Oppressed motherhood
By Khuloud Ghanem, Jerusalem Times 10/16/2003
I bore my baby girl nine months and waited for its coming to life, but I couldn’t see her face even after she died. The Israeli army at some military roadblock prevented me from reaching Ramallah Hospital, where I should be hospitalized as I needed a surgery as I suffered from pregnancy difficulties. I was in the ambulance with my husband and a nurse, who tried to big the soldiers to allow our access. They answered him with shooting gunfire in the air and asked us to return where we came from.
The mother, from Ajoul village, continued saying, “Because of our fear of the sound of gunshots that targeted us, I gave birth in the ambulance at Surda checkpoint. Then I was nearly unconscious and the ambulance returned me to the Salfit Hospital, where the physician recommended moving me to Ramallah Hospital for the surgery, since his hospital lacks the required medical equipment for performing such a surgery.”
When I awoke in my way back, I asked about my daughter. They answered, “Wait till we reach the Salfit Hospital.” When we reached the hospital I heard them extending condolences to my husband. I collapsed and they didn’t allow me to see her dead because I was in very bad conditions.
Have The UN's Prerogatives Been Turned Over To The U.S.?
By Mona Makram Obeid, Al-Hayat 10/16/2003
The UN was lately subject to sharp criticism; it has been accused of failing to preserve international peace. The criticism seemed even harsher when the UN failed to block the American-British decision to launch war against Iraq, a decision that certain political circles viewed as spelling the end of the international organization. In this light, numerous questions have been raised about the role and efficiency of the UN, and the ways to overcome its crisis.
Some observers maintain that the UN is collapsing following the American invasion of Iraq, because international relations are no longer governed by international law. This situation stems from the contradiction between the UN being an international organization based on political plurality, and the existing situation whereby only one country controls the world's political, military and economic issues. Ever since Bush came to power, the U.S. has held high the slogan of "preemptive war" instead of "the power of the right and legitimacy." When the war was waged, the international community opposed it, and the UN turned silent. The international organization thus fell into the hands of the U.S., turning over all its prerogatives to that country.
....The truth is that the UN's crisis is a result of Washington's using the organization for its own interests, while the wealthy and developed countries are not viewing it as the right tribune to settle international disagreements. Although the UN is playing a role in several internal issues, under the banner of fighting terror and protecting human rights, it is not allowed to intervene in certain specific issues. It is necessary to reform the UN for it to overcome the crisis. But how should this be carried out? Although such calls have been made ever since its creation, it has become a priority ever since the end of the Cold War, due to the important repercussions this had, politically, economically and socially.
Lessons unlearned in the Middle East
By M Iftikhar Malik, Asia Times 10/15/2003
To a Westerner, it is hard to fathom why events that happened half a century or even 1,000 years ago still hold such significance that they dominate Arab perceptions of Europeans and the American adventures in the Middle East.
There were crusades in medieval times lasting over 200 years, all aimed at "liberating" Christianity's holiest sites from Muslim control. There is the 20th century history of Christian Europe's conquests of Arab land, in the dying days of the Muslim Ottoman empire's presence in the Arab world. Though each was unique in its own way, they all had one thing in common: in one way or the other, they turned out to be failures.
This is fundamentally why Arabs hold the lore of the victory of a great Arab warrior, Saladin, over Christian crusader Richard the Lionhearted in the 12th century, in such awe. Memory is long, and resentment runs deep in this part of the world. Many Arabs put great faith in a mysterious process they call "the forces of history". They feel Western invaders may commit aggression in the sands of the Middle East, they may kill thousand of Arabs and they may occupy Arab lands for years or decades. But in the end, they all must leave, get absorbed or get obliterated.
US, Israel destroying the UN system
By Hasan Abu Nimah, Electronic Intifada 10/15/2003
When the League of Nations was created less than a century ago, in the aftermath of World War I, the principal purpose of its founders was to settle international conflicts peacefully. It was the first attempt towards establishing an international system capable of resolving conflicts in accordance with agreed upon rules and regulations, and that system, henceforth known as international law, was meant to be the alternative to war. The League had failed for a number of accumulating reasons, but the breakout of World War II rendered, in the end, killed it.
The United Nations, which rose from the debris of a war-torn world, was supposed to be an improved version of its abandoned predecessor, since its founders at the time stood to benefit greatly from the lessons of the failed experiment of the League and because their resolve for creating a better order for international peace and security was evidently hardened by the wholesale suffering, the vast destruction and the many millions who had perished in that total war.
Palestine/Israel: a state for all its citizens
By Ali Abunimah, Daily Star 10/16/2003
Peace in Palestine through territorial partition is a doomed fantasy and the time has come to discard it. While it may once have worked on paper, in practice the Israeli state has succeeded, through the relentless colonization of the Occupied Territories and lately its grotesque separation barrier, in its long-standing goal of rendering any workable partition impossible.
While Israel was conceived as a state for Jews, Edward Said explained in 1999, the “effort to separate (Israelis and Palestinians) has occurred simultaneously and paradoxically with the effort to take more and more land, which has in turn meant that Israel has acquired more and more Palestinians.” The result is that Israel can in the long run only remain a “Jewish state” through apartheid or, as some Israeli Cabinet ministers demand, ethnic cleansing.
