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Volume 10 Issue 12…Dedicated to the
Dialogue on Race…March 23, 2007
Intuit's Vibe
Israel Slaughters Palestine
By Genevieve Cora
Fraser (2004)
Another day in Palestine
Executed under purgatorial
Skies cloudy with menace
Dark figures stalk
The roots that sprang
From Jesse's seed
Arms rigid as steel
Squeeze cold fingers
Executed in perfect
Obedience to Israeli
Will
Blown away as a leaf blows
Away lost from its truck
Sudden explosion from its root
The stem remains
Gashed and gushing
Waif's head burst
From a slip of a boy
Indiscriminately chosen
By the Chosen ones
No longer
Bored by inaction
Predatory shadows
Mini-men mighty
With power armed
Creep along
A workshop wall
Apprehended
Workmen walk
Hands held high
A salute to the Heaven
From whence the Martyrs
Come they go
One by one by one
By one brought low
Bullets smash
Steel into skull
Brains into teeth
Pearls fly cast
Before the swine
Lips rip
A ruby spouted mist
Kissed the air
Like a prayer
Then down
Bodies drown
In a crimson water grave
Brothers by cowards splayed
By blood-sport soldier slaves
Who live to execute the brave
Palestinian men
Four Years Later
Four years on, there is no top gun landing on an aircraft carrier or
proclamation of victory to mark the anniversary of the "shock and
awe" campaign of terror against the people of Iraq that posed no threat to
the US. Instead, George W. Bush
commemorated the ongoing occupation by demanding that Congress send him a
"clean" supplemental bill to fund his troop "surge' and a war
without end. With no political capital, his demand carries no weight.
Over the weekend, millions worldwide marked the occasion with anti-war
demonstrations. Many participants called on Congress to put impeachment back on
the table, including Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson.
Four years on, the US remains bogged down by the lies told to initiate PNAC's
bloody vision of a "New American Century." Four years on, the killing
continues.
Roadmap for Middle East
Peace (2003-2006)
On March 19, 2003, Mahmoud Abbas (a.k.a. Abu Mazen) became the first
Palestinian Prime Minister. His appointment by PLO President Yasser Arafat
cleared the way for the April 30, 2003 release of the Roadmap to Solution of
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, a proposed peace plan developed by the US,
Russia, the European Union and United Nations.
Composed of three phases, the road map ambitiously called for an end to the
nearly forty year-old Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which
began in 1967. Incorporating the Madrid Conference and United Nation Security
Council Resolutions 242, 338 and 1397, the road map offered a comprehensive
plan, which included resolution of the Syrian-Israeli and Lebanese-Israeli
issues, with Middle East peace as the final destination as early as 2005.
On May 27, 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon acknowledged the
"occupation" of Palestinian territories was "a terrible thing
for Israel and Palestinians" and "can't continue endlessly."
Sharon's statement shocked Israelis and prompted attempts to clarify the term
"occupation" to mean "control of millions of Palestinian lives
rather than actual physical occupation of land."
On June 2, as a goodwill gesture, Israel freed about 100 Palestinian political
prisoners, but a series of attacks by Israelis and Palestinians threatened to
derail the road map. On June 29, 2003, a tentative cease-fire was reached. Yet,
by year's end, the first phase had not been met; Palestinian violence against
Israel continued, and Israel had neither withdrawn from Palestinian areas
occupied since September 28, 2000, nor frozen settlement expansion.
On February 13, 2004 the US endorsed Sharon's plan for a unilateral withdrawal
of most Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. On April 14, 2004, George W.
Bush wrote a letter to Sharon that was seen as an Israeli triumph on the
contentious issues of final borders and refugees' right of return. The letter
stated: "In light of new realities on the ground, including already
existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic that the outcome
of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the
armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state
solution have reached the same conclusion. It is realistic to expect that any
final status agreement will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed
changes that reflect these realities...It seems clear that an agreed, just,
fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as
part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the
establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees
there rather than Israel."
In his May 26, 2005 press conference with Abbas Bush said: "Any final
status agreement must be reached between the two parties, and changes to the
1949 Armistice lines must be mutually agreed to. A viable two-state solution
must ensure contiguity of the West Bank, and a state of scattered territories will
not work. There must also be meaningful linkages between the West Bank and
Gaza. This is the position of the United States today, it will be the position
of the United States at the time of final status negotiations." Seen as a
triumph for Abbas, Bush's statement contradicts his April 14, 2004 letter to
Sharon.
