Dilly-dallying must stop

6
Gulf Daily News Saturday, 27th December 2014
Dilly-dallying
must stop...
By JAMAL KANJ
O
n January first, it will be 50 years since
the start of the modern Palestinian
revolution; and on the 15th it will be
10 years since Mahmoud Abbas was first, and
last, elected as the President of the Palestinian
Authority (PA).
Two years after becoming a non-member
UN state, the PA is circulating a UN Security
Council draft resolution to set a time frame for
full Israeli withdrawal and the establishment of
an independent Palestine. On the other hand,
France appeared to posit a European-led alternative resolution emphasising on restarting
negotiations rather than specifying an end for
occupation.
Last week and following the murder of its
minister, the PA threatened to stop security
co-ordination with Israel. This week in Algeria,
President Abbas reiterated the same if the UN
failed to put an end to Israeli occupation.
A little over a year ago, Secretary of State
John Kerry succeeded in cajoling the PA to
go back to the negotiation table promising
to make every effort “...to reach a final status
agreement, not an interim agreement” in nine
months.
The PA agreed with the understanding that
Israel would unofficially limit building new
Jewish-only colonies and release, although on
batches, 104 Palestinian prisoners held from
before the Oslo Accord.
In turn, the PA agreed to hold off from joining new UN organisations during the negotiations.
Soon after it started, Israel issued permits
to build new Jewish-only homes in occupied
east Jerusalem. Following Palestinian protests,
Israel’s response to Kerry’s team was that Israel
did not consider east Jerusalem as part of the
West Bank.
The inept at best, or colluding US mediators
told the Palestinians, to the effect, that east
Jerusalem wasn’t specifically mentioned in
the agreement. It would be worth noting that
the American team was led by Martin Indyk, a
known Zionist, who for many years, was on the
payroll of AIPAC and other Israeli think tanks in
Washington.
The PA kept quiet, talks continued and after
each release of a group of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli issued a batch of illegal Jewish-only
homes in occupied West Bank. Self-professed
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat angrily
told his impassive Israeli counterpart, “We
agreed on prisoners for no UN, not prisoners
for settlements.”
Yet, the exercise continued and with every
release of prisoners – held as hostages now
to keep the sham negotiations going – Israel
gobbled up more illegal land.
At the end, Israel reneged on releasing the
last batch of prisoners and instead of forcing
Israel to keep its commitment, the US sought to
convince the PA to extend the negotiations.
Needless to say, nine months later, Israel
built more than 15,000 Jewish-only homes
on Palestinian occupied land, the US did not
deliver what it promised and the PA failed to
act on its threat of joining UN organisations.
To placate internal opposition, Abbas theatrically signed applications to join 15 irrelevant
UN organisations such as the anti-corruption
protocol. The highly talked about International
Criminal Court (ICC) was conspicuously absent
from the list.
Hitherto and with upcoming elections, the
Israeli government is likely to pander to the
anti-peace camp by issuing new illegal Jewish-only homes. In a repeat of the same history,
the US is likely to pressure the PA to hold back
in the hope that a more moderate Israeli government is elected.
But if the Americans are genuinely interested
in a moderate coalition, then they should not
reward the current right-wing government
by blocking the UN vote to end the Israeli
occupation.
If not, the PA should stop dilly-dallying and
sidestep the US’ throttled UN Security Council
by signing the Rome Statute to become a
fully-fledged ICC member. Otherwise by its inaction, the Palestinian leadership risks history’s
final verdict of being an accessory for surrendering all of Palestine.
Good service, but…
visit to Naim Health Centre after two to
MTheYthree
years prompted me to write.
overall new system by issuing token
numbers and then sending us to consulting
rooms is excellent. But after reaching the consulting room, the doctor's attitude in issuing
medicines often remains the same as earlier
days. Some show little interest in listening to
a patient's problems. Before that he will issue
four different tablets, including one antibiotic
and a cough syrup. This practice may please
be stopped as it could save a lot of money to
the health ministry by way of unwanted issue
of medicines.
I am not criticising any doctors, but they
should at least listen to
patients’ difficulties and
Published letters are not
necessarily the views of the accordingly prescribe
medicines required.
