The Demographic Nightmare
Editorial, Miftah 12/6/2003
Israel’s greatest fear is not security related, it is not monetary related, and it is not the so-called rise of anti-Semitism. Israel’s biggest worry is the fact that the world is integrating and the era of globalization leaves no room for segregation based on religion, race or nationality. Ben-Gurion declared back in 1949: "Faced with the choice of all the land without a Jewish state or a Jewish state without all the land, we chose a Jewish state without all the land."
Ehud Olmert, Sharon’s Deputy Prime Minister, recently reworded Ben-Gurion’s statement: "In the coming days, the leaders of this country will be called upon to muster all their emotional strength and passionate belief in Zionism, using that same wondrous combination of vision and pragmatism, age-old yearning and recognition of realistic constraints that justifies choosing painful compromise for the sake of peace." This statement was met with fierce resistance by Olmerts’ colleagues from the right calling for his resignation for he is now standing in the way of their Zionist dream to occupy the land and free it from non-Jews from sea to sea.
Israel is a democracy exclusively for its Jewish residents with different classes of citizenships based on religion and race. These “categories” are used to discriminate against the non-Jewish citizens of Israel and reserves the “Jewishness” of a so-called democracy which is better described as a theocracy.
Dorian Gray of the Middle East
By Adnan Abu Odeh, Daily Star 12/8/2003
During the height of the ongoing Palestinian intifada, the estimated number of Israeli roadblocks all over West Bank roads linking Palestinian towns and villages reached a total of 240. If we remember that the overall area of the West Bank is a mere 5,400 square kilometers, this meant there was one roadblock for every 22.5 square kilometers [8.41 square miles]. Under these circumstances, the West Bank could be compared to the butchered, segmented body of an animal.
As for the Palestinians who live on that land, these roadblocks have been like a series of embolisms that inhabit and block the blood supply of their social and economic life, threatening the cohesion and fabric of their society. The impact of these embolisms has been illustrated in the high poverty and unemployment rates afflicting the Palestinians, which are considered among the highest in the world. Simply put, the roadblocks have succeeded in immobilizing and laying waste to Palestinian society, provoking even more damage than a full-fledged war.
In 1923, the extreme right-wing Zionist leader, Zeev Jabotinsky, wrote an article in which he affirmed that any settlement between Jews and Arabs in Palestine was impossible. This left the Jews with two options: “We must either suspend our settlement efforts or continue them without paying any attention to the indigenous population. Settlement can thus develop under the protection of a force that is not dependant on the local population, behind an iron wall which they will be powerless to break down.”
Protesters Rally for Human Rights in York, PA
By William Hughes, Palestine Chronicle 12/7/2003
Despite freezing temperature, plus snowy and slushy conditions on the ground, about 50 stouthearted protesters rallied at the York County, PA prison and also at a distribution plant owned by the Caterpillar Corporation. The Convergence for Human Rights sponsored the event, which was held on Sat., Dec. 6, 2003, and endorsed by over 66 groups (www.october18.org).
“We are out here protesting the government’s treatment of immigrants, the USA Patriot Act and the erosion of our rights since 9/11,” said Keith Dobson of York, PA. He continued, “We are also here to protest Caterpillar profiting from people’s misery by selling its bulldozers to Israel, which it uses to destroy Palestinians’ homes and for collective punishment, too, that is a violation of both the Geneva Convention and human rights.”
Beth Zovko, a student at York College, who hails from Pittsburgh, PA, was one of the activists that marched in the cold from York Co. Prison to the Caterpillar plant, which was situated a few miles away. “I’m here today to spell out my sense of indignation at the injustice that is going on right now in my country. I think that it is appalling that our civil rights are being thrown away.”
An Open Letter to my Palestinian Brothers and Sisters
By Jaffer Ali, Palestine Chronicle 12/7/2003
Dear brothers and sisters all over the world:
Today I write from the deepest recesses of my heart. This heart is heavy with the anguish of betrayal. As "secret negotiations" are under way in London between self-anointed Palestinian leaders and Israeli representatives, we may be left with the severe consequences of these behind-the-scenes deals.
And what sort of deal is being cooked up behind our backs?
A deal to relinquish the Palestinian Right of Return is on the table.
