THE FIFTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD MIDDLE EAST (READ - ZIONIST AND THE UNCIVILIZED WESTERN WORLD) PROBLEM – FROM A FILMMAKER'S POINT-OF-VIEW. – PART 4.

by Mansor Puteh. (In conjunction with the photo exhibition - Nakba - Dispossession –Pengusiran.

ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES (OIC).

The United Nations was not even formed then, so there was no common voice and action even from the Muslim World. The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) was only formed nineteen years later. The first Prime Minster of Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman who also became its first secretary-general initiated it.

It was also at a time when news didn't travel as fast as today and photos of Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians did not reach other Muslims. I his probably resulted in why leaders in Other Muslim countries were not aware that the Israelis were mercilessly killing their brothers and sisters.

So, basically, the Palestinian Problem was left to the Palestinian leaders to handle alone. It have had to keep their miseries to themselves and to bury the dead quietly. I can imagine how they must have thou0ht that their Muslim brethren had all deserted them at such a trying time.

It's not the ease of collective amnesia but one of misplaced priority: that the superpowers and the Muslim countries were too engrossed with their persona} problems. that they had discarded the Palestinian Problem as their least important priority unless something atrocious happens that grabs the attention of the international media. When there will be another round of peace initiatives everywhere, with every leader worth his salt offering his proposals.

Don't tell me that the problem is too insurmountable that it cannot be solved by the brilliance of the world community, especially its leaders? Or may be they are not brilliant after all. that is why the problem still persists after all these years!

It is sad, that even in the present Internet Era we are still seeing people who are actually hurling stones against the others who retaliate by firing mortals and missiles from the American-made F-16 jets and ramming down houses with tanks.

I thought such images belonged in the comic books or sci-fi movies of an earlier generation. So, in many ways, mankind is still stuck with the mentality that caused the First and Second World Wars to break out; with both ending to naught without any real benefit to the victors to anybody or the world.

Ironically, the losers in the Second World War, the Japanese turned out to the real gainers as they quickly realized their folly and aimed to be a nice guy henceforth, Hopefully the same will happen with regard to the Palestinian Problem, where the final victors are the Palestinians and not the Israelis.

MUSLIM LEADERS NOT TOTALLY BLAMELESS.

But, the Muslim leaders, too, are not totally blameless for putting too much trust in The White House and UN even though they could be described as not being Islam-friendly and biased. All of the UN resolutions against any Muslim country are Implemented with full force of the American military power, whilst those that act against the Israelis are swept under the carpet because they were never meant to be implemented in the first place.

The major players who are involved in this problem, in the West changed with the times and because of that the new set of world leaders are reluctant to embark on a real campaign to end this mess.

And on the part of the Israeli leaders, only those who promise to destroy the Palestinians will ever be elected into office. The stronger their campaign slogans, the better will be their chances of winning in the Israeli general elections.

May be it is because of this, political and military stance changed with the different leadership in America, Israel and the major Muslim countries.

This is how the Israelis are able to do whatever they have been doing with impunity all these years, with the Palestinians stuck in the refugee camps with no possibility of returning to their original land in any foreseeable future.

Just what does Israel stand to gain by doing what they are doing to the Palestinians and themselves? Cart they maintain a desert strip that does not bring in wealth to the state? How long are they going to depend on America for financial and military aid and their Jewish lobby in Washington? Where did they get the idea that the more aggressive they become, the more peaceful Israel and its people will be?

NUC'LEAR WEAPONS AND JEWISH LOBBY.

No wonder many believe the only reason why Israel continues to exist is because of their nuclear warheads and their powerful lobby in Washington for without this lobby, one doubts if The White House and UN will care about them. For without these the state of Israel will be as strong as any tin-pot republic in Central Africa that can be tamed easily or eliminated entirely.

Can somebody tell the present Israeli leader, Ariel Sharon that his old-fashion brand of logic is wrong for the present time and generation?

On the contrary, it is only by shifting into the peaceful mode that Israel and its people can experience peace and harmony and be welcome into the arms and comfort of the world family.

It's not too late to retreat to their former line, and get back to on the peace wagon with Yasser Arafat. It is ironic that non-pork eaters are behaving like pigs that they both abhor'

TRIP TO RAIMALLAH.

I was fortunate to be in Ramallah in the West Bank, when my films and television dramas were shown over four days at the Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center there. At that time, the Palestinians I had managed to meet or bump into were all excited with the prospect of Palestinian Independence that was due the following January 2000.

And I told them that if I returned to Palestine again, I would not have to apply for a visa at the Israeli Embassy in Amman. I had gone there, together with the two officials from the Malaysian Embassy in Jordan, who accompanied me to Ramallah.

Along the way we passed many ancient cities, particularly Jericho and Jerusalem where we stopped to look and pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and under the space that was constructed under the rock in the Dome of the Rock.

However, Palestinian Independence didn't come as expected. The reason was the sudden flare-up in tension because of the visit by Ariel Sharon the new Israel premier at the AI-Aqsa Mosque. lie introduced his brand of Israeli fanaticism into the body politic of Israeli life and spewing more venom with each statement that he makes that seems to thrill the American leaders.

Sharon and the Israelis should know better that any visit by an Israeli premier to this mosque has to be an act of provocation.

What was his real purpose for wanting to go to the mosque`' What did he think he was doing in Al-Aqsa in the first place'? If he had come with good intentions, surely, he would have said so. If this was true, surely, the Palestinians would have welcomed him as a friend.

But, no, he didn't do that. He wanted to visit AI-Aqsa to provoke the Palestinians to take some sort of action. The Israelis should know better, too, that the Intifada had just ended, as the Palestinians were eagerly waiting for their independence.

Sharon just wanted to spoil their party; he's such a party spoiler, a military man of an earlier generation, who prefers to bare his fangs, an act that is already out of fashion these days. It is not just the Palestinians who are thus suffering and living in misery^-, but Sharon and all the Israelis, too in more ways than one.