In August 2005, the Israelis started their planned disengagement from the Gaza
Strip. In early January 2006 when Sharon suffered a major stroke and Finance
Minister Ehud Olmert was named interim Prime Minister following Knesset
elections, the road map was already well off its schedule. When Hamas won a
majority in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, Israel and the US refused
to deal with Hamas, further eroding the road map's viability.
In June 2006, Hamas and Fatah accepted the prisoners' document, which called
for Israel's withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and the creation of a
Palestinian state. Not long after, fighting broke out between Hamas and the
Israeli Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip, followed by clashes between Israel
and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
With the road map scrapped, Haaretz reported that contrary to Israeli promises
to halt settlement construction in the West Bank, settlements were rapidly
being built often on private Palestinian property. (Sources: http://usinfo.state.gov, http://en.wikipedia.org/,and www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/rls/22520.htm)
Spring is in the air! While this has been an unusually mild southeast USA
winter, the Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is looking forward to spring
break. He has mapped out plans, public and private, of how he intends to spend
the coming hiatus from school and chores. When asked for comments, the Dark
One/Ninja/Zorro enthusiastically yelled at the top of his lungs, "Bring it
on!"
Road Map to Nowhere
The 2003 Roadmap to Solution of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict appears fairly
straightforward. The document contains three goal-oriented phases with
time-lines. Below is a copy of the road map without map keys, detours, rest
stops and pot holes.
PHASE I (Present - May 2003): End Terror and Violence, Normalize Palestinian
Life, and Build Palestinian Institutions: Palestinian leadership issues
unequivocal statement reiterating Israel's right to exist in peace and security
and calling for an immediate end to all acts of violence against Israelis
anywhere. Israeli leadership issues unequivocal statement affirming its
commitment to the two-state vision of an independent, viable, sovereign
Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel, and calling for an
immediate end to violence against Palestinians anywhere. Palestinian
institution-building includes drafting a constitution for Palestinian statehood
and conducting free elections. Israel withdraws from Palestinian areas occupied
since September 28, 2000, as security progresses, freezes all settlement
activity, and dismantles outposts. It takes measures to improve the Palestinian
humanitarian situation.
PHASE II (June 2003 - December 2003): Transition....An independent Palestinian
state is created with provisional borders and attributes of sovereignty. The
Palestinian leadership continues to act decisively against terror and to build
a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty.
PHASE III (2004-2005): Permanent Status Agreement and End of
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Palestinian reform is consolidated and its
institutions stabilized while effective security performance is sustained.
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aim at a permanent status agreement in 2005. A
second international conference convened by the Quartet leads to a final,
status resolution on borders, Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements. It also
supports a comprehensive peace settlement between Israel and Lebanon and Israel
and Syria, as soon as possible.
For the devil in the road map's details and the steps the parties must take to
avoid detours, see http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/nea/summit/text2003/0430roadmap.htm.
Hood Notes
Israel in Media Spotlight
"This morning we saw
pictures of the Warsaw ghetto at Yad Vashem and this evening we are going to
the Ramallah ghetto." German Bishop Gregor Maria Franz Hanke
US mainstream media continue to be silent on ongoing Israeli human rights
violations. For some observers, US media silence is directly related to media
concentration in the hands of a few pro-Israel owners. Many also point to the
power and influence of Jewish lobbies, including AIPAC - the American-Israeli
Political Action Committee.
While the US public only hears and reads pro-Israel propaganda and denigration
of Israel's critics in mainstream media, the foreign press is unwilling to be
so restrictive. Even the Jerusalem Post recently reported that "the United
Nation's Human Rights Council is expected to place Israel under permanent investigation
for its "violations" of international law in the territories-until
such time as it withdraws to the pre-1967 border."
Others dare speak out about the horrible condition of Palestinian life under
Israeli rule. Critics include the German Bishops' Conference that recently
toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem and visited the
Palestinian Authority. Their comments compared Palestinian treatment to the
Jewish holocaust. Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner, told reporters
on crossing one of the checkpoints into East Jerusalem, "This is something
that is done to animals, not people." The archbishop compared the Israeli
security fence to the Berlin Wall. Another bishop described the occupied
territories as "Cages in the image of ghettos." These comments
received extensive coverage in Germany, but no mention in the US.
Few can withstand the wrath of the powerful Israeli lobby. In their March 2006
report, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of
Harvard University described the power exerted by the Israeli lobby over US
Middle East policy; its undue influence tilts "policy towards Israel in
ways that are contrary to US national interests." This includes media propaganda and the
way the US Congress walks in lockstep with AIPAC's commands.
