United they stand
By Graham Usher, Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 23 - 29 January 2003
Ariel Sharon is perhaps the worst prime minister in Israel's history, yet he is almost certain to be re-elected. --Unless all are proved wrong this time next week Ariel Sharon will be re-elected as Israel's prime minister at the head of a government of right wing and religious parties should he choose to form one. It appears less likely he will reconstitute his preferred National Unity coalition, given the suddenly powerful Shinnui Party's ban on any participation in a government that includes Israel's religious orthodox parties, and the Labour Party leader Avram Mitzna's solemn vow not to join a National Unity coalition under Sharon. The latest polls show Sharon's Likud Party winning around 30 seats in the 120- member Knesset and a rightist, religious coalition forming a majority of 63. This is the most remarkable feature of what has been a featureless campaign. Under Sharon's 23-month stewardship five times as many Israelis have been killed in the conflict with the Palestinians than in any two-year period of Israel's history, excluding wars. Partly as a consequence of his inability to crush the Intifada, Israel is now in the throes of its worst economic crisis in 50 years, with unemployment at 10 per cent, growth at minus one per cent and major cuts in social services to the poor, sick and elderly. Sharon and his party have also been dogged by unprecedented charges of sleaze, with the state this week issuing three more indictments on Likud activists for bribery during the party's primary elections last year.

Before war is declared
By Mohamed Sid-Ahmed, Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 23 - 29 January 2003
Is there still time to avoid the worst-case scenario, not only for Iraq, but also for Palestine? --  If the Bush administration carries through its threat to resolve the Iraqi 'problem' by force of arms this will have dangerous, and unpredictable, repercussions throughout the entire region. With the shift in focus one of the main victims of the political fallout will be the Palestinian issue, which will be exposed to all-out liquidation. Moreover, a military conflagration in the region will only increase the feelings of resentment and helplessness that drive people to acts of desperation; that is, instead of containing terrorism, it will lead to even more violent terrorist acts. With the Middle East poised on the brink of an abyss every effort should be made to come up with damage-control scenarios, with special emphasis on protecting the Palestinian problem against the fallout from the Iraqi problem. That issue is the main focus of talks between a delegation from the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA), currently visiting Paris and Brussels, and members of similar French and Belgium organisations. The Egyptian delegation, of which I am a member, is discussing with their European counterparts where Europe stands at this decisive moment. It is clear that the European Union has begun to distance itself from Washington's war preparations against Iraq. It has spoken out against military intervention that is not backed by conclusive evidence that Iraq has violated Security Council resolutions. Without the discovery by UN inspectors of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq the Europeans have stated clearly that they will not support military operations, especially since Washington refuses to share the evidence it claims to have gathered from its own intelligence source with its European allies.

Palestinians seek unity in Cairo
By Khaled Amayreh, Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 23 - 29 January 2003
What can be achieved by the Palestinian factions in Cairo? -- Delegates representing virtually all Palestinian political factions were due to arrive in Cairo Tuesday for intensive talks aimed at reaching a united Palestinian stance on Israel, armed struggle and other contentious issues relating to Israeli occupation of the Palestinian homeland. Earlier this week, the Egyptian government invited representatives of at least ten Palestinian political and resistance organisations to the talks, including all factions and groups under the Palestinian Liberation Organisation umbrella as well as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. The exclusion of two Syrian-supported factions, the PDFLP (the General command) of Ahmed Jabril and Al-Sa'iqa, from the invitation triggered a last minute crisis, as Hamas and Jihad made their participation in the talks conditional on extending invitations to the organisations in question. At the time of going to press, invitations were extended to the two factions and Hamas and Jihad announced they were going to participate. This, however, led to postponing the convening of the talks from Wednesday, as they were scheduled, to Thursday.

