Anything but a Merry Christmas
By MIFTAH, November 25, 2002
The Church of the Nativity, one of Christianity's most sacred shrines, was declared by Israeli forces a closed military zone. Israeli troops cordoned off the square around the church, known as Manger Square, and banned Christian worshipers from attending service. An armored vehicle aimed its machine gun towards the entrance of the church. These actions by the Israeli forces are disheartening to the thousands of Christians who had hoped to celebrate Christmas in peace; sadly, it seems this season's greetings will be anything but merry as 28,000 Bethlehemites face an indefinite strict curfew and life under the harsh and brutal Israeli occupation forces.

Every citizen's duty
Editorial, Ha'aretz, November 26, 2002
There are strange and worrisome voices encouraging Israeli Arabs to boycott the upcoming Knesset elections. The Village Sons movement has made its goal persuading the Arab community not to participate in the elections. Its leadership claims the Arab community spokesmen who served in the Knesset were irresponsible and lacked any influence, and have not been capable of advancing the interests of Israeli Arabs or affecting the government. The movement is calling the elections "a fake democratic game" and is proposing the establishment of an Arab parliament to lead the Arab community.

In the hands of the three witches
By George Galloway, The Guardian, November 27, 2002
There will be only one winner of an Iraqi war - Osama bin Laden  - Picture if you will a bearded gentleman on a recruiting poster, finger pointing imploringly. "I need you," it would say. No, it's not the ubiquitous Lord Kitchener appeal, but "the emir", Osama bin Laden, and he needs you to invade Iraq. If there is one man who wants an Anglo-American invasion and occupation of an Arab country more than the chief of the US defence board, Richard Perle, it's surely the elusive and pious pimpernel of the Tora Bora. Perle told a meeting in parliament last week that the US will launch the war whether the arms inspectors find anything or not - and Bin Laden hopes he's right. And that's the flaw at the heart of our government's fudge motion in parliament this week, passed with 87 against and over 100 MPs voting with their feet in abstention: the status quo means whatever you want it to mean.

We cannot have them back
By Yossi Melman, The Guardian, November 20, 2002
In the last of a series, an Israeli writer argues that peace can only be achieved if the refugees accept a Palestinian state as their homeland  -  Where do we start? Where do we ignite the historic argument? Karma Nabulsi began her account of the Palestinian predicament on these pages with the story of 800 Palestinians massacred 20 years ago in the Beirut camps of Sabra and Shatila. Yet she failed to mention that they were killed by Lebanese Christians, not Israeli troops, or that 400,000 Israelis protested against Israel's indirect participation and forced the defence minister to resign. Some Israelis begin their chronology of massacres in the 1920s, when Jews were killed by their Palestinian neighbours in Jaffa and Hebron. More typically, Israelis remember the killing of civilians by Palestinian terrorist groups since the creation of the PLO in 1964. Yesterday's attack in Tel Aviv was a reminder of that reality.

Editorial: Dangerous waters
Editorial, Arab News, November 27, 2002
What was a hysterical media-frenzy in the US about Princess Haifa’s charitable donations and where they might have ended up has turned deadly serious. Yesterday’s statement from the White House that Saudi Arabia “is a good partner in the war against terrorism but can do more” changes everything. It is not just the veiled attack in what White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said — implying that Saudi Arabia is not pulling its weight in the fight against terrorism — but the very fact that it has been said in public. The Bush administration has decided to openly attack Saudi Arabia knowing full well that such megaphone diplomacy is not the way to sort out problems between governments. Relations between the two were strained as it was. This is going to make them worse.

Tuning up for peace in the Middle East
By Richard H. Curtiss, Arab News, November 27, 2002
Thanks to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the next show on the international agenda will be headlined by the International Quartet, starring the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. While Israel had anticipated a long postponement of peace negotiations due to a war with Iraq, Powell has circumvented that problem. Now it is time to negotiate the biggest international conundrum of all — Israel and human rights for the Palestinians. Palestinians literally are starving in the blocked-off streets of their encircled villages. Washington must address this crisis first, and insist that food relief be provided now, without delay. All along, the European Union has been helping to meet the Palestinians’ food, budgetary and significant infrastructure needs. The Israelis, by contrast, are used to haggling for everything —which, of course, will include bargaining to allow needed food supplies into Palestine.

Arab-Americans and American Jews agree
By Dr. James Zogby, Arab News, November 27, 2002
I’ve always maintained that for there to be an effective US policy pressing for a just Middle East peace, there had to be a US constituency that demanded such a policy. The results of a recent poll establishes that such a constituency exists among strong majorities of Arab-Americans and American Jews both of whom agree on the general outlines of a just peace plan. It may be surprising to some that despite more than two years of terrible violence and tragedy and growing polarization in the Middle East, Arab-Americans and American Jews remain committed to support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This was but one of the findings of a special poll commissioned by the Arab American Institute (AAI) and Americans for Peace Now (APN). The poll, conducted by Zogby International of New York, interviewed 500 Arab-Americans and 500 American Jews about a number of US policy and Middle East peace issues.

An American lesson
By Omaima Al-Jalahma/Al-Watan, Arab News, November 27, 2002
It seems that the number of people eager to express their love for us is on the increase these days. The latest on the list is Elizabeth, daughter of US Vice President Dick Cheney. She is leading a State Department-sponsored campaign to bring information to Arab and Muslim women concerning democracy and freedom from an American perspective. Arab and Muslim women are lucky to have someone showing all this concern for them. The US government has allocated $52 million for the campaign and women from 14 countries were carefully selected to take part. The women are from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, Palestine, Oman, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Tunisia. A simple calculation will show that each woman will cost the American treasury more than $1 million. The figures pale when compared to the objective. The United States, this virtuous state, has now decided to play the role of reformer for the Arab and Muslim nation, even if it is done by coercion.

You’re Ariel Sharon, and Life is Good
By William Hughes, Palestine Chronicle, November 26, 2002  
"Your accountants are preparing a $10 billion shakedown of the American taxpayers. It supposed to be a loan guarantee, but we both know, Israel never repays .."  -  BALTIMORE (PC) - You’re Ariel Sharon, Israel’s Prime Minister. Your troops, on Nov. 23, 2002, shot to death a British subject,