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Francis Boyle's comments on Bush's lack of vision
The following is from a letter to the editor of "The Independent" from Professor Francis A. Boyle, Legal Advisor to the Palestinian Delegation to the Middle East Peace Negotiations from 1991 to 1993 and author of the forthcoming book on "Palestine, Palestinians and International Law" (Clarity Press: 2003)

"At least President Arafat was democratically elected by the vast majority of his people, unlike President Bush. The time-frames seem deliberately designed by the Bush administration to punt on all critical issues beyond the 2004 presidential elections. Obviously, the Bush administration is attempting to pander to the Israel lobby and their Christian fundamentalist supporters in the United States. As Israel repudiates Oslo and resumes its outright occupation of the West Bank, there is nothing for the Palestinians but vague promises of good intentions by the United States government that have never materialized during the past 35 years. Basically, Bush gave Sharon the proverbial green light to dump Arafat. Violence will continue and escalate."
--Francis A. Boyle

posted by LoZo 12:13 PM

 

Israeli forces keep 700,000 Palestinians under curfew
(Phil Reeves, The Independent, 28 June 2002)
Six weeks after the end of the bloody siege of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, another stand-off has developed between Israeli forces and Palestinians, which has so far claimed four lives. It began after the Israeli army, trying to stop suicide bombings, reoccupied all but one of the big Palestinian towns in the West Bank. The sweeping military operation left 700,000 people under curfew. Israeli forces have killed at least five small children in the West Bank in the past week; reports yesterday suggested that another Palestinian child, aged six, had been added to the death toll. . . . Information about the events in Hebron, as in all but one of the main Palestinian-run towns on the West Bank, has been patchy because the Israeli army has declared the area to be a "closed military zone" � barring access to journalists. . . . Elsewhere, Palestinian officials said two Palestinians were killed yesterday. In the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, a 17-year-old was killed when troops opened fire on stone-throwers. Eight people were reported wounded. Palestinians said soldiers shot and wounded three Palestinians in Qalqilya after a curfew was lifted. A six-year-old boy later died of his injuries.

[Hagerty comment: I wonder, do Israel's soldiers get medals for murdering children who throw rocks at them? Rocks vs. guns, children vs. cowards.]

posted by LoZo 12:08 PM

 

Against Israeli Apartheid
(Desmond Tutu & Ian Urbina, The Nation, July 15, 2002)
Divestment from apartheid South Africa was fought by ordinary people at the grassroots. Faith-based leaders informed their followers, union members pressured their companies' stockholders and consumers questioned their store owners. Students played an especially important role by compelling universities to change their portfolios. Eventually, institutions pulled the financial plug, and the South African government thought twice about its policies. . . . Similar moral and financial pressures on Israel are being mustered one person at a time. Students on more than forty US campuses are demanding a review of university investments in Israeli companies as well as in firms doing major business in Israel. From Berkeley to Ann Arbor, city councils have debated municipal divestment measures. . . . Almost instinctively, the Jewish people have always been on the side of the voiceless. In their history, there is painful memory of massive roundups, house demolitions and collective punishment. In their scripture, there is acute empathy for the disfranchised. The occupation represents a dangerous and selective amnesia of the persecution from which these traditions were born. . . . The growing Israeli refusenik movement evokes the small anticonscription drive that helped turn the tide in apartheid South Africa. Several hundred decorated Israeli officers have refused to perform military service in the occupied territories. Those not already in prison have taken their message on the road to US synagogues and campuses, rightly arguing that Israel needs security, but that it will never have it as an occupying power.

posted by LoZo 11:59 AM

 

Arafat�s successor will not be an America-loving Palestinian poodle
(The Scotsman, June 28, 2002)
Mr Bush wants to dump Arafat as leader of the Palestinian people and replace him with some moderate, America-loving, gum-chewing, Coke-drinking, hamburger-eating Palestinian politician of his imagination. If such a Palestinian politician did exist, he would never be elected by the Palestinian people. But since he does not exist, Mr Bush�s so-called "vision" for the Middle East is already stillborn. . . . This raises a fundamental question about President Bush. Does he really not understand any of this? Or does he not care? His Middle East speech has finally blown away the convenient fiction that Washington is even-handed. Instead, Mr Bush merely parrots the views of the hawks within his administration, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and they in turn echo the views of Israel�s prime minister, Ariel Sharon. . . . The hawks have triumphed in Washington. The Bush "vision" has humiliated Colin Powell, dismayed Israeli and Palestinian moderates and could encourage extremists. But it probably will not harm Yasser Arafat, though it will help Republican candidates in November�s elections.

posted by LoZo 11:51 AM

 

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | EU peace move amid fears of West Bank breakdown
(Ian Black and Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian, June 29, 2002)
The EU is to launch a Middle East peace initiative next week amid fears that George Bush's policy switch has left a dangerous vacuum in the region. European diplomats are worried by Mr Bush's focus on removing the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. This creates problems because the Palestinian elections are not due until January. . . . "We have a gap between now and January," said one EU official. "The US does not accept Arafat and this gives us a very dangerous situation. . . . The European plan has three main elements, according to a European diplomat: resurrection of the proposed international peace conference; speeding up reform of the Palestinian Authority, including its security forces and the judiciary; and help with the elections. . . . While Mr Bush has threatened to cut off funding if the Palestinians do not heed his call, the EU has made clear it will continue to back the Palestinian Authority. . . . Palestinian officials have said Mr Arafat plans to run in the elections but they insist that no polls can be held while Israeli forces remain inside Palestinian areas.

