Foley’s murder
Editorial: Arab News, October 29, 2002
The murder of a senior diplomat in Jordan’s capital Amman was a crime aimed not only at the United States but also against the Jordanian government. Information Minister Mohammad Adwan weighed the consequences of the crime correctly when he described it as an attack "on the country and its national security." The fact that no one immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination opened the possibility that this could have been the act of a lone individual or an unknown group. However, going by past experience, many will claim credit and many will get blamed for the crime.

Building a case against Israel's political architecture
By Simona Fuma Shapiro, Ha'aretz, October 29, 2002
Architecture has become the latest academic battleground in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In recent months, the pages of architectural journals and newspapers in the United States, Israel and England have buzzed with debates about articles that have linked Israel's building practices with policies their authors variously describe as "medieval," "colonial" and "prompted by aggression and machismo." A forthcoming book on the city of Jerusalem is bound to intensify the debate. "The Next Jerusalem: Sharing the Divided City" (Monacelli Press) is due to reach bookstores in December. Its author, New York architect and professor Michael Sorkin, set off a fire-storm in July with his article in the prestigious Architectural Record suggesting that Israel is pursuing "simultaneous policies of urban renewal and ghettoization" through "bureaucratic styles of apartheid and occupation."

Roadmap To Nowhere
By Sam Bahour and Michael Dahan, Palestine Chronicle, October 28, 2002
"The draft details of the new "road map" that have been made public are so bizarre that it is a wonder that it is being presented at all ..": OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PINA) - The new US "road map" for peace in the Middle East presented by US Assistant Secretary of State William J. Burns is no more than a placebo for consumption by both Palestinians and the world community in response to their pressuring Israel for positive movement toward immediately ending the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. It is also perhaps an attempt to somehow justify Bush’s planned road trip to/through Iraq. Doctors often prescribe placebos to patients that they feel are suffering from ailments that are not necessarily physiological, hoping that the patient will think that the medicine contains some active ingredient that will cure their ailments. Such medication may have been believed successful during the Oslo Peace Accords, but the latest 25-months of bloodletting has done additional physical damage to Palestinian rights, and thus, any treatment must be real and immediate.

Isratine, a Confederation a la Canada
By Baha Abushaqra, Palestine Chronicle, October 28, 2002 
(PINA) - Aside from history and demography, the social, economic, geographic and religious ties binding Palestinians and Jews together, for better or for worse, are so intertwined and interdependent that a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is unrealistic. Yet, due to the age-old bitter feud, a quick jump to a "traditional" one-state solution is perhaps a bit too ambitious. Some prior form of geopolitical union is first called for. I propose a general referendum throughout the Holy Land, and let the people decide, for a confederation between Israel and Palestine. That would enable both peoples to retain some autonomy and pave the way for further future integration.

AIPAC's Power is Often Overrated
By Issam Nashashibi, YellowTimes, October 26, 2002
"Pro-Israel bankroll claims another victim," screamed the headline from an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC). The article also read in part, "and now the message is clear: Unless you want the kiss of political death, stay clear of any Arabs and Muslims." Here we go again, I thought, another Arab-baiting article on the heels of the three the AJC published in its vehement campaign against Representative Cynthia McKinney. Interestingly, the guest column, written by an Arab-American, did not once mention AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, perhaps because the AJC editor recognized the author provided no evidence to back up his conclusions regarding AIPAC's omnipotence.

Why The Rise In Anti-Semitism In Europe?
By Dr. Alfred M. Lilienthal, Palestine Chronicle, October 278, 2002 
WASHINGTON (PINA) - An op-ed piece by Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, entitled "Europe's Anti-Israel Excuse" appeared in the Washington Post on June 26, 2002. Foxman claims to believe that the growing criticism in Europe of Israeli misconduct somehow equals a resurgence of anti-Semitism similar to the dark Hitler era. For that matter, he makes an even far wider claim that this supposed new rise in the old anti-Semitism is somehow central to all human experience: "Throughout history a constant barometer for judging the level of hate and exclusion vs. the level of freedom and democracy in any society has been anti-Semitism -- how a country treats its Jewish citizens. Jews have been persecuted and delegitimized throughout history because of their perceived differences. Any society that can understand and accept Jews is typically more democratic, more open and accepting of 'the other.' This predictor has held true throughout the ages." Here in Foxman’s own words, we have a prime example of the kind of egocentric and grandiose preoccupation with his Jewishness that tends to give other Jews a bad name. What hogwash that throughout all of human history and throughout all the societies that have ever existed, the world has somehow revolved around the status of "The Jews!"

Wheels Come Off U.S. War Plans for Iraq
by Michael C. Ruppert, From The Wilderness, October 28, 2002
Administration Making Riskier, More Volatile Moves to Begin "All or Nothing" Gamble for Iraqi Oilfields: Oct. 28, 2002, 18:30 PST (FTW) -- All over the world, both internationally and here at home, the wheels are coming off of the Bush Administration's plans for the invasion and occupation of Iraq. And Bush Administration responses to recent events appear to be moving a tense international situation into a new phase where chaotic, scattered and increasingly bloody violence may spread risk to civilian populations and the estimated 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops that have been forward-deployed in anticipation of the attacks for months. U.S. troop deployments in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Djibouti, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan and a Kurdish controlled region of northern Iraq -- once offensive staging points or strategic postings -- are now becoming vulnerable defensive liabilities as world sentiment mounts against the U.S. invasion. Britain is also reported to have troop deployments in Oman on the Southeast tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Unseen Conflict
by Michael C. Ruppert, From The Wilderness, October 18, 2002
War Plans, Backroom Deals, Leverage and Strategy -- Securing What's Left of the Planet's Oil Is and Has Always Been the Bottom Line:  Oct. 18, 2002, 17:00 PDT (FTW) -- What started out as a blitzkrieg, the Bush agenda for the invasion of Iraq is now producing a world picture that can only be described with one word -- confusing. It is becoming apparent that outraged world opinion, guided by shrewd public relations efforts of foreign governments (including Iraq), has thrown a curve ball to the Bush military plan for a pre-election invasion and occupation.