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WHAT SHOULD BE WITH ISRAEL
MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 3/21:
If the Arabs regimes were serious, indeed if they were truly independent,
they would institute a Arab and Muslim regional boycott of Israel at this
point, at least suspend all diplomatic and economic relations with Israel,
and forcefully move to have the U.N. General Assembly suspend Israeli credentials
(as was done with South Africa in the days of Apartheid) as soon as the
U.S. again prevents the Security Council from acting in the days ahead.
If the Jewish "liberals" and "progressives" were serious, along with their
counterparts in Israel, they would be taking out a historic statement in
the New York Times and other publications calling for a total suspension
of all American economic and military assistance to Israel. If the co-opted
Arab and Muslim organizations in Washington were serious, they would be
organizing real and sustained demonstrations, pursuing peaceful civil disobedience,
blanketing the talk shows, as well as building up real political and financial
support for the Palestinian and Iraqi people, plus speaking out loudly
against the U.S.-sponsored Arab "client regimes" who are also responsible
for today's state of affairs, as well as Israel.
But none of this is happening. And what is happening is far too little,
far too late...at best analysis -- designed more to co-opt the activists
and let off steam than to actually have any impact.
And so Israel marches on -- now headed by the dymanic duo of Ariel Sharon
and Shimon Peres, one a war criminal personality who has repeatedly massacred
and told the big lie, the other an erroneous Nobel Prize laureate who has
repeatedly schemed and deceived attempting to trap the Palestinians in
an apartheid formulation agreed to by one of their own leaders.
And so the U.S. marches on -- hypocrisy, repression, duplicity, covert
CIA, and overt military, all working overtime to dominate and control the
region; all against the overwhelming will of the people in the area, all
blatantly disregarding professed American values, all at an ongoing cost
of millions of Arab and Muslim lives and tremendous human suffering, all
destined to have untold pay-back consequences in the future ahead of us
all.
These three regular news media articles from Reuters and AP yesterday
and today help put the current situation in perspective.
SHARON WARNS ANNAN ON SENDING U.N. OBSERVERS
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters - 21 March) - Israel's new leader Ariel Sharon
bluntly
warned the United Nations Wednesday that sending any observer force to
protect Palestinians could escalate violence in the West Bank and Gaza.
But U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, during his one-hour talks with
the
Israeli prime minister, urged Sharon to ease restrictions on Palestinians
and questioned plans to expand a Jewish settlement, known as Har
Homa, U.N. officials said.
The secretary-general also said it would be dangerous to let the
Palestinian Authority collapse during the uprising that began in late
September and has bled the economic life out of the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, sources close to the talks said.
Israeli spokesman Raanar Gissin quoted Sharon as saying he was
prepared to ease the restrictions, including those that prevent
Palestinians from working in Israel proper.
"We would even like to do more. But I have a problem here. We will
continue with easing the restrictions but at the same time we will use
a
heavier hand toward terrorists, those who send them and those who
abate them," Gissin quoted Sharon as saying.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan raised the issue of a
proposed U.N. force and Sharon and said "that he would oppose any
U.N. observers in the Palestinian territories."
In rejecting the force, Sharon said "terrorists" could find shelter by
hiding
behind them and Israeli soldiers could then clash with observers, Israeli
and U.N. sources said,
The U.N. Security Council is currently mulling a Palestinian proposal
to
send the observers to the West Bank and Gaza. Europeans are currently
searching for a compromise that the United States, Israel's close ally,
would not veto.
The vote is expected before an Arab summit next week, which Annan will
address. Sharon asked Annan to use his influence toward moderation at
the summit, the sources said.
Under tight security, Sharon, a 73-year-old former general who has long
championed Jewish West Bank settlements, was taken in and out of U.N.
headquarters through a basement garage.
Several police boats patrolled alongside New York's East River front,
while guards manned positions on rooftops of the United Nations
headquarters complex.
