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> >From : Marvin Wingfield > Reply-To : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To : "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" > Subject : [justice4Palestine] ADC Update: NY Times op/ed by Ali Abunimah > Date : Wed, 05 Dec 2001 10:25:10 -0500 > > ADC Update: > > NY Times op/ed by Ali Abunimah: "Sharon's War Cannot Be Won" > > The following op/ed by ADC member and Vice-President of the Arab > American Action Network, Ali Abunimah, appears in today's edition of the New > York Times. > > It can be viewed online at 2001/12/05/opinion/05ABUN.html>. > > Email a letter to the editor at: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or mail to: > Letters to the Editor, The New York Times, 229 West 43rd Street New York, > NY 10036, or fax: (212) 556-3622. > The Times website says "Letters to the Times should only be sent to the > Times, and not to other publications. We do not publish open letters or > third-party letters. When writing be certain to include your name, address > and a daytime and evening phone number. Letters should be limited to about > 150 words." > > Sharon's War Cannot Be Won > By ALI ABUNIMAH > > CHICAGO -- Once again the world has had to confront the horror of > innocent men, women and children killed by suicide bombers in the heart of > Jerusalem and in Haifa. No decent person can refrain from condemning such > attacks in the strongest terms. Such deeds harm not only their innocent > victims, which in this case probably included Palestinian citizens of > Israel, but also the just cause of Palestine. > > As a Palestinian I am often challenged by the press on my views about > such horrific bombings. I emphatically repeat my condemnation and state that > I oppose the targeting and killing of innocent civilians regardless of > whether they are Israelis or Palestinians. > > Yet I wonder why no one asked how I felt when five Palestinian > schoolboys were killed by a bomb planted by the Israeli occupation > forces in a refugee camp in Gaza less than two weeks ago — or why > Israelis and pro-Israel spokesmen, who are called for comment by the > same radio and television stations that call me, are rarely asked to > condemn the violence that is committed in their name. > > I watched in sadness the latest American envoy to the Middle East, Gen. > Anthony C. Zinni, laying a wreath in Jerusalem at the site of the > bombings. But where was the American wreath for the five boys killed in > Gaza? Why are the targeting and killing of hundreds of Palestinian > civilians, including more than 150 children, and the suffocation by > siege of three million Palestinians so often considered mere background > noise to Israel's drama? > > In response to the suicide attacks, Secretary of Defense Donald H. > Rumsfeld said, "The only way to defend against terrorists is to go after the > terrorists." This can only be understood as an endorsement of Israel's > policy of extrajudicial executions, which on Nov. 23 took the life of a > senior Hamas leader and set off the latest round of suicide bombings. The > retaliation by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel — bombing Gaza and the > West Bank — is the beginning of a new stage of war. > > What other punishments will be imposed on the Palestinians? More > shelling of refugee camps? More houses destroyed? More kidnappings? More > torture? An even tighter blockade? > > None of these strategies are likely to end the violence; after all, all have > been used relentlessly and without mercy. Perhaps this time Mr. Sharon will > order the special forces to either kill Yasir Arafat or send him back into > exile. > > My response to all of this is a big shrug. So they send Yasir Arafat > back to Tunis or assassinate him — the occupation will still be there. > The Israelis will be the losers because they will no longer have the > decrepit old man, their bin Laden, to blame for all their problems. They > will come face to face with the fact that it is the occupation that is the > fuel of the conflict. Palestinians will be neither better off nor worse off. > Some even think that a return to direct military occupation without the > intermediary of the Palestinian Authority can only sharpen the confrontation > and bring about a conclusion — however miserable — more rapidly. > > Certainly no serious person believes that Mr. Arafat and his > lieutenants, nominally controlling a few divided scraps of land in the > West Bank and Gaza, can through coercion, arrests and torture do what > Israel with all its might has failed to do: bring about an unconditional end > to all resistance against the occupation or attacks on Israeli civilians. > > Mr. Rumsfeld revealed that even he doubts that Mr. Arafat can succeed > when he said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that Mr. Arafat "is not a > particularly strong leader" and added, "I don't know that he has good > control over the Palestinian situation." But the view of the Bush > administration, reinforced by Israel's intransigent lobby, blames one > man for all the ugly symptoms of 53 years of repression of millions of > people in Palestine — policies supported for decades by the United > States. All too aware of his assigned role, Mr. Arafat has declared a > state of emergency. This amounts to little in practice since all the > means of repression and arbitrary rule at the disposal of the > Palestinian Authority are already in full use while none of the means > that could actually improve the lives of Palestinians are granted to it by > Israel. > > The burden of death has fallen on Palestinians as it has fallen on > Israelis. The only surprise will come if dozens more innocent people are not > killed in the coming weeks. > > Mr. Zinni said he will stay in the region until he succeeds in getting a > cease-fire. But if American policy avoids dealing directly with the root > causes of the conflict, he should plan to be in the Mideast war zone a long > time. > > Ali Abunimah is vice president of the Arab American Action Network. > > ================================= > American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee > 4201 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Suite 300 > Washington, D.C. 20008, U.S.A. > Tel: (202) 244-2990, Fax: (202) 244-3196 > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Web : http://www.adc.org > > ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
