Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Palestine papers |
|---|
| amatullah |
| 09/21/01 at 14:09:11 |
| Bismillah and salam, Press Release Subject: Urgent Appeal to the international Community - Press release September 17, ?2001 In the wake of the recent horrendous and tragic events in the US, followed immediately by a most brutal Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian people; Today, Jewish New Year Eve - more than 600 Israelis and Palestinians are appealing to the International public opinion demanding an international force to be sent immediately to protect the Palestinian people from the Israeli occupation and to protect all of us from the reckless and dangerous policies of a beligerent Israeli Government. The initiators of this petition deplore and condemn the despicable terrorist act against innocent civilians in New York and Washington. We express our profound grief at the human tragedy and our feelings of solidarity with the families of the victims and the American people. It is our firm opinion that terrorism threatens the struggle for peace and provides the enemies of peace with a powerful pretext to intensify violence and repression. We warn that the Sharon Government is using the tragedy in the US in order to intensify the brutal military assault and repression against the Palestinians, presenting it falsely as part of the “war against terror”. We believe that in these days, when the US government is reviewing its’ policies in the Middle East and in the World at large, one of the necessary conclusions should be that the Israeli occupation is illegitimate, dangerous and explosive. Furthermore, it represents a denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination and freedom. Therefore we call on the US government to act for the immediate end of the occupation, to achieve a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and thus secure stability in the region. Appeal for an international Protection force We the undersigned, Palestinian and Israeli intellectuals and activists, view with grave concern the unbearable and inhuman situation imposed on the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza. Such a situation has been brought about by the repression, blockades, and daily humiliation exercised by the military occupation and by the daily harassment that settlers inflict on the Palestinian population. We cannot remain unmoved while the suffering of Palestinians and the violation of their human and political rights continues undeterred. The recent seizure of Palestinian institutions (including Orient House) in Jerusalem and environs can only exacerbate the situation and lead to more bloodshed and suffering of innocent people. We feel it is our duty to support the call for the immediate provision of an international force to protect the Palestinian people in its struggle for the exercise of its right to self-determination and freedom, and to put an end to the military occupation of its land. We urge all those concerned, everywhere, to join us in voicing their strong opposition to the continued occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and to support our call for the provision of effective international protection for Palestinians from the aggression and repression of the Israeli occupation. Such an international force, we believe, would greatly facilitate the resumption of serious and meaningful negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli leaders and the settlement of the conflict on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions and a two states solution. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Among the Israeli signatories are Shulamit Aloni, Uri Avneri, Meron Benvenisti, Yehuda Shenhav, Joseph Agassi and Adi Ofir; among the Palestinian signatories are Haider Abdel Shafi, Hanan Ashrawi, Edward W. Said, Rashid I.Khalidi, Elia Zureik, Camille Mansour and Zakaria Mohammad. The letter is signed by hundreds of academics, physicians, lawyers, writers, artists, and activists. The initiative came from a group of Israeli-Palestinian academics and intellectuals coordinated by Jamil Hilal, Lev Grinberg, Ghassan Abdullah, Oren Yiftachel, Salim Tamari, Baruch Kimmerling, Rema Hammami, Yoav Peled, Saleh Abdel-Jawad and Yehudit Harel. The group is especially concerned with the increasing wave of violence and the absence of protection for the Palestinians, exposed to the repression of the occupation that cause desperate Palestinian reactions like suicide bombs. The intention of an international force is to put an end to the vicious cycle of violence and the loss of human lives, that evidently the Mitchell report recommendations have failed to provide. This situation cannot be permitted to go on. During the coming weekend the letter and signatures will be published in Hebrew, Arabic and English in newspaper ads. We will also be sending a letter to Koffi Anan, Secretary General of the UN and to the Embassies of the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, China and Japan. Our ad is being financed by the signatories. New signatures and financial support for the ads please send to POB 9013, Jerusalem 91090 Enclosed by find two lists of signatories: the first to appear in this weeks ads and a second in the coming ones - depending on our financial resources. The copyright for any posting on PNet, either wholly or partially, belongs to its originator(s). No post should be reproduced or forwarded without obtaining consent of the originator(s). To Post a message, send it to: palestine-net@eGroups.com To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: palestine-net-unsubscribe@eGroups.com To Re-subscribe, send a blank message to: palestine-net-subscribe@eGroups.com Palestine-Net home: http://www.egroups.com/group/palestine-net ------ End of Forwarded Message |