posted by LoZo 11:43 AM

 

State Terrorism in Israel?
(Lev Grinberg, Tikkun, May/June 2002)
What is the difference between state terrorism and individual terrorist acts? If we understand this difference we'll also understand the evilness of U.S. policies in the Middle East. Israel's state terrorism is defined by U.S. officials as "self-defense," while individual suicide bombers are called "terrorists." Yassir Arafat is kept hostage in his own offices for not doing "enough" to condemn and combat terrorism, while Ariel Sharon is given the OK to continue his invasion of Palestinian cities. . . . There is a difference between Israeli and Palestinian acts of agression�the difference is that Israeli aggression is the direct responsibility of Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Ben Eliezer, Shimon Peres, and Shaul Mofaz, while individual terrorist acts are done by individuals in despair, usually against Arafat's will. . . . Every Israeli terror attack is always justified in terms of the last Palestinian terror attack, ignoring the fact that each attack is part of an unfinished circle of mutual violence and futile retaliation. . . . Suicide bombs killing innocent citizens must be unequivocally condemned; they are immoral acts, and their perpetrators should be sent to jail. . . . I would like to ask: Who should be arrested for the targeted killing of almost 100 Palestinians? Who will be sent to jail for the killing of more than 120 Palestinian paramedics? Who will be sentenced for the killing of more than 1,200 Palestinians and for the collective punishment of more than 3,000,000 civilians during the last eighteen months? And who will face the International Tribunal for the illegal settlement of occupied Palestinian lands, and for disobeying UN decisions for more than 35 years? When is Sharon going to be defined as a terrorist, too? . . . As Israelis in the opposition, we are fighting against our government, but the international support that Sharon receives is constantly jeopardizing our struggle. International public opinion must be reversed, and the UN must deploy intervention forces to stop the bloodshed and restore water, electricity, medical aid, and other necessities to Palestinian cities whose supplies have been cut off by Israel. The obstacle to this deployment is the United States, whose policies still define Israel as the side that is suffering terrorist attacks, and de-legitimize the Palestinian struggle for independence as terror. No nation has reached independence without struggle. It is absurd that we are still witnessing, in the twenty-first century, a case of occupation where the dominant side is seen as the victim.

posted by LoZo 8:31 PM

 

A Speech to End All Peace
(Mitchell Plitnick, The Palestine Chronicle, June 25, 2002)
Few speeches could be considered to be as destructive as today's address from the American president. The primary message Bush sent was that his "vision" of the Palestinian future did not include Yasir Arafat. Surely, the message is not lost on Ariel Sharon, who has made clear his hatred of Arafat, to the extent that he has even expressed his regret at not killing him during the Lebanon invasion twenty years ago. While Sharon is likely not foolish enough to make a martyr of Arafat, it is clear that Bush has given a green light to eliminating him as the leader of the Palestinians, whether through exile, or some other means. . . . The Palestinian people are surely not going to pressure their leadership to step down when this is what is being demanded by Israel and the US. What people could tolerate their leaders being assigned by an external power, especially one with which it is locked in an increasingly heated conflict? And these cynical developments have completely overshadowed the important statement of many Palestinian leaders calling for an end to attacks on Israeli civilians. . . . Bush, in his speech today said, "... if all parties will break with the past and set out on a new path, we can overcome the darkness with the light of hope." Beyond the obvious silliness of the terminology, this reflects an unrealistic and untenable view of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

posted by LoZo 8:24 PM

 

Both sides are wrong
(Amira Hass, Ha'aretz, June 26, 2002)
Israeli political consciousness has rejected and continues to reject any attempt or proposal to grasp the sum total of the details, characteristics and consequences of the continued Israeli rule over another people. . . . Today, reports on "Palestinian suffering" are perceived as national treason. Israelis conclude that the suicide attacks are the result of a murderous tendency inherent to the Palestinians, their religion, their mentality. In other words, people turn to bio-religious explanations, not social or historical ones. This is a grave mistake. If one wants to put an end to the terror attacks in general, and to the suicide attacks in particular, one must ask why the majority of the Palestinian population supports them. Without their support, the Palestinian organizations would not dare to send suicide attackers and "invite" the expected escalating Israeli response. The Palestinians support the attacks, even the cruelest ones, because they are convinced that they, their existence and their future as a nation are the real targets of the Israeli regime. . . . The Palestinians are now driven by the same misguided notion that directed Barak, Mofaz and the commanders on the ground at the beginning of the intifada, and the entire Israeli society that stood behind them: "More force and more killing and suffering, as quickly as possible, will teach the other side a lesson and foil their plans." . . . The suicide attacks in Israel indicate an impaired analytical ability on the part of the majority of Palestinian society. They fail to grasp that just as the daily killings by IDF soldiers and unbearable living conditions under the tightening siege policy only strengthen them, the Israeli response to the death sown in their midst by the Palestinians is much the same. Both sides are convinced that only more deadly and devastating force will restrain the opposing force. Both sides are wrong.

