Commentary: Violence Can Not Resolve Middle East Conflict

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Commentary: Violence Can Not Resolve Middle East Conflict

Nearly 100 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles, under cover of fighter jets and armed helicopters, invaded Palestinian-controlled cities on the West Bank Wednesday.

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Nearly 100 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles, under cover of fighter jets and armed helicopters, invaded Palestinian-controlled cities on the West Bank Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said in a statement that Israel will change its way of responding to " terrorist attacks" by Palestinian radical groups. Israel will seize and occupy Palestinian-controlled areas every time a " terrorist attack" occurs until Israel has eradicated the " terrorist infrastructure," the statement said.

Analysts believe the retaliatory action taken by Israel after Tuesday's suicide bombing in Jerusalem indicated that the Israeli- Palestinian conflict had moved into a more dangerous phase.

Continued occupation of Palestinian land has been viewed as another unwise decision of the Israeli government after it unilaterally changed the status quo in the West Bank by building fences in certain areas.

The Israeli decision has pushed the Israeli-Palestinian relationship to a critical point and put the Oslo agreement, which serves as the basis for the Middle East peace process, in danger of total collapse.

The Jerusalem suicide bombing, which killed more than 20 and injured more than 50, has been the bloodiest attack on the Israelis since 1996. The attack was condemned by the Palestinian National Authority and the international community. However, it is more shocking for Israel to decide to re-occupy Palestinian lands.

The Palestinian militants should be denounced for carrying out nearly 70 suicide bombing attacks targeting civilians in Israel and Jerusalem within a year, which have caused severe material damage and loss of innocent lives.

However, the Israeli government did not try to find out why the suicide bombings continued unabated and were carried out not only by religious radicals but increasingly by educated people and even young women.

Instead, the Israeli government resorted to retaliation. Yet, combating violence with violence has proved unable to uproot these extremist acts and improve the security situation for the Israelis.

Analysts said Israel's long-term occupation of the Palestinian territories, its abuse of forces in the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, and its sustained policy of targeted killings have provoked the Palestinian militants to fight with their lives.

Israel's illegal occupation and its high-pressure measures to maintain its occupation are the breeding ground for continued suicide bombings, and the resumption of peace talks to end the occupation as soon as possible is the only way out.

A member of parliament of Israel's Labor Party said that to re- occupy the Palestinian autonomous region would put 3.5 million Palestinians under Israeli rule and its conditions would return to the situation three decades ago. Re-occupation of Palestinian lands will only "aggravate terrorism, instead of preventing it," he said.

By building a security fence along Israel's porous West Bank frontier, or by resuming sustained occupation of Palestinian territories, the Israeli government will pull itself out of one mire but will land into another, and move further and further away from the destination of ensuring security, media reports said.

It is easy to occupy the Palestinian territories by powerful armed forces, but not easy to rule the Palestinian people. In the face of rage and resistance by generations of Palestinians, what should be done next?

The Israeli government should choose between combating violence with violence at the expense of more civilian lives and eventually end the conflict by eradicating the root of bombing attacks.

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