| Re: Palestine press release |
|---|
| amatullah |
| 09/18/01 at 05:21:19 |
| Bismillah and salam, Let us not forget the Palestinians. Letters to the editor should be sent protesting Israel's use of the World Trade Center calamity. Try www.TheStruggle.org/Media.html for email addresses. From: "Saifedean Ammous" Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2001 5:48 AM e-mail: smashney@netzero.net Dear All, I am writing to you now to the sound of Israel's "Defense Forces" pounding the living daylights out of my hometown Ramallah. As the whole world is too busy paying tributes to the victims of terror attacks in NYC and DC, Israel has had a field day in terror attacks of their own on us here. Since the attacks in the US, the Israelis have taken their assaults on Palestinians to new heights. Every day they have invaded a few cities using tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets. Since the beginning of the intifada, there has not been so much Israeli aggression like that witnessed since last Tuesday. No one could put this clearer than Shaul Mofaz, Israel's Chief of Staffs, who boasted that his forces have killed tens of Palestinians and no one in the world said anything. Indeed, since last Tuesday there have been unrelenting attacks on each Palestinian city for no reason. Since the beginning of the Intifada Israelis have carried out only 2 or 3 such attacks, while since Tuesday, there has been at least a dozen. Tens of Palestinian martyrs have fallen, and their cries have fallen on deaf ears in this world. Everyone seems to be more interested in backing that raging cowboy Bush as he declares his country going into war against a yet unidentified enemy. The attack on the WTC and Pentagon, is a clear act of terror that I, and millions of Palestinians, denounce. Yet it must be really painful to see how the whole world has had nothing to do in the last few days but mourn the victims, while more than a million and a half civilian Iraqis have died since the beginning of the US terror campaign on Iraq. Why did no one weep for them, why did no one weep for the hundreds of thousands in Rwanda, and why is my people's suffering under the illegal Israeli occupation no longer interesting to anyone? Excuse me if my thoughts are a bit incoherent, or if my sentences seem to make little sense, but it is really hard to concentrate with Apache choppers hovering a few hundred feet above your head, armored tanks unleashing their might on your neighborhood, all sorts of missiles flashing across your window, and a nearby building being obliterated to rubble. If you don't hear from me anymore, then know that one of those missiles has managed to find its way to my room, turning me into a meaningless number in a meaningless statistic that no one will pay attention to. For some inexplicable reason I felt like writing this here and now, and sharing it with you, I would really appreciate it if you could pass it on to as many people as possible. Israel must not be allowed to continue its attacks on Palestinians. If terror is to be fought in this world, state terror is the first terror that must be eradicated. American attacks on civilians in Iraq, Sudan, and Yugoslavia, and Israel's continued terror in Palestine are primary examples. Finally, my heart goes out to every victim of terror in the world, to the people of Hiroshima, Auschwitz, Rwanda, Baghdad, Belgrade, Vietnam, New York, and DC, it is at moments like this that I feel your suffering and pain. I can now honestly say that I know what it feels like to be a victim. Yours, Saifedean Ammous 16/9/20001 e-mail: smashney@netzero.net Ramallah, Palestine |
| Re: Palestine press release |
|---|
| amatullah |
| 09/19/01 at 11:30:30 |
