Palestinian cause crucial in fight against terrorism

His Majesty King Abdullah said clearly, in his interview on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS programme, on Sunday, that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is crucial to winning the fight against Daesh and other radical movements operating in the Middle East.

The King cautioned that without settling the Israeli-Palestinian problem, “this generational fight, this Third Word War” stands little chance of being won.

Moreover, it would be a fight in which “we have at least one hand tied behind our backs”, said the Monarch, clearly indicating that it will be an uneven war with little to no chance of success.

A solution in the Palestinian case, the King added, would “free stakeholders’ hands to eradicate terrorism”.

The Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands is often used by terrorists to recruit followers.

Far from being just a ready excuse and a rallying cry for different vested interests, the occupation and the injustice done to the Palestinians have proved to be potent drivers that makes some embrace causes not entirely holy.

In the aftermath of the Israeli war on Gaza last summer, the King said, many foreign fighters joined the ranks of terrorists in the area, thinking that they might address the injustice towards Palestinians and Arab Jerusalem.

The organic link between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the increase in extremism in the region can no longer be disputed or glossed over.

The nations that joined the fight against Daesh need to get their priorities right if they wish to succeed in the war against this terrorist group.

A solution to the Palestinian-Israeli problem has eluded the international community because Israeli intransigence, as that exhibited by leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu, injustice and disregard for Palestinian life and international law were allowed with impunity, derailing every effort to get to talk peace in earnest.

If the world wants a lasting solution to radicalism and extremism in the region, it must start with putting an end to the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.

As simple as that.