Israeli occupation must end

By Nur Jahan, Chittagong
10 May 2004, 18:00 PM
I do no know what to say. The surprise policy shift on the Middle East by the United States has made me flabbergasted and apprehensive of its consequences.

G.W. Bush, the president of the United States, is saying 'yes' to everything that Ariel Sharon, the prime minister of Israel, is proposing. Israel's plan is to hold on to some parts of the West bank captured in 1967, and in a meeting with Sharon, President Bush signalled his administration's backing it, which is indeed shocking.

Bush said it was unrealistic to expect Israel to pull out from all the land captured in the 1967 War and further added Palestinian refugees should not be allowed to return to the land lost to Israel in 1948 , when the Jewish state was created. We just cannot believe it, is there any example like this? Power misused, helping the wrong doers? It will escalate violence and peace in the Middle East will remain a far cry.

What has got into Bush? Why is he acting unjustly on every front? His submissive attitude to Ariel Sharon is very surprising . Iraq was attacked to please Sharon. We wonder what hold Israel has over the United States that its president is bowing to the whims of the prime minister of a much smaller country.

But injustice never pays, one has to give a price for it one way or the other. We have to wait for that to happen.