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Opinion | US must curb Israel’s revenge instinct, end Palestinian suffering by wielding its power for peace
- The world is appalled that the US has backed a war of vengeance by Israel on the captive Palestinian population
- A US-led global peace process is critical to ending decades of violence in the Israel-Gaza conflict
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It is hard to know what else to say about the awful conflict that is playing out in the Middle East. Hundreds of articles have been written by commentators from both sides of the ideological divide.
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What we know, however, is that it did not start on October 7, 2023; that there can be no winners; that it will not end if Gaza is razed to the ground; and that it has the potential to make the world an even more dangerous place.
It puts into perspective all that loose talk in the last year by irresponsible politicians in the West about a war in Taiwan. A region and an issue they have little understanding of, and about which they should not be inciting war. Perhaps the tragic events in the Middle East will remind them – in case the Ukraine war did not provide enough evidence – that there are only losers in all wars, and winning is in fact a loser’s game. Think also of Iraq and Afghanistan.
History is replete with examples that show how occupation and repression of local indigenous populations are always met with resistance.
Nelson Mandela famously led a movement that ended a century of murder, oppression and plunder of black South Africans. Mahatma Gandhi led a movement that ended two centuries of plunder, forced starvation and crimes against humanity in India.
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