Jakarta 20/8/2009 (KATAKAMI) Hanya tinggal hitungan puluhan jam ke depan, umat Islam diseluruh dunia akan menyambut datangnya bulan suci RAMADHAN. Bulan yang penuh berkah dan digunakan sebagai sarana untuk menyucikan diri. Bulan yang dengan penuh kepasrahan dan keiklasan berharap pada Sang Khalik untuk mencurahkan segala berkah.
Menjelang datangnya bulan suci RAMADHAN ini, datang juga kabar terbaru dari Israel bahwa Perdana Menteri Benjamin Netanyahu untuk sementara menghentikan persetujuan proyek perumahan baru di Tepi Barat.
Seperti yang dilaporkan Radio VOICE OF AMERICA, Menteri Perumahan Ariel Atias mengatakan bahwa sejak Netanhayu memerintah lima bulan lalu, pemerintah tidak pernah menyetujui pembangunan pemukiman baru di wilayah pendudukan Israel.
Kebijakan Netanyahu ini, tentu sebuah kabar baik — walau itu hanyalah sebuah penghentian yang bersifat temporer –.
Kebijakan Netanyahu ini, tentu akan berpengaruh banyak bagi terselenggaranya bulan suci RAMADHAN bagi umat Islam di Jalur Gaza dan Palestina secara keseluruhan.
Artinya, celah dan peluang bagi terciptanya ketegangan-ketegangan baru bisa diredam untuk sementara waktu ini — terutama sepanjang bulan suci RAMADHAN –.
Walaupun suara dari GEDUNG PUTIH memang sangat tegas berkumandang bahwa Presiden Barack Obama ingin agar pembangunan itu dihentikan secara total.
Tapi — tanpa mengurangi rasa hormat yang sangat tinggi kepada Obama — bukankah pembangunan itu adalah otoritas dari kebijakan domestik Israel sebab mereka membangun di areal negara mereka sendiri ?
Obama dan AS tentu punya pertimbangan yang lebih luas dan global, dimana AS secara konsisten ingin berada dan selalu mendorong untuk segera berdirinya Negara Palestina yang merdeka, berdaulat dan hidup berdampingan secara damai dengan Israel.
Namun jika kita ingin jujur, posisi ISRAEL sering terpojokkan oleh banyak hal dari “faktor luar”. Terutama media massa raksasa yang cenderung terjebak dalam euforia menyalahkan dan mencari-cari sisi buruk Israel saja.
Satu contoh, beberapa waktu lalu ALJAZEERA memberitakan bahwa 12 tahun lalu Benjamin Netanyahu memerintahkan kepada Mossad agar salah seorang pemimpin HAMAS dibunuh.
Ada distorsi disini sebab “sesuatu” yang dicoba untuk digelindingkan lewat media massa (di blow up) adalah barang usang yang belum dapat dipastikan kebenarannya.
Darimana Aljazeera mendapatkan informasi atau dokumen yang sefrontal dan setelanjang itu ?
Jika informasi dan dokumen yang menyebutkan Netanyahu memerintahkan agen rahasianya untuk membunuh, maka pihak yang membocorkan itu pasti akan membocorkannya 12 tahun yang lalu juga. Bukan sekarang, setelah waktu berjalan 12 tahun lamanya.
Lalu, ada kepentingan apa membesar-besarkan dan mendramatisir sesuatu yang sangat POTENSIAL menghambat dan merusak proses terciptanya perdamaian di TIMUR TENGAH.
Seakan ada kesengajaan untuk memancing di air keruh.
Seakan ada kesengajaan untuk memancing emosi dari BIBI — panggilan dari Benjamin Netanyahu –.
Seakan ada kesengajaan untuk mempermalukan ISRAEL dalam konteks kenegaraan.
Setelah menyoroti pemberitaan dari Alzajeera, kita bergeser ke media massa lain — yang tidak perlu disebutkan namanya –. Media massa dari SWEDIA.
Dalam pemberitaannya, dimuat sesuatu yang sangat kejam sekali bahwa tentara ISRAEL sengaja membunuhi rakyat Palestina untuk mengambil dan memperdagangkan organ tubuh.
Ini fitnah yang terlalu menyakitkan hati bagi siapapun yang ingin agar Simon Peres dan Benjamin Netanyahu bersatu padu untuk mematangkan kebijakan mereka mewujudkan perdamaian dengan PALESTINA.
Memang serba salah menjadi Simon Peres dan Benjamin Netanyahu.