posted by LoZo 8:20 AM

 

Blair in rift with Bush over Israel
(Paul Waugh, Phil Reeves, and Stephen Castle, The Independent, 26 June 2002)
George Bush was facing his first serious rift with Tony Blair last night after Britain joined the European Union and the United Nations in rejecting American calls for Yasser Arafat to be ousted as leader of the Palestinian authority. . . . President Bush's speech delighted the Israeli government, but was greeted with anger and despair in the Arab world, bringing protests that the US is trying to dictate to the Palestinians who should be their leader. . . . The British Government's stance echoed that of the EU and foreshadowed similar conflict with the US over Third World debt and trade tariffs that could dominate the G8 summit that begins today in Canada. . . . Mr Bush has always refused to meet the Palestinian leader but Mr Blair has received him in Downing Street as well as meeting him in Gaza.

posted by LoZo 8:10 AM

 

What the US papers say about Bush being Sharon's spokesman
George Bush may find the reaction to his Middle East speech a little cooler than he expected. . . . The president was right to tell Israel that it had to stop building Jewish settlements in Palestinian areas, the paper says, but there was no suggestion that Ariel Sharon should withdraw his forces from the West Bank: "How the Palestinians can be expected to carry out elections or reform themselves while in a total lockdown by the Israeli military remains something of a mystery." . . . Getting rid of Mr Arafat is an "emotionally satisfying idea" but an "impotent demand", agrees the Los Angeles Times. "No matter how contemptible Arafat may be, the US needs to tread warily in declaring who is, and is not, a proper leader of other countries or peoples. . . . Despite the talk of an elected leader, what the president really wants to see is a coup d'etat, suggests the indefatigably loyal New York Post. "Which likely also explains Israel's new, aggressive campaign to destroy the Hamas infrastructure." . . . it seems that most of the US papers, nine months in, would like to see Mr Bush become a little more engaged with the Middle East. They can live with the notion of an independent Palestine. Now they want to see the detail.

posted by LoZo 8:06 AM

 

Interview: Professor Edward Said
Talks About the State of Palestinian
Leadership

NPR Weekend Edition Sunday: June 23, 2002

No. The Palestinian Authority is, at this moment--you know, I don't know whether to laugh or cry--issuing calls for a return to the Clinton plan of 2000 or 2001. I mean, you know, that's like saying, `Could we please, please, please go back to playing in a nursery?' You know, `We're tired of being grown-ups. Let's go back.' After all the damage and the killing and the extraordinary suffering imposed on us as a people, for this authority to suddenly say, `Well, we really think we can come to terms with Sharon and the occupation,' has had the most terrible, demoralizing effect on the people. And this committee has said, `We are here to organize not only rebuilding but also resistance in the best way that we can.' We can't pretend, as the authority pretended all along, that it was a military force; it was wiped out in a matter of hours and most of the people ran away, because they were paid by Arafat to, you know, dress up in military clothes and do little else. There was a lot of brave fighting, resisting tanks and so on. But you can't fight F-16s and helicopter, you know, gunships with conventional means. The only way to do it, in my opinion, is to do it collectively and constantly appealing, as we have done, to the world community for solidarity, for monitoring, for presence on the ground, you know, of volunteers.

posted by LoZo 8:01 AM

 

I wonder why Bush doesn't let Sharon run his press office
(ROBERT FISK, The Independent, 26 June 2002)
[Bush] reads the Israeli government press handouts and accurately quotes them to his American people. . . . Ariel Sharon, wants the destruction/ liquidation/ resignation of Yasser Arafat. So does Mr Bush. "Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership so a Palestinian state can be born," Bush told the fearful American people, waiting for the next apocalypse, be it on 4 July or after. . . . So, no Palestinian state unless Arafat goes. There were no Bush conditions for Israel. He did not secure an end to the continuing building of Jewish settlements for Jews and Jews only on Arab (that is somebody else's) land. Nor did he secure a halt to continuing Israeli military "incursions" � how I love that word "incursions". . . . Why, I wonder, doesn't Mr Bush let Ariel Sharon run the White House press bureau? Not only would it be more honest � we would at least be hearing the voice of Israel at first hand � but it would spare the American President the ignominy of parroting everything he is told by the Israelis. . . . For it is becoming ever more obvious that Arafat did not fail in his duties as Palestinian leader. He failed in his duties as Israel's � and thus America's � proxy colonial apparatchik in the West Bank and Gaza. The fact he is a corrupt little despot does not change this. . . . George Bush insulted the Palestinians and enraged the leadership of the Arab world. Who cares about the latter? Most of them were appointed by us. But I have a feeling that the Palestinians will not accept this nonsense. Which is why they will be condemned � as never before � as "terrorists".

posted by LoZo 7:48 AM

 

