The other September remembrance
By Claude Salhani, UPI, September 12, 2002
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Next week -- from Monday through Wednesday -- will mark the anniversary of yet other dark days in September. This horrific event occurred 20 years ago in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Those who died in Sabra and Shatila amount to approximately the same as the number of Americans killed on Sept. 11 in the ghastly attacks on New York, the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. Roughly 2,000 Palestinians were savagely slaughtered in the decrepit, narrow alleyways and makeshift slums of the camps. More recently, it has come to light that another 1,300 had been abducted in the mayhem that ensued. Twenty years after the mass killings, the precise number of dead is still disputed, as many simply disappeared and their bodies were never found. But does anyone bother to remember any of them?

False wisdoms about Israel's security 'fence'
By Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic Intifada, August 29, 2002
On June 17, CNN reported: 'Israel broke ground Sunday on a 217-mile-long fence along its border with the West Bank, angering Palestinians and some Israelis'. Jerrold Kessel said: 'The groundbreaking work began formally [Sunday] in the northern part of the West Bank and Israel along that frontier for this fence, which will be built roughly along the Israel-West Bank border'. However, the fence is not built on the demarcation line, also known as the 'Green Line' but is built on confiscated Palestinian land, separates Palestinian communities, denies access to land to farmers, breaks off water lines, and de facto illegally annexes more land and water resources for Israeli consumption.

Grabbing Rachel's Tomb
Editorial, Ha'aretz, September 13, 2002
The security cabinet's decision to add the Rachel's Tomb compound to the Jerusalem "security envelope" cannot be described as anything other than full annexation of the compound. Ostensibly, this is a military solution meant to guarantee the safety of people at prayer and the tourists who visit the historic site that has been at the center of many attacks during the intifada.

He who rides on the back of a tiger
By Yoel Marcus, Ha'aretz, September 13, 2002
When Ariel Sharon goes to bed at night, it wouldn't be surprising if the thought that runs through his head is what a lucky streak he's on. On that fateful day in September, Bush practically became an in-law, a bedfellow in the terror victims and fighters ward. Before 9/11, if you recall, the Palestinian conflict was not exactly uppermost in Bush's mind. Thereafter, he declared that a settlement of some kind was crucial for assembling a coalition of Islamic countries to back him up in his family vendetta against Saddam. But the terrorist attacks here, coupled with Arafat's corruption and lies put a damper on Bush's efforts - until he decided, at a certain stage, to pursue his agenda to wipe out the perpetrators of terror, as he promised his people, and, of course, Iraq, not to mention that silent pledge to his father.

The Sabra and Shatila Massacres
By Robert Fisk, Palestine Chronicle, September 12, 2002
"The eyes of these young men were all open. The youngest was only 12 or 13 years old. They were dressed in jeans and coloured shirts, the material absurdly tight over their flesh now that their bodies had begun to bloat in the heat.." The massacre at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps occurred between September 16 and 18, 1982, after Israel Defense Forces (“IDF”) then occupying Beirut and under Ariel Sharon´s overall command as Israeli Defense Minister permitted members of the Phalange militia into the camps. The following article has been extracted from the book "Pity The Nation" by Robert Fisk.

Questions That Won't Be Asked About Iraq
By Congressman Ron Paul, U.S. House of Representatives, September 10, 2002
Soon we hope to have hearings on the pending war with Iraq. I am concerned there are some questions that won’t be asked- and maybe will not even be allowed to be asked.  Here are some questions I would like answered by those who are urging us to start this war.

First the Carrot, Then the Stick: Behind the Carnage in Palestine
By Norman G. Finkelstein, April 12, 2002
During the June 1967 war, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza, completing the Zionist conquest of British-mandated Palestine.  In the war's aftermath, the United Nations debated the modalities for settling the Arab-Israeli conflict.  At the Fifth Emergency Session of the General Assembly convening in the war's immediate aftermath, there was "near unanimity" on "the withdrawal of the armed forces from the territory of neighboring Arab states occupied during the recent war" since "everyone agrees that there should be no territorial gains by military conquest." (Secretary-General U Thant, summarizing the G.A. debate)  In subsequent Security Council deliberations, the same demand for a full Israeli withdrawal in accordance with the principle of  "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war" was inscribed in United Nations Resolution 242, alongside the right of "every state in the region" to have its sovereignty respected. A still-classified State Department study concludes that the US supported the "inadmissibility" clause of 242, making allowance for only "minor " and "mutual" border adjustments.  (Nina J. Noring and Walter B. Smith II, "The Withdrawal Clause in UN Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967")  Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan later warned Cabinet ministers not to endorse 242 because "it means withdrawal to the 4 June boundaries, and because we are in conflict with the Security Council on that resolution."