If you're happy and you know it, vote Sharon
By Yoel Marcus, Ha'aretz, January 25, 2003
As zero hour approaches and some of you voters out there are still confused and undecided, this it the time for me to adopt the approach of Ronald Reagan during his televised debate with Jimmy Carter. In the two minutes given to the two candidates to address the American people directly, before the end of the broadcast, Reagan said something like this: If you're happy with the declining economy, the rising taxes, the inflation, the lines at the gas station and the botched rescue of the American hostages in Tehran, my advice is: Vote for President Carter. Because the TV confrontation proposed by Amram Mitzna was shot down, and we don't have the foggiest idea what Ariel Sharon is cooking up for us in his second term of office, my advice is: Vote Sharon. He's a cutie pie. He has a sense of humor. He radiates confidence. He communicates with outer space. He runs his government with a firm hand. He visits the wounded. He goes to weddings and funerals. A genuine King of Israel. So, if you're happy with his two years in office, if your quality of life and personal security have improved, go ahead and do it: Vote Sharon. For the sake of your children, who'll be killed as they safeguard outposts and settlements which have no reason to exist, politically or militarily.

The Palestinian constitution draft revealed
By Abdul-Raouf Arnaout, Jerusalem Times, January 23, 2003
The Palestinian constitution draft does not adopt clear borders for the Palestinian state, leaving that matter to the Central Council, but it does emphasize a republic on the land of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, naming the latter as the capital. The document assures that the state would honor a "democratic, parliamentary political system based on political multiplicity." The draft mandates the election of a legislative council whose headquarters would be in Jerusalem and comprising 150 members elected directly by the Palestinian people. It recommends "Employing the two-council system: one representing Palestinians abroad and having limited authority with regards to national rights, and the other assuming general responsibilities in steering the state, with responsibilities similar to those of parliaments in political systems." The draft, comprising 229 articles, dedicates a lot of space for freedoms, banning deportation, surrender of persons, and torture. It went on to say, "The constitution guarantees personal freedom. It is illegal  to arrest, search, imprison, or restrain the freedom of a person without a legal warrant issued according to the law. The law shall define the conditions of imprisonment." The draft bans surveillance and searching of homes at night unless a legal warrant is available, saying, "Homes have a degree of sanctity; they are to be observed, entered or searched only during the day and only with a legal warrant in accordance with the law."

Actors on Roadblocks
By Petra Barghouthi, Jerusalem Times, January 23, 2003
In a rainy and windy night on a muddy land, I and friends of mine, from the Nimer Theater Workshop, stand before an Israeli tank full of teenage soldiers. We sing and walk to pass the roadblock or stand like cats before the red lights of the soldiers, no knowing to whom they are speaking; to us or to themselves. We became familiar for them. Sometimes they don't look at our identity cards and so we move from one roadblock to another saying we are the actors: We marry each other and separate at the same time; we get older and then younger in another time. We pass the roadblocks without feeling danger. Everyday we prepare ourselves for a comedian exhibition to present to the soldiers everyday about ourselves and our relations. Where we came from and where we are going. In fact we are not from the place we came from, nor are we from the place we are going to, as if the important moment of our separation from ourselves was the moment that unifies in us this contradiction. All of that is to get access. Suddenly all that vanishes when we realize we are not so sure about what we want or do. Once a new soldier arrived at the roadblock the Israeli forces erect daily before Bir Zeit University. He asked me, Where?, I said, "We are the actors." Immediately he made a sign for us to pass. Again the roadblock seems to be a platform full of ghosts. But for us, they are our ghosts, our shadows. Only we are not we!

The Sounds of Arabic
By Rafif Saidawi, Jerusalem Times, January 23, 2003 
The story of a man abroad: Staying in touch with the homeland -- Lebanese writer Rafif Saidawi recently interviewed Hisham Sharabi, president of the Palestinian Center in Washington, in Beirut. Said Saidawi about the interview, “The interview with Sharabi was one of a series of interviews with Arab intellectuals and scholars. This interview, however, was of an exceptional nature. “The story began as follows. As soon as I learned that Sharabi was in Beirut, I decided to interview him; after all, he is a renowned academic who has made a huge contribution to revealing the Arab reality and the call for disengaging from the dominant culture responsible for forming the Arab mentality. I therefore called Sharabi and set up a date. “The day of our meeting was stormy, as if preparing me for the intellectual mayhem brewing inside Sharabi’s head. After rejecting the idea of our using the traditional questions-and-answer interview format, he answered a few of my questions in writing then said,  ‘Let us discuss the civil community and how to activate its institutions’. “I began reading his text intently and somehow succeeded in suppressing my enthusiasm as I marveled at the greatness of this Arab intellectual. Eventually, it was agreed that he would answer three specific questions, which would be followed by a ‘general answer’ with which he would cover a number of other important issues.