Listening to Ted Turner
(Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz, June 24, 2002)
Media tycoon Ted Turner said that the Israelis and the Palestinians are using terror tactics against each other. Cherie Blair, wife of the British prime minister, stated that progress in the Middle East is not possible as long as the Palestinian suicide bombers feel there is no hope; and Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh asserted that Israel is guilty of "crimes against humanity." All this in one week. . . . What was the reaction of Israel and the Jewish world? They threatened boycotts and pressure campaigns. What was the result of the threats? Turner and Blair recanted and apologized. Israel won. But this is a very dubious victory. Does anyone seriously think that they changed their minds? . . . What all these statements have in common is that they reflect the true frame of mind that exists almost everywhere in the world, apart from the United States. No apologies will alter that fact. If international status is an element in a country's strategic strength, we have to take into account that part of the price of Israel's occupation of the territories is a weakening of its standing in the international community. . . . Not even the cruelest of the suicide bombers was born to kill; it is despair that brought them to that moral abyss. Their actions cannot be justified but their despair must be recognized, and it must be understood that as long as it is not eradicated their appalling deeds will not stop. . . . Entrenched and isolated as it has probably never before been, both because of its policy and because of its enemies, Israel is not responding with a sharp attack against all its critics, even the fairest among them. That is not only a sign of weakness, it is also perhaps something of an admission, a partial one at least, that the critics are right in what they say. Deep in our hearts we are perhaps beginning to understand that we, too, have a part in the deterioration that has brought us and the Palestinians to our present state, which is more fraught with despair than anything in the past, and to which our only response is to attack.

posted by LoZo 1:44 PM

 

CNN blinks first in battle with Israeli officials
(Peter Hirschberg, Ha'aretz, June 24, 2002)
After the founder of the 24-hour news network, Ted Turner, last week described IDF actions in the West Bank as "terrorism," and reports emerged Sunday that the YES satellite company was considering taking CNN off the air as a result, the Atlanta-based company hastily dispatched a high-level official to Jerusalem. . . . Over the weekend, it also suddenly began airing a promo for a five-part series on the Israeli victims of Palestinian suicide bombings. "A special CNN series will take you inside everyday life in Israel and introduce you to the people whose lives are turned around by the fear and the violence," the promo announces. "In part one - living the nightmare of losing a loved one." . . . For all the refined talk about journalistic ethics and balance, it also emerged Sunday that the cable companies acute sensitivity to the public's dislike of the news network's coverage appears to have a strong economic component . . . Asked about how he views CNN coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ahmed Sief, a lecturer in communications at Bir Zeit University, offered an explanation: "CNN covers the Israeli point of view and tends to ignore the suffering of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian side is considered less important from the news point of view and the language of the broadcast is pro-Israeli."

posted by LoZo 1:38 PM

 

Ethnic Cleansing And The Establishment Of Israel
(John Pilger, The New Statesman, June 19, 2002)
In May 1948, more than 200 Palestinians were killed by the advancing Jewish militia in the coastal village of Tantura, south of Haifa. According to the recorded testimony of 40 witnesses, both Arab and Jewish, half the civilians were shot in a "rampage". The rest were marched to the beach, where the men were separated from the women and children. They were taken to a wall near the mosque where they were shot in the back of the head. . . . The "cleansing" of Tantura (a term used at the time) was a well-kept secret. When they were interviewed four years ago, several Palestinian witnesses said they feared for their lives if they spoke out. One survivor, who as a child witnessed the murder of his entire family in Tantura, said to the interviewer: "But believe me, one should not mention these things. I do not want them to take revenge against us. You are going to cause us trouble." . . . Professor Ilan Pappe is one of the few to have read all the transcripts of more than 60 hours of Katz's taping of eyewitness evidence. "They include," he wrote, "horrific descriptions of executions, of the killing of fathers in front of children, of rape and torture." He describes Katz's thesis "as a solid and convincing piece of work whose essential validity is in no way marred by its shortcomings". The shortcomings, he says, come down to four minor mistakes. But the importance of the Katz research is its illumination of Israel's history in terms of "the expulsion, direct and indirect, of some 750,000 Palestinians, the systematic destruction of more than 400 villages and scores of urban neighbourhoods, as well as the perpetration of some 40 massacres of unarmed Palestinians." . . . In challenging the Zionist version of Israel's past, Ilan Pappe is one of Israel's "new historians", a distinguished and courageous critic. He has likened the Israeli state to apartheid South Africa, with its Palestinian "bantustans" and plethora of humiliating controls which now restrict the movement of people within their own communities. He says that Sharon's goal is to begin the mass expulsion of Palestinians across the Jordan; only a pretext is required. . . . Pappe has been a consistent opponent of Israel's illegal military occupation of Palestine. He describes the university "court" that threatens to punish him as a "McCarthyite charade". He has called upon "universities worldwide to debate a boycott of Israeli institutions, given their contempt for basic principles of academic freedom and dispassionate research". He says that only international shaming, free of the intimidation that equates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, will break the silence about "horrific deeds in 1948, and so prevent their repetition". . . . Others in Israel, as courageous as Ilan Pappe, are also under pressure, both crude and insidious. In Ha'eretz, Israel's equivalent of the Guardian, two outstanding journalists, Amira Hass and Gideon Levy, have consistently reported the unpopular truth about Israel's occupation of the remaining 22 per cent of the Palestine it conquered in 1967. They live daily with threats and hate mail. Upholding the bravest traditions of Jewish humanity, they need international solidarity.

