TWO issues are currently capturing the attention of people throughout the world.

One is the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which is creating much havoc on the livelihoods of people throughout the region.

The other is the cold-blooded murder of peace activists by Israel on a flotilla taking humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.
QUOTE: The United Nations must not only condemn this latest action by Israel but somehow seek to impose some form of disciplinary action in order to prevent a recurrence of such atrocities.
More fundamentally, it must seek a permanent and lasting solution to the Palestinian problem which has been festering for too long with deadly consequences.

The Gaza strip has been blockaded by Israel in retaliation against the militant Hamas which had won parliamentary elections in what was widely regarded as free and fair elections by the international community. Because of the blockade, important goods and services were denied entry into the Gaza strip which is home to thousands of Palestinians.

Both of these events have had far-reaching repercussions not only for those who are directly and immediately affected by these crisis situations. In the case of the oil spill, it is clear that enough attention was not paid by the oil company, in this case British Petroleum (BP) as to the possible environmental and health hazards which could result from any mishap.

The company clearly has no answer to the spill which continues to splash millions of gallons of oil from the ocean bed despite frantic attempts to put a stop to the spillage.

Close to one billion (US) dollars have already been spent to stop the leak but without success. Meanwhile, the local economies of the contiguous states have been severely affected in particular the fishing industry and other marine-related activities.

The tourism industry also took a severe battering which resulted in a steep decline in revenues as tourists and holiday seekers can no longer have access to their accustomed beaches and holiday resorts.

Understandably, the anger is turning not only on the company itself but also on the Obama administration for, in the first place, not putting in place the requisite regulatory framework at the federal level to guard against such transgressions as took place by the company, British Petroleum.

To his credit, President Obama has taken swift and drastic action to hold the company accountable for the mishap by instructing that criminal and civil action be taken against the company.

This is a good initiative on the part of President Obama but much more is expected from those whose livelihoods have been destroyed by the spill in particular those who depended on the sea for a living.

The question of adequate compensation must also be addressed as a matter of urgency, a situation compounded by the declining revenues of the company which must now divert resources to stop the spill in the face of a drastic drop in the value of its shares on the stock market.

One can only hope that this disaster, the worst of its  kind in offshore drilling, would be a lesson for all and sundry that there is a risk involved in investments of this nature and that proper and due diligence including environmental impact assessments must be scrupulously done before agreements are entered into between the relevant parties.

As to when and how soon the situation would be remedied remains to be seen even though it is now clear that there is no easy or quick-fix solution to the problem.

The other issue grabbing the international headlines is the barbaric attacks on the humanitarian flotilla designed to bring relief to the long-suffering Palestinian peoples who apart from having their homeland taken away from them by Israel has had to endure the indignity of having the little remaining land of Palestine blockaded by Israel.

The intention of the flotilla was to bring relief to the people of the Gaza strip in addition to making the symbolic gesture to Israel and for that matter the entire global community that it is time for Israel to listen to the cries of the Palestinian people who longed for a country of their own.

Israel responded in a way it knows best – that is to unleash maximum force and terror without any recourse to reason. It has demonstrated complete disregard not only for the sensitivities of the Palestinian people and the Arab world but also for the entire international community.

It has, as it always did, operated on the belief that might is right, fully aware that it has the support of the United States and other western powers.

In other words, it has come to understand that behind the rhetoric of reprimand by the United States and some other western powers there is that implicit faith that the US and other allies would always come to its rescue whenever the need should arise.

So far, their trust in the United States has not been misplaced. The United States, apart from providing on a per capita basis the largest financial and military support to that country has provided a diplomatic cover to that country thereby putting pressure on other satellite countries to refrain from any diplomatic isolation of that country.

This latest provocation by Israel has put the United States in a rather awkward position and has ruptured relations with some of the friendlier Arab states most notably Turkey which still maintained diplomatic and trade relations with that country, the only Arab country to do so.

The fact that a significant number of persons killed and injured on the flotilla are Turks or of Turkish origin will most probably strain relations between the two countries.

The United Nations must not only condemn this latest action by Israel but somehow seek to impose some form of disciplinary action in order to prevent a recurrence of such atrocities.

More fundamentally, it must seek a permanent and lasting solution to the Palestinian problem which has been festering for too long with deadly consequences.