By Sunday Ani, Lagos

The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has said that ensuring peace in the Middle East was a debt that the international community owes the region, insisting that getting the Oslo Accord to work again would be a master stroke that would bring an enduring peace in the trouble region.

Prince Adebayo stated this in his response to the raging war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which has led to the death of many Palestinians and Israelis as well.

He described as dastardly and heinous the surprise attack on Israel by Hamas on October 6, which led to the death of many Israelis but also stated that the response by Israel on October 7 was equally as unacceptable as it was unlawful.

He, however, noted that in the end, the rights of all the communities involved were the responsibility of the international community because the innocent people of that region were paying unwarranted prices in lives and limbs for problems they did not cause

Prince Adebayo blamed Europe for what is happening in the Middle East, saying, “The best we, in the international community, have come up with is the two-state solution and a determination of the status of Jerusalem. If we could summon sufficient statesmanship to get the Oslo Accord to work again, we would have redeemed our consciences a bit. The Jews are a victim of the racial politics of Europe and the Palestinians are the victims of a half-hearted attempt by Europeans to pay their debt by writing a cheque drawn against an innocent third-party account. I don’t think that the future of any community or state is bright in that region if the only guarantee of peace is their relative firepower. Peace is more valuable in the prospectus of the Israelis than of anyone else.”

He insisted that the Middle East peace process, for now, is a pawn in the internal politics of the United States, and hostage to the problematic fortunes of some leading Israeli politicians. “A true friend of Israel would not support any further expansion of settlements in occupied territories and would give the PLO some face-saving concessions in the West Bank while finding a diplomatic way to let the Gaza strip blockade end.

“Related to the foregoing is the need to accord Iran her respectable standing in the region along the line of P5+1 that was working out well until the internal politics of the United States torpedoed the Iran nuclear deal.

“In summary, Israel is destined to stay put in that region but it cannot be sustained by force from outside or turning herself into a permanent war camp. Peace is possible and advisable before the martial disparity becomes levelled out, and no party can have any decisive war-tech advantage over their neighbours.

“For us who see victims on both sides, our best contributions would be to facilitate justice according to international law with the results that Palestinians can stay on their lands with full sovereignty and Israel can have a State that is not threatened with terror or non-recognition. It is a delicate and difficult goal for which there is no room for displaying emotional attachment to the sentiments of one side against another,” he submitted.

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