posted by LoZo 1:28 PM

 

The whole world's against us
(Aviv Lavie, Ha'aretz, June 24, 2002)
All Turner essentially said was "both sides use terror," making a comparison between the attributes of military occupation and Palestinian terrorism. In other words, there are no "good guys" in this story, just terrorists on both sides. He did not express any support for terror by either side. Even with a microscope it is impossible to find anything he said justifying terrorism . . . Turner's statement reflected the narrative accepted by most of the world about what has been going on here for the last two years. There are some - not many, and led by America - who accept Israel's official version, which says Palestinian terror is the only problem, and that Israel's activities in the territories are only meant to protect itself and its citizens. Others believe the occupation is violent and criminal, and that the suicide bombings are a particularly horrifying way to resist occupation. And there are some - mostly in the Arab world - who regard Palestinian terror as a legitimate means in the national liberation struggle. . . . The attack on CNN is particularly ridiculous because the veteran network belongs to the ruling establishment in America, and its broadcasts generally reflect the Israeli-American view that terrorism is the main obstacle to peace in the Middle East. . . . When Israelis hand out grades of objectivity to the journalists of the world, they are reminiscent of football fans who are always convinced the referees slighted their team. . . . Shai Bazak, former spokesman for former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and then consul-general in Miami, recalled what happens when the American media gets into a tussle with Jewish capital. "I have a friend in Miami who used to take out a lot of advertising in the Miami Herald. There was a time when the paper's reporting was very hostile to Israel. He told them `I'm going to pull all my advertising.'" Two weeks later, their reporter here was recalled, a new reporter showed up and since they they've reported objectively and he's advertising with them again. The Americans understand only money."

posted by LoZo 1:16 PM

 

From: "Palestine Monitor"
Subject: UPMRC - Urgent Appeal From Nablus
Date sent: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 20:21:58 +0200

Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC)
Urgent Appeal From Nablus
June 22, 2002

The Israeli army has launched a massive military operation against Nablus City, including its four refugee camps. For the fourth time in three months Israeli troops have reinvaded the city and suburbs under the pretext of fighting terrorism. However according to the Israelis, this time the invasion will be for a longer period of time. The one hundred and fifty thousand residents of Nablus are forced to remain inside their homes as a strict 24-hour military curfew has been imposed over the city.

Already Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles have vandalized the streets of the city causing enormous physical damage to the infrastructure. Additionally they have taken permanent positions on top of high buildings, forcing the residents to remain in one apartment of the building.

Mass arrests are taking place in most of the neighbourhoods of the city �thus far dozens of Palestinians have been seized and sent to detention centers. The whole social, educational and medical systems have come to a standstill; the end of year high school exam (tawjeehi) has been cancelled due to the fact that students are unable leave their homes to attend school.

Medical teams are prevented from moving freely, ambulances are frequently stopped and medical personnel are harassed. One doctor and the driver of Medical from medical relief were detained for two hours while attempting to transport an ill two-year-old baby.

Yet again the Israeli army is creating a situation of fear and terror among the civilian population, as well as endangering their lives. There is no justification for the attacks on civilians, and collective punishment Palestinians are subjected to.

This latest Israeli aggression against Palestinians is another facet of the continuing aggression of the Israeli occupation. The international community should realize that the main cause of the current dangerous situation in the region is this occupation, and security and regional stability will not assured until this occupation is ended.

We appeal to the international community to intervene immediately and force the Israeli government to comply with international law and to withdraw its forces immediately from the Palestinian areas.

For more information contact Dr Mustafa Barghouthi � +972 (0)50 254 218, and Dr.
Allam Jarar in Nablus, +972 (0)59 649133

posted by LoZo 3:47 PM

 

Israeli settlers rampage after blood-soaked week
Armed Israeli settlers appeared to have taken the law into their own hands yesterday by raiding a West Bank town as divisions emerged within the Israeli government over how to respond to the latest wave of Palestinian attacks. . . . Palestinian witnesses said that a convoy of Jewish settlers, some armed with M-16 assault rifles, descended on the Arab town of Howara and killed a 22-year-old Arab man and set fire to cars. Israeli police said they were checking the reports. . . . But divisions have emerged over the reoccupation plan within Mr Sharon's coalition government. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the Defence Minister, and the Foreign Minister Shimon Peres � both from Labour � denied that they have agreed to the new policy. Yesterday, in response to the Itamar killings, Israeli forces sent 50 tanks into Nablus, and dug in further in Jenin, but it was unclear how long they planned to stay. . . . Underlying this debate is a general uncertainty in Israel over its next move. Assassinations, blockades, curfews, mass arrests, demolitions, and the bombing of the Palestinian infrastructure have failed to stop the attacks.

posted by LoZo 1:45 PM

 

