The Quest For Peace In Syria (When The Eagle and The Bear Agree)

The world witnessed a rare moment in the last few days. This was when the US and Russia agreed on a ceasefire and peace plan for Syria. This plan is supposed to gradually bring an end to the Syrian Civil War that has claimed so many lives. The whole world watched with much anticipation as the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavarov and the US Secretary of State, John Kerry met to agree on a peace plan for Syria. I had a feeling those who always prayed and hoped that these two super powers will fail again to agree on a peace plan for Syria.

It is a known fact that the Syrian President, Bashar Al Assad is being backed by the Kremlin likewise the various rebel movements notably the Free Syrian Army is also being backed by Washington. Both super powers are fighting a proxy war in Syria. But certain rebel groups such as the Al Nusra Front which is an affiliate of Al Qaeeda have to be forced to accept the ceasefire plan. In the plan the rebels have been granted the right of self defence if attacked by the Syrian Government. With ISIS also lurking around in Syria, I hope this plan will bring the various forces together to fight them and push them out of Syria. The world is watching as the two super powers have taken a bold step to ensure that they find a political solution to the Syrian Civil War. President Bashar Al Assad will definitely listen to the Russians as they have been his main backbone throughout the civil war. If not for the involvement of the Russians with their airstrikes on rebel targets, the Syrian President would have been long gone. The future of Syria is to be determined in the next few days if the ceasefire is to hold and that is if all the warring factions implement their parts in the agreement. So much blood has been spilt, women and children have borne the brunt of the carnage going on in Syria. Their attempt to flee the conflict too is being hampered by most of the countries bordering Syria refusing them entry. This has created a humanitarian crisis in the Middle East as Syria’s neighbors can’t take any more refugees with Europe being the worst affected.

The ceasefire holds for now, Bashar Al Assad has been emboldened but the opposition is wary and observing this latest initiative with caution and will be seriously monitoring the next moves of the other parties or factions involved in the civil war. Lets all hope the Eagle and the Bear continue to agree on major issues in this world. This will go a long way to reduce the tension between these two super powers in the international arena as they are both jostling to overpower each other in terms of diplomacy, intelligence and military capabilities. Don’t forget to #PrayForSyria and all the conflict zones all over the world.

Palestinian Statehood.

Why should a people's legitimate right to form a state be met with so much opposition by some countries. The Palestinian  Authority President, Mamood Abbas recently presented his people's bid for Statehood to the United Nations and countries like the US had forwarned him that they will veto that move. The Palestinians want to have a state with East Jerusalem as their capital, but the Israelis will have none of it. They see this bid as a threat to their security. More illegal Israeli settlements have sprung up on Palesinian land and the Israelis fear this will be a threat to the lives of their citizens living on those lands. The US President, Barrack Obama warned the Palestinian Authority that they will use their veto power against any move by the Palestinians to achieve their ambition of statehood. The politicians in Washington will not sit down for the Palestinians to have their state on a silver platter. This is because the Jewish community in the US is a very influential factor in American politics. They wield a lot of financial clout and also control the American defense strategy. This is just to say that the Jewish factor control's American foreign policy in the Middle East and if that is brought down America will be on its knees. How can a giant be subdued, you hit its weak spot and it is immobilised. When Israel was created in the years after the Second World War, that was seen as very legitimate and no major objection was raised against that initiative. The Americans and their allies made sure that the state of Israel after its creation was strong enough to defend itself against attacks from the so called "Rogue States" surrounding her. Why cant the Palestinians also be allowed to have a state of their own. As we all saw at the UN General Assembly, the world was claerly divided over the issue of Palestinian statehood. Dialogue must be used to resolve this issue amicably otherwise it might degenerate into something nasty and always the Palestinians are always at the receiving end. I am praying for a time when the Hamas movement will tone down on its radical activities against Israel and Israel to will review its "Gunboat Diplomacy" and resort to peaceful means of resolving disputes with the Palestinian people. I hope a time will come where both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine will both exist side by side, God help us all.