Blinken’s Mission

212

January 8, 2024

Published in Frankfurter Rundschau
(Germany) on 05 January 2024
by Andreas Schwarzkopf (link to original link to original)

Translated from by Mallory Matsumoto. Edited by Michelle Bisson.

The war in Gaza continues, adding urgency to every attempt to relieve the suffering as soon as possible. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is making such an effort.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is right to return to the Middle East and to try to mediate. The people in the Gaza Strip need to be better protected and to receive more humanitarian aid. The parties must resume negotiations for the release of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in its bloody attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

Just as urgent are discussions about the question of how Israel should deal with the radical Islamist organization Hamas after the war. The plan that Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has proposed is unsatisfactory. According to the plan, once fighting ceases, neither Hamas nor an Israeli civil administration will control Palestinian territory. But it remains unclear who would oversee life there.

The proposals of some right-leaning extremist Israeli ministers that Gaza should be resettled and the Palestinians forced to emigrate is troubling. If the Israeli extremists win out and transform the two-state solution into a one-state solution, it will have horrific consequences for the entire region. Instead of quelling the conflict, the extremists’ plan would fuel it. The conflagration that we have been fearing would then become more likely.

Blinkens Mission
Der Krieg in Gaza geht weiter - da tut jede Initiative Not, das Leiden so schnell als möglich zu lindern. US-Außeniminister Antony Blinken unternimmt eine solche. Und er muss.
Es ist richtig, wenn US-Außenminister Antony Blinken erneut in den Nahen Osten und zu vermitteln sucht. Die Menschen im Gazastreifen müssen besser geschützt werden, mehr humanitäre Hilfe bekommen und es sollte wieder über die Freilassung der Geiseln verhandelt werden, die die Hamas am 7. Oktober bei dem blutigen Überfall auf Israel entführte.
Genauso dringlich sind Gespräche über die Frage, wie es nach dem Krieg Israels gegen die radikalislamistische Hamas weitergehen soll. Denn der vorgestellte Plan der Regierung von Benjamin Netanjahu ist unzureichend. Demnach soll zwar nach einem Ende der Kämpfe weder die Hamas noch eine israelische Zivilverwaltung in dem Palästinensergebiet das Sagen haben. Doch unklar bleibt, wer das Leben dort organisieren soll.
Bedenklich sind die Vorschläge einiger rechtsextremer israelischer Minister, die Gaza wieder besiedeln und die Palästinenserinnen und Palästinenser ermutigen wollen auszuwandern. Sollten sie sich durchsetzen und die Zwei-Staaten- in eine Ein-Staaten-Lösung verwandeln, hätte das verheerende Folgen für die ganze Region. Sie würden den Konflikt nicht befrieden, sondern anfachen. Ein befürchteter Flächenbrand würde dann wahrscheinlicher.

This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Block title

Germany: Zohran Mamdani: A Capitalist’s Nightmare

November 6, 2025. Published in Die Tageszeitung

[M]amdani’s success could offer the [Democrats] a sense of direction.

South Africa: What South Africa’s Progressives Can Learn from Zohran Mamdani’s Victory in New York City

November 4, 2025. Published in Mail and Guardian

Bangladesh: Rare Earth Elements Are the New Drivers of Global Power

November 4, 2025. Published in The Daily Star

[T]he recent back-and-forth between Washington and Beijing over rare earth minerals looks technical on the surface, but it points to a deeper shift in global leverage.

Philippines: Our US Alliance May Well Get Our Nation Destroyed

November 7, 2025. Published in The Manila Times

Let’s not follow Kyiv’s tragic path of letting Washington and its allies use our land, sea and air for war against a rival nuclear power.

Nigeria: Electricity Will Decide the AI Race

November 4, 2025. Published in The Guardian

Topics

Egypt: The United States, Israel and the West Bank Annexation

November 9, 2025. Published in akhbarelyom

President Donald Trump affirmed that Israel's annexation of the West Bank would not happen.

Philippines: Our US Alliance May Well Get Our Nation Destroyed

November 7, 2025. Published in The Manila Times

Let’s not follow Kyiv’s tragic path of letting Washington and its allies use our land, sea and air for war against a rival nuclear power.

Jordan: The Future of Gaza

November 7, 2025. Published in assawsana

Israel must end the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip so that peace and security prevail in the region.

Egypt: And What about Israel’s Violations?!

November 7, 2025. Published in akhbarelyom

[W]hat is happening in Gaza can never be separated from what is happening in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

South Africa: US Blockade or Not, Cuba Remains a Beacon of Hope for Other Nations

November 7, 2025. Published in Cape Times

The economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States government against Cuba constitutes a unilateral, coercive and extraterritorial policy that violates international law and undermines the Cuban people's human rights.

Lebanon: America and Lebanon … An Obscure Picture

November 7, 2025. Published in Arab News

[T]he Lebanese inside Lebanon continue to fantasize about the prominent role their expatriate kin could play in the hallways of American politics.

Nigeria: Trump’s Threat of War with Nigeria

November 7, 2025. Published in The Sun

He is interested in only one thing: sparking off a religious war in Nigeria & sending in his troops to bomb and occupy us, corner our rare earth, our oil reserves and our mineral resources.