ABCNEWS.com : Were Israelis Detained on Sept. 11 Spies?
(ABCnews.com, June 21, 2002)
The arresting officers said they saw a lot that aroused their suspicion about the men. One of the passengers had $4,700 in cash hidden in his sock. Another was carrying two foreign passports. A box cutter was found in the van. But perhaps the biggest surprise for the officers came when the five men identified themselves as Israeli citizens. . . . According to the police report, one of the passengers told the officers they had been on the West Side Highway in Manhattan "during the incident" � referring to the World Trade Center attack. The driver of the van, Sivan Kurzberg, told the officers, "We are Israeli. We are not your problem. Your problems are our problems. The Palestinians are the problem." The other passengers were his brother Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner and Omer Marmari. . . . sources told ABCNEWS, was that the FBI believed Urban Moving may have been providing cover for an Israeli intelligence operation. . . . The FBI searched Urban Moving's offices for several hours, removing boxes of documents and a dozen computer hard drives. The FBI also questioned Urban Moving's owner. His attorney insists that his client answered all of the FBI's questions. But when FBI agents tried to interview him again a few days later, he was gone. . . . Since their arrest, plenty of speculation has swirled about the case, and what the five men were doing that morning. Eventually, The Forward, a respected Jewish newspaper in New York, reported the FBI concluded that two of the men were Israeli intelligence operatives. . . . many people in the U.S. intelligence community believed that some of the men arrested were working for Israeli intelligence . . . Despite the denials, sources tell ABCNEWS there is still debate within the FBI over whether or not the young men were spies. Many U.S. government officials still believe that some of them were on a mission for Israeli intelligence. But the FBI told ABCNEWS, "To date, this investigation has not identified anybody who in this country had pre-knowledge of the events of 9/11."

posted by LoZo 1:32 PM

 

Palestine Chronicle - Palestinian Public Figures, Intellectuals Issue Appeal to End Suicide Bombing
(Palestine Chronicle, June 21, 2002)
A number of Palestinian intellectuals and officials made an �urgent appeal to stop suicide bombings,� in a statement issued yesterday. The signers included Sari Nuseiba, Hanan Ashrawi and Eyad Sarraj. The statement appealed to the �parties behind military operations targeting civilians in Israel to reconsider their policies and stop driving our young men to carry out these operations.� . . . �Suicide bombings deepen the hatred and widen the gap between the Palestinian and Israeli people. Also, they destroy the possibilities of peaceful co-existence between them in two neighboring states,� the statement read. . . . Instead the bombings, �strengthen the enemies of peace on the Israeli side and give Israel�s aggressive government under Sharon the excuse to continue its harsh war against our people. This war targets our children, elderly, villages, cities, and our national hopes and achievements.� . . . A Palestinian intellectual told that Chronicle on condition of anonymity, �there is no point in calling for an end to these missions if Israel continues to massacre Palestinians.� . . . �The issue is much simpler than many think,� he said, adding, �if you deny people the right to live, to be free and dignified and dehumanize an entire nation, you should not be dictating to them what they should consider as a proper response for them to defend themselves.� . . . Others who signed the statement include: Saleh Ra�fat, Salah Zuheika, Mamdouh Nofal, Hanna Sineora and Dr. Mohammad Ishtiya.

posted by LoZo 4:04 PM

 

Hackers Hijack, Use E-Mail Addresses of Activists to Propagate Falsehood on the Internet
Thus far, unknown hackers have managed to hijack and use e-mail addresses of leading Palestinian and pro-Palestinian writers, intellectuals and organizations. . . . Another journalist said that the issue is very serious for "those desperate hackers are attempting to spread false messages and misrepresent what Palestinians have to say." . . . "On the other hand," he added, "this most recent attempt to harm the repuation of Palestinian intellectuals and respected organizations reflects a level of desperation and bankruptcy. If those hackers had something legitimate to say, they would not seek to steal other people�s identities and propagate falsehoods over the Internet." . . . He said that the issue is being carried to authorities in the US to trace the sources of the hacking and to have those responsible investigated.

posted by LoZo 9:28 AM

 

Israel to reoccupy lands
(Peter Beaumont and Julian Borger, The Guardian, June 19, 2002)
Israel last night said it would reoccupy Palestinian land on the West Bank and hold it indefinitely in reprisal for the suicide bombing of a Jerusalem bus that killed 19 people and injured more than 50. . . . Israeli tanks moved into Jenin in the immediate wake of yesterday's rush-hour bombing, encircling the Palestinian refugee camp within the West Bank city. The tanks then moved into the camp, as helicopter gunships opened fire from above. . . . The move pre-empts a long expected speech on Middle East policy by President George Bush in which he is expected to lay out a framework for salvaging a peace settlement from the cycle of violence. The speech, originally planned for today, was expected to deal with the eventual creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. . . . yesterday the prospect of that state seemed further away than ever.

posted by LoZo 9:06 AM

 

Jenin residents had no chance to run, soldier says
(Ben Lynfield, scotsman.com, 14 June 2002)
Moshe Nissim, driver of a massive army bulldozer during the incursion, told Yediot Ahronot newspaper in an interview that he was in too much of a hurry to care about whether people might die from his actions. . . . "Over the loudspeaker, they were told to leave their houses before I destroyed them. But I did not give a chance to anyone. I did not wait. I did not touch the house and wait for them to come out. I would simply give the house a massive blow so that it would collapse as quickly as possible. I wanted to do it as quickly as possible in order to get to other houses. To do a lot." . . . In Jenin camp in May, The Scotsman correspondent was witness to Palestinians digging through the rubble to extract the remains of a wheelchair-bound man whose house was demolished on top of him. . . . He said he drank from a whisky bottle as he operated the bulldozer, from which he had hung the flag of his favourite football team, Beitar Jerusalem. . . . The army has awarded a citation for excellence to Mr Nissim�s unit for its service in the camp, according to the Israeli human rights group B�tselem and Ha�aretz newspaper.

