Jose Ramos-Horta on Palestine and Israel (with reflections on India-Pakistan)

Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and President of Timor-Leste, has just published an article taking the position that "the Palestinian issue is one the Israelis have failed to manage in a wise and pragmatic manner".

It appears that the Nobel Laureate does not have any friends, relatives or enemies.

If he did, he would know that one cannot "manage" friends or relatives, let alone enemies.

Moreover, he (along with most other supporters) seems to think that the Palestinians are already one people.

Rather, their situation is like the situation of India in the 1930s or early 40s: there were competing philosophies of what the state should be, ranging from "fundamentalist Hindu" to "fundamentalist Islamic" to secular. In Palestine, the range is from "fundamentalist Islamic" to "moderate Muslim" to secular.

Once the Palestinians have sorted out their internal differences on such basic matters and have a Constitution ready to go, then it would certainly make sense for the world to re-evaluate the situation.

Otherwise, the world will be faced by one more failed state, like Pakistan, where they cannot sort out their own internal differences and so end up killing each other.

Unfortunately, we do kill each other in India as well but, in spite of much geater differences on all levels, the worst of the internecine killing that happens in India IN A YEAR is far less (on a comparable per-thousand-inhabitants basis) with the internecine killing that happens in Pakistan IN A WEEK.

I repeat: Palestine is likely, if it is recognised now, to end up being a failed state. If we wait for recognition, till basic differences among the Palestinians have been sorted out, we are much more likely to get a viable state. Sphere: Related Content