What is happening in Palestine?
Hasan Abu-Nimah, The Electronic Intifada, 20 November 2002
ON JUNE 24 this year, President George Bush delivered an important speech in which he spelled out his, and his administration's, vision of the future and the future of peace in the Middle East. That vision "is two states, living side by side in peace and security", as the president put it. Many saw that as a great declaration, even if it was not the first to come from the US administration; Secretary of State Colin Powell and the president himself had earlier spoken about the two-state option as the basic concept of a Palestinian-Israeli settlement. It was still great because it came from the mouth of the superpower which, we all agree, is the only power that can influence a constantly rejectionist Israel to respond positively.

A genuine leader, or the latest gimmick?
By Yoel Marcus, Ha'aretz, November 22, 2002
The startling landslide victory for the Labor leadership of a not especially charismatic political newcomer really ticked off Fuad. Neither an officer nor a gentleman in defeat, he just couldn't believe what's-his-name from Haifa had swiped the whole kitty from under him. His friends and supporters muttered about an "Ashkenazi conspiracy" as if there were some kind of Ashkenazi Elders of Zion plot going on to shaft the Mizrahim. But one thing never occurred to them. The one person who is really to blame for what happened to Fuad is Fuad himself. During his 20 months as defense minister in a national unity government, he had a fabulous opportunity to steer Arik Sharon toward peace. Instead, he turned Labor into a faceless blob by lending a hand to Sharon's bullying policies.

Whither Arab independence?
By Basheer M Nafi, Al-Ahram Weekly, 21 - 27 November 2002
Does UNSC 1441 signal the beginning of the return of imperialist armies to the Arab world?:  "Western imperialism has made a comeback in the Arab world, not only through cultural, economic and financial peripherilisation, but also through an old-fashioned military presence in the form of army, air and naval bases, as well as command centres and supply facilities. Instead of the British military bases in Suez, Habbaniyya and Aden of the pre-independence era, and of treaties of military cooperation imposed by the French and British imperialists on clientele governments of the region, there are now an increasing number of American and British bases that aim to threaten the security of Arab countries and peoples. The undeniable fact of the Arab situation is that the present Arab generation of statesmen, intellectuals and opposition forces, who inherited from their fathers and grandfathers countries largely free of foreign occupation, are about to deliver these countries to their sons reoccupied."

The 'green room' syndrome
Al-Ahram Weekly, 21 - 27 November 2002
It was business as usual at the World Trade Organisation Ministerial meeting in Sydney, writes Faiza Rady
At the World Trade Organisation (WTO) old habits die hard. Although the trade body had solemnly pledged to mend its ways, professing to uphold transparency and democracy in the wake of the 1999 Seattle debacle, things appear to be back to square one. In effect, the WTO has once again shelved its good intentions in order to promote the agenda of powerful transnational corporations. On 14 and 15 November, a WTO mini-ministerial gathering quietly convened in Sydney, Australia, bringing together the trade ministers of a select group of 25 rich OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries, ostensibly to iron out an agreement on health, agriculture and the highly controversial trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) for a December deadline set by last year's WTO round in Doha. Billed as a meeting to look into ways of providing affordable medicines to impoverished nations (where people are dying of diseases easily treatable in the North), the Sydney Ministerial appeared to promote the "sustainable development" paradigm professed at Doha.

The bike shop's door
Lamis Andoni, Al-Ahram Weekly, 21 - 27 November 2002
Although the world may be awaiting the report on the status of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by the UN inspection team, believing that the Gulf country's destiny is linked to the document, the US appears to have another agenda. Statements and threats by American officials suggest that President George W Bush's administration may be seeking an excuse for war. While Washington says that its plans hinge on the outcome of the UN report, its actions and statements signal that the countdown to war has actually begun. Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld said Washington was looking for a "pattern" of Iraqi violations that amount to a "material breach" of the UN resolution. Rumsfeld's comments not only imply that the US may unilaterally reach such a conclusion -- perhaps even before the inspection team submits its report -- but that it might find other pretexts to launch an offensive. In statements he made in Santiago, Chile, Rumsfeld warned that Iraq's firing on American aircraft policing the no-fly zones "could spark an invasion". White House officials elaborated on Rumsfeld's statements, saying that by firing on US aircraft, Iraq had committed a "material breach" of the latest UN resolution. However, officials stopped short of pronouncing it a reason to declare war.

Two States or One?
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 21 November 2002
When the PLO formally recognized Israel within its internationally recognized borders and agreed to a two-state solution in 1993, like most Palestinians, I swallowed hard but accepted it. We believed that this unprecedented historic compromise, though bitter, was necessary to bring about peace. Those who completely rejected the creation of a state limited to the West Bank and Gaza Strip -- a mere twenty two percent of the country in which Palestinians were an overwhelming majority just fifty years ago -- were relegated to the margins of the Palestinian movement, both on the left and the Islamist right. Israel gave everyone the impression that it would agree to a Palestinian state, and that it was only a matter of working out the technical formalities. But almost 10 years later, Israel has still never recognized the Palestinian right to statehood, much less agreed to the creation of such a state. On the contrary, in practice it has done everything to make the emergence of such a state impossible by continuing to furiously build colonies all over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. The settler population in the West Bank has more than doubled since 1993, and not a day goes by without further colonization.

54 Years Later, We Live
By Fadi Kiblawi, Palestine Chronicle, November 22, 2002
"My history begins not on the date of my birth, but in November 1948, 54 years ago on this month. The setting, Tarshiha, a village in northern Palestine 20 kilometers south of Lebanon .." -   (PC) - Today I am remembering my eldest elders, those who initiated the long struggle of resistance against the arrogance of ultra-nationalism and the violence of exclusion. They, my ancestors, taught me that a people with pride are a people who do not surrender, who resist, who have dignity. They taught me to be proud of my religion, the color of my skin, my language, my culture. They have shown me that more than 54 years of exploitation and persecution have not been able to exterminate us. We have resisted since that time because history has been made with our blood.

Finding Common Ground for Peace in Middle East
By James Zogby and Debra DeLee, The Baltimore Sun, November 22, 2002
WASHINGTON -- For too long, some Arab-American and Jewish-American groups with an interest in trying to avoid a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have worked hard to drive a wedge between our two communities. More significantly, they have worked to convince elected officials that, just as conflict is inevitable in the Middle East, it is impossible to find common ground among ourselves closer to home. As a result, public debate within the Arab-American and Jewish-American communities has become polarized, harsh and unrepresentative of what Arabs and Jews in this country really think. Fortunately, a new poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute and Americans for Peace Now sheds some much-needed light on Arab-American and Jewish-American opinion, revealing two sides that are more moderate and closer to each other in their thinking than some would have believed. The survey provides some optimism about the potential for our two communities to work on a shared agenda to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians.