While the UN negotiates, Western powers and Arab nations should
institute a diplomatic push in the Middle East, a region dragged
into an even deeper quagmire as Israel and Hezbollah engage in
escalation of conflicts.
The Western powers have been fiddling while the region burns.
Busy with evacuating their citizens from Lebanon, they have yet to
efficiently respond so as to cease hostilities between Israel and
Hezbollah as soon as possible.
The US has rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, saying it
does not make sense to change the "status quo."
Bearing this in mind, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's
mission to the Middle East, where she headed after 13 days of
Israeli strikes on Lebanon, is unlikely to end the hostilities.
Israel resorted to military action after two of its soldiers
were taken hostage by Hezbollah.
As a result, over 500,000 Lebanese people have been forced from
their homes. The casualty rate is growing as the fighting
intensifies, which hurts Lebanese, Palestinians and Israelis. The
bombings on Hezbollah are wrecking the reconstruction Lebanon has
achieved since the end of its 15-year civil war while Hezbollah has
been raining rockets on northern Israel.
The Western powers, the US in particular, could bring the
fighting to an end if they wanted to. Unfortunately, they have not
done so. Israel is being allowed at least another week to take
action against Hezbollah.
In order to find a solution, diplomacy should be done
immediately and open to all parties in the region.
Due to their deep-rooted suspicion, mistrust and antagonism,
neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians nor Hezbollah can resolve
the problem on their own.
There is no time to lose. The more lives lost, the harder it
will be to build a lasting peace. Whatever the calculations of the
Western powers, their reaction to the mounting deaths in the latest
crisis and grave consequences it may lead to is inappropriate.
Support from the powers that have traditionally played a big part
in the region for Israel sends the wrong signal and cannot get the
problem solved.
The Middle East has long been a battlefield. The Israelis and
Arabs, who have contributed a lot to human development, have failed
to live side by side due to historical and present grudges and
grievance.
The past fightings and blood-for-blood strategy have never found
them peace. Violence is a dangerous fuse that could set off a new
round of hate and distrust. Faith in military strikes will have the
opposite of their desired effect.
More fighting will mean more suffering on both sides of the
border, and more anger towards each other.
The crisis in the Middle East is a challenge for the
international community, Israel's allies in particular. It needs to
step in and guarantee the security of Israel and Lebanon. The
political settlement should induce Hezbollah to return the two
soldiers it seized.
If the crisis continues to worsen, then the chances for peace in
the Middle East will be set back.
(China Daily July 25, 2006)
