Sound and fury
By Azmi Bishara, Al-Ahram Weekly On-line, 6 - 12 March 2003
Whose future? What future? --  We must strain to understand the political muddle in which the Arabs find themselves: it is not, after all, the product of some epic helplessness, nor is it destined by fate. Arab regimes are incapable of confronting, as a single body, the new challenges posed by the US administration, the international situation and the current phase of economic and cultural globalisation in general, nor by the mounting criminal practices of Israel in whatever neighbourhood you choose in Gaza or Nablus. There is no Arab opposition equipped with an alternative programme and poised to reach power and run the country in a different way. There is no organised grassroots movement pushing for true reform and eager to reach an understanding with the government over ways to institute it gradually, in accordance with an agreed upon aim. Consequently all initiative for reform remains in the hands of the regimes, to be rationed out carefully to ward off an impending explosion of suppressed popular anger or to be applied too late, in the wake of an actual popular uprising that quickly fizzles out anyway due to its lack of either programme or direction. Or, it might arise naturally with the passage of time, with shifts in cultural and political mood and the appearance of new individuals in power, although it still emanates from above.

Israel commences plans, war crimes in OPT prior to expected war on Iraq
By Al Mezan Center for Human Rights/Al Haq, Alternative Information Center, March 8, 2003 
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have blatantly escalated their aggression against Palestinian civilians in the OPT during the last week. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Al Haq: Law for the Service of Man have frequently attempted to draw the international community’s attention to the fear that the Government of Israel, currently led by Ariel Sharon, would take advantage of a potential war on Iraq to perpetrate even more severe crimes in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The IOF have already begun military operations in several areas around the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Additional tens of Palestinians have been killed and numerous homes and facilities destroyed. The last week also witnessed further demolition of agricultural land and the ruining of water-wells and bridges. These crimes come at a time when the living conditions in the OPT have reached the crisis point as the rates of poverty and unemployment are at their peak; 70-85% and 64% successively.

America Uses Israel's Words to Justify Occupation
By Robert Fisk, Dissident Voice, February 28, 2003
Ah, to be a "viable" state! The word "viable" has now become the be-all and end-all of American policy towards Palestine. "For its part," George Bush told us, "the new government of Israel, as the terror threat is removed and security improves, will be expected to support the creation of a viable Palestinian state." Well, since Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, says that the Palestinians may only get 50 per cent of the West Bank and his new chums in his coalition government are all for more settlements in that area, why should Muslims take this talk seriously? They don't. It's just another word trick to kick-arse the Arabs into support – or at least acquiescence – in the American invasion of Iraq. Not once did President Bush mention the word "oil" – save for a brief reference to the disastrous oil-for-food "programme" – though there was just one mention of the occupied territories (or "so-called occupied" as Donald Rumsfeld infamously called them). But once America occupies Iraq, what argument can the Arabs deploy against Israel? If the West Bank is occupied, well so is Iraq. If the United States occupied Iraq to spare the world from "terror", why shouldn't Israel occupy the West Bank to spare itself from "terror"? Few have yet worked through this dangerous equation.

The LA 8: Bury My Heart at The Dome of The Rock
By Rhoda Shapiro, Dissident Voice, March 3, 2003
"Even before the first Bush War in the Persian Gulf, the US government was preparing to go to war against Arabs, beginning here at home. A secret document leaked to the press in 1987 revealed that the US government has been making plans. "Alien Terrorists and Undesirables: A Contingency Plan," outlined various methods that could be used to deport nationals of seven Arab countries and Iran. It also included a plan to round up Arab immigrants and hold them in a 1,000 acre military camp in Louisiana, already prepared to hold detainees. The test case was to be seven Palestinians and a Kenyan woman married to one of them, who became known as the LA 8..." -- Since the end of the European crusades to wipe out the Muslim infidels of the Levant, western expansion into other lands has been justified by the attempt to bring 'civilization' to savage hordes under the banner of Christianity, with racism as its murderous backdrop. In any discussion of the dangers facing activist immigrants in this country, especially those from the Middle East, it must always be remembered that the United States came into being as a result of European expansion. It was the first European settler state. What came to be called "The United States of America" was built on the continuous destruction of the Indian peoples and nations. They have paid a staggering price for the creation of American society and culture. This is true for Mexico as well as the rest of the Americas. The process continues to this very day. The entire edifice of US society has been built on the racism that destroyed Indian peoples for their land, and built its economic might on the backs of African slaves.

Turkey is closer to Israel than you think
By Sam Vankin, Middle East Times, March 7, 2003
It is ironic that relations between Turkey and Israel have never been better. The former is ruled by its first Islamic government – though constrained by secular-minded generals. The latter is increasingly nationalistic - Messianic and theocratic - though its newly elected prime minister, a former army general, Ariel Sharon, has just put together a largely secular coalition government. Each year, more than 300,000 Israelis spend their vacation – and more than a quarter of a billion dollars - in scenic and affordable Turkish resorts. A drought-stricken Israel revived a decade-old plan to buy up to 400 million cubic meters a year of desalinated sea water from Turkey. Israeli land use, hydrological and agricultural experts roam the Texas-sized country. The parties – with a combined gross domestic product of $300 billion - have inked close to 30 agreements and protocols since 1991. Everything, from double taxation to joint development and manufacturing of missiles, has been covered. Buoyed by a free trade agreement in force since 1997, bilateral trade exceeded $1.5 billion last year, excluding clandestine sales of arms and weapons technologies. According to the Turkish ambassador to the United States, "Turkish exports to Israel consist mainly of manufactured goods, foodstuffs and grain, while Israel's main export items to Turkey are chemical products, plastics, computers and irrigation and telecommunications systems technologies."

Pick a Card
By Uri Avnery, Media Monitors Network, March 3, 2003
Ariel Sharon is like one of those sleight-of-hand tricksters you see on the pavements of European cities. They mix three cards before your eyes, ask you to pick on of them, turn them upside down and ask you to guess which one is the card you have chosen. You are absolutely sure that you know where the card is – and you are wrong. Always. How does the man do it? Elementary, dear Watson: he keeps up an incessant prattle and diverts your attention for the fraction of a second – and at this moment he changes the layout of the cards.  Therefore, never (but never!) pay attention to what Sharon says. The sole object of all his utterances is to divert your attention. One has to watch his hands and not avert one’s eyes from them for a second. If Sharon had been a contemporary of Voltaire, one could have thought that the great French philosopher meant him when he said: “Men use thought only to justify their wrong-doings, and words only to conceal their thoughts.”