The Palestinians never give up. They fight on, certain that they will triumph one day very soon. It's this spirit that has kept them going for so long. Last year, the Palestinians made a bid for the membership of the United Nations. They failed, thanks to the American threat to use their veto in the Security Council. But this failure has not left them dispirited. Indicative of this is the move to try for non-member observer status in the UN General Assembly next month. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyadh Al Malki revealed this plan the other day. Whether they will succeed in this endeavour remains to be seen. Israel, along with the United States, is ready to scuttle any move made of the Palestinians to gain any kind of legal status.

No people have suffered as much as the Palestinians in recent times. For more than six decades, they have been brutalised by the Israelis. Their lands have been grabbed. Their homes have been destroyed. Palestinian men, women and children have been killed. Countless people have been wounded. It would not be incorrect to state that almost all Palestinian families have suffered the pain of Israeli brutality. In fact, the situation now is serious. Land grabbing in the Arab East Jerusalem and the West Bank to build new settlements and expand old ones is rampant and not many seem bothered. Not too long ago, a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlements was vetoed by the United States, which prides itself on being in the vanguard of the fight for freedom and human rights. Of course, now it’s clear that freedom and human rights are only for the Americans and their allies and not for the Palestinians and others in the Third World.

At this moment in time, no solace is in sight for the Palestinians. The Americans are hardly speaking about them and are taking cover under the presidential elections due in November. It’s like the Palestinians never existed. No interest is being shown in resuscitating the Middle East peace talks from which the Palestinians walked out some months back due to Israel’s policy on settlements. And there seems to be no sign of the talks being resurrected. The situation is certainly explosive and alarming with Israel continuing atrocities against them. All this leads to the question, how long will the Palestinians tolerate Israeli brutality? When will their patience snap? Will there be another Intifada and how potent will it be? Many Palestinian leaders, including Yasser Arafat, have warned that the failure of Israel and others to give credence to the Palestinian aspirations for freedom will result in an explosion. That explosion can occur any time. The international community must act to prevent another inferno in the region.