This is with reference to the article “Sudden interest in Palestine” (Feb. 24) by Osama Al-Sharif. Finally somebody reminded us about the forgotten issue of Palestine. Since the eruption of the so-called Arab Spring, the main issue in the Middle East has almost vanished from our collective memory. Sometimes, I feel that there is some truth behind the conspiracy theories about the almost unexpected revolutions in the Arab world. Since then the Arab world has become a cauldron of chaos and every Arab country has become preoccupied with its own problems.

In the meantime, Israel is having a field day and is doing everything without the fear of condemnation from the international community. Truth be told, Israel has never cared about international condemnation or world’s opinion but it is carrying out its plans with impunity these days. Recently, in the name of security it has killed around 170 Palestinians in the wake of knife attacks from frustrated Palestinians. Several videos on YouTube clearly show Israelis killing innocent Palestinians and throwing knives near their victim and claim that the Palestinian had tried to assault Israeli forces or civilians.

It would be useless to ask the international community, so much in love with Israel, to do anything about these atrocities against helpless Palestinians. The Arab world should try to come up with solutions to the ongoing crises and clean up the mess to shift their focus back to the Arab-Israel issue, which is the root cause of many problems in the region.

As a matter of fact, Israeli occupation of Arab lands is the major reason behind the radicalization of Muslims in this part of the world. The international community’s lip service toward this problem has also added to the problem.

As for US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent statement about the Israeli aggression against Palestinians, we should not feel too optimistic about it. Washington’s blind support to Israel has shifted the balance of power in the region in favor of the Zionist state. The American leaders’ sympathies are always with the aggressor. The issue of supporting Israel is beyond the Republican-Democrat debate. It appears the security of Israel is the basic tenet of the American political ideology. It is the responsibility of the Arabs and Muslims to rise to the occasion and work together to get this lingering issue resolved at the earliest.