Victorious
unto death
By Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz, September
4, 2002
Under the current circumstances, when
the Israel Defense Forces controls the
cities and the roads and demolishes
Palestinian police stations whenever
it feels like it, the test of results
on the ground is irrelevant. On one
hand, government spokesmen claim that
the dramatic drop in attacks on Israeli
civilians proves nothing. They claim
it is purely the result of the massive
presence of the security forces in the
territories, the curfews, and the more
or less pinpointed preventive assassinations.
The prime minister's "seven days of
quiet" has been replaced by the defense
minister's "intelligence alerts" test.
In essence, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer has
decided that the violent friction will
continue as long as the intelligence
services report that extremist elements
are planning attacks.
Drunk
With Power and Out of Shame
The Israeli chief of staff spoke of
the Palestinians as a "cancerous demographic
threat" and the world shrugged. So who
said “Never Again”?
By Irit Katriel, Dissident Voice, September
3, 2002
Commenting on the Israeli government's
enthusiastic calls for the US to attack
Iraq, Knesset member Zehava Gal'on of
Meretz, a member of the Knesset Foreign
Affairs and Defense committee, said
"It is hard to understand the government's
fervor. This is an American matter and
not one we should be involving ourselves
in. The Europeans are making it clear
there is no coalition, while we are
pushing for war. Beyond that, Israel
is going to get hit if there is a war."
Iraqi foreign minister Tareq Aziz, however,
thinks that "What Bush the father did
in 1991 was in the interest of America,
what his son is planning to do now is
in the interests of Israel and the Zionists."
Mary
Robinson: Human Rights Crusader
Editorial, Boston Globe - Common Dreams,
September 3, 2002
MARY ROBINSON, United Nations high commissioner
for human rights, will step down from
her position on Sept. 11. The date is
ironic for more than its obvious symbolism,
as much criticism of Robinson has stemmed
from her questioning of the US war against
terrorism. Despite the difficulty of
heading an underfunded human rights
commission in a vast international organization,
Robinson has managed to be an outspoken
advocate for human rights worldwide.
Killing
Deliberately 'By Mistake'
By Khalid Amyreh, Palestine Chronicle,
September 4, 2002
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (IAP): As more than
a million Palestinian boys and girls
returned to school after the summer
recess, the Israeli army restarted the
murderous killing of Palestinian civilians,
including school children.
On
Improving Pro-Palestinian Activism
By Tariq Shadid, MD, Palestine Chronicle,
September 4, 2002
(PC)- Most pro-Palestinian activists,
whose articles are featured on the various
Palestinian websites, and whose publications
are slowly but surely breaking through
the barriers of the editorial boards
of the major news media of the west,
deserve a huge compliment for their
achievements, their dedication, and
their tireless efforts to bring the
Palestinian cause under the attention
of as many readers as possible.
Dissent
is not disloyalty
Roman Bronfman, The Guardian, September
5, 2002
Israel's supporters have a duty to warn
that the country is marching towards
a precipice: The past week has witnessed
two remarkable independent, yet related,
events. One, in Britain, has been the
controversy surrounding Chief Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks's interview in this paper.
The second, in Israel, has been the
controversial address to a closed forum
of the country's leading rabbis by the
new chief of staff of the Israel Defence
Force, Moshe Ya'alon. The latter saw
Israel's top soldier describe the Palestinian
threat as a "cancer". Those rabbis present
apparently saw little wrong with the
chief of staff's disturbing metaphor
and its potentially dire implications,
which underscores the salience, timeliness
and bravery of Rabbi Sacks's comments.