Editor. Readers wishing to
The pharmacist
make a complaint through
also needs to be more
the GDN should provide full
vigilant while issuing
details of the complaint
medicines. If the doctor
together with their contact advises antibiotic
telephone numbers.
medicine for five days
three times daily, they
should give only 15 capsules not 20 capsules.
It's a national waste of five capsules as the
antibiotic medicines are costly.
BG Dhar
New Year opportunity?
object of a new year is not that we
ThaveHEshould
have a new year but that we should
a new soul. – G K Chesterton.
A new year tradition over the centuries
has been to make resolutions. The ancient
Babylonians made promises to their gods that
they would return borrowed objects and pay
their debts. Not a bad idea at all. The Romans
began each year by making promises to the
god Janus, after whom the month of January
is named.
New Year resolutions are found in all
religions and cultures and are based on
becoming a better person and also on hoping
for a better future. Typically, they are doing
something new – break an old habit, improve
something, give more to charity, become
more environmentally aware, eat a better diet
or improve physical fitness.
The problem is that most of us fail with our
resolutions. According to a study, 88 per cent
of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52pc of respondents were
confident of success at the beginning. Men
achieved their goal 22pc more often when
they set specific measurable goals, such as
lose a kilo in weight a month – instead of say-
TODAY is Saturday, December 27, the 361st
day of 2014. There are 4 days left in the year.
Highlights in history on this date:
1741 – Prussian forces take Olmutz, Czechoslovakia; Spanish troops land in Tuscany,
Italy.
1794 – French troops invade Holland.
1831 – Naturalist Charles Darwin sets out
on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS
Beagle. His discoveries during the voyage
helped form the basis of his theories on
evolution.
1927 – Joseph Stalin’s faction wins at All-Union Congress in Soviet Union, and Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Communist Party.
1932 – Radio City Music Hall opens in New
York City.
1944 – In the Second World War, Soviet forces surround Budapest; US forces
smash across the German Bulge in Belgium and relieve US troops under siege
at Bastogne.
1945 – Foreign ministers of Britain, the US
and Soviet Union meet in Moscow and call
for provisional democratic government in
Korea; the World Bank is created with an
agreement signed by 28 nations.
1949 – The Netherlands’ Queen Juliana
grants Indonesia sovereignty after more
than three centuries of Dutch rule.
1956 – United Nations fleet begins clearing
the Suez Canal after the Suez War.
1964 – Congo government charges that
officers from Algeria and the United Arab
Republic (the short-lived union of Egypt
and Syria) are leading Congolese rebels on
Congo’s northeastern border.
1969 – Libya, Sudan and the United Arab
Republic announce political, economic and
n People queue up for visas at the US Interests Section in Havana
ing “lose weight” – while women succeeded
10pc more when they made their goals public
and got support from their friends.
Resolutions tend to be personal ones, but
probably you’d better treat them as similar to
business objectives. Think what would happen if you only achieved 12pc of your objectives in business. So why should personal life
be different? Therefore, the message is if you
make resolutions, treat them seriously, like
business objectives. Consider the lessons from
the past year and set objectives and wishes
for the future based on real life, not wishful
thinking. Make a small number of resolutions
and divide those into attainable with effort
and those that will really stretch you.
Resolutions are an individual choice and
they give you an opportunity to have a positive outlook rather than just taking what life
throws at you. When you have succeeded, you
can really celebrate.
Wishing you a successful 2015.
Robert Grey
anger that drain your strength.
There may be many shadows and pollutants
within, but usually our pain is centred around
these: I want, and I expect. The easy method
is not to expect but to accept. Tolerance and
respect make our life far more comfortable. If
you learn to recognise the characteristics of
such a consciousness, you are in a position to
overcome difficult situations and thoughts
before they overwhelm you. You simply have
to remain awake, and that state of alertness
stops these shadows from overpowering and
making you unconscious.
When you sustain yourself from the inside,
then your well-being is secure and progressive. As a result, when you express and show
your original quality of peace to others, it
naturally improves inside. The more you give
unconditionally, the more you have. This is a
result of natural purity, which is the original
state of human beings.
Ali Al Aradi
HRD Lecturer
Peace vibes…
A false dawn?