| Bismillah and salam, Larry Cornies Editor London Free Press Here is an eloquent statement from the Palestinian representative to Great Britain and to the Holy See. It can be used for publication. >From Palestinian General Delegation > > > > A British newspaper asked Afif Safieh for an article then decided not to > > publish it. It is at your disposal. > > > > > > September 13, 2001 > > Foreign Desk > > From: Afif Safieh > > > > > > AFIF SAFIEH: CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD? > > > > Consistent with my frequently expressed revulsion at "selective > indignation > > " -depending on the nature of the victims or the identity of the > > perpetrators, -I wish to voice my total and unequivocal condemnation of > the > > horror that took place in the United States. > > > > As a Palestinian, who for twelve endless months witnessed the continuous > > daily bombing of Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps, my > sympathy > > today goes entirely to the victims of this despicable undertaking. > > > > Having watched a cascade of daily funerals, I understand and share the > pain > > of their families and friends. Having joined the unheeded call for > > international protection and the deployment of international observers in > > Palestine and having advocated an imposed solution by the international > > community on the basis of international legality, I sincerely wish that > > international law, and > > only that, will guide American decision makers in the aftermath of this > > revolting act. > > > > At a moment when globalisation has become an undeniable and irreversible > > international reality, now more than ever before, universal principles and > > the highest possible standards should be set and equally observed by > > everybody all over our " planetary village." > > > > Unfortunately this is not yet the case. In these tragic days we will hear > > more of revenge, retaliation and the clash of civilizations, rather than a > > rational debate over why such atrocities find volunteers to accomplish > them. > > > > Alas, I fear that much of the discourse that will pour out of TV channels > > will appeal more to the instincts rather than the intelligence of viewers, > > to their hatred rather than their humanity. > > > > I have often explained that the way the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and > the > > status of Jerusalem are addressed, handled or mishandled, will affect > > relations not only on the regional level, but also on a global one. > > > > Whether there is one mankind or different kinds of men and women is not a > > rhetorical or a polemical question. Since the inception of the Palestinian > > tragedy, the Arab and Muslim world had the impression of total Western > > insensitivity to their ordeal. The "exploits" that led to the > dispossession > > and the dispersion of the Palestinian people were welcomed in mainstream > > Western public opinion with admiration, applause and were considered > > sometimes even as "miraculous". > > > > I personally tend to believe in the innocence of God even though the > Zionist > > project was presented as "a divine mission for a chosen people on a > promised > > land". We were inundated with massive propaganda about the desert turning > > green, but nobody bothered to answer the moral questions: in the name of > > what and since when does the planting of a tree justify the uprooting of a > > human > > being? Since when does planting a forest justify the uprooting of an > entire > > people? > > > > Israel still addresses the Palestinian refugee issue in the most > dismissive > > manner. Their possible return is seen as a threat to the Jewish nature of > > the state. But no one in a senior capacity will take this argument to its > > logical conclusion that the Palestinian refugees were precisely driven out > > of their homeland with that purpose in mind. From the very beginning there > > were successful attempts to trivialise and banalise the Palestinian > tragedy > > as though Palestinian victims were fatherless, motherless, childless, > > nameless, faceless�worthless. > > > > I have never likened the Naqba to the Holocaust. My conviction has always > > been that there is no need for comparisons and historical analogies. No > one > > people have a monopoly on human suffering and every ethnic tragedy stands > on > > its own. If I were a Jew or a Gypsy, Nazi barbarity would be the most > > atrocious event in history. If I were a Black African, it would be slavery > > and apartheid. If I were a Native American, it would be the discovery of > the > > New World by European explorers and settlers that resulted in near-total > > extermination. If I were an Armenian, it would be the Ottoman massacres. > If > > I > > were a Palestinian, it would be the Naqba/ Catastrophe of 1948. Humanity > > should consider all the above repugnant. > > > > I do not consider it advisable to debate hierarchies of suffering. I do > not > > know how to quantify pain or measure suffering but I do know that we are > not > > children of a lesser God. > > > > In the United States there will be a debate on whether yesterday's event > > will result in isolationism, unilateralism, multilateralism or > > interventionism. > > American foreign policy in the Middle East has been most intriguing. It is > > the only remaining superpower in the international system yet in our part > of > > the world it seemed as though it had abdicated this role in favour of its > > regional ally, Israel, which it shields unconditionally in the UN and > > elsewhere. The U.S.A. is committed to Israel's existence, a message > > everybody > > had already understood since decades. Does it need also to endorse the > > territorial appetite, the expansionist inclinations of its regional > > protégé? > > To condone its ferocious repression of our cry for freedom out of > captivity > > and