Jika wajah mereka tanpa ekspresi, nanti dikira mereka tidak responsif. Jika mereka tersenyum, bisa-bisa senyum mereka dianggap mengejek dan merendahkan pihak lain. Jika mereka marah, justru semakin memperkuat fitnah dan tudingan bahwa kedua pemimpin ini adalah pemimpin yang bengis.
BIBI (Benjamin Netanyahu, red) pasti tidak akan menjilat ludahnya sendiri bahwa ia CONCERN untuk mewujudkan perdamaian itu.
BIBI tentu akan mengingat secara baik bahwa seorang kesatria sejati tidak akan mencabut ucapan yang sudah dikatakan oleh mulutnya sendiri. (Baca BERKATA KEPADA BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, “SUARA DENGARKANLAH AKU !).
Biarlah ISRAEL mencari formula yang paling bijaksana dalam kepentingan mewujudkan perdamaian itu.
Janganlah mereka dipojokkan atau difitnah secara berlebihan.
Simon Peres dan Benjamin Netanyahu memang perlu terus “DIKAWAL” untuk mengarahkan pandangan mereka kepada pentingnya memelihara dan menciptakan perdamaian itu secara nyata dan konkrit. Bukan cuma teori atau omong kosong belaka.
Mengawal mereka untuk menciptakan perdamaian itu, bukan dengan cara menghina atau memfitnah mereka.
Simon Peres dan Benjamin Netanyahu perlu dibisikkan secara terus menerus ke dalam relung hati mereka, “Tolong Jangan Ada Lagi PEPERANGAN !”.
Salah seorang saudara lelaki dari Benjamin Netanyahu (adik bungsu), JONATHAN NETANYAHU adalah seorang prajurit militer yang gugur di medan operasi pada tanggal 4 Juli 1976.
YONI, adalah anggota dari ISRAEL DEFENCE FORCES ELITE SAYERET MATKAL.
YONI mendapatkan bintang kehormatan dari pemerintah ISRAEL lewat anugerah “MEDAL DISTINGUISHED SERVICE”.
Prajurit YONI NETANYAHU gugur persis dihari yang akan memulangkan seluruh prajurit itu dari operasi militer mereka puluhan tahun yang lalu. Padahal, operasi militer yang dijalankan itu secara keseluruhan dinilai BERHASIL. Tetapi takdir menentukan lain.
Prajurit sejati YONI NETANYAHU, dipanggil pulang ke MARKAS KEABADIAN ILAHI.
BIBI (Benjamin Netanyahu, red) pasti sangat amat mencintai “BROTHER YONI”, walau sudah tak bisa berdampingan lagi di dunia yang fana ini.
Kecintaan BIBI pada anggota keluarganya ini, harus disadarinya juga dengan sepenuh hati bahwa orang lain — termasuk RAKYAT PALESTINA — juga mencintai anggota keluarga mereka. Tentu ada keinginan kuat untuk selalu berkumpul bersama.
Tapi semua itu sulit untuk terlaksana kalau suasana diantara ISRAEL & PALESTINA masih terus dipenuhi dengan atmosfir peperangan yang berkepanjangan dan tak henti menelan korban jiwa.
Redamlah semua emosi dan ambisi untuk saling menyerang antar lawan yang masing-masing bersenjata.
HAMAS juga perlu bersikap dewasa dan bijaksana. Jangan bersembunyi dibalik dukungan INTERNASIONAL kepada Palestina.
Jangan bersembunyi di balik media massa yang kecenderungannya adalah memojokkan ISRAEL.
Warga Palestina juga perlu diberitahu agar jangan melangkah masuk ke wilayah “resmi” Israel agar tak diusir atau dipaksa untuk keluar.
Ketegasan untuk menjaga kedaulatan dan wilayah “resmi” mereka, kadang membuat ISRAEL jadi terlihat represif terhadap warga Palestina.
Padahal kalau mau jujur, pendatang yang ilegal di negara manapun pasti akan dideportasi atau diusir keluar.
MARHABAN YA RAMADHAN !
Artinya adalah SELAMAT DATANG BULAN SUCI RAMADHAN.
Semoga Simon Peres dan Benjamin Netanyahu mau untuk secara kuat memberikan kewenangan memerintahkan “genjatan senjata” sejenak sepanjang bulan suci RAMADHAN.
Jangan ada kekerasan terhadap rakyat PALESTINA, apalagi jika itu mengorbankan atau akan mencelakai kaum perempuan, lansia dan anak-anak yang tidak berdosa.
Prajurit dibawah sana hanyalah pion-pion yang melaksanakan tugas atau perintah dari KOMANDAN.
Perintahkanlah mereka untuk menjaga suasana yang tertib dan damai. Tolong, kasihani warga sipil yang tak bersenjata.
