6 Gulf Daily News Saturday, 27th December 2014 Dilly-dallying must stop... By JAMAL KANJ O n January first, it will be 50 years since the start of the modern Palestinian revolution; and on the 15th it will be 10 years since Mahmoud Abbas was first, and last, elected as the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Two years after becoming a non-member UN state, the PA is circulating a UN Security Council draft resolution to set a time frame for full Israeli withdrawal and the establishment of an independent Palestine. On the other hand, France appeared to posit a European-led alternative resolution emphasising on restarting negotiations rather than specifying an end for occupation. Last week and following the murder of its minister, the PA threatened to stop security co-ordination with Israel. This week in Algeria, President Abbas reiterated the same if the UN failed to put an end to Israeli occupation. A little over a year ago, Secretary of State John Kerry succeeded in cajoling the PA to go back to the negotiation table promising to make every effort “...to reach a final status agreement, not an interim agreement” in nine months. The PA agreed with the understanding that Israel would unofficially limit building new Jewish-only colonies and release, although on batches, 104 Palestinian prisoners held from before the Oslo Accord. In turn, the PA agreed to hold off from joining new UN organisations during the negotiations. Soon after it started, Israel issued permits to build new Jewish-only homes in occupied east Jerusalem. Following Palestinian protests, Israel’s response to Kerry’s team was that Israel did not consider east Jerusalem as part of the West Bank. The inept at best, or colluding US mediators told the Palestinians, to the effect, that east Jerusalem wasn’t specifically mentioned in the agreement. It would be worth noting that the American team was led by Martin Indyk, a known Zionist, who for many years, was on the payroll of AIPAC and other Israeli think tanks in Washington. The PA kept quiet, talks continued and after each release of a group of Palestinian prisoners, Israeli issued a batch of illegal Jewish-only homes in occupied West Bank. Self-professed Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat angrily told his impassive Israeli counterpart, “We agreed on prisoners for no UN, not prisoners for settlements.” Yet, the exercise continued and with every release of prisoners – held as hostages now to keep the sham negotiations going – Israel gobbled up more illegal land. At the end, Israel reneged on releasing the last batch of prisoners and instead of forcing Israel to keep its commitment, the US sought to convince the PA to extend the negotiations. Needless to say, nine months later, Israel built more than 15,000 Jewish-only homes on Palestinian occupied land, the US did not deliver what it promised and the PA failed to act on its threat of joining UN organisations. To placate internal opposition, Abbas theatrically signed applications to join 15 irrelevant UN organisations such as the anti-corruption protocol. The highly talked about International Criminal Court (ICC) was conspicuously absent from the list. Hitherto and with upcoming elections, the Israeli government is likely to pander to the anti-peace camp by issuing new illegal Jewish-only homes. In a repeat of the same history, the US is likely to pressure the PA to hold back in the hope that a more moderate Israeli government is elected. But if the Americans are genuinely interested in a moderate coalition, then they should not reward the current right-wing government by blocking the UN vote to end the Israeli occupation. If not, the PA should stop dilly-dallying and sidestep the US’ throttled UN Security Council by signing the Rome Statute to become a fully-fledged ICC member. Otherwise by its inaction, the Palestinian leadership risks history’s final verdict of being an accessory for surrendering all of Palestine. Good service, but… visit to Naim Health Centre after two to MTheYthree years prompted me to write. overall new system by issuing token numbers and then sending us to consulting rooms is excellent. But after reaching the consulting room, the doctor's attitude in issuing medicines often remains the same as earlier days. Some show little interest in listening to a patient's problems. Before that he will issue four different tablets, including one antibiotic and a cough syrup. This practice may please be stopped as it could save a lot of money to the health ministry by way of unwanted issue of medicines. I am not criticising any doctors, but they should at least listen to patients’ difficulties and Published letters are not necessarily the views of the accordingly prescribe medicines required. Editor. Readers wishing to The pharmacist make a complaint through also needs to be more the GDN should provide full vigilant while issuing details of the complaint medicines. If the doctor together with their contact advises antibiotic telephone numbers. medicine for five days three times daily, they should give only 15 capsules not 20 capsules. It's a national waste of five capsules as the antibiotic medicines are costly. BG Dhar New Year opportunity? object of a new year is not that we ThaveHEshould have a new year but that we should a new soul. – G K Chesterton. A new year tradition over the centuries has been to make resolutions. The ancient Babylonians made promises to their gods that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts. Not a bad idea at all. The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, after whom the month of January is named. New Year resolutions are found in all religions and cultures and are based on becoming a better person and also on hoping for a better future. Typically, they are doing something new – break an old habit, improve something, give more to charity, become more environmentally aware, eat a better diet or improve physical fitness. The problem is that most of us fail with our resolutions. According to a study, 88 per cent of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52pc of respondents were confident of success at the beginning. Men achieved their goal 22pc more often when they set specific measurable goals, such as lose a kilo in weight a month – instead of say- TODAY is Saturday, December 27, the 361st day of 2014. There are 4 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1741 – Prussian forces take Olmutz, Czechoslovakia; Spanish troops land in Tuscany, Italy. 1794 – French troops invade Holland. 1831 – Naturalist Charles Darwin sets out on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. His discoveries during the voyage helped form the basis of his theories on evolution. 1927 – Joseph Stalin’s faction wins at All-Union Congress in Soviet Union, and Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Communist Party. 1932 – Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City. 1944 – In the Second World War, Soviet forces surround Budapest; US forces smash across the German Bulge in Belgium and relieve US troops under siege at Bastogne. 1945 – Foreign ministers of Britain, the US and Soviet Union meet in Moscow and call for provisional democratic government in Korea; the World Bank is created with an agreement signed by 28 nations. 