Right of Return is The Heart of The Conflict

 

Yasser Arafats reluctance to submit an outright rejection of the so-called Clinton proposal is a cause for concern among Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims, as well as all free men and women who value justice and truth. 

Some people, and they are not many, may opt to give Arafat the benefit of the doubt by arguing that it is politically unwise to give a categorical NO to the lopsided proposals on the ground that such a manifestly negative answer would leave the ball in the Palestinian court.

Otherswho have eyes that see not and ear that hear not nor do they understandpress and pressure the aging Palestinian leader to rush to accept the scandalous proposals. Those capitulators seem to have no idea what the proposals are all about, namely the liquidation of the absolute and inalienable right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes from which they were expelled at gunpoint when the evil entity known as Israel was misbegotten in 1948.

But there is more to Arafats prevarication and verbal juggling. Arafat, according to some aides, is not really eager to reject the proposals, sensing, rather falsely, that he would not receive a better offer in the foreseeable future.

Thus, the aides contend, the PA Chairman would only want to see if modifications here and there can be made to enable him to sell the big and final conspiracy to the still-bleeding Palestinians, who have lost over 350 young martyrs since the outbreak of the Aqsa Intifada for the sake of genuine freedom and true liberation from the shackles of Zionist colonialism.

In other words, Arafats objections, if indeed he has real objections, are not necessarily to the conspicuous absence of the right of return from the Clinton proposals, but rather to the too-blunt wording which unequivocally negate the right of return.

This means that the Palestinian leader is only interested in making the proposed liquidation of the right of return look somewhat nebulous and hazy so that he could tell the Palestinian masses that Look! I havent given up on the right of return; Im not a traitor!

But the Palestinian people are not blind, and they certainly do not suffer from any kind of myopia, political or otherwise. For them, the right of return is as clear as the sun; it cant be made foggy or hazy or nebulous, as it is enshrined in United Nations resolution 194, which grants the refugees the right to repatriation and (not/or) restitution. 

We should remember that the Palestinian plight originated long before the loss of Jerusalem and the seizure of the Aqsa Mosque, when the invading Zionist gangs terrorized, massacred and eventually drove away, often at gunpoint, the bulk of the Palestinian population from their towns, villages, hamlets and farms to make room for Zionist Jews.

In other words, the Palestinian plight did not begin with the seizure of al-Masjidul Aqsa and what came later to be known as the occupied territories. The problem started with the Nakba, the catastrophe, which saw the uprooting and expulsion of a defenseless people, whose only crime was their weakness.

More to the point, everybody around the world, including the Zionists themselves, recognize the expulsion of the Palestinians as a fact.

Let it be known to all and sundry that neither Arafat nor any Arab leader has any right whatsoever to sign away this paramount right.

Let it be known to all that the refugees, their children and grandchildren, and grand-grandchildren will never ever accept a disgrace as such as long they are alive.

The refugees will tear up any agreements as such to shredsbecause they are the ones who are most directly and personally concerned in this game of political bargaining.

True, the conspirators may still be able to strike a deal, but striking a deal is one thing and selling it to the people of Palestine, especially to the estimated four and a half million refugees, is an entirely different story.

In short, the treacherous agreements will be rejected, and the conspirators will either be killed or just dumped away.

And a last word to the Zionists. Dont you ever think that Arafat is our Mukhtar whom you can easily beguile and cajole into signing away the refugees rights. Of course, you may get him eventually to put his signature on a cheap document.

But be rest-assured that the Palestinian people are not folks of cattle that can be herded by Arafat or any other leader. We are a nation of proud men and women who wont give in or give up until we recover our rights in full.

If you opt to have an easy peace agreement with Arafat, that agreement will most certainly die with him when he dies. But if you truly desire to have real peace with us, the people of Palestine, then you will have to deliver the goods back to the rightful proprietor.

We have waited for over 52 years, and we are not tired yet.

We can still wait for as long as it takes to recover what is rightfully ours! Remember, history in this part of the world is measured not by years and decades but by centuries

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