commentary Palestine atlarge.

An Italian woman, who spoke English with a lovely accent, passionately spoke on Al- Jazeera satellite television station as she was preparing to lead, or to be part of a march of 600 internationals starting in Jerusalem. The large group, mainly from Europe and North America, was determined to break the Israeli army siege imposed on the town of Ramallah. I tried to remember the woman's name, but it was rather lengthy with many syllables. But what I remember very vividly is what she had to say: "It is the occupation. The Israeli occupation is what has caused all of this. End the occupation, you'll end the violence." There was nothing new about what the Italian activist said. But also nothing that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon can claim to be vague as he did when he shot down the Saudi peace initiative which was adopted by the Arab Summit in Beirut just one day before he unleashed a new war on the Palestinian people. Nothing that the United States could protest as anti-Israel, as it has always done, where every point of criticism of Israel is shunned for being too harsh on the US's troublemaking ally. But why have the simple words of that Italian lady with the unfamiliar name stuck in my head? I contemplated this question for hours before I began writing. Once it dawned on me, I realized that the answer was utterly simple: amidst the violence, the assaults on Palestinians, the invasion of towns and cities; the bombing of President Yasser Arafat's headquarters, the shooting and killing of Palestinian medical workers, journalists, civilians, children and women, amongst all of this, many of us seem to have forgotten that the way out of the crisis can be summed up in a few words: End the Occupation, End the Violence. It's that simple. So simple in fact that can be easily traced to some relevant passages in UN resolutions that Israel is yet to implement. But why are we repeatedly told that the Middle East conflict is just too complicated, too queer and multi-faceted, beyond any chance of being resolved, for it goes back thousands of years, some say, who knows, maybe as early as the era of David and Goliath. That alleged complexity has created an unfortunate reality: the more that people are informed about this conflict, the less they actually know or understand. Are people so simple-minded, apathetic, or simply ignorant? None of the above. Israel and its allies, lobbies, for-sale politicians, media empires (or vampires) are all part of an elaborate net of deception aimed at injecting falsehoods into the minds of people. I don't know if there is actually a 'conspiracy' to do so, but boy it sure is working in perfect conformity. The outcome was clear and disturbing. Most of the people of Western nations either believe that Israel is the victim, or are too confused by Israeli propaganda displayed throughout the media which pushes them to resort to the easy answer of "Arabs and Jews are fighting over religion," one among many easy to swallow answers. As a result, this ...