Qods and Blue Cheese

Over the years I have seen many international figures who have changed sides over the issue of Palestine. Their main incentive in this conversion to pro-resistance figures has been the extent and inhuman nature of Israeli crimes . Even while many Western media endeavored to downplay the extent of cruelty of Israelis in targeting ordinary Palestinians in the streets of the West Bank  during the first and second Intifada, or the wild bombing of residential areas and killing of civilians in Lebanon, and Gaza during the past years, the reality and  true nature of the Zionist regime was eventually exposed. These crimes and most recently the barbaric attack on the Gaza Flotilla  provided a realistic picture for the global public opinion who were searching for the truth.

Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories, exiled many of its residents, besieged Gaza and has created an apartheid wall separating the Palestinian cities and villages from the new settlements of the occupiers. Now, it perceives any verbal threat or any attempt to help Palestinians as an existential threat and takes unilateral action to thwart the move before it conceives. Many feel today that the policies and actions of the Israeli government are an outright  insult to humanity. Unconditional support stemming from a strong Zionist lobby in the American Senate and Congress has given Israel the confidence it needs to flout international regulations and laws and commit crimes against humanity without any remorse.
While fresh negotiations have just begun between Fatah and Israeli officials, many observers are skeptical . They refer to the history of these negotiations which have not only resulted in the ongoing despair of the Palestinian nation, but which have also facilitated the expansion of new settlements for the Israelis in occupied territories. I remember an international climate change conference in Marrakesh where on the sidelines of the session we sat together with some UN  officials and experts and discussed the Middle East crisis. They believed that the occupied territories have been transformed into what they called the Blue Cheese Phenomena . After all those settlements there is no land left for the Palestinians to build their State, and when the issue of the three million living in exile is always taken off the table, what is there to negotiate?

The late Yasser Arafat had understood this during his  final years . He resisted signing any treaty and that was probably why he suspiciously poisoned, to open way for new leaders who would sell their souls to the devil.

Tomorrow, Iran will celebrate Qods day. Particularly in recent years, the Iranian government has taken a radical and unblalanced approach on this matter thereby alienating many  intellectuals.  Nevertheless, Qods Day demonstrations are welcomed by all political factions. While leaders of the opposition and Green Movement have been under pressure to keep out of the streets,  riot police are already  on the streets in Tehran.