Sharon-Symps Smear Peace Movement
By William Hughes, Palestine Chronicle, January 25, 2003
"Where does this guy gets his material? From a Joe McCarthy Primer, perhaps? Will the witch hunts resume soon? And, will we soon hear again on Capitol Hill, 'Are you now or have you ever been...?'.." -- (PalestineChronicle.com) - It’s no accident that two of the harshest critics of the emerging Peace Movement are Ariel Sharon sympathizers, a/k/a “Sharon-symps.” I’m talking about Internet spieler, David Horowitz, and New York Daily News’ pundit, Zev Chafets. I suspect their shrill opposition to the Peace Movement has to do with the fact that a U.S. led conflict with Iraq would also be in the interest of Zionist Israel and its present prime minister, the thuggish Ariel Sharon. Of course, the duo goes to great lengths not to mention their Israel-Sharon connection in their ravings. They don’t want to give the game away. This is especially so, since on Dec. 2, 2002, columnist Robert D. Novak, referred to the approaching and totally unnecessary bloodbath with Iraq, as “Ariel Sharon’s War.” First, to Horowitz. On Jan. 20, he railed, “America’s enemies within turned out in force on Saturday [Jan. 18, 2003], in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, under the auspices of the Communist Workers World Party, operating under its front organization, ANSWER.” Horowitz also labeled the organizers as having “a long record of support for world terror and its leaders, including Ayatollah Khomeini, Kim Jong II, Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein.”

Arabs Should Stop Apologizing
By Linda Heard, Palestine Chronicle, January 25, 2003
"It is outrageous that just because a group of fanatics ran with their hatred and committed a cruel criminal act last September, some three hundred and fifty million Arabs have come under America’s microscope .." -- (PalestineChronicle.com) - Judging by some of the papers penned by a few Arab scholars and academics, it appears that some of those erstwhile ‘experts’ have put the West and its so-called democracies on a pedestal. At the same time, in an apologetic tone they dredge up reports, which paint the Arab world in a sorry light and sound almost apologetic as to their own culture and traditions. Well, I’ve got news for you. Arabs are the good guys here. Instead of condemning those who seek to diminish the achievements of the Arabs and who want to turn Arabs into American clones, they seek to prove to Americans that ‘we Arabs are really nice guys’ by advocating cultural exchanges and the ushering-in of Western-style ‘democracies’. Well, I’ve got news for you. Arabs are the good guys here. It is outrageous that just because a group of fanatics ran with their hatred and committed a cruel criminal act last September, some three hundred and fifty million Arabs have come under America’s microscope and are being held up for scrutiny. These elevated Arab intellectuals, basking in the benefits of dual nationality, often describe Arab countries as technologically backward; their citizens on the poverty line and condemn the restrictions imposed on women in their societies. Clutching their diplomas from Western educational institutes, they adopt a superior tone and unashamedly kowtow to their Occidental masters. Enough already!

Invasion of Iraq may collapse global economy
Power and Interest News Report (PINR) , YellowTimes, January 22, 2003
(PINR) -- In the next few weeks, the struggling global economy may be put to the test if Washington chooses to invade Iraq. There are many risks involved in bombing Baghdad, the most important being a spike in oil prices. With oil prices already over $30.00 a barrel, increased pressure has been put on the global economy as more money is spent on importing oil. Should the United States attack Iraq, there is a real possibility that Middle East oil shipments will be disrupted. U.S. oil inventories are already running low due to the nearly two-month long PDVSA oil strike in Venezuela. While it takes only one week for Venezuelan oil exports to reach the United States, it takes four to five weeks for them to arrive from the Middle East. During an American attack on Iraq, an errant bomb could destroy or interfere with oil operations, halting Iraq's 1-2 million barrels per day (bpd) in exports. Compounding the American threat, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could opt to damage his own oilfields, by ordering troops to light them on fire, as was done to Kuwait in 1991. In order to prevent a spike in oil prices, any reduction in Iraqi oil exports will need to be compensated by an increase in oil exports from OPEC nations and non-OPEC nations alike. However, most OPEC nations are already producing at capacity, such as Indonesia and Qatar; the biggest oil producers outside of OPEC -- Russia, Norway and Mexico -- cannot increase their output since their pumps are already running at full capacity.