bondage? > > > > American society is a nation of nations. In today's monopolar > international > > system, nonalignment in regional conflicts should be what characterizes > > American foreign policy, because alignment on the preferences of one > > belligerent actor results not only in antagonizing other regional players > > but also in alienating one component of its domestic national fabric. > > > > In his Memoirs "Present at the creation", former American Secretary of > State > > Dean Acheson writes that the UN Charter was a condensed version of > American > > political philosophy. All I can hope for is that America will reconcile > > tomorrow its power with its principles. > > > > > > Afif Safieh is the Palestinian General delegate to the United Kingdom and > to > > the Holy See > > |
| Re: Palestine press release |
|---|
| amatullah |
| 09/21/01 at 14:08:47 |
| Bismillah and salam, this from Palestine Media Watch and the article by Derrick Z. Jackson was published in the Boston Globe on September 21, 2001 By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Staff, 9/21/2001 IN REACTING to the attack on the United States, Ehud Sprinzak, a widely quoted Israeli terrorism expert at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said, ''Many of us feel vindicated by this.'' He said the pictures ''are better than a thousand ambassadors trying to explain how dangerous Islamic terror is.'' Sprinzak said, ''From the perspective of Jews, it is the most important public relations act ever committed in our favor.'' That was a smug and brazen display of self-assuredness. Sprinzak assumes that the attacks will allow Israel to become the most innocent lamb in the Middle East. As the United States shakes down the Islamic world for Osama bin Laden, Israel's army hopes it will be spared a shakeup of its relationship with us. Contrary to Sprinzak's hope that the attack would play in Israel's ''favor,'' it should inspire in the United States a new sense of fairness. If terrorism out of the Middle East is to stop, America must stop fueling the spiral of violence with its lopsided support of Israel. America has to stop turning a blind eye to Israel's use of American weapons to kill Palestinians. Much have been made of the Palestinians who cheered the destruction of the World Trade Center. Photos of rock-throwing Palestinians are a staple in American newspapers. In American households, names like ''Arafat,'' ''Hamas,'' and ''bin Laden'' are much more reflexively connected to Middle East violence than ''Lockheed Martin,'' ''Boeing,'' and ''Pratt and Whitney.'' It is tragic whenever a Palestinian mob or bomber kills Jews. But if Americans really want to understand why Americans might have been targeted for catastrophe in New York and Washington, we can no longer ignore the fact that we are helping the Israeli police and military to outkill Palestinians by more than a 3-to-1 margin. In the last year of clashes, the Associated Press has counted 632 Palestinian and 174 Israeli deaths. Americans can no longer ignore why Israel is winning the body count in their conflict. Since World War II, and despite some ups and downs in our relationship, Israel has been the largest total recipient of American aid, between $81 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service, and $92 billion, according to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, a think tank founded by former American foreign service officers. The beginning of large-scale sales to Israel began with the selling of Hawk missiles by President John F. Kennedy. Today, Israel has 320 American-made F-16 fighter planes, more than any other nation in the world except for the United States. Israel has ordered 100 more, which will be delivered through 2009. While Palestinian children are criminalized for throwing rocks, Israel has not been seriously criticized for using its 50 American-made Apache helicopters (with orders for 29 more) to attack Palestinians with laser-guided missiles. According to Newsweek last month, US-made helicopters have been involved in nine of 29 assassination attempts by Israel. ''We spend a lot of money buying arms in the United States,'' Shlomo Dror, an Israeli defense spokesman, told Newsweek. ''I'm sure US companies would not want that to change.'' The United States sells plenty of arms to friendly Arab nations, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, but by all accounts, Israel gets the most lethal equipment with the best targeting electronics. Though on paper it appears that Egypt is close to Israel in US aid, the quality of the aid is so different that retired US Army Colonel Norvell B. De Atkine told The Wall Street Journal a year ago, ''from a military point of view, the gap between Israeli and Arab military might has widened profoundly over the last 15 years.'' The gap in carnage has widened so profoundly that it is no surprise that the Arab world is angry not only at Israel, but at us for letting Israel behave too often as if it is a law unto itself. The United States never said much back in the 1980s when Israel sold arms to the apartheid regime in South Africa and not much now when Israel has bulldozed and impounded Palestinians into parched lands no different than Soweto. While 1,300 Israelis have been injured in clashes, at least 10 times more Palestinians, more than 14,000, have been injured by the more potent Israeli police and military. Until that imbalance is confronted, America is chasing only symptoms, not solutions. No one no longer doubts how dangerous Islamist terrorism is. We might not have had to experience it so horribly here at home, if we had long ago condemned Israeli terrorism, conducted with weapons made here at home. Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com. This story ran on page A23 of the Boston Globe on 9/21/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. |