Former President Jimmy Carter incurred a firestorm of criticism and charges of
anti-Semitism for using the word 'apartheid' in the title of his book,
Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Ironically, the criticism came from all sides
of the political spectrum. Yet, apartheid describes what the bishops, the
United Nations and others have documented.
Disgruntled says: Imagine
a schoolyard bully beats up a classmate and takes his bicycle. The bully's
parents ask about the new acquisition. He regales them with his "shock and
awe" campaign to defeat the enemy. The bully's born-again parents pay
lip-service to the values of their faith. Jettisoning all values, except
"might makes right," they concur, "Since you have it, you may as
well keep it." Essentially, this is how the US ruling elite sees Iraq.
Disgruntled wants to know: When former
CIA covert agent Valerie Plame Wilson came to Capitol Hill last week to testify
about the disclosure of her classified status by State Department and White
House officials, there was a media feeding frenzy. Yet, they ignored the
bombshell dropped during the second session of the hearing before the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee. According to James Knodell, Director
of the Office of Security at the White House, an obvious crony appointee, no
investigation of Plame's outing was conducted to determine if any White House
official violated their national security clearance. Low-level government
grunts, with zero security clearance, are fired for minor infractions. Can you
imagine no investigation to identify possible culprits in this breach of
national security post 9-11?
Disgruntled feels: Predictable!
Historically, toeholds, such as Israel, do not concede territory. Throughout
its relatively brief existence, Israel has expanded its size through violence,
capturing its neighbors' land and removing non-Jews from their homes. George W.
Bush has issued contradictory statements on the road map for peace and favored
Israel no matter how hypocritically. This unconditional support includes
facilitating Israel's acquisition of weapons of mass destruction, i.e.,
"cluster bombs" used in Lebanon and silence on Israel's nuclear
capability, while criticizing other nations in the region that may have similar
ambitions. None of the Quartet mentions the road map when refusing to recognize
Palestine's democratically elected government. Given Israel's history, the road
map's death was predictable.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and
Phone Calls
Email berrycom@earthlink.net ...The
Hidden Face of Terrorism...By Paul David Collins...In November 1989, Father
Ignacio Martín-Baró, a social psychologist, delivered a speech on
"The Psychological Consequences of Political Terror" He stressed
several relevant points. First, the most significant form of terrorism, by a
large measure, is state terrorism--that is, "terrorizing the whole
population through systematic actions carried out by the forces of the
state". Second, such terrorism is an essential part of a
"government-imposed sociopolitical project" designed for the needs of
the privileged. Disturbing though it may be, Martín-Baró's
definition is validated by history. The majority of terrorism throughout
history has found its sponsors in the hallowed halls of officialdom, in the
entity known as government.
Email www.csmonitor.com The Myth of Muslim
Support for Terror..By Kenneth Ballen...Those who think Muslim countries and
pro-terrorist attitudes go hand-in-hand might be shocked by new polling
research: Americans are more approving of terrorist attacks against civilians
than any major Muslim country except Nigeria. The survey, conducted in December
2006 by the Univ. of Maryland's Program on International Public Attitudes,
shows that only 46% of Americans think that "bombing and other attacks
intentionally aimed at civilians" are "never justified," while
24 percent believe these attacks are "often or sometimes justified."
Contrast those numbers with polling results from the most-populous Muslim
countries - Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria -- show 74% of
respondents in Indonesia, 86% in Pakistan and 81% in Bangladesh agreed that
terrorist attacks are "never justified." Do these findings mean
Americans are closet terrorist sympathizers? Hardly. Yet, far too often, they
and other Westerners are willing to draw that conclusion about Muslims.
Email sumerian100@yahoo.com It may
be the single most consistently censored story in America...The ongoing policy
of abuse of Palestinians by the Israeli government. While the rest of the world
watches on in horror as the Israeli war party systematically eliminates
Palestinians through economic warfare, terror, humiliation and in some cases
outright murder, most US citizens are unaware. Worse yet, have been
indoctrinated to view all Arabs and Palestinians as "terrorists." One
group, If Americans Knew, founded by a former US Congressman, is working to
educate Americans through video and the Internet. Here's one of their short
films: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/90.html
Email www.haaretz.com UN committee: Israel should
let Palestinian refugees come back... A United Nations committee has called on
Israel to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their property and land in
Israel and to ensure that the bodies responsible for distributing property,
such as the Jewish National Fund, not discriminate against the Arab population.
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