The Murder of Arafat
By Uri Avnery, Palestine Chronicle, September 21, 2002
While I am writing this, Yasser Arafat is still alive. But his life is hanging on a thread. When we visited him the last time in his bombed-out Mukata’ah compound in Ramallah, I warned him that Sharon is determined to kill him. Everybody acquainted with Sharon knows that he never lets go. When he does not achieve his aim the first time, he tries again, and again, and again, and again. Never, ever, does he give up. Already in besieged Beirut, at the height of the Lebanon war, Sharon was trying to put his hands on him. Dozens of agents, mostly Phalanges members, were combing the western quarters in order to catch him. He evaded them, as he has evaded dozens of assassination attempts before and after, by Abu-Nidal (who was at least partly a Mossad hireling) and others. Now Sharon believes that he can achieve his aim. He needs only Bush’s approval. Not necessarily a formal confirmation. A subtle hint will suffice. Half a word. A wink.

The Children Of The Intifada-Between Reality And Fairy Tales
By Samah Jabr, Palestine Chronicle, September 20, 2002 
I came from Africa like a real auntie, carrying gifts, pictures and fairy tales for five kids so eagerly awaiting my return home. I knew that ordinary stories would not satisfy my nephews’ fun and adventure—thirsty souls. I feared that my real stories would sound dull and boring to extraordinary kids like them, so I spent most of my flying time making up exciting stories about the jungle, the wild animals of the Safari and the Sahara of ‘deep and dark’ Africa.

Interview with Archmandrite Dr. Theodosios Attallah Hanna
Palestine Chronicle, September 20, 2002
"The issue of my arrest is a grave indicator especially that it is the first time that a Christian religious leader and official is arrested in such an inhumane and non-acceptable manner that is devoid of all human ethics and without any prior notification .."
Palestine Chronicle, September 19, 2002
Q. Father Dr. Attallah Hanna, it is very obvious that this campaign launched by Israel against you is as a result of your nationalistic views, and a continuation of their attempt to create a schism between Palestinian Muslims and Christians. Can you tell us more about this campaign, and which sides are involved in it?
A. This campaign has been launched against all nationalistic figures that call for the Palestinian right of return to their homeland. In fact, several nationalistic and religious figures were targeted in the past, as was the case with Sheikh Ikrama Sabri, the Mufti of Jerusalem for example.

Yalon wants to defeat the Palestinians
By Bassam Abu-Sharif, Media Monitors Network, September 20, 2002
No chance for that; the Palestinians were defeated 5 decades ago by any military definition. However, their struggle for freedom and independence will defeat Israel politically: Palestine’s military defeat is Israel’s political defeat: A public opinion survey conducted by an independent research institute shows that more than 80% of Palestinians support a popular struggle of civil disobedience, not a military struggle, to achieve freedom and independence. The survey used questionnaires that indicate while the Palestinians favor peaceful methods to resolve their disputes with Israel; they will continue to resist occupation. That resistance is regarded as a legitimate struggle to restore their freedom as defined by the United Nations constitution.

"Not in My Name": A Treatise against Religious Intolerance
By Richard L. Dixon, Media Monitors Network, September 20, 2002
Ever since the advent of 9/11 and the subsequent backlash against Arabs and Muslims alike, the writing of this essay for me has been both a spiritual journey and a pilgrimage for justice and sanity. It has been a personal appeal for us to bring out the essence of good in all our humanity. It has been a voice in the wilderness declaring that we are all of God’s children and that no one speaks for God but God himself. He is the redeemer, protector, all-powerful, the light and the way.

At checkpoint, brides cry and laborers camp out
By Nufuz Al Bikri, Media Monitors Network, September 20, 2002
Young women sob in their wedding gowns. Laborers stretch out on the ground and sleep after the toil of a workday within the Green Line, and nursing babies scream endlessly. In the pitch-dark, sighs resound from injured people returning from medical treatment and rehabilitation centers. There is a continuous roar of tanks and planes, and the staccato whirr of machine guns opening fire for no reason. Scores of cars line up bumper-to-bumper, and people's eyes are blinded by dust blowing from the dirt roads. Frightened, apprehensive souls await the road's reopening so they can return to their homes.

A pointless siege
Ha'aretz Editorial,  September 22, 2002
At a special government session held after the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on Thursday, it was decided to surround the Ramallah Muqata'a complex and isolate Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. It was also decided to demand that 19 Palestinians wanted by Israel should be handed over, among them the head of General Intelligence in the West Bank, Tawfiq Tirawi who is suspected of being directly involved in a number of terror attacks. During the weekend, IDF tanks destroyed most of the structures in the Muqata'a and cut off Arafat from most of his guard detail. A number of Palestinians surrendered to the IDF forces but it was reported that none of them is among the list of the wanted men Israel is demanding and these are still hiding inside the razed structures.

Hawks won't stop with Baghdad
By Rosemary Hollis, The Observer, September 22, 2002
The US hawks won't want Iraq's concessions on weapons inspections to prevent war. Their ambitions to transform the Middle East don't stop with Baghdad - yet they leave many crucial questions unanswered: Despite Iraq's sudden invitation to renew UN weapons inspections, American hardliners will keep up the pressure for war. Regime change might be achieved under cover of disarming Baghdad. But without a serious debate on the objectives of force, there will be no opportunity to consider what could go wrong or how to handle the competing interests. After all, the rationale for launching a war on iraq ought to determine how it would be waged. If the goal is a change of regime, the options range from sending assassination squads to target key individuals, to amassing a vast invasion force to take over the country. If the idea is to persuade the Iraqi military to perform a coup d'ιtat, the officer corps would have to be persuaded that the only way to save their own skins would be to take out the government themselves. Heavy handed use of air power would be counterproductive if it killed the very people expected to assume power, or turned the public against the invading forces.

Is it possible to change West’s idea of Islam?
By Dr. Abdul Qader Tash, Arab News, September 22, 2002
The discussion on the possibility of changing the West’s distorted image of Islam, taking place in both Islamic and international contexts, has reached an unprecedented level. The tragic events of Sept. 11 and the dangerous insinuations that followed have created deep feelings of despair among Muslims as well as non-Muslims. Though change may be difficult, we should, nevertheless, refuse to give up; nor should we give in to the many Islamic and Western “extremists” who believe that Islam and the West can never see eye to eye and who seek to widen the cultural, political and economic divides separating Islam from the West. These “extremists” are taking advantage of the anti-Islamic campaigns in the Western media and even in some important Western policy-making circles.