| Re: Palestine papers |
|---|
| amatullah |
| 09/23/01 at 09:52:31 |
| Bismillah and salam, Dear all: A scan of editorials and opinion pieces on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict since the September 11 incidents indicates a clear shift, though slight, from the usual uncritical rubber-stamping of Israeli policy to something resembling constructive thinking and analysis. For the first time since the outbreak of the Intifada, people are asking: what is the solution to the problem, rather than, in what way can we blame what is happening on Arafat and the Palestinians. (See below of list of pieces that highlight this shift.) This, of course, is causing no little consternation to the pro-Israeli lobby here. Uncharacteristically, they are keeping a low profile, fearing a backlash. But the last couple of days, many pro-Israeli forces here in the US and outside, are beginning to work hard at containing this most dangerous spread of critical analysis and questioning of America's decades long policies toward the conflict. As a first step, they have started out by vociferously refuting what is basically a straw-man proposition: which is that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is NOT the cause of the tragedies of September 11th. (SEE "Israel isn't the Issue" -- NORMAN PODHORETZ http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=95001175 ) In parallel, an effort has been underway from day one to liken what is taking place in the US to what has been taking place in Israel. For instance, Benjamin Netanyahu has been hitting the circuit the last few days, firing off his platitudes about terrorism (he truly has very little respect for the intelligence of the American people) and egging on the US to unleash death and hellfire on anything and anyone that does not march to the American drum beat. Time and again he simply dismissed the proposition that the Arab-Israeli conflict is at least an important component of Arab and Muslim discontent, let alone pausing and thinking about what can a rational response to what taking place, instead offering the Israeli experiment as a model for what the US should do next. Which brings us to two important points we should be making OVER AND OVER AGAIN by way of neutralizing the pro-Israeli lobby's effort to mitigate the potential PR damage the Sept. 11 tragedies may have on Israel's image here in the US. (1) It may very well be true that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict ranks low in the hierarchy of grievances within Bin Laden's network -- their sights resting on bigger battles - but it is still a reality that if the United States wishes to forge a lasting and effective alliance with the Arab and Muslim states, it MUST change its absurdly pro-Israeli policies, and it must change them soon. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- as recent surveys in the Arab world have startlingly shown -- ranks topmost on the minds of Arabs and Muslims around the world. Ignoring that fact is simply ensuring the failure of any effort to effectively solve the problem. (2) Israel offers us not a model of what the US should do, but a model of what the US should NOT do. Israel has been fighting terrorism for decades, and yet, it is still unable to stop suicide bombers from wrecking havoc at the heart of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. As is well known, (a) Israel has one of the best internal and external intelligence and security agencies in the world; (b) the Palestinians it is trying to contain and neutralize are confined within a very small geographic region; (c) those Palestinians have been infiltrated inside out; (d) those same Palestinians have very limited resources; (e) Israel has been doing this for more than fifty years; - and yet, with all that, Israel has failed, time again, in its attempt to eradicate terrorism once and for all. On the contrary, every time it has hit hard against the Palestinians - via home demolitions, assassinations, land confiscations -- the result has been an escalation in violence. What makes the US think that it will be able to do better, especially given that the battle will be world wide, across hundreds of sovereign nations, against an opponent that is sophisticated, well-financed, and well-organized? If we are to look at the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to learn what to do, the following simple fact