posted by LoZo 3:00 PM

 

Palestinian elections now
(Edward Said, Al-Ahram, 13 - 19 June 2002)
Sixth, finally, is the Palestinian people who are now justifiably clamouring both for reform and elections. As far as I am concerned, this clamour is the only legitimate one of the six I have outlined here. It's important to point out that Arafat's present administration as well as the Legislative Council have overstayed their original term, which should have ended with a new round of elections in 1999. Moreover, the whole basis of the 1996 elections were the Oslo accords, which in effect simply licensed Arafat and his people to run bits of the West Bank and Gaza for the Israelis, without true sovereignty or security, since Israel retained control of the borders, security, land (on which it doubled and even tripled the settlements), water and air. In other words, the old basis for elections and reform, which had been Oslo, is now null and void. Any attempt to go forward on that kind of platform is simply a wasteful ploy and will produce neither reform nor real elections. Hence the current confusion which causes every Palestinian everywhere to feel chagrin and bitter frustration. . . . I should like to point out that when a major rupture with the past occurred, a new basis of legitimacy has to be created by the only and ultimate source of authority, namely, the people itself. . . . Only such a group, constructed by the people themselves and not by the remnants of the Oslo dispensation, certainly not by the shabby fragments of Arafat's discredited Authority, can hope to succeed in re- organising society from the ruinous, indeed catastrophically incoherent condition in which it is to be found. . . . We have never faced a worse, or at the same time, a more seminal moment. The Arab order is in total disarray; the US administration is effectively controlled by the Christian Right and the Israeli lobby (within 24 hours, everything that George Bush seems to have agreed with President Mubarak was reversed by Sharon's visit); and our society has been nearly wrecked by poor leadership and the insanity of thinking that suicide bombing will lead directly to an Islamic Palestinian state. There is always hope for the future, but one has to able to look for it and find it in the right place. It is quite clear that in the absence of any serious Palestinian or Arab information policy in the United States (especially in the Congress) we cannot for a moment delude ourselves that Powell and Bush are about to set a real agenda for Palestinian rehabilitation. That's why I keep saying that the effort must come from us, by us, for us. I'm at least trying to suggest a different avenue of approach. Who else but the Palestinian people can construct the legitimacy they need to rule themselves and fight the occupation with weapons that don't kill innocents and lose us more support than ever before? A just cause can easily be subverted by evil or inadequate or corrupt means. The sooner this is realised the better the chance we have to lead ourselves out of the present impasse.

posted by LoZo 2:45 PM

 

U.S. expresses reservations about fence
(Nathan Guttman, Ha'aretz, June 18, 2002)
While President George W. Bush was putting the final touches on a planned speech on U.S. Middle East policy yesterday, his State Department chided Israel for the separation fence that Israel says is aimed as a shield against suicide bombers. . . . "We remind the Israelis that offering hope to Palestinians, offering them a decent life, an end to the barriers, is an important part of achieving security and peace," he added. . . . Through its spokesman Scott McClellan, the White House also sought to distance itself from the decision to build the fence. . . . Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has termed statehood premature, but Bush's proposal received approval in advance from Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. . . . Arafat's proposal also soft pedals the refugee issue. It calls for a solution based on a UN resolution that says Palestinian refugees wishing to return to their homes should be able to do so. But a specific "right of return" was not demanded, according to Palestinian sources.
[Hagerty comment: I remember when the news came in about the construction of the Berlin Wall. The cold war really heated up after that moronic move. Here we go again.]

posted by LoZo 10:45 AM

 

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | CNN chief accuses Israel of terror
(Oliver Burkeman and Peter Beaumont, CNN, June 18, 2002)
Ted Turner, the billionaire founder of CNN, accuses Israel today of engaging in "terrorism" against the Palestinians . . . "The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers, that's all they have. The Israelis ... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make a case that both sides are involved in terrorism." . . . Mr Turner is moved to tears at one point in the interview by the "depressing" combination of conflicts like that in the Middle East and the state of the environment, which he says demands massive global attention - "or, you know ... it's goodbye".

posted by LoZo 10:39 AM

 

Israel Starts Building Fence Along West Bank: Palestinian Interim State Is Rejected by Sharon
(Washington Post) Israeli bulldozers began work today on a controversial project to erect a fence and sophisticated security system along the entire length of the West Bank in an attempt to seal off the Palestinian-controlled territory from Israel following a series of suicide bomb attacks. The project, which has been discussed for years, has come under fire from both Israelis and Palestinians for a variety of political, religious, economic and social reasons. But it has drawn many new advocates -- including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- and gained wider popularity in recent months following suicide bombings that have killed dozens of Israelis and terrorized urban areas across the country. Meanwhile, Sharon today told a meeting of his cabinet ministers that "the conditions are not ripe" for the establishment of any kind of Palestinian state, according to a statement released after the meeting.