Hindarilah kontak senjata yang bisa membuat warga sipil tak bersenjata di JALUR GAZA — dan PALESTINA secara keseluruhan — menjadi korban.
Dalam suasana baik ini, semua pihak — siapapun itu didunia ini — tentu ingin terus menerus mendapatkan kabar baik dari BENJAMIN NETANYAHU.
Tidak cuma berhenti pada kabar baik dihentikannya sementara waktu pembangunan di TEPI BARAT.
Semoga BIBI (Benjamin Netanyahu) mau membiarkan hatinya untuk senantiasa mengedepankan nilai-nilai kemanusiaan.
Semoga BIBI (Benjamin Netanyahu) masih tetap mengingat, kalimat penutup dalam pidatonya bulan Juni 2009 :
With Gods help, we will know no more war. We will know peace.
Address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University (June 14, 2009)
Honored guests, citizens of Israel.
Peace has always been our peoples most ardent desire. Our prophets gave the world the vision of peace, we greet one another with wishes of peace, and our prayers conclude with the word peace.
We are gathered this evening in an institution named for two pioneers of peace, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat, and we share in their vision.
Two and half months ago, I took the oath of office as the Prime Minister of Israel. I pledged to establish a national unity government – and I did. I believed and I still believe that unity was essential for us now more than ever as we face three immense challenges – the Iranian threat, the economic crisis, and the advancement of peace.
The Iranian threat looms large before us, as was further demonstrated yesterday. The greatest danger confronting Israel, the Middle East, the entire world and human race, is the nexus between radical Islam and nuclear weapons. I discussed this issue with President Obama during my recent visit to Washington, and I will raise it again in my meetings next week with European leaders. For years, I have been working tirelessly to forge an international alliance to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Confronting a global economic crisis, the government acted swiftly to stabilize Israels economy. We passed a two year budget in the government – and the Knesset will soon approve it.
And the third challenge, so exceedingly important, is the advancement of peace. I also spoke about this with President Obama, and I fully support the idea of a regional peace that he is leading.
I share the Presidents desire to bring about a new era of reconciliation in our region. To this end, I met with President Mubarak in Egypt, and King Abdullah in Jordan, to elicit the support of these leaders in expanding the circle of peace in our region. I turn to all Arab leaders tonight and I say: “Let us meet. Let us speak of peace and let us make peace.” I am ready to meet with you at any time. I am willing to go to Damascus, to Riyadh, to Beirut, to any place- including Jerusalem.
I call on the Arab countries to cooperate with the Palestinians and with us to advance an economic peace. An economic peace is not a substitute for a political peace, but an important element to achieving it. Together, we can undertake projects to overcome the scarcities of our region, like water desalination or to maximize its advantages, like developing solar energy, or laying gas and petroleum lines, and transportation links between Asia, Africa and Europe.
The economic success of the Gulf States has impressed us all and it has impressed me. I call on the talented entrepreneurs of the Arab world to come and invest here and to assist the Palestinians – and us – in spurring the economy. Together, we can develop industrial areas that will generate thousands of jobs and create tourist sites that will attract millions of visitors eager to walk in the footsteps of history – in Nazareth and in Bethlehem, around the walls of Jericho and the walls of Jerusalem, on the banks of the Sea of Galilee and the baptismal site of the Jordan. There is an enormous potential for archeological tourism, if we can only learn to cooperate and to develop it.
I turn to you, our Palestinian neighbors, led by the Palestinian Authority, and I say: Lets begin negotiations immediately without preconditions.
Israel is obligated by its international commitments and expects all parties to keep their commitments. We want to live with you in peace, as good neighbors. We want our children and your children to never again experience war: that parents, brothers and sisters will never again know the agony of losing loved ones in battle; that our children will be able to dream of a better future and realize that dream; and that together we will invest our energies in plowshares and pruning hooks, not swords and spears.
I know the face of war. I have experienced battle. I lost close friends, I lost a brother. I have seen the pain of bereaved families. I do not want war. No one in Israel wants war.
If we join hands and work together for peace, there is no limit to the development and prosperity we can achieve for our two peoples – in the economy, agriculture, trade, tourism and education – most importantly, in providing our youth a better world in which to live, a life full of tranquility, creativity, opportunity and hope.
If the advantages of peace are so evident, we must ask ourselves why peace remains so remote, even as our hand remains outstretched to peace? Why has this conflict continued for more than sixty years?
In order to bring an end to the conflict, we must give an honest and forthright answer to the question: What is the root of the conflict?
In his speech to the first Zionist Conference in Basel, the founder of the Zionist movement, Theodore Herzl, said about the Jewish national home “This idea is so big that we must speak of it only in the simplest terms.” Today, I will speak about the immense challenge of peace in the simplest words possible.