We have reached the period in our struggle where our leadership is no longer willing to lead. They have lost their way because they prize a seat at the table of power more than they covet the notion of justice. In so doing, they have adopted the mindset of expediency, tyranny and occupation.
Is there a more brutal tyranny than that which is shielded under the umbrella of expediency and promotes peace without justice?
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
By Mike Odetalla, Media Monitors Network 12/7/2003
Christmas is fast approaching and with it the joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus (pbuh: peace be upon him) will be enjoyed as more than one billion Christians around the globe gather with family and friends in prayer, joy and reflection. Children will be eagerly waiting for the morning of that blessed day with anticipation that only a child can enjoy. Christmas trees dressed, if you will, with decorations new and old, for that grand day. Festively wrapped gifts will tease children to guess their contents; children will not sleep much the night before - with all those gifts begging attention. The story of the birth of the baby Jesus (pbuh) will be told and retold thousands of times; scenes of the Nativity and symbols of the humble birth recreated in many forms on lawns, mantles, and endless displays. Christmas pageants and concerts will commemorate the blessed event in time-honored fashion around the world.
As a Muslim, I too participate in the beautiful festivals of Christmas. During elementary school in the United States, I sang carols with the school choir, performed in concerts and joined the annual visit to Dearborn's historic Greenfield Village that depicts American life in centuries gone by and houses a museum, historical buildings and homes that once belonged to famous Americans. One of my favorite Carols, since that early childhood, has always been 'Silent Night', for it carries a pertinent message; one that sums up the atmosphere at time of Christ's birth and reflects the true spirit of Christmas today.
While I happily participated in these activities, it always seemed that my teachers, and the world, did all they could to deny the Palestinian connection to this blessed holiday. I am Palestinian; I was born in Jerusalem, a few miles from Bethlehem, the Palestinian village of Jesus' birth. Singing to people with no knowledge of Palestine, Palestinians, and our link to Bethlehem and to Jesus always seemed very strange; it still seems strange....
Fear and Intimidation: My Abduction by Israeli Undercover Police
By Radhika Sainath, International Solidarity Movement 12/7/2003
What does the Israeli government have to fear from nonviolent civil disobedience against the occupation that it would spend so much time, money and energy into the abduction and arrest of a 25-year-old female American non-violent human rights activist? In the ten months I have spent in the West Bank as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement I have grown to be prepared for anything; Palestinian schoolchildren forced to wait for hours at checkpoints or farmers detained and beaten by Israeli soldiers while picking olives with their families. Nonetheless I never thought I would be observed, followed and abducted by undercover Israeli police as I was on Thursday December 4.
Let me start from the beginning.
I was arrested along with nine others in November of 2002 during a peaceful march by Palestinians, Israelis, and foreigners against the construction of the Wall in the West Bank village of Jayyous, four miles inside the Green Line. My lawsuit against the State of Israel for this unlawful arrest was originally scheduled for Thursday, November 27, a couple of days before my scheduled departure from Israel and the expiration of my tourist visa. However, state defense attorney Yariv Ligomsky managed to postpone my testimony for one week through a technicality. To comply with the delay caused by the state attorney, I had to buy a new plane ticket and overstay my visa by 5 days, as I was unable to renew the visa due to Ministry of Interior strikes.
The peace threat from Damascus
By Ze'ev Schiff, Ha'aretz 12/8/2003
The most astounding thing about the Syrian president's proposal to resume talks with Israel is the response of official Israel. It may have good reason to put question marks beside Bashar Assad, but its reply also raises big questions. Is Israel really interested in achieving peace with its neighbor to the north?
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has remained silent. Not a word has been heard from him on the offer of peace talks raised by an extreme Arab state. In the past, we always hoped for such proposals. Sharon has not even made a non-committal comment - the same way he behaved when Saudi Arabia's proposal came for the first time, before it had evolved into an initiative of the Arab League.
Unidentified but known sources in Jerusalem have begun to churn out excuses - like "Israel is unable to conduct negotiations on two fronts at once." One might think Israel is actually doing this on one front. Instead of arguing that Israel is now busy with contacts with the Palestinians and finds it difficult to turn its attention to the Syrian track, the sources should have been accurate and said that Israel is busy looking for ways to evade real negotiations with the Palestinians.
