advancing to recapture the lost ground.

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Good news: The terrorists’ hideouts and huge cache of arms and ammunition have already been destroyed. Pakistani jets are busy bombing the militants in a lawless tribal district and have successfully achieved targets. The operation seems to be gaining momentum.

It’s worth mentioning that the Prime Minister’s pronouncements and the adoption of the “Protection of Pakistan Bill” by the National Assembly show a serious intent at the government level to free the country of the terrorist menace at all cost.

On the contrary, the experts claim that the vital element of SURPRISE has been missed in this very operation. A prolonged period of time for the negotiated settlement actually gave undue advantage to the militants who disappeared from the scene. Other problem is many militants are believed to have become clean shaven (with no more turbans) to merge with the IDPs (internally displaced persons). So, the IDP camp has to be under military monitoring/surveillance 24/7 to stop the terrorists from sneaking in or sneaking out.

Maybe, the menace of terrorism is inherently far from over as an excessive amount of precious time was given to the peace negotiators but no deal ever materialized - because the TTP was only buying time to get re-inforced.

The reality is Pak Army is in a state of the bloodiest war that it has ever fought. The expert opinion is Pak military is fighting a deadly 4G war within. However, it would defend the country in case there occurs a “3G threat” from India. Now the military needs more of esprit de corps, sense of unity, and the confidence of 185 million Pakistanis.

The latest campaign is much more complex than any other undertaken by the security forces so far in its decade-long war in this treacherous region comprising of mountainous territory. Despite the fact that the military is now much more experienced in fighting insurgency, this asymmetric war is not going to be easy. In other words, the current military campaign is far more complex than any other undertaken by the security forces so far and it’s going to be a long haul.

The Pakistani state is having a difficult time. There is the constant pressure of the War on Terror, created by the US occupation of Afghanistan. Due to US presence in the region, operations as Zarb-e-Azb become vitally important.

There has been a huge effort to convince Pakistanis that this was their war, and there you go, it has absolutely become one.

Though, there is a natural distinction made between Pakistani troops and the militants, yet the fact remains that casualties on both sides are Muslims, thus it becomes Pakistanis’ war.

Other development: A control room has been set up at the office of the commissioner Bannu to facilitate the internally displaced persons of North Waziristan Agency in getting help of the relief organisations and volunteers. The control room has been set up at the special directives of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak. The basic purpose of the control room is to share with the concerned quarters the updated information about the affected people of North Waziristan Agency, monitor the registration of IDPs and relief activities, and addressing complaints against any federal or provincial government departments. (Pak News Papers)

Nevertheless, the issue of militants fleeing into Afghanistan, or disguising themselves to infiltrate IDP camps is the prolonged gap between the lingered on hopes for negotiations and the operation zarb-e-azb. Consequently, there is widespread paranoia and panic. It’s suggested that IDPs be kept in camps and be disallowed a free mobility in Pakistan.

Caution: Pakistan’s war on terrorism can be won if the rulers show good governance, address and resolve the root causes of extremism and terrorism in the country including the extreme poverty, unemployment, injustice, inequality, illiteracy etc.

The most strategic need is the cutting of supply line to the militants including their financial resources from within and from the hostile foreign sources.

Smoking out the TTP terrorists from their hideouts in Karachi must be the top priority, otherwise, further terrorist activity could restrain all chances of investment and economic revival in Pakistan. PIA is unable to even lease more airplanes because of the messy terrorism on the airports is scary. Hopefully, the Operation Zarb-e-Azb restores the writ of State and the things are back to normal.