Sharon, in his first session with Annan since becoming prime minister
two weeks ago, arrived in New York from Washington where he saw
President George W. Bush and top U.S. officials.
In interviews with Israeli TV stations, Sharon said any official U.S.
invitation to Yasser Arafat could spur militant attacks unless the
Palestinian president called for an end to violence.
Otherwise such an invitation could have an "influence on a worsening of
terror activities in the future," Sharon told Israel One Television.
Annan, who has played a quiet role in Middle East peacemaking,
appeared to take issue with Sharon's insistence on an end to six months
of violence before peace talks can resume, the sources said.,
Instead, Annan said normal economic life, peace talks and violence
"were interlinked and couldn't be dealt with sequentially," one source
reported.
Israel has been reluctant to let previous U.N. secretaries-general
intervene in the peace process, fearing the openly anti-Israel stance
of
most developing nations, who make up a majority of U.N. members. But
the sources said Sharon complimented Annan although no role for him
was discussed.
Sharon, who as defense minister led Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon,
took office two weeks ago on a campaign to restore Israeli security in
the
face the Palestinian uprising.
The revolt erupted following a Sharon's high-profile visit last September
to
a Jerusalem shrine holy to Jews and Muslims. Arabs called the visit a
provocation and Israelis said was an excuse for fomenting violence.
At least 347 Palestinians, 66 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have been
killed since the uprising began on Sept. 28.
PALESTINIAN BACKERS PROPOSE U.N. FORCE
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP - 20 March) — Setting the stage for a showdown with
the United States, supporters of the Palestinians urged the Security Council
Tuesday to back the creation of a U.N. observer force to help end six months
of Israeli-Palestinian clashes.
Three months after the council defeated a resolution to establish a U.N.
force following intense lobbying by the United States, Bangladesh formally
introduced a very similar resolution Tuesday. It was immediately denounced
by Israel and the United States.
``Israel, as it has stated repeatedly, firmly objects to the idea of dispatching
international observers to the region,'' a spokesman for Israel's U.N.
mission said.
``The United States won't support it,'' said acting U.S. Ambassador James
Cunningham. ``We have a long-standing position on that and it hasn't changed.
... We'll oppose it.''
The Palestinians argue that the presence of U.N. observers would help control
the violence and save Palestinian lives, noting that the majority of the
victims have been Palestinians.
Since the violence erupted Sept. 28, 430 people have been killed, including
352 Palestinians, 59 Israeli Jews and 19 others.
``The problem here is that the international community has hesitated before
Israeli intransigence,'' said Nasser Al-Kidwa, the Palestinian U.N. observer.
``The reason is that the most powerful permanent member of the Security
Council continues to support Israel.''
The resolution was defeated in December when the Palestinians failed to
get the minimum nine ``yes'' votes. But much has since changed. There
are new administrations in the United States and Israel, and five new countries
on the 15-member Security Council.
This time, the Palestinians should get at least nine votes — the resolution's
seven co-sponsors, Bangladesh, Colombia, Jamaica, Mali, Mauritius, Singapore
and Tunisia, plus China and Ukraine, which voted for the December resolution.
But the United States would then almost certainly use its veto to kill
the resolution.
In an attempt to avoid a veto, the four European members of the council
scheduled a meeting late Tuesday with Palestinian supporters on the council
to explore possible compromise language.
``There is a growing feeling among council members that if a resolution
is taken, it has to have some positive message — not to stir up confrontation,''
said deputy ambassador Valeri Kuchynski of Ukraine, which currently holds
the council presidency.
The Palestinians are pushing for a vote by the end of the week, ahead of
the March 27-28 Arab summit in the Jordanian capital, Amman. The draft
resolution would put the council on record expressing ``its determination
to establish a United Nations force of military and police observers to
be dispatched throughout the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.''
