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'Fire and Fury' by all means

Jan 09,2018 - Last updated at Jan 09,2018

The story on everyone’s lips recently is the one portrayed in "Fire and Fury", Michael Wolff’s incendiary book on Donald Trump’s presidency. Excerpts from the book have been so widely publicised that I do not see the need to repeat any of it

What is of concern for us in this region, however, is the book’s striking revelations about the US president’s "ultimate deal". The book sheds light on leaks, circulating for quite a while, revealing the components of Trump’s plan to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

If what Wolff says is true, then it has transpired that all the leaks were, in fact, authentic. The fate of one of the most intractable disputes in modern history, the Arab-Israeli conflict, was to be settled so hastily, so recklessly, so irresponsibly, so thoughtlessly and so inconsiderately, in accordance with what suited Israel and only Israel’s agenda, not even that of the United States. Neither the Palestinians, nor the traditional Arab allies of the US were given any consideration; not even any pretense of regard. Israel’s maximal demands were fully adopted by the authors of the "ultimate deal".

From the very beginning, in a New York January 2016 meeting, chief White House strategist Steve Bannon suggested the appointment of far-right controversial neocon and staunch supporter of Israel John Bolton as national security adviser. The argument in favour of this appointment was that he was best for Israel.

During the same meeting, while discussing early administration appointees with Fox News chief Roger Ailes, Bannon announced that on day one, the US embassy would be relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, affirming that both Sheldon Adelson and Netanyahu were on board with that.

Sheldon Adelson is the American Jewish Casino billionaire known to be not only a major supporter of Benjamin Netanyahu, but for his unconditional support for Israel, once described by Newt Gingrich as his “central value”.

According to a report on +972 Blog on December 2017, Adelson was a major force behind Trump's decision on Jerusalem, having spent $35 million to have Trump elected, in addition to five more millions for the Trump January inauguration.

Within that narrow framework of thinking, where top priority was awarded first and foremost to Israel’s interests, Bannon, Ailes, Adelson and Kushner, with Trump's blessing of course, unilaterally decided the future of the Middle East, totally unmindful of the fact that their plan was to plunge the region into decades of renewed strife and violent conflict.

The plan was indeed to liquidate the Palestinian question in a manner that negates years of two-state solution parroting. Bannon wants to give the West Bank to Jordan and Gaza to Egypt, or both countries may “sink trying”. He did not seem to care about the consequences of such thoughtless and detached reasoning. Neither did he seem to understand which West Bank he was talking about, or if he just meant the truncated shreds left in-between the hundreds of illegally built Jewish settlements spreading all over the land he wants Jordan to take; and most certainly without East Jerusalem which after annexation by Israel was enlarged to cover more than 12 per cent of the entire area of the West Bank. Bannon’s presumption that he can so arrogantly decide for Egypt and Jordan on such a major policy matter, is a blatant display of the disdain he must hold towards two major US allies and key players in the region. 

Bannon’s conceit and audacity is further illustrated by his dismissive reference to Egypt and Saudi Arabia as being on the brink, scared to death of Persia and, as such, prone to ally with Israel against Iran, and therefore both countries would endorse the destructive terms of the ultimate deal. It is clear that Bannon’s actions are also a reflection of both deep ignorance as well as sheer recklessness.

The blind supporters of Israeli aggression and lawlessness seem to miserably and constantly fail to comprehend that Israel’s only chance for living in peace and security within the environment surrounding it, is by recognising, rather than totally ignoring the rights of the Palestinians and the other Arab neighbours whose lands remain under Israeli occupation for several decades. Israel's long-term interests can be better served by responsible and honest advice such as an immediate end to the occupation, the withdrawal of all settlers from the little land left for the Palestinians to establish their state upon, the recognition of justice for the Palestinians and the abandoning of the inhuman and arrogant condescending approach that has been exercised by Israel’s occupation practices towards the Palestinians; actually since Israel was created.

By exposing all the elements of the conspiracy against Palestinian rights, sadly with some Arab complicity, Wolff's "Fire and Fury" may help limit the danger. The facts have now been fully divulged and exposed. Double talk of pretending to support Palestinian rights publicly while opportunistically and clandestinely conspiring to annihilate them in Israel's favour will now be harder to maintain. Any party that may have promised to go along with  Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel while the Palestinians could find the alternative in Abu Dis or Ramallah, will now find it difficult to proceed with such a dubious undertaking.

 

It is so depressingly shameful that super power politics, in handling world peace; security; people's rights and destinations; international law; UN functions; and even moral principles and basic human values are run by a small bunch of ideological extremist racist adventurers in pursuit of money and personal gains. How is it possible that a country with the political weight of the US, a permanent Security Council member and a very important world power, would use its vast influence to violate international law and to contradict Security Council resolutions which it had initially voted for as in the case of Trump's decision with respect to Jerusalem. This is a very dangerous double-edged precedent that may undermine the entire UN system. This is not the first conspiracy that is destined to fail. Conspirators may isolate themselves in the dark and hatch plans but the Palestinians who have managed to maintain their struggle for so long despite severe hardships, mounting obstacles and massive sacrifice, remain ready to fight for their legitimate rights and defeat relentless intrigue.

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