posted by LoZo 8:11 AM

 

Bush sides with Sharon over conditions for peace talks
(Rupert Cornwell, Indepentent News, June 11, 2002)
Mr Bush, who is due to make a statement on Middle East policy this week, sides fully with Mr Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, in his insistence that before any meaningful negotiation can begin, Palestinian violence against Israel must cease. For the failure to achieve this, both men hold Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, responsible. . . . Sitting alongside Mr Bush in the Oval Office, Mr Sharon said that "at the present time we don't see yet a partner" for any negotiations. . . . The comment merely underscores Mr Sharon's refusal to deal directly with Mr Arafat . . . In a signal that Israel will not yield to pressure to ease its crackdown against Palestinian violence, Mr Sharon chose the moment of his arrival to unleash a new offensive against Mr Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah

posted by LoZo 7:58 PM

 

Suicide Settlers vs. Suicide Bombers
(The Globalist)
Palestinian extremists and their hatred of Israel are very loud and easy to spot. Witness all the "Death to Israel, Death to America" rallies, suicide bombings, etc. On the other hand, Israeli extremists and their hatred of Arabs are more subtle. And they are much more effective. . . . You see, Israeli extremists are just as fanatical about their cause as are Palestinian suicide bombers. But they understand that in order to maintain the proverbial "moral high ground," they must refrain from retaliatory killings. . . . Here's where Israeli rationality begins to undermine Palestinian passion: If Israeli extremists can provoke Palestinians into violence and killing without committing such acts themselves � so their rationale goes � the Israeli government and the international community will support their cause. . . . If you don't think Israeli settlements are being used to provoke Palestinians, think again. In the West Bank city of Hebron, around 500 Israeli settlers live amongst nearly 150,000 Palestinians. . . . While many other settlers choose barren West Bank hilltops � which are more easily defended � Hebron settlers go about their daily lives right under the noses of their Palestinian neighbors. . . . When an Israeli settler dies at the hand of a Palestinian, the Israeli government moves to support settlements � and international opinion turns against the Palestinians. . . . When a Palestinian suicide bomber blows him- or herself up, the case for any type of Palestinian state is severely damaged. Ultimately, Palestinian suicide bombers serve no cause by their deaths � and therefore make very poor martyrs. . . . the strategy of Israeli extremists uses perfect Machiavellian logic: Provoking Palestinians to violence without committing any themselves are the political means to keeping the occupied territories in the end.

posted by LoZo 3:50 PM

 

Israeli Army Attacks Arafat�s Office, Kills Palestinian, Wounds Several
(Matthew J. O'Conner, Palestine Chronicle, June 5, 2002)
Over 50 Israeli army tanks shelled Palestinian President Yasser Arafat�s headquarters in Ramallah. Eyewitnesses confirm that at least 30 shells were fired at the compound and heavy gunfire broke out thereafter. Arafat�s bedroom was also bombed, according to reports. . . . A Palestinian man was killed in the attack, and several of President Arafat's personal guards were wounded, which also destroyed the third floor of one of the buildings in the complex. . . .
A wing of the headquarters housing the room usually hosting Arafat's news conferences was also badly damaged, the witnesses said. . . . The Palestinian authority had earlier condemned the bombing in a statement issued shortly after the blast. . . . Also on the ground, a unit of the Israeli army raided the Palestinian town of Bethlehem late Wednesday and began to search a mosque . . . While the US is undermining Arafat�s role as an elected Palestinian leader, many Palestinians believe that the US bias prevents it from being an "honest broker" in any future talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership.

posted by LoZo 9:24 PM

 

Secret Middle East talks in Britain
(Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian, June 1, 2002)
Israelis and Palestinians have met in Britain to hold their highest-level talks since the failed Taba meetings of January 2001. Key figures in the Northern Ireland peace process were brought in for the first time to advise the belligerent parties. . . . In three days of discussions, hosted by the Guardian, Irish politicians, including the former IRA commander Martin McGuinness and David Ervine, leader of the Progressive Unionist party, urged both sides in the Middle East to seek outside help in moving the conflict out of its impasse. . . . "If you had said 10 years ago that there would be peace in Northern Ireland or South Africa, many would have been extremely sceptical, but there is no reason why the Middle East should not take the same road," Mr McGuinness said. . . . Yesterday's talks brought together two Palestinian ministers with the speaker and deputy speaker of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and marked a rare chance for the parties to debate, away from the pressures of conflict. . . . As well as Avraham Burg, speaker of the Knesset, the Israeli side included General Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the former chief of staff of the Israeli army; Yossi Beilin, the former justice minister and one of the architects of the 1993 Oslo peace accords; and Naomi Chazan, the deputy speaker of the Knesset. . . . The Palestinian side included Professor Nabeel Kassis, a Palestinian minister without portfolio; Yezid Sayigh, a former negotiator; and Salim Tamari, another former negotiator. Mr Burg and Mr Beilin are members of the Israeli Labour party, which is in Mr Sharon's coalition government. . . . Absent from the talks was anyone from the Likud party, which is led by the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

posted by LoZo 12:28 PM