Our blogs about
America's Wars
War on Iraq
War on Drugs
War on Afghanistan
War on Columbia
War on Philippines
War on Venezuela

More
Matrix Masters
Blogs
World Events
US News
Science & Health
Earth News
Free Speech
News from Africa
News from Palestine
Bill of Rights Under Attack

Matrix Masters'
SUPPORTERS

Lorenzo's
Random Musings
. . . about Chaos,
Reason, and Hope

 

A $100 Billion Plan for Peace in Palestine
If we remove the financial constraint which always puts peacemaking at a lower priority than military action we could ask: How might the Mideast conflict be solved given funding on the scale of the pending war with Iraq? . . . Could a business case be made that the ROI of a massive investment in peace will be much greater than the ROI of a war? . . . If such a business case can be made, then a team composed of business development experts, mediators, construction companies, consultants, architects, scientists, etc. could develop a plan which resulted in a Palestinian state, autonomous but demilitarized, on the model of Costa Rica. Israel could focus on becoming the leading high-tech democracy of the emerging Middle East common market, and abandon the soul-searing enterprise of being an occupying power. . . . Starting with a budget of $100B US as a ballpark, here [click link above] is a rough estimate of the main components of this project, each of which addresses one of the major hurdles for peace.

posted by LoZo 1:28 PM

 

Israelis troops reoccupy Bethlehem
(BBC News, November 22, 2002)
Israeli troops and armoured vehicles have re-entered Bethlehem . . . Troops surrounded the Dheisheh refugee camp and blocked off Bethlehem's Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity to prevent Palestinian gunmen seeking refuge there. . . . The streets of Bethlehem are eerily quiet, with just a few children playing in the road and the occasional Israeli jeep making its rounds to make sure the curfew is observed . . . At the Church of the Nativity - the scene of a long siege earlier this year - armoured personnel carriers and at least one tank have blocked all the main entrances, to make sure no Palestinian gunmen can take refuge inside

posted by LoZo 12:58 PM

 

Amnesty calls for arrest of Israelis for war crimes
Amnesty International has called on Britain and other signatories to the Geneva conventions to put on trial Israeli soldiers "responsible for war crimes" in Jenin and Nablus earlier this year. . . . Amnesty says Israeli forces were guilty of unlawful killings, torture and the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. It says that among other "grave breaches" of international law were ill-treatment of prisoners, wanton destruction of hundreds of homes, sometimes with the residents still inside, and the blocking of medical help to the wounded. . . . If Israel still refuses to act, then Amnesty says those implicated in war crimes should be detained and tried when they travel abroad. . . . Among the potential candidates for prosecution is Israel's new defence minister, Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz, who is already under investigation by Scotland Yard. Lawyers representing Palestinian families presented a dossier of the general's alleged crimes to the director of public prosecutions in the hope that he would be detained during a visit to the UK last week. But Gen Mofaz returned to Israel without being questioned.

posted by LoZo 4:18 PM