Only the High Court Can Do It
Miftah/Ha'aretz Editorial 12/6/2003
A lot of time has been wasted since everyone involved agreed that the services provided by the Interior Ministry's Population Registrar's Bureau in East Jerusalem are disgraceful. Much suffering was caused to the Palestinian Jerusalemites forced to use those facilities, and it is a shame that it took a High Court decision to correct the injustice. On Wednesday, the High Court ordered the offices to move to new, more spacious facilities within 19 months. Once again it became clear that the High Court is the last checkpoint between the government and its indifference to the people for whom it is responsible.
For years the Interior Ministry has avoiding moving the offices for various and odd reasons, even though its heads knew very well about the shameful scenes that took place in the crowded lines every day, about the industry of machers that thrives there, and the humiliations suffered by tens of thousands of people sometimes after a night of waiting.
The queues at the Population Registry in Jerusalem is an expression of the difficult distress of some 230,000 Palestinians of East Jerusalem. They may carry Israeli ID cards but it is a special card only for them, giving them a problematic civilian status as permanent residents (of Jerusalem) without equal rights with Israeli citizens inside the state.
Interview with Noam Chomsky: US will Control the World Permanently by Force
By Simon Mars, Palestine Chronicle 12/7/2003
[Edited excerpts of an interview with Noam Chomsky by Simon Mars of Dubai's Business Channel] -- Do you think control over energy resources was the main reason for the invasion of Iraq?
Noam Chomsky: They didn't decide to invade Eastern Congo where there's much worse massacres going on. Of course it was Iraq's energy resources. It's not even a question. Iraq's one of the major oil producers in the world. It has the second largest reserves and it's right in the heart of the Gulf's oil producing region, which US intelligence predicts is going to be two thirds of world resources in coming years.
The invasion of Iraq had a number of motives, and one was to illustrate the new National Security Strategy, which declares that the United States will control the world permanently by force if necessary and will eliminate any potential challenge to that domination. It is called pre-emptive war.
It is not a new policy, it's just never been announced so brazenly, which is why it caused such uproar, including among the foreign policy elite in the United States. They're appalled by it. But having announced the doctrine, it needed an exemplary action, to show that the United States really meant it.
But if the United States is going to attack somebody, the action has to meet several criteria. The first and crucial criterion is that they must be completely defenseless. It's stupid to attack anyone who can shoot back. Anyone knows this.
They understood perfectly well that Iraq was completely defenseless, the weakest country in the region. Its military expenditure was about a third of Kuwait, devastated by sanction, held together by Scotch tape. Mostly dis-armed, under complete surveillance, so Iraq met that condition.
An Occupation Not Fit for Humans: Poem
By Genevieve Cora Fraser , Palestine Chronicle 12/7/2003
Subjugation A kin to master
Slave asymmetry
Radically alters
A heritage made noble
By Jewish suffering
Ancient Palestinia
Urbane and pastoral
Verdant and thriving
The wellspring of Semite prophets
You
Dispersed in a Diaspora
Of global Bedouins banished
Encircled by betrayal
In cantons of terror
Encamped, dismembered
Waiting to emerge....
West Bank East: Americans in Iraq make war the Israeli way
By Ed Blanche, Daily Star 12/8/2003
BEIRUT: If the US military’s escalating war against insurgent forces in Iraq is starting to look more and more like Israel’s campaign to crush the intifada and the Palestinians’ hope of an independent state it’s probably because the Americans have been increasingly turning to their Israeli allies for advice on how to conduct just such a conflict. Now that the United States has become an occupying power, like Israel, (although the Israelis still like to kid themselves they’re not really) it has found itself having to grapple with a growing insurgency that is showing every sign of escalating and expanding. The contacts between the two allies is largely classified, mainly because the Americans would find it massively embarrassing if they were seen to be taking lessons in crushing Arab resistance from Israelis. The Americans’ insistence that they “liberated” Iraq from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein’s grotesque regime would suffer greatly from comparison to the internationally condemned Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
But US and Israeli officials confirm such contacts are under way, including several visits to Israel by US military and intelligence officials in recent months. “Part of what’s going on is the culmination of years of picking each other’s brains,” said Shoshana Bryen, director of special projects at the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs in Washington. “After Sept. 11 they discovered that they had more things to talk about.”
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