THE Association for Community and Dialogue condemns the latest eruption of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. 

There is a constant conflict after decades of occupation that takes the form of apartheid. It regularly heats up, resulting in violence, while the response from the international community is nothing more than condemnation or to espouse a two-state solution or unity in sectarian terms.
 
The root cause of the conflict has nothing to do with secondary issues such as trouble at the al-Qasa mosque at Jerusalem or the rockets fired into Israel by Hamas that demand a swift response from the Zionist regime. 
 
These types of secondary reasoning and has been use by both Israel and United States to justify aggression and occupation. 
 
There is a difference between people who are resisting occupation and terrorists who have an ideological inclination to deliberately kill. 
 
The cause of the decades-old conflict is Israel’s obsession with security that determines its relationship with its neighbours, and the continued occupation of Palestinian lands, where such an ideology has also affected its Arab population.
 
This is reinforced by the Jewish state’s building of expansionist settlements in occupied territories. 
 
Unless the Jewish state has a paradigm shift of thinking and able to come to terms that authentic security is link to justice by returning lands that are occupied and learn to live with peace with its neighbours on the principle of solidarity, equality and mutual interest, the so-called Israeli and Palestinian peace is just an illusion. 
 
The so-called idea of two state solution of having Palestinian and Israeli living in peace is a utopian dream that is not reflected in the realities of the ground. 
 
These has to be resolve before any peace deal could become a reality. The UN general assembly should be the facilitator for peace instead of the UN Security council or organisations revolving around sectarian goals that have their own self-serving agenda in the Middle East. – May 18, 2021. 
 
* Ronald Benjamin is Association for Community and Dialogue secretary.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.