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Articles
for September 30, 2002
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Update:
New Israeli map highlights Palestinian
concerns about "security fence"
By Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic
Intifada, September 28, 2002
Media reports about the construction
of Israel's so-called 'security fence'
barely touch on the details of the
venture and its implications for Palestinians.
Most of the earliest reports on the
wall suggest that it will be built
"roughly along the Israel-West Bank
border" (CNN, 17 June 2002). Many
reports have limited themselves to
questioning Israeli officials about
Israel's rationale for building the
wall, noting the debate within Israeli
society about what in Israeli lexicon
is being referred to as "the fence".
A
spineless government
By Uzi Benziman, Ha'aretz, September
29, 2002
When he was still a young man, Ariel
Sharon learned how to defy Israel's
governments. As a commander of the
army's Unit 101, at the age of 25,
he would sit down with his soldiers
and ceaselessly criticize Israel's
civilian authorities. He was enraged
by the government's habit of limiting
his actions, of barring him from carrying
out all his operational schemes on
enemy territory. He had harsh words
for a large share of the Israel Defense
Force's top commanders at the time.
There were complex reasons for his
behavior, stemming from his personality,
education and personal experience.
One decisive factor was the Battle
of Latrun, in which he was badly injured;
after witnessing the helplessness
of the political and military leadership
during this battle, Sharon developed
disdain for it.
Who's
the accused and who's the accuser
By Shamai Leibowitz, Ha'aretz, September
29, 2002
The trial on criminal charges of Marwan
Barghouti, a prominent leader of the
intifada, has aroused anger and opposition
all over the world, but here it is
seen as something desirable and even
necessary. The trial is so emotion-laden
on both the Israeli and Palestinian
sides that it is difficult to discern
who is the accused and who is the
accuser. It is clear to all that this
is not just another criminal proceeding.
According to Barghouti, the terminology
of criminal law such as indictments,
prosecution witnesses, defense witnesses
and the like, does not apply here.
Is that so?
'Israel
has won for now, but what is victory
when it brings no hope?'
By David Grossman, The Guardian, September
30, 2002
Ariel Sharon has led his country through
one of the bloodiest and most repressive
periods in its history. So, asks a
distinguished Israeli novelist,
why is he still so popular?: I might
begin this piece on the second anniversary
of the second intifada with the day
that Ariel Sharon made his entry into
the Temple Mount and set off a conflagration
in the occupied territories. But the
story could actually begin in any
of the seven years that preceded September
2000. During that period, Israel and
the Palestinians did everything in
their power to disrupt and confound
the fragile agreement they cobbled
together at Oslo. Israel doubled the
number of its settlers in the territories,
and the Palestinians smuggled in weapons,
hoarded ammunition and prepared for
war. Those who were attentive then
to the Palestinians' complaints and
warnings about the Oslo agreement
and the reality it was supposed to
make permanent could have seen something
was amiss. It offered the Palestinians
a tiny state, sliced into segments
by a massive Israeli presence. More
than anything else, this reality served
Israel's stringent security needs.
The prescient could have understood
then what had to happen.
The
Dishonesty of This So-Called Dossier
By Robert Fisk, Dissident Voice, September
25, 2002
Tony Blair's "dossier" on Iraq is
a shocking document. Reading it can
only fill a decent human being with
shame and outrage. Its pages are final
proof – if the contents are
true – that a massive crime
against humanity has been committed
in Iraq. For if the details of Saddam's
building of weapons of mass destruction
are correct – and I will come
to the "ifs" and "buts" and "coulds"
later – it means that our massive,
obstructive, brutal policy of UN sanctions
has totally failed. In other words,
half a million Iraqi children were
killed by us – for nothing.
Let's go back to 12 May 1996. Madeleine
Albright, the US Secretary of State,
had told us that sanctions worked
and prevented Saddam from rebuilding
weapons of mass destruction (WMD).
Our Tory government agreed, and Tony
Blair faithfully toed the line. But
on 12 May, Mrs Albright appeared on
CBS television. Leslie Stahl, the
interviewer, asked: "We have heard
that half a million children have
died. I mean, that's more than died
in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the
price worth it?" To the world's astonishment,
Mrs Albright replied: "I think this
is a very hard choice, but the price,
we think the price is worth it."
The
Need for a New Strategy
By Nizar Sakhnini, Palestine Chronicle,
September 29, 2002
A lot of healthy discussion about
the need for a new strategy in the
struggle for justice and peace in
Palestine is taking place these days.
The following paragraphs are not an
attempt to lay down a new strategy.
This is a task that is beyond the
ability of any individual to articulate,
whomever he or she might be. What
follows are general comments related
with the situation that might shed
some light on issues directly related
with the discussions.
Manufacturing
Anti-Semites
By Uri Avnery, Media Monitors Network,
September 30, 2002
The first Israeli victim of Saddam
Hussein is a Zionist myth on which
we were brought up: It stated that
Israel is a haven for all the Jews
in the world. In all the other countries,
Jews live in perpetual fear that a
cruel persecutor will arise, as happened
in Germany. Israel is the safe haven,
to which Jews can escape in times
of danger. Indeed, this was the purpose
of the Founding Fathers when they
established the state. Now Saddam
comes along and proves the opposite.
All over the world, Jews live in safety,
and only in one place on the planet
are they threatened by annihilation:
Israel. Here the national parks are
prepared for mass-graves, here (pathetic)
measures against biological and chemical
weapons are prepared. Many people
are already planning to escape to
the communities in the Diaspora. End
of a myth.
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