The Humanity of the Other
By Yehuda Stolov, Ariga, October 8, 2002
For the first time in two years, an Israeli organzation - the Interfaith Encounter Association - and a Palestinian orgnization - the Nablus Youth Federation - organized in the Holy Land a joint conference that was open to the wide public. The conference took place at Tantur Center in Jerusalem and was funded by the European Commission.We were men and women, secular and religious, Jews, Christians, Muslims and even one visiting Native American, from across Israel and the PNA. For many of us, in both groups, it was the first time to meet 'the other' and the doubts where there whether there is the will in the other side to really meet. It was clear from the start that we do not have the responsibility here to solve the Israeli-palestinian conflict, but we do indeed have the responsibility to develop human peace among us, the group of the conference paticipants, and that in order for that to happen, especially when the range of political views was wide in both groups, we have to concentrate on the religious perspective of our discussions.

A fictitious debate 
By Gideon Levy, Alternative Information Center, October 13, 2002
There is no difference between an "illegal outpost" and a "legal settlement": the question of the settlements' legality should not even be on the public agenda. The only thing that differentiates a "legal" settlement from an "illegal" outpost is a piece of paper, usually in the form of retroactive "laundering" of the outpost by the defense establishment. Yesterday's outposts are today's settlements and both are a disaster.

Separation anxiety
By Aviv Lavie, Ha'aretz, October 12, 2002 
Good relations between the kibbutzniks of Metzer and the Palestinians of Kafin have withstood even the test of the past two years. Now, kibbutz members fear, the security fence currently under construction will cause these positive ties to unravel: Kafin's olive trees are uprooted to make way for what Kibbutz Metzer fears will become the "anti-security fence."

A dangerous partner
By Ze'ev Schiff, Ha'aretz, October 11, 2002
WASHINGTON - The second and superfluous siege by the Israel Defense Forces on the Muqata - the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, in Ramallah - expedited the invitation extended to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to visit Washington. Apprehensive of more Israeli surprises of this nature in the future, the administration changed its timetable. The Americans are usually not unduly upset by Israel's military operations against Palestinian terrorism. The fact is that they said nothing during the period of the siege of the Muqata when the head of the Shin Bet security service, Avi Dichter, was in Washington and reported in detail to a number of ranking administration officials about the attempted assassination of Hamas bomb builder Mohammed Def. The Americans effectively accepted Dichter's remarks.

The US blueprint for post-war Iraq strengthens the case against invasion
Editorial, The Independent, October 12, 2002
As an intellectual exercise, the American plan for occupying Iraq and imposing a military government after a war against Saddam Hussein is useful. It helps to make the case against war by outlining in detail the moral and logistical obstacles to the enterprise.

How To Lie About Iraq - Part I
By Firas Al-Atraqchi, Palestine Chronicle, October 11, 2002
In September 2000, as the Palestinian Intifada raged, a blueprint for U.S. foreign policy and strategy was drawn up by a prominent U.S. think-tank. The blueprint, titled Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century, went largely unreported in U.S. media, but is available online. The report was drafted for Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush (U.S. President George Bush's brother and current Florida governor), Paul Wolfowitz, and Lewis Libby, then Cheney's chief of staff, before the 2000 U.S. elections. Today, Cheney is U.S. Vice-President; Wolfowitz is Deputy-Secretary of Defence to Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defence.

Revolving-Door Monsters
By Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, October 11, 2002
President Bush and Vice President Cheney portray Saddam Hussein as so menacing and terrifying that one might think they've lain awake at night for years worrying about him. But when Mr. Cheney was running Halliburton, the oilservices firm, it sold more equipment to Iraq than any
other company did. As first reported by The Financial Times on Nov. 3, 2000, Halliburton subsidiaries submitted $23.8 million worth of contracts with Iraq to the United Nations in 1998 and 1999 for approval by its sanctions committee. So this is not evidence of scandalous conduct or egregious misjudgment. This is not like a politician being found, as former Gov. Edwin Edwards of Louisiana put it, in bed with a dead girl or a live boy. But as we debate whether to go to war with Iraq, it's a useful reminder of how fashions change in our perceptions of rogue states. Public Enemy No. 1 today is a government that Mr. Cheney was in effect helping shore up just a couple of years ago.

Peacemaker
Arab News Editorial, October 13, 2002
The award of the Nobel Peace Prize to former US President Jimmy Carter honors a man of peace at a time when making peace is not, in certain quarters at least, a fashionable occupation. However, it is an award the man richly deserves. Since quitting the White House 21 years ago, Carter has been involved in 18 different peace missions. However, his greatest achievement was the cutting of the Gordian knot by bringing Egypt and Israel together. President Anwar Sadat’s handshake with Prime Minister Menachem Begin on the White House lawn was the moment when men of good will could finally get some sort of negotiating purchase on an issue that was considered intractable.

Dances With Bears
War on Iraq pays no Russian dividend
By John Helmer, Asia Times, October 12, 2002
MOSCOW - Russian oil producers, pipelines and ports are certain to be badly hit if the United States forces a regime change in Iraq, and if world oil prices fall sharply. And that's only scratching the surface of the threat to the Russian economy from an American war against Saddam Hussein, and all that would follow. Understanding this should be an antidote to a spate of recent reports in the Anglo-American press. These claim that, behind the curtain of the United Nations Security Council, the Russian government is negotiating a secret deal with the US to trade Moscow's concession for war to start, for Washington's guarantee to secure Russian oil company concessions in Iraq, or to pay a matching indemnity. No matter how the value of Russia's interests in Iraq may be totted up, and never mind how unreliable and unpredictable Bush administration undertakings are understood to be, the cost to the Russian economy of a collapse of the oil price is certain to be greater than any promised indemnity.

A two-sided debate over UN relevance
By Alexander Casella, Asia Times, October 12, 2002
NEW YORK - Diplomatic observers at the UN headquarters confirm that Saddam Hussein's sudden decision to allow UN weapons inspectors to return to Iraq caught the Bush administration completely by surprise. The end result is that Washington is now confronted with a diplomatic situation that is far more complex than the one the US had initially planned for. Ultimately, many observers believe that Washington became the victim of its own propaganda; by repeatedly labeling Saddam Hussein a "homicidal maniac", which he might well be, the US discounted the fact that a man who has been able to hang on to power in Iraq for so many years is by definition a political operator with a ferocious instinct for survival.