The
killing of Fuad
Abu Ghali
By Annie Higgins,
Electronic Intifada,
October 30, 2002
Fuad. It means "heart."
The ambulance was
on its way to pick
up a patient in
the East Side of
Jenin when the dispatcher
put out an urgent
call that someone
had been wounded
in that neighborhood.
"Wounded" inevitably
means "attacked
by the military
power that dominates
the population."
House numbers are
rare so the ambulance
usually finds a
patient by asking
people on the street
to direct him to
a landmark. This
time was different.
At every corner
of the route winding
uphill, clusters
of people were pointing
out the direction
and urging us to
hurry. We reached
the site of the
attack, and stopped
the ambulance about
six metres from
the body which had
fallen to the ground.
As we jumped from
the ambulance and
ran to him on the
crest of the hill,
three soldiers identifiable
by their identical
olive uniforms appeared
running up from
the other side of
the hill. Suddenly
I felt it was a
race, and it was
important to win
it.
Iraq:
Foreign Policy Malpractice
By Jonathan Marshall,
San Francisco Chronicle
(The Independent
Institute), October
20, 2002
Regime change—the
phrase sounds so
cool and antiseptic.
But before Congress
bought President
Bush's prescription
for curing the world’s
ills, it should
have reviewed some
medical history
on the disastrous
side-effects of
this quack remedy.
The first patient
in line for this
harsh medicine—Iraq—has
already taken it
twice before. The
results turned a
minor regional irritant
into a wound of
worldwide concern.
Iraq’s first
dose came in 1963,
when a young CIA
protege named Saddam
Hussein helped overthrow
Gen. Abdul Qassim,
who had nationalized
some of the country's
foreign oil interests
two years earlier.
According to one
history, “CIA
assistance reportedly
included coordination
of the coup plotters
from the agency’s
radio station inside
the U.S. Embassy
in Kuwait and solicitation
of advice (on who)
should be eliminated
once the coup was
successful.”
The
Naqba revisited
Friday, November
1st, 2002
Nancy Hawker/AIC
Yanun, a small village
southeast of Nablus,
looks like many
other small Mediterranean
villages: Its stone
houses crouched
among the olive
groves are sun-beaten,
picturesque and
economically depressed.
Young men have been
leaving the village
for years, working
in big towns or
in foreign countries
like Jordan or Israel
and sending money
back to the women,
elderly, and the
children who can
no longer subside
on the traditional
agriculture and
rearing of livestock.
However, contrary
to its Italian or
Tunisian equivalent,
Yanun suffers from
an additional scourge:
repeated attacks
perpetrated by Israeli
settlers. For over
four years, settlers
have been provoking
and terrorising
the inhabitants
of Yanun.
Two
years of Intifada
and back to square
one
By Sune Segal, Palestine
Monitor, October
2002
The Second Intifada
is turning into
a popular, non-violent
uprising. Palestinians
of all ages and
creeds are demonstrating
in the streets of
Ramallah and other
Palestinian cities
against the choking
curfew imposed on
the Occupied Palestinian
Territories by the
Israeli government
for months on end:
“NO MORE CURFEW,
NO MORE CURFEW”
– “BUSH,
SHARON, YOU WILL
SEE, PALESTINE WILL
BE FREE”.
The chorus grows
stronger as the
crowd moves through
the otherwise deserted
streets of central
Ramallah, lighting
up the night with
hundreds of flickering
candles. Big-eyed
toddlers amazed
by the fuss, teenagers
laughing and shouting,
indulging in this
substitute Saturday
night party, a man
acting as a human
Zippo – his
right hand and forearm
is totally plastered
with wax from several
candles with which
he supplies the
protesters with
a constant source
for lighting their
own candles. An
old woman in an
embroidered dress,
she’s flying
a Palestinian flag
from a long pole.
A tired man on a
white horse. A lonely
burning tyre and
two gangling teens,
each with his orange
t-shirt wrapped
around his head
to cover all but
the eyes present
a true Kodak moment
– cameramen
flock around the
boys, some kneeling
to capture the authentic-looking
would-be warriors
through the flames
of the 10-inch high
pyre. Ambulances
follow close behind
the procession,
their staff prepared
to evacuate the
wounded, should
it come to clashes.
Are
there Still any
Peace Partners Left
for Palestinians
among Israelis?
Palestine Media
Center, November
3, 2002
While Ariel Sharon
has been wooing
ultra-extremist
and religious parties
to form a right-wing
ruling coalition
after the Labor
party walked out
of his 20-month
national unity government,
more than 100,000
Israeli peace activists
rallied in Tel Aviv
on the seventh anniversary
of slain PM Yitzhak
Rabin’s death
rejuvenating hope
that there might
still be peace partners
in Israel for the
Palestinian people.
Palestine National
Authority (PNA)
culture and information
minister Yasser
Abed Rabbo, on Saturday,
warned Israel was
preparing to carry
out "new crimes"
as its Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon held
talks with far-right
parties on a narrow
new governing coalition.
"The Israeli far
right is coming
together and preparing
to deliver a knock-out
blow to the Palestinian
people and the peace
process in the region,"
said Abed Rabbo.
The minister, who
went straight into
talks with Lebanese
Prime Minister Rafiq
Hariri, said he
was in Beirut as
part of Palestinian
efforts to ward
off the anticipated
crackdown by the
new Israeli government.