tells it all: between 1993 and 2000, about 400 Israelis were killed in various terrorist operations (during that same period, 3,000 Palestinians were killed by the occupation forces). The one period during which terrorist attacks sharply fell to almost zero was the period between Ehud Barak's election and the outbreak of the Intifadha. That was a period when Palestinians saw for the first time the possibility of real independence from Israel's ruthless occupation. During that period, the Palestinian Authority found itself able to harness the political capital it had suddenly acquired, moving to build with its Israeli counterpart a partnership that was to lead to real co-existence. So, it is now the time for us to go out of our way to and make these simple, compelling points, and make them time and again, in our letters, our essays and opinion pieces, and in our discussions with friends and colleagues. Americans for the first time are paying critical attention to what is taking place in Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and this is making the pro-Israeli lobby VERY nervous. Let us seize the moment and push our demand that for once rationality and common sense should be given a chance and taken seriously. If you are not part of any of the PMWatch teams, please join one and start making an impact. Visit the following for information on joining a group: Boston watch group: http://www.boston.pmwatch.org Miami watch group: http://www.miami.pmwatch.org Philadelphia watch group: http://www.philly.pmwatch.org Washington DC watch group: http://www.dc.pmwatch.org CNN Watch group: http://www.cnn.pmwatch.org Pro-Israeli Lobby Watch group: http://www.pilwatch.pmwatch.org Paper watch groups: http://64.226.129.19/pmw/pmwgroups/ Columnist watch groups: http://64.226.129.19/pmw/pmwgroups/columnists.html Two new groups in the making need leaders: New York watch group: http://www.nyc.pmwatch.org And National Public Radio (NPR) watch group: http://www.npr.pmwatch.org And for general info, resources, and the latest action calls, please visit the main pmwatch site at: http://www.pmwatch.org Yours, Ahmed Bouzid Palestine Media Watch http://www.pmwatch.org SOME COLUMNS THAT ARE BEGINNING TO QUESTION US POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST http://www.post-gazette.com/forum/20010919edsharon0919enp3.asp But Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, has been sending a less kindly -- and more self-serving -- message to Washington in recent days: Israel will not "pay the price" for an effort by the Bush administration to enlist moderate Arab nations in a united front against the architects of last week's attacks. The price Mr. Sharon has in mind is negotiations with Yasser Arafat, a longtime nemesis of Mr. Sharon's. A plan for Mideast peace -- Helena Cobban http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0921/p11s3-coop.html The bad news is that by giving prolonged and unquestioning support to governments in Israel that inflicted deliberate harm on Palestinians, successive American administrations helped quite unwittingly in the period before Sept. 11 to fuel the anti-Americanism of those around the world - Muslims and others - who were angered by those policies. That provided a fertile anti-American environment in which the Islamic extremists pursued their sacrilegious plans. Hope, amid talk of war - San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/20/ED61555.DTL But the U.S. pressure on Arafat, while now greater than ever, isn't new. What is unprecedented -- at least for the Bush administration -- is real U.S. pressure on Israel. Sharon pulled back his tanks and eased his resistance to peace negotiations only after several days of badgering from President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Israel's Opportunity - Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-000075058sep18.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Deditorials But Sharon must not mistake the United States' determination to find and crush terrorist networks as Israel's opportunity to wipe out the Palestinian Authority. Rather, Israel now has a chance not just to help an ally but to increase the chances for peace within its borders. It's an opportunity Sharon should seize. U.S. must press Arafat, Sharon to talk - Sacramento Bee http://www.sacbee.com/voices/news/voices02_20010920.html Rescue a peace process - The Philadelphia Inquirer http://inq.philly.com/content/inquirer/2001/09/20/opinion/TWOTHU20.htm |
| Re: Palestine papers |
|---|
| amatullah |
| 09/23/01 at 10:04:44 |