According to the draft, the force would help implement cease-fire agreements
reached at an Egyptian summit last October, stop the violence, and enhance
``the safety and security of Palestinian civilians.'' It asks Secretary-General
Kofi Annan to consult the Israelis and Palestinians ``on the composition,
modalities of deployment and
functioning of such a force.''
This language is exactly the same as in the defeated December resolution.
U.S. BACKS ISRAELI STANCE ON VIOLENCE - SHARON
JERUSALEM (Reuters - 21 March) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
said on Thursday
after a visit to the United States that Washington supported his determination
to
resist a Palestinian uprising against occupation.
"There is complete American agreement and understanding that we cannot
surrender to violence and terrorism," Sharon told Israel's Army Radio
in an
interview broadcast as he flew home from the United States.
Reiterating his refusal to resume peace talks while Palestinians continue
their
protests against Israeli rule over Arab land, he said: "There will be
no peace
negotiations under threats of terrorism and violence."
There was no immediate comment on his remarks from the United States,
where
Sharon had held talks with President George Bush and United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
In new violence, the Israeli army said soldiers killed a Palestinian
trying to plant a
roadside bomb at an Israeli kibbutz, or collective farm, near Gaza late
on
Wednesday.
A spokesman said the body was found early on Thursday lying next to the
bomb
and that sappers were trying to defuse the device before recovering the
body.
Palestinian officials said they were checking the report.
A member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's special guard was killed
by
Israeli tank shells overnight which the army said it fired in response
to a mortar
attack on two Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
The death raised the toll in nearly six months of the uprising in the
West Bank and
Gaza to 348 Palestinians, 66 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs.
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire in southern Gaza
early on
Thursday. Meanwhile, Israeli security forces were on alert after police
foiled an
attempted car bombing in a Jerusalem neighborhood on Wednesday.
MUTUAL RECRIMINATIONS
Each side blames the other for the violence which erupted in late September
after
peace talks became deadlocked.
In the latest recriminations, Sharon told American Jewish leaders in
New York on
Wednesday that Arafat had "reverted to terrorism" and called him the
main
roadblock to peace.
Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told parliament's Foreign
Affairs
and Defense Committee the army was preparing for the fighting to continue
"for a
long time," a statement from his office said.
In a television interview from New York on Wednesday, Sharon said inviting
Arafat to Washington could lead to militant attacks if the Palestinian
leader did not
call for an end to violence.
Palestinian cabinet ministers say the violence is spurred by Israel's
occupation, by
its blockade on Palestinian areas, which hamper movement and throttle
the
economy, and by Jewish settlements built on occupied land.
"The repeated accusation from Mr. Sharon has become his agenda and this
ultimately will close the door before the chances of dealing with the
current
situation in a responsible way," said Palestinian cabinet minister Nabil
Amr.
Palestinian cabinet minister Ziyad Abu Zayyad told Army Radio on Wednesday
that whatever opinion Sharon had expressed at talks with Bush on Tuesday,
"the
truth will come to light."
"And the truth is that the continuing occupation, the existence of the
occupation
and Israel's policies are responsible for the violence," he said.
The Palestinians want the United Nations to send an observer force to
protect
Palestinians. Sharon said during his visit to the United Nations that
such a move
could increase violence.
FACT-FINDING MISSION
A U.S.-led fact-finding committee into the violence toured the West Bank
cities of
Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron on Thursday, a day after holding separate
talks
with Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
Annan urged Sharon to ease restrictions on Palestinians and questioned
plans to
expand the Jewish settlement of Har Homa on the outskirts of Arab East
Jerusalem, U.N. officials said.
Annan also said it would be dangerous to let the Palestinian Authority
collapse,
sources close to the talks said.
Palestinians say Israel's blockade on Palestinian areas since the start
of the Intifada
is collective punishment.
Israel says security concerns forced it to impose the blockade in September
and
that it has now eased the measures.
Nevertheless, trenches dug by its army remain around some Palestinian
cities
remain and the Palestinians say the easing of the clampdown has been
cosmetic.
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