There is no Nelson Mandela in Palestine and that's unfortunate, for there is a crying need for such a leader in the 70-year-old crisis of Israeli extirpation, occupation, and subjugation of the Palestinians in the Holy Land.

The plan that was announced this week would give Israel most of what it has wanted for decades and has been most aggressive in seeking “Greater Israel,” since the selection of Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister. If the plan, announced this week by U.S. President Donald Trump, were to be carried out, it would mimic South Africa's apartheid system, subjugation of the majority of that country's people.

Bantustans in South Africa were the perverted idea of the minority Afrikaners for “self-determination” of the black majority. These Bantustans, in the minds of the white Afrikaners, were to provide black South Africans with what were described as pseudo-national homelands, but they were 10 former territories that were essentially 10 islands in the nation that had little or no opportunity to coalesce as a homeland or a nation. Thus, the white majority was still in control of South Africa and the Bantustans.

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned by the white majority for his fight for freedom for the majority, through the African National Congress. He spent 27 years in prison and, even from prison, he was able to lead the ANC and the black majority to victory and majority rule. As well, he was considered a terrorist by the Afrikaners and U.S. officialdom, at least into Ronald Reagan's terms as president.

The Middle East “peace plan” was announced with fanfare by Trump and Netanyahu in a White House ceremony and, as usual, braggert that he is, Trump considers it to be the solution to the “Palestinian problem” and that he alone could bring about such a triumph in that region. The Palestinians immediately rejected the plan and the European Union was not going to jump on the Trump bandwagon because there were problems right from the start involving such things as international law. The plan was hatched by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner without the participation of the Palestinians and that alone was the beginning of the end.

The Arab League, some 22 countries which formed in 1945 in Africa and the Middle East among Arabic speaking nations, also was quick to renounce itself from the Trump plan, especially the part which gives Israel total control over Jerusalem, the center of the three great religions, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Its opposition was largely based on the unilateral decision-making by the U.S. and Israel, without even consulting the Palestinians, let along include them as equal partners in an enterprise that could push them into a deep memory hole of history.

As he announced his plan, standing beside Netanyahu, Trump noted that the plan would give Palestinians a “state” with restricted sovereignty in Gaza and in parts of the West Bank, but it allows Israel to annex all its settlements and keep nearly all of East Jerusalem, the holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Trump, in his compulsive and unthinking way, already had declared that he would move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, ignoring decades-long policies that kept the city open to all and he declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel, also in contravention of international agreements and policies.

Imagine a nation that has 10 parts that are connected by secured highways guarded by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which killed and maimed hundreds of Palestinians who were protesting at the fence between Gaza and Israel their incarceration in The Strip and observing the Nakba, the 1948 Palestinian exodus, in which more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs — about half of prewar Palestine's Arab population — fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Palestine war. They were promised the ability to return to their homes and villages (the law of return) at some undetermined date. They're still waiting and great numbers, generations, have lived in refugee camps since then and Gaza is widely known as the world's largest open-air prison, with some two million Palestinians inside. Their every move is monitored and controlled by Israel, including anything that goes in or out of the relatively small area.

Gazans don't know from one day to another whether they will have potable water, when the electricity will be turned on in their area or neighborhood, when their hospitals or schools will be rebuilt. Periodically, the IDF and Israeli Air Force attack with all of the modern weaponry that the U.S. and Israel provides, while the Palestinians have rockets that are mostly ineffective. The rockets, however, give Israel an excuse to batter or destroy their utilities, schools, and homes. The cry of politicians in the U.S. is that “Israel has a right to defend itself.” The result of the hostilities shows the disparity in the damage. The Palestinians take the brunt, losing hundreds or thousands of its citizens, while Israel suffers a small fraction of the loss of life and damage to its infrastructure.

It is understood by most in the international community, through the United Nations and other world organizations and agreements that an occupied people has a right to resist its oppressor and fight for its freedom and that's what the Palestinians have tried to do. The immense weapons stores that are provided by the U.S. and Israel, itself could overwhelm or obliterate Gaza at any time. Some in the government of Israel refer to the bombing of Gaza as “cutting the grass,” and assert that it has to be done from time to time. That's what they have done.

Trump's plan would eliminate most of the hopes of Palestinians of returning to their homes and villages, but many of them have been leveled and built upon by Israel, so there is no trace of their presence in their old homes. For most, there is nothing physical to go home to. Settlers have taken over the places where they lived and have built settlements there and, in the West Bank (supposedly the land of the Palestinians), settlers have moved in and built homes and Netanyahu considers them to be permanent and part of Greater Israel. There is little left for a Palestine nation, except the 10 islands connected by secured roads. A simple roadblock by Israel could stop people or commerce easily, thus destroying the concept of a Palestinian state, which still would be under the heel of the IDF.

Although Netanyahu has stated that there will be no two-state solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict, Trump has offered him the U.S.'s recognition of his fantasy. Perhaps, the erstwhile president of the U.S. had no idea that Netanyahu and his government never would countenance a two-state solution, so Trump did it anyway, perhaps thinking that this was another great feat which he is proud to point out.

But, just as there was massive worldwide support for Mandela and the ANC, all of which resulted in the end of apartheid and the turning over of the government reins to the black majority, there is much worldwide support for the Palestinians cause for freedom. In the U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) has been working tirelessly for equality and freedom for all in that region and they have taken up the cause of the oppressed. The reaction from American politicians has been stunningly hostile and laws or executive orders have been passed or issued to stop the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) against the apartheid. In other words, curb free speech in the land of the First Amendment.

Netanyahu has made it clear that he has no intention of allowing a two-state solution and that he intends to annex as much territory as he can and is allowed to do. He has been given the go-ahead by Trump to do just as he has planned, that is annexing the Golan Heights, taking whatever in the West Bank that hasn't already been seized, and maintaining control over Gaza, among other gifts that the U.S. president is willing to give. This, even though the rest of the world sees Trump's actions as impetuous, even criminal, and against world opinion and international law and policy. But it makes him feel even bigger than he thinks he is.

And, there were the two heads of state at the White House to announce the deplorable plan: the U.S. president who has been impeached and the prime minister of Israel who is charged with corruption, giving each other a closely held handshake, displaying the depths into which both nations have fallen.

Many observers have pointed out that Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestine National Authority, is too old to lead his people to freedom. That may be, but in the next generation there might be found Palestine's Nelson Mandela and now is the time for him or her to come forward.