W
HENEVER your mind feels tired and you
feel stressed out, enter the reservoir
of peace inside you at any time you need
during the day. This activity will improve
your self-control and prevent the reactions of
military agreement in Tripoli.
1970 – The musical, Hello, Dolly! closes on
Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.
1972 – Australia halts military aid to South
Vietnam, ending its involvement in the Vietnam War.
1979 – Soviet forces seize control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who
was overthrown and executed, is replaced
by Babrak Karmal.
1985 – Terrorists strike at holiday travellers in simultaneous attacks on Israel’s El Al
airline at Rome and Vienna airports, killing
16 people and wounding more than 100;
American naturalist Dian Fossey, who studied gorillas in the wild, is found hacked to
death at a research station in Rwanda.
1987 – Ferocious gun battle erupts in
crowded market in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, after suspected separatist Tamil rebels fatally
shoot policemen. At least 25 people are reported killed.
1989 – US soldiers blast rock music and
news bulletins about Panama at Vatican
embassy in Panama City in attempt to drive
General Manuel Noriega from refuge there.
1990 – After being recalled days earlier,
Iraq’s ambassadors return to their posts calling for “serious and constructive dialogue”
on Persian Gulf crisis.
1992 – The US shoots down an Iraqi fighter
aircraft when two Iraqi warplanes “turned to
confront” US F-16 jets in UN-restricted airspace over southern Iraq.
1994 – Suspected Muslim militants in Algiers kill four Catholic priests.
1996 – Some 60,000 jubilant opposition
supporters defy riot police to rally in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, buoyed by international
ERE are four reasons why President Barack
H
Obama’s decision last week to re-establish
diplomatic relations with Cuba was a good
idea.
1. The US’ attempt to bring down the Castro
mediators who upheld their victory over
President Slobodan Milosevic in local elections.
1997 – Billy Wright, one of the most feared
Protestant guerrilla leaders in Northern Ireland, is shot and killed in prison by inmates
belonging to an Irish Republican Army
splinter group.
1999 – Alfonso Portillo of the right-wing
Guatemalan Republican Front wins the
country’s first peacetime presidential election in nearly 40 years.
2000 – Animal rights activists toss eggs and
jeer as hunters and hounds pursue foxes
across a frigid British countryside in traditional post-Christmas hunts.
2002 – Three unidentified men driving
a heavy military truck penetrate the defences surrounding the pro-Russian government’s headquarters in Grozny, capital
of Chechnya, and detonate more than a
tonne of explosives, killing 63 people and
injuring 178.
2005 – Israeli aircraft fire missiles on two
offices of the militant Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and an overpass. The army says militants cross to reach launching grounds for
rocket attacks.
2006 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court rules state legislators cannot be compelled to vote on a proposed constitutional
ban on gay marriage.
2007 – Pakistan opposition leader Benazir
Bhutto, 54, is killed by an attacker who shot
her after a campaign rally and then blew
himself up. The government later says she
died from a skull fracture suffered when her
head slammed against her car. At least 20
others are also killed.
2008 – International aid agencies warn that
Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis is deepening, with a sharp rise in acute child malnutrition and a worsening cholera epidemic.
2009 – A Nigerian man’s claim that his attempt to blow up a US plane originated with
Al Qaeda’s network inside Yemen deepens
concerns that instability in the Middle Eastern country is providing the terror group
with a base to train and recruit militants for
operations against the West and the US.
2010 – Corruption charges against one of
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s most trusted political advisers provide the latest evidence of
deep rifts within the Iranian president’s own
conservative political camp.
2011 – Surprised airport workers in Argentina find hundreds of wriggling poisonous
snakes and endangered reptiles inside the
baggage of a Czech man who was about to
board a flight to Spain.
2012 – Mexico City’s government tries to
transform one of the world’s largest cities by
beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments buried beneath a sea of honking cars,
street hawkers and grime following decades
of dizzying urban growth.
2013 – South Sudan’s government agrees
to end hostilities against rebels trying to
overthrow it but the ceasefire is thrown into
doubt because the head of the rebellion
was not invited to talks.
Some men rob you with a six-gun
– others rob you with a fountain
pen. Woody Guthrie – American
Singer/Songwriter (1912-1967).