1949 – The Netherlands’ Queen Juliana grants Indonesia sovereignty after more than three centuries of Dutch rule. 1956 – United Nations fleet begins clearing the Suez Canal after the Suez War. 1964 – Congo government charges that officers from Algeria and the United Arab Republic (the short-lived union of Egypt and Syria) are leading Congolese rebels on Congo’s northeastern border. 1969 – Libya, Sudan and the United Arab Republic announce political, economic and n People queue up for visas at the US Interests Section in Havana ing “lose weight” – while women succeeded 10pc more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends. Resolutions tend to be personal ones, but probably you’d better treat them as similar to business objectives. Think what would happen if you only achieved 12pc of your objectives in business. So why should personal life be different? Therefore, the message is if you make resolutions, treat them seriously, like business objectives. Consider the lessons from the past year and set objectives and wishes for the future based on real life, not wishful thinking. Make a small number of resolutions and divide those into attainable with effort and those that will really stretch you. Resolutions are an individual choice and they give you an opportunity to have a positive outlook rather than just taking what life throws at you. When you have succeeded, you can really celebrate. Wishing you a successful 2015. Robert Grey anger that drain your strength. There may be many shadows and pollutants within, but usually our pain is centred around these: I want, and I expect. The easy method is not to expect but to accept. Tolerance and respect make our life far more comfortable. If you learn to recognise the characteristics of such a consciousness, you are in a position to overcome difficult situations and thoughts before they overwhelm you. You simply have to remain awake, and that state of alertness stops these shadows from overpowering and making you unconscious. When you sustain yourself from the inside, then your well-being is secure and progressive. As a result, when you express and show your original quality of peace to others, it naturally improves inside. The more you give unconditionally, the more you have. This is a result of natural purity, which is the original state of human beings. Ali Al Aradi HRD Lecturer Peace vibes… A false dawn? W HENEVER your mind feels tired and you feel stressed out, enter the reservoir of peace inside you at any time you need during the day. This activity will improve your self-control and prevent the reactions of military agreement in Tripoli. 1970 – The musical, Hello, Dolly! closes on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances. 1972 – Australia halts military aid to South Vietnam, ending its involvement in the Vietnam War. 1979 – Soviet forces seize control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, is replaced by Babrak Karmal. 1985 – Terrorists strike at holiday travellers in simultaneous attacks on Israel’s El Al airline at Rome and Vienna airports, killing 16 people and wounding more than 100; American naturalist Dian Fossey, who studied gorillas in the wild, is found hacked to death at a research station in Rwanda. 1987 – Ferocious gun battle erupts in crowded market in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, after suspected separatist Tamil rebels fatally shoot policemen. At least 25 people are reported killed. 1989 – US soldiers blast rock music and news bulletins about Panama at Vatican embassy in Panama City in attempt to drive General Manuel Noriega from refuge there. 1990 – After being recalled days earlier, Iraq’s ambassadors return to their posts calling for “serious and constructive dialogue” on Persian Gulf crisis. 1992 – The US shoots down an Iraqi fighter aircraft when two Iraqi warplanes “turned to confront” US F-16 jets in UN-restricted airspace over southern Iraq. 1994 – Suspected Muslim militants in Algiers kill four Catholic priests. 1996 – Some 60,000 jubilant opposition supporters defy riot police to rally in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, buoyed by international ERE are four reasons why President Barack H Obama’s decision last week to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba was a good idea. 1. The US’ attempt to bring down the Castro mediators who upheld their victory over President Slobodan Milosevic in local elections. 1997 – Billy Wright, one of the most feared Protestant guerrilla leaders in Northern Ireland, is shot and killed in prison by inmates belonging to an Irish Republican Army splinter group. 1999 – Alfonso Portillo of the right-wing Guatemalan Republican Front wins the country’s first peacetime presidential election in nearly 40 years. 2000 – Animal rights activists toss eggs and jeer as hunters and hounds pursue foxes across a frigid British countryside in traditional post-Christmas hunts. 2002 – Three unidentified men driving a heavy military truck penetrate the defences surrounding the pro-Russian government’s headquarters in Grozny, capital of Chechnya, and detonate more than a tonne of explosives, killing 63 people and injuring 178. 2005 – Israeli aircraft fire missiles on two offices of the militant Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades and an overpass. The army says militants cross to reach launching grounds for rocket attacks. 2006 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules state legislators cannot be compelled to vote on a proposed constitutional ban on gay marriage. 2007 – Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, 54, is killed by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself up. The government later says she died from a skull fracture suffered when her head slammed against her car. At least 20 others are also killed. 2008 – International aid agencies warn that Zimbabwe’s humanitarian crisis is deepening, with a sharp rise in acute child malnutrition and a worsening cholera epidemic. 2009 – A Nigerian man’s claim that his attempt to blow up a US plane originated with Al Qaeda’s network inside Yemen deepens concerns that instability in the Middle Eastern country is providing the terror group with a base to train and recruit militants for operations against the West and the US. 2010 – Corruption charges against one of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s most trusted political advisers provide the latest evidence of deep rifts within the Iranian president’s own conservative political camp. 2011 – Surprised airport workers in Argentina find hundreds of wriggling poisonous snakes and endangered reptiles inside the baggage of a Czech man who was about to board a flight to Spain. 2012 – Mexico City’s government tries to transform one of the world’s largest cities by beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments buried beneath a sea of honking cars, street hawkers and grime following decades of dizzying urban growth. 2013 – South Sudan’s government agrees to end hostilities against rebels trying to overthrow it but the ceasefire is thrown into doubt because the head of the rebellion was not invited to talks. Some men rob you with a six-gun – others rob you with a fountain pen. Woody Guthrie – American Singer/Songwriter (1912-1967).