Even as we look toward the horizon, we must be firmly connected to reality, to the truth. And the simple truth is that the root of the conflict was, and remains, the refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own, in their historic homeland.
In 1947, when the United Nations proposed the partition plan of a Jewish state and an Arab state, the entire Arab world rejected the resolution. The Jewish community, by contrast, welcomed it by dancing and rejoicing. The Arabs rejected any Jewish state, in any borders.
Those who think that the continued enmity toward Israel is a product of our presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, is confusing cause and consequence. The attacks against us began in the 1920s, escalated into a comprehensive attack in 1948 with the declaration of Israels independence, continued with the fedayeen attacks in the 1950s, and climaxed in 1967, on the eve of the Six-Day War, in an attempt to tighten a noose around the neck of the State of Israel. All this occurred during the fifty years before a single Israeli soldier ever set foot in Judea and Samaria.
Fortunately, Egypt and Jordan left this circle of enmity. The signing of peace treaties have brought about an end to their claims against Israel, an end to the conflict. But to our regret, this is not the case with the Palestinians. The closer we get to an agreement with them, the further they retreat and raise demands that are inconsistent with a true desire to end the conflict.
Many good people have told us that withdrawal from territories is the key to peace with the Palestinians. Well, we withdrew. But the fact is that every withdrawal was met with massive waves of terror, by suicide bombers and thousands of missiles.
We tried to withdraw with an agreement and without an agreement. We tried a partial withdrawal and a full withdrawal. In 2000 and again last year, Israel proposed an almost total withdrawal in exchange for an end to the conflict, and twice our offers were rejected. We evacuated every last inch of the Gaza strip, we uprooted tens of settlements and evicted of Israelis from their homes, and in response, we received a hail of missiles on our cities, towns and children.
The claim that territorial withdrawals will bring peace with the Palestinians, or at least advance peace, has up till now not stood the test of reality. In addition to this, Hamas in the south, like Hizbullah in the north, repeatedly proclaims their commitment to “liberate” the Israeli cities of Ashkelon, Beersheba, Acre and Haifa.
Territorial withdrawals have not lessened the hatred, and to our regret, Palestinian moderates are not yet ready to say the simple words: Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, and it will stay that way.
Achieving peace will require courage and candor from both sides, and not only from the Israeli side. The Palestinian leadership must arise and say: “Enough of this conflict. We recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own in this land, and we are prepared to live beside you in true peace.”
I am yearning for that moment, for when Palestinian leaders say those words to our people and to their people, then a path will be opened to resolving all the problems between our peoples, no matter how complex they may be. Therefore, a fundamental prerequisite for ending the conflict is a public, binding and unequivocal Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. To vest this declaration with practical meaning, there must also be a clear understanding that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside Israels borders. For it is clear that any demand for resettling Palestinian refugees within Israel undermines Israels continued existence as the state of the Jewish people.
The Palestinian refugee problem must be solved, and it can be solved, as we ourselves proved in a similar situation. Tiny Israel successfully absorbed tens of thousands of Jewish refugees who left their homes and belongings in Arab countries. Therefore, justice and logic demand that the Palestinian refugee problem be solved outside Israels borders. On this point, there is a broad national consensus. I believe that with goodwill and international investment, this humanitarian problem can be permanently resolved.
So far I have spoken about the need for Palestinians to recognize our rights. In am moment, I will speak openly about our need to recognize their rights. But let me first say that the connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel has lasted for more than 3500 years. Judea and Samaria, the places where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David and Solomon, and Isaiah and Jeremiah lived, are not alien to us. This is the land of our forefathers.
The right of the Jewish people to a state in the land of Israel does not derive from the catastrophes that have plagued our people. True, for 2000 years the Jewish people suffered expulsions, pogroms, blood libels, and massacres which culminated in a Holocaust – a suffering which has no parallel in human history. There are those who say that if the Holocaust had not occurred, the state of Israel would never have been established. But I say that if the state of Israel would have been established earlier, the Holocaust would not have occured.
This tragic history of powerlessness explains why the Jewish people need a sovereign power of self-defense. But our right to build our sovereign state here, in the land of Israel, arises from one simple fact: this is the homeland of the Jewish people, this is where our identity was forged.
As Israels first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proclaimed in Israels Declaration of Independence: “The Jewish people arose in the land of Israel and it was here that its spiritual, religious and political character was shaped. Here they attained their sovereignty, and here they bequeathed to the world their national and cultural treasures, and the most eternal of books.”