| Bismillah and salam, If you have amomnet please response to this call for help for Mr Jackson at the Boston Globe he has had much of hte hate mail and criticism. Let's write the paper and try to tip the scales Dear all: As expected, I've been informed that Mr. Jackson is being lambasted from every direction for his courageous and principled stand. And as usual, our side is again being outnumbered. But we have been able to mobilize en masse: so, let's ALL do it again. Please drop the Globe even a small line in support of Mr. Jackson. And please spread the call around far and wide. letter@globe.com jackson@globe.com Ahmed Bouzid http://www.pmwatch.org ------------------------------------------------ A remarkably courageous piece by the Boston Globe's Derrick Z. Jackson dares to appeal to common sense, rationality, and the lessons of history -- a rare occurance in the US media. Hopefully, thoughtful people such as Mr. Jackson are are finally waking up to the absurd and reckless policies of their leaders all these years. Mr. Jackson is sure to come under a hail of fire for this piece. Let us give him and other few brave souls that are beginning to ask the right questions our strongest support. Please drop a note to the Globe and to him directly: letter@globe.com jackson@globe.com And please bcc us at: pmw-letters@yahoogroups.com Or, if you want to enter your letter directly to our database, go to: http://64.226.129.19/pmw/manager/gadflies/postletter.asp - and select the Boston Globe. Ahmed Bouzid Palestine Media Watch http://www.pmwatch.org =================================================== A call for US to be fair to Palestinians http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/264/oped/A_call_for_US_to_be_fair_to_Palestinians+.shtml By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Staff, 9/21/2001 IN REACTING to the attack on the United States, Ehud Sprinzak, a widely quoted Israeli terrorism expert at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said, ''Many of us feel vindicated by this.'' He said the pictures ''are better than a thousand ambassadors trying to explain how dangerous Islamic terror is.'' Sprinzak said, ''From the perspective of Jews, it is the most important public relations act ever committed in our favor.'' That was a smug and brazen display of self-assuredness. Sprinzak assumes that the attacks will allow Israel to become the most innocent lamb in the Middle East. As the United States shakes down the Islamic world for Osama bin Laden, Israel's army hopes it will be spared a shakeup of its relationship with us. Contrary to Sprinzak's hope that the attack would play in Israel's ''favor,'' it should inspire in the United States a new sense of fairness. If terrorism out of the Middle East is to stop, America must stop fueling the spiral of violence with its lopsided support of Israel. America has to stop turning a blind eye to Israel's use of American weapons to kill Palestinians. Much have been made of the Palestinians who cheered the destruction of the World Trade Center. Photos of rock-throwing Palestinians are a staple in American newspapers. In American households, names like ''Arafat,'' ''Hamas,'' and ''bin Laden'' are much more reflexively connected to Middle East violence than ''Lockheed Martin,'' ''Boeing,'' and ''Pratt and Whitney.'' It is tragic whenever a Palestinian mob or bomber kills Jews. But if Americans really want to understand why Americans might have been targeted for catastrophe in New York and Washington, we can no longer ignore the fact that we are helping the Israeli police and military to outkill Palestinians by more than a 3-to-1 margin. In the last year of clashes, the Associated Press has counted 632 Palestinian and 174 Israeli deaths. Americans can no longer ignore why Israel is winning the body count in their conflict. Since World War II, and despite some ups and downs in our relationship, Israel has been the largest total recipient of American aid, between $81 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service, and $92 billion, according to the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, a think tank founded by former American foreign service officers. The beginning of large-scale sales to Israel began with the selling of Hawk missiles by President John F. Kennedy. Today, Israel has 320 American-made F-16 fighter planes, more than any other nation in the world except for the United States. Israel has ordered 100 more, which will be delivered through 2009. While Palestinian children are criminalized for throwing rocks, Israel has not been seriously criticized for using its 50 American-made Apache helicopters (with orders for 29 more) to attack Palestinians with laser-guided missiles. According to Newsweek last month, US-made helicopters have been involved in nine of 29 assassination attempts by Israel. ''We spend a lot of money buying arms in the United States,'' Shlomo Dror, an Israeli defense spokesman, told Newsweek. ''I'm sure US companies would not want that to change.'' The United States sells plenty of arms to friendly Arab nations, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, but by all accounts, Israel gets the most lethal equipment with the best targeting electronics. Though on paper it appears that Egypt is close to Israel in US aid, the quality of the aid is so different that retired US Army Colonel Norvell B. De Atkine told The Wall Street Journal a year ago, ''from a military point of view, the gap between Israeli and Arab military might has widened profoundly over the last 15 years.'' The gap in carnage has widened so profoundly that it is no surprise that the Arab world is angry not only at Israel, but at us for letting Israel behave too often as if it is a law unto itself. The United States never said much back in the 1980s when Israel sold arms to the apartheid regime in South Africa and not much now when Israel has bulldozed and impounded Palestinians into parched lands no different than Soweto. While 1,300 Israelis have been injured in clashes, at least 10 times more Palestinians, more than 14,000, have been injured by the more potent Israeli police and military. Until that imbalance is confronted, America is chasing only symptoms, not solutions. No one no longer doubts how dangerous Islamist terrorism is. We might not have had to experience it so horribly here at home, if we had long ago condemned Israeli terrorism, conducted with weapons made here at home. Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com. This story ran on page A23 of the Boston Globe on 9/21/2001. © Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company. |
| Re: Palestine papers |
|---|
| amatullah |
| 09/23/01 at 10:10:34 |
| Bismillah and salam, The following Press Release from Amnesty International. Amnesty International the world renown and respected human rights organization calls for an end to the Israeli military enforced closures and for International monitors to protect the human rights of the Palestinians. This information and call for protection should be published and given wide distribution. The full text of the release follows. Amnesty International Bulletin:>From: ainews >Reply-To: owner-amnesty-l@host.oil.ca >To: amnesty-l@oil.ca >Subject: Israel/Occupied Territories: An end to closures and the introduction of international human rights observers are a vital necessity >Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2001 13:01:18 +0100 > >* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty >International * > >21 September 2001 >MDE 15/087/2001 >168/01 > > >Amnesty International today renewed its call for international >observers, an end to closures and respect for international >humanitarian law in the Israeli Occupied Territories. The call >follows a 10-day visit to Israel and the Occupied Territories in >September by Amnesty International delegates and recent killings >of Palestinians and an Israeli woman settler. > > AThe closures represent the punishment of all >Palestinians in the Occupied Territories in the name of security@ >, commented the delegates. > > ABasic foodstuffs and water are not getting through and >Palestinians have died as access to hospitals becomes >increasingly difficult," said delegates. "The closures are >ineffective in stopping killers who can pass on foot. They are >simply increasing poverty and despair and creating a population >which sees no future and no possibility for a better life@. > > During the visit, delegates drove along almost-deserted >roads where every turning to a Palestinian village was blocked by >earth or concrete blocks. They travelled in Palestinian taxis >which made tortuous detours of several kilometres to avoid a >kilometre of road banned to Palestinians. > > In relation to killings since the 18 September >cease-fire, delegates stressed that the killing of civilians, >Palestinians or Israelis, was absolutely prohibited by >international law. > > Amnesty International delegates witnessed reckless >Israeli shooting which was not in response to any Palestinian >attacks. On 16 September the Israeli army shot in the direction >of delegates from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as >they were examining the sites of recently destroyed houses 100 >metres from the border with Egypt. There was no fire from >Palestinian areas at the time. > > On the following day, 17 September, near Erez checkpoint, >Israeli soldiers fired throughout the day in the direction of >taxis collecting Palestinians and those crossing the border with >Israel. Amnesty International delegates were among those caught >up in the firing. Again, there appeared to have been no prior >Palestinian fire. > > "It is imperative that international observers with a >human rights monitoring component be introduced into the Occupied >Territories in order to ensure that international humanitarian >law is respected and every killing is investigated," Amnesty >International said. > >**************************************************************** >You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main >text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting >Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the >list subscription message may be removed. >**************************************************************** >To subscribe to amnesty-L, send a message to >with "subscribe amnesty-L" in the message body. To unsubscribe, >send a message to with "unsubscribe amnesty-L" >in the message body. If you have problem signing off, contact >. handles >only messages concerning list administration. Past and current Amnesty >news services can be found at . >Visit for information about Amnesty International >and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you >need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty >International. |
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