Monday, May 19, 2008

'Nakba memory cannot be erased'


A Good Analysis
By Lamis Andoni, Al Jazeera Middle East analyst

"US president George Bush's attempt, at the World Trade Economic Forum in Egypt, to ease Arab anger over his speech to the Knesset is too feeble and too late.

Bush had addressed the Israeli parliament, on Israel's 60th anniversary three days ago, saying the establishment of Israel had been "the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David - a homeland for the chosen people Eretz Yisrael".

By portraying the creation of Israel as a biblical fulfilment, he bestowed divine legitimacy on the process of its establishment and also cast the Palestinians' narrative, along with their rights, outside of the realm of history.

Not surprisingly, some right-wing Knesset members reacted by hailing Bush as being "more Zionist than Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert".

From their viewpoint, while Olmert and other leaders are ready to cede parts of the "promised land", Bush was vowing to support and preserve the Zionist dream.

"No honest broker"

Bush's words punctured a deep place in the Palestinian collective psyche on the day of remembrance of their own dispossession.

They also drew criticism that the US could not be realistically viewed as an "honest broker" in the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians......

In other words, Israel was not proposing to withdraw from portions of occupied land but just making "territorial concessions".

The realisation was a blow to Palestinian aspirations to exercising-self determination.

Many realised that it was a result of a process that threatened to deny them their identity and history.

But Bush went farther in his insult than his predecessor ever did.

As he celebrated the creation of Israel, he simultaneously denied the Palestinians their past - and even their present."

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