Armed Palestinian resistance has rendered the colonization effort extremely costly to Israel, but has been unable to stop or reverse it. The “road map” was the final test of whether a two-state solution could be realized through peaceful means. The refusal of the US to exert any pressure on Israel, despite an unprecedented 51-day cease-fire by all Palestinian factions, leaves no doubt that a US administration, no matter how determined its rhetoric, cannot in good faith work toward such a solution. There is no other coalition of countries that is ready, willing and able to act as a counterweight to the US.
The Geneva document is not barren
Ha'aretz 10/16/2003
The Geneva initiative is not barren. It is not a useless intellectual exercise by a group of eccentrics. The document embodies the most serious and comprehensive effort ever undertaken to end the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Therefore, it indeed is an historic document. Even before it has seen the light of day, it is laying down solid political facts that will be impossible to annul and impossible to ignore. For good or ill, the Geneva paper will be a central element in shaping the Israeli future.
It's still too early to judge its essence. Even those familiar with its details can't judge it before it is fully published. However, already it can be said that the Israeli team that participated in formulating it did accomplish at least one dramatic achievement - the first Palestinian recognition of its kind of the right of the Jewish people to a state.
The Israeli team also achieved some other accomplishments: explicit recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Western Wall, implied recognition of the Jewish people's affiliation with the Temple Mount and recognition of the right of some 300,000 Israelis to live beyond the Green Line.
Is it a "PA" or a "PLO"?
By Ghassan Andoni, International Middle East Media Center 10/16/2003
The attack against the American envoy in northern Gaza exposed the weaknesses that the Palestinian Authority worked hard to cover. The scene of angry children throwing stones at U.S. investigators and Palestinian police, who arrived at the site of the destroyed vehicle, even when expected, was very embarrassing.
When Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei called for a serious effort to end the "State of Chaos" in which an individual or a group of angry children can decide the future of the nation, he was expressing frustration and helplessness.
How did the PA, which demonstrated a high level of control in the mid nineties, and even cracked down on powerful opposition movements, arrive at such a state of chaos and [lose] its ability to rule?
The basic idea of establishing an authority "under occupation" was regularly disputed among different Palestinian groups. Some looked at the PA as an interim needed arrangement to transform the Palestinian Liberation Movement (PLO) into a national authority of a sovereign state. Others criticized it as a confused structure that can help disguise occupation and expressed concerns around the so called "the authority security obligations".
Qibya: 50 years of injustice and impunity
By Eric Ridenour, Electronic Intifada 10/15/2003
October 14, 2003 marked the 50th anniversary of a virtually forgotten massacre. In the Jordanian village of Qibya, a total of 69 civilians were murdered during a six-hour killing spree that nearly destroyed the entire town. The attackers blew up about forty houses, a school, a water pumping station, a police station and telephone office (1), and yet they sustained no casualties, since Qibya was virtually undefended.
Of the first 42 bodies recovered after the attack, 38 were women and children.(2) One man lost all 11 members of his family. Describing the scene, a UN observer stated that "bullet-riddled bodies near the doorways and multiple bullet hits on the doors of the demolished houses indicated that the inhabitants had been forced to remain inside until their homes were blown up over them."(3)
International condemnation was swift and unequivocal. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 101, specifically condemning the attack on Qibya. On October 16th, the US State Department issued a statement expressing sympathy for the victims and urging that the persons responsible "should be brought to account." The National Jewish Post, in an October 30th editorial, wrote that "Qibya was in effect another Lidice and no United States citizen who was living at the time of this detestable Nazi extermination of an entire village will forget the world's horror at that act."(4)
The Sentinels of Jenin
By ‘Ali Samoudi, International Middle East Media Center 10/15/2003
For the third week, Israeli soldiers waged war against Jenin and its camp using vehicles of the most obscure size and shape. The streets have become a battlefield where fierce encounters take place between Palestinian kids and Israeli machines.
The constant encounters with the Israeli military has shaped the lives of children. Tanks rumble through their peaceful dreams; prevent their parents from reaching their work, hinders their relatives treatments, and disoblige them from school. However, they refuse to be subdued. Such a thing ensures the greater and deeper awareness, experience and understanding among this generation. They hate the occupation and are ready to fight and die as martyrs. Holding a stone in his hand, tenth grader Mustafa, assessed that, “we face the occupation since we have the right to live without Israeli tanks, soldiers, and shootings.” He does not fear the endless rattle of guns. “If we do not continue the Intifada, we will forever live under occupation. Palestine is ours!”
Cheers and cries fill the air. When the tanks approach the main square people scatter, then they take charge and hail the tanks with stones. Ahmed 14, gleefully shouting and singing while tossing stones at the tanks. He is cheerful because, in his words, “the children of Jenin do not fear the Israeli tanks, they compete to defy them. We tell the Jews that our people are strong, do not give up, and do not fear the curfew, closures and planes.” Ahmed is flanked by eight grader Bassam, running boldly. He is determined to fix a small flag to the back of the tank.
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