Yus, I sometimes wish that i were completely oblivious of the tragic picture of the world which would have certainly made me indifferent to the so many injustices going on. Unfortunately or fortunately for me, I have no choice but to contend with the realities and express my feelings: The on-going conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis has its origins in terrorism. The conflict is sustained through terrorism practiced by the Israeli army and it is in part resisted through terrorism against Israeli civilians. Therefore terrorism is both the cause and effect in the conflict; it is also the symptom BUT IT CAN NEVER BE THE SOLUTION. Whereas it was the collective policy of the Arabs in the dawn of Israel's existence to drive the latter into the sea, realities have since made the Arabs to recognise that Israel is here to stay as the homeland to all Jews: who are cousins to the Arabs as odd as this may appear in the current climate of conflict between the two. It is this acceptance of the reality by the Arabs that recently made them to offer Israel normal diplmatic recognition in exchange for the return of all lands seized from them in the aftermath of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. This offer commonly known as the Saudi Peace Plan goes futher than the previous Oslo Peace accord and the Madrid Peace Plan both of which envisaged the 'exchange of land for peace' between the two sides. The Saudi peace plan provides for peace as well as diplomatic ties. Ariel Sharon a common war criminal reacted to this offer by bringing the total fury of his brutal army on the Palestinians and just as he did in Lebanon 20 years ago, left behind him a trail of mass murder and destruction. Even the UN representative to the Occupied territories described the sight of devastation in the Jenin refugee camp following his visit there today as "horror beyond belief" but your president, not Yahya Jammeh this time, but George Bush today of all days decided to hail Ariel Sharon as ' a man of peace' instead of condemning him for the atrocities committed by his army. Is this not indifference by the leader of the United States; supposedly the so-called most powerful and civilised nation in the world, to the sufferings of the Palestinians? A massacre was committed in Jenin; International aid workers are being denied unhindered access to help the wounded, sick, dying and death Palestinians; and yet the architect of the deaths of hundreds of civilians in Jenin is called a man of peace by the President of the US. The solution is simple: a complete Israeli withdrawal from all occupied lands and there would be peaceful co-existence in the Mid-East. The US needs to practice what it preaches, ends it hypocrisy and double standards and orders Israel to halt its occupation and subjugation of the Palestinians. Oppression is not sustainable forever regardless of the might at the oppressor's disposal. One cannot eradicate a disease simply by tackling its effects and symptons; the focus should be on the causes. Similarly if the US is a genuine peacemaker which most people doubt; they (the US) need to focus on addressing the causes of so much resentment that would turn an 18 year old Palestinian beauty into a suicide bomber, which by the way, I am not trying to justify. I fear that lest justice is done, someday, a suicide Atomic bomber will cause so much death and destruction in Tel Aviv to prompt a nuclear retaliation on all Arab capitals by the US and Israel. Then would be start of the much predicted war of extermination and annhilation. In the above lies the solution for peace which is not mine but which i believe is reasonable and practical. A good night to you. The yoke of oppression must be shattered! BMK _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~