Why we must support the Palestinians

That this newspaper has taken a pro-Palestinian stand is not news. It does not stand in the middle like other media. It does not agree with Israeli policies and aggression. But it can understand why young people blow themselves up in buses and restaurants.

We will say it and repeat it.

People who have no future and no recollection of a good life see no way out.

Today we publish an interview with a pro-Israeli opinion maker. We would like to widen the debate, but we cannot find empathy with all his argumentation. He has every right to be different, but being different does not necessarily mean being right.

The Israel governments have flouted international law and broken the spine of a people. They have done this and nothing has moved them.

The only issue that moves them is the billions of dollars that are pumped into their economy and military machine by the US.

They have found the Western and liberal press on their side in the past because the Palestinians had chosen to take their war to the capitals of Europe.

Without that, terrorism would not have succeeded in raising awareness.

So many oppressed people the world over have done the same.

The Palestinians have had to face another dimension to their problems. The United States of America. A nation that has made a mockery of democracy and human rights.

The US has traditionally been a country where the Jewish lobby has elected and de-franchised presidents.

It worked the same way in the US with the Irish Republicans Army, another terrorist organisation (once upon a time).

Thankfully for the Palestinians, the European Union has supported the Palestinian Authority. It has sponsored their projects, their infrastructure, health and education.

To be fair to the US, one has to admit that they have tried to alter their stance on the Middle East.

The Israelis, under Sharon, have purposely moved in to decimate the existence of the Palestinian Authority. Under Sharon, Israeli settlements have continued to sprout in Palestinian areas, increasing the tension and the hatred.

They have done worse, they have decided that everyone is a terrorist. The Palestinian police who were recruited and forced on many occasions to arrest fellow Palestinians are being murdered and killed.

There are many who have sought refuge in the Church of the Nativity and they have good reason to fear for their lives.

For the Israelis do not treat these policemen or Palestinian militia as adversaries in a war but as terrorists and will shoot to kill.

One commentator drew warped comparisons with the bombing of Monte Cassino in Italy in the last war. Which goes to show that a little knowledge is always a dangerous thing. Or rather a concentration of ignorance in history makes one an irreverent and silly person.

The Palestinian people fight the Israelis because they have no homeland, they have seen their houses, olive trees and farms destroyed. They have lost their jobs, they have no water and no electricity. Worse they have lost their life and their dignity.

In conflict, you do not usually take sides, but the Palestinians need our support. People like Arafat and Erakat are the moderates in a sea of fundamentalists.

To isolate them would mean to commit a fatal mistake.