DUBLIN, 31 July (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – A world respected expert on peace and conflict resolution has told RIA Novosti he believes Israel is preparing to “cleanse” the country and “push the Palestinian people into the sea.”
“The Israeli agenda is very clearly to push Palestinians into the sea and to cleanse Israel of all Palestinians because they can’t possibly go for a one-state solution whenever there is such a big population of Palestinians,” Ian White, a Middle East expert with extensive conflict resolution experience, told RIA Novosti.
Ian White has spent 32 years working in the field of violent conflict management around the world and over the past 14 years speaking to and mediating with all sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but has reached the conclusion Israel is not committed to peace.
“I have been working to try and facilitate peace-building projects from all levels of Israeli civil society bringing together Israelis and Palestinians,” White told RIA Novosti. “I’ve been working with a range of NGOs and I’ve also been working with Members of Parliament in both the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and the Knesset.”
“But the reality on this occasion is, after 14 years of solid peace building and when other people were criticizing Israel and I was saying ‘we have got to bring them in’, I’ve come to the conclusion that Israel’s objective has absolutely nothing to do with peace,” White said.
White, who is based in Ireland, told RIA Novosti that he had been forced to step back from his involvement in building peace in the Middle East and insisted pressure was needed on Israel to try and limit future military offensives of the kind currently ongoing in Gaza.
“I feel the only way we can deliver peace is to put pressure on Israel and try and limit their power so this can never happen again,” White said.
White claimed that despite Israel’s public position he believed Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, was committed to a long-term peaceful solution.
“Five years ago I went to Gaza to bring together all of the factions there,” White told RIA Novosti. “I brought together the leadership of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Aqsa Martyrs' and others.”
“I met with Mohammad Daif [leader of the Hamas’ military wing] and his people who told me they would be happy to accept a two-state solution and to recognize Israel but there was a sticking point over reciprocal recognition,” White added.
White, who previously opposed an international boycott and sanctions against Israel, told RIA Novosti the time had now come to apply these.
“I am spending my time now calling on pressure to be brought on Israel,” White said. “The governments’ response has been very disappointing, the Irish government extremely disappointing and the European position appalling.
“I was really reluctant to come to a position of supporting sanctions,” White added. “Sadly I am not sure it will have the desired affect while America is prepared to continue to bankroll the Israeli regime. But I do think we should let Israel know that the rest of the world is really not buying this.”
Last week former CIA officer Robert Baer told RIA Novosti, “Netanyahu has excluded the possibility of a two state solution. That is now gone.”
“With continued settlements there is nothing in this to suggest we are ever going to have any sort of peace. It’s a new world. You can displace the Palestinians and say, this is no longer your country,” Baer said.
