An earnest appeal to Mukto-monas  A.H. Jaffor Ullah     Dear Mukto-mona forum members:      The Palestinian people are at a crossroad now.  There will be a tug-of-war between the moderate and the extremist group vis-à-vis for the control of party leadership.  The moderates such as Mahmoud Abbas and few likeminded Palestinians would try to engage in future peace talks at the insistence of America and the West.  However, the extremist faction such as the members of al-Aqsa Brigade, Islamic Jihad, and many other fringes would try to tread a different path fraught with violence.       Therefore, a healthy debate should ensue in Mukto-mona and other secularist forums concerning this issue.  What should be the direction the new Palestinian leaders take now?  Remember one think as you discuss the issue.  The moderates believe in the “Two Nation Theory” (existence of Palestine side-by-side with Israel), whereas the extremist position had always been the opposition to the “Two Nation Theory.”  According to them, there should not be any Israel and the entire place should be the homeland for Palestinian people.  We should ask such important question as what the modern day Israeli people have done to receive a wrath from the extremist Palestinians.  They are not responsible for this mess engendered by the British and the Zionist leaders of 1930s and 1940s.  Their grandfathers were the part of the problem and not them.      How the idea of a modern day Israel came into being in the first place at the turn of the century?  What role the Zionist leaders play in perpetuating such idea?  What role the West played to fulfill the dream of Zionist leaders?  Why was the Arab disunited in the post WW days?  These are very serious questions.      From a healthy discussion in Mukto-mona, as far as Palestine issue is concerned, other forums may become interested in discussing the issue.  If hundreds of forums take up the issue, then the Palestinian people will realize that the world has not forgotten their plights.       The rise in global terrorism is directly linked to Palestinian problem.  This is one hell of a contentious issue in the Muslim world.  Many Muslims justly or unjustly think that a grave injustice was done to Palestinians in 1948 when Israel was formed.      May I humbly request our erudite writers to give Islam bashing a pause (or rest) for just few months?  We have some urgent and pressing issue at hand in respect to Palestine.  Let us give our energy to discuss this issue.  Mankind maybe benefited from such a discussion in this forum.   Sincerely,   A.H. Jaffor Ullah

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