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Page Not FoundWe need to be united in the fight against fascism and repression.
In These Times is committed to remaining fiercely independent, but we need your help. Donate now to make sure we can continue providing the original reporting, deep investigation, and strategic analysis needed in this moment. We're proud to be in this together. |
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Page Not FoundWe need to be united in the fight against fascism and repression.
In These Times is committed to remaining fiercely independent, but we need your help. Donate now to make sure we can continue providing the original reporting, deep investigation, and strategic analysis needed in this moment. We're proud to be in this together.
An interview with “peace activist” Neta Golan.
Human Cameras, Human Shields, Human Targets
“Internationals” inside a war zone in Palestine.
War for War’s Sake
Meet the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
Terror in the Territories.
Web Exclusive |
Patient Privacy Under Attack Again The sludge report.
Power Mad
Phoenix ascending.
Appall-o-Meter
U.S. considers renewing military ties to Indonesia.
Who’s Counting?
U.S. plan to eradicate coca crops in Bolivia fails miserably.
Testing has killed thousands, a new study shows.
Far-right Cartoonist Strikes Again
Saving Women’s Lives
In Person: Dr. Thoraya Obaid
Little Big Women
BOOKS: Jean Bethke Elshtain dreams of Jane Addams.
BOOKS: John Maynard Keynes’ pursuit of the sublime.
Acquired Tastes
FILM: Trouble Every Day.
Studs Terkel turns 90.
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April 12, 2002
Terror In The Territories
Much of the world has been asking the very same question since the Israel Defense Forces launched “Operation Protective Wall” and invaded the West Bank on March 29. As Israel’s ally and patron—to the tune of $3 billion in aid annually—the United States is the only country with enough leverage to halt this disaster. Yet as the carnage mounts and the destruction widens, the president has been sitting on his hands. Yes, under growing international pressure—and weakening support for the impending attack on Saddam Hussein—Bush dispatched Powell