But we must also tell the truth in its entirety: within this homeland lives a large Palestinian community. We do not want to rule over them, we do not want to govern their lives, we do not want to impose either our flag or our culture on them.
In my vision of peace, in this small land of ours, two peoples live freely, side-by-side, in amity and mutual respect. Each will have its own flag, its own national anthem, its own government. Neither will threaten the security or survival of the other. These two realities – our connection to the land of Israel, and the Palestinian population living within it – have created deep divisions in Israeli society. But the truth is that we have much more that unites us than divides us.
I have come tonight to give expression to that unity, and to the principles of peace and security on which there is broad agreement within Israeli society. These are the principles that guide our policy. This policy must take into account the international situation that has recently developed. We must recognize this reality and at the same time stand firmly on those principles essential for Israel.
I have already stressed the first principle – recognition. Palestinians must clearly and unambiguously recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people.
The second principle is: demilitarization. The territory under Palestinian control must be demilitarized with ironclad security provisions for Israel. Without these two conditions, there is a real danger that an armed Palestinian state would emerge that would become another terrorist base against the Jewish state, such as the one in Gaza. We don want Kassam rockets on Petach Tikva, Grad rockets on Tel Aviv, or missiles on Ben-Gurion airport. We want peace.
In order to achieve peace, we must ensure that Palestinians will not be able to import missiles into their territory, to field an army, to close their airspace to us, or to make pacts with the likes of Hizbullah and Iran. On this point as well, there is wide consensus within Israel. It is impossible to expect us to agree in advance to the principle of a Palestinian state without assurances that this state will be demilitarized. On a matter so critical to the existence of Israel, we must first have our security needs addressed.
Therefore, today we ask our friends in the international community, led by the United States, for what is critical to the security of Israel: Clear commitments that in a future peace agreement, the territory controlled by the Palestinians will be demilitarized: namely, without an army, without control of its airspace, and with effective security measures to prevent weapons smuggling into the territory – real monitoring, and not what occurs in Gaza today. And obviously, the Palestinians will not be able to forge military pacts. Without this, sooner or later, these territories will become another Hamastan. And that we cannot accept.
I told President Obama when I was in Washington that if we could agree on the substance, then the terminology would not pose a problem. And here is the substance that I now state clearly:
If we receive this guarantee regarding demilitirization and Israels security needs, and if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the State of the Jewish people, then we will be ready in a future peace agreement to reach a solution where a demilitarized Palestinian state exists alongside the Jewish state.
Regarding the remaining important issues that will be discussed as part of the final settlement, my positions are known: Israel needs defensible borders, and Jerusalem must remain the united capital of Israel with continued religious freedom for all faiths. The territorial question will be discussed as part of the final peace agreement. In the meantime, we have no intention of building new settlements or of expropriating additional land for existing settlements.
But there is a need to enable the residents to live normal lives, to allow mothers and fathers to raise their children like families elsewhere. The settlers are neither the enemies of the people nor the enemies of peace. Rather, they are an integral part of our people, a principled, pioneering and Zionist public.
Unity among us is essential and will help us achieve reconciliation with our neighbors. That reconciliation must already begin by altering existing realities. I believe that a strong Palestinian economy will strengthen peace.
If the Palestinians turn toward peace – in fighting terror, in strengthening governance and the rule of law, in educating their children for peace and in stopping incitement against Israel – we will do our part in making every effort to facilitate freedom of movement and access, and to enable them to develop their economy. All of this will help us advance a peace treaty between us.
Above all else, the Palestinians must decide between the path of peace and the path of Hamas. The Palestinian Authority will have to establish the rule of law in Gaza and overcome Hamas. Israel will not sit at the negotiating table with terrorists who seek their destruction. Hamas will not even allow the Red Cross to visit our kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who has spent three years in captivity, cut off from his parents, his family and his people. We are committed to bringing him home, healthy and safe.
With a Palestinian leadership committed to peace, with the active participation of the Arab world, and the support of the United States and the international community, there is no reason why we cannot achieve a breakthrough to peace.
Our people have already proven that we can do the impossible. Over the past 61 years, while constantly defending our existence, we have performed wonders.
Our microchips are powering the worlds computers. Our medicines are treating diseases once considered incurable. Our drip irrigation is bringing arid lands back to life across the globe. And Israeli scientists are expanding the boundaries of human knowledge. If only our neighbors would respond to our call – peace too will be in our reach.
I call on the leaders of the Arab world and on the Palestinian leadership, let us continue together on the path of Menahem Begin and Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin and King Hussein. Let us realize the vision of the prophet Isaiah, who in Jerusalem 2700 years ago said: “nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall learn war no more.”
With Gods help, we will know no more war. We will know peace.
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