Editorial
Israeli pullout from Gaza
A lot remains to be done
Israel's decision to withdraw unilaterally from Gaza is indeed a marked departure from its policy of holding on to the Arab land grabbed in 1967. If the withdrawal actually takes place as an indicator of Tel Aviv's sincere realisation that peace and illegal occupation of foreign land could not go together then we have moved some distance forward. The move, though not part of any Middle East peace plan as such, is expected to initiate a process of reconciliation between the Palestinians and the Israelis. But peace in the region will have a real chance if Israel vacates all other lands which it had captured by force 38 years ago, and which remain the bone of contention in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Palestinians have suffered for too long under Israel's military domination supported by the United States. And Tel Aviv did too little in the past to convince them that it had any interest in peace making. But now they seem to have taken a positive-sounding initiative which needs to be reciprocated by the Palestinian leadership including the radical elements. The stalled Middle East peace talks will have to be resumed immediately with a view to removing the whole lot of irritants that have put Israel and Palestine in a state of war for decades. Basically, violence has to come to an end with all Israeli-occupied territories returned to Palestine culminating in the establishment of a separate homeland for the people of Palestine. Tel Aviv has embarked on the right path but will have to go a long way before settling its disputes with the Arab neighbours.
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