[VTJP] Fw: [NotInMyName] Please write to the Tribune about "Araft's bitter legacy"

[James M Leas]

An excellent answer to today's editorial in the Chicago Tribune by Joel Finkel. Jimmy   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: "Joel Finkel" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "NIMN-National" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "NIMN-Chicago" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 11:07:25 -0600 Subject: [NotInMyName] Please write to the Tribune about "Araft's bitter legacy" Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>   Folks,   Please read the editorial in today’s Chicago Tribune. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0411120232nov12,1,3542212.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed   Then please write to them: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   Here is the letter I sent.     To the Editors,   It is one thing if individuals base their opinions on popular myths.  It is another if an editorial board of a major newspaper does so.  “Arafat’s bitter legacy’ (11/12/04) is an unfortunate example of the latter.  You write, “in late 2000 and early 2001…Arafat turned away from what is likely to be the best deal the Palestinians can hope to get.”  First of all, this is factual incorrect.  Ehud Barak walked away from the talks at Taba, a few months after Camp David, where the deal was so much better that Arafat was about to sign.  This information is hardly hidden to anyone who wishes to read it.  Secondly, the very idea suggests that Israel is not to blame for decades of occupation and illegal colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, but that Arafat is to blame for not legitimizing it.   The editorial continues, “Instead, as he had done so many times before, Arafat chose violence.  Another Intifada began, and he did nothing to stop it.”  This is also contrary to historical facts.  As everyone in the region knows—including members of the PA and PLO as well as former heads of Shin Bet, the Israel secret police—the Intifada was a popular and spontaneous uprising against not only the Occupation but against Arafat and the PA.  Indeed, it was a popular rejection of the entire Oslo paradigm, which had been an unmitigated disaster for Palestinians and for which Arafat was seen as partly responsible.  Reformers in the PA and PLO complained openly that their largest failure was that they did not see it coming at could not gain control over it.  Furthermore, the statement fails to recognize that at the outset of the Intifada, Israel responded with overwhelming fatal force against largely unarmed youth, including Israeli Arabs.  Finally, it suggests that an oppressed an occupied people do not have the right to struggle against their oppressors.  This right is guaranteed under international law, whereas Israel’s Occupation and settlement colonies are entirely illegal under international law.   The editorial also states that “[Arafat] helped invent and define modern terrorism.”  The facts are that the bus bomb was invented by the Jewish terrorist group, the Irgun, which began blowing up Palestinian buses and markets in Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Haifa in 1937.  Plane hijackings were invented by Cubans fleeing Castro, and they were welcomed as heroes by the U.S. government.  In addition, air travel in the Middle East was first attacked by Israel, who used their air force to down civilian aircrafts in the 1950s.   Finally, the editorial promulgates the myth that “[Sharon] took a huge stride in pursuit of peace [with his Gaza Disengagement Plan].”  That this is nonsense was revealed quite clearly by Sharon’s top aid, Dov Weisglass, when he stated that the goal of the Plan is to freeze any political peace process and take the concept of a Palestinian nation off of Israel’s agenda permanently.  According to a report in Haaretz (Oct 4 2004), Weisglass stated, “"The disengagement is actually formaldehyde.  It supplies the amount of formaldehyde that is necessary so there will not be a political process with the Palestinians."  He continued, “…what I effectively agreed to with the Americans was that part of the settlements would not be dealt with at all, and the rest will not be dealt with until the Palestinians turn into Finns. That is the significance of what we did."   I believe it is time to start dealing with the facts.  The interests of neither Israelis nor the Palestinians are served by myths, and they both deserve better.   Joel R Finkel Member, NIMN   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of NOT IN MY NAME (www.nimn.org).  TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS LIST SIMPLY SEND A BLANK EMAIL TO:         [EMAIL PROTECTED] This list does not generally re-post news, information, or articles from other lists and sources.  For such information consider joining the NIMN Bulletin Board by sending a blank email to:         [EMAIL PROTECTED] We may be contacted at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make a tax-deductible contribution to NOT IN MY NAME by using your credit card on-line at our website, http://www.nimn.org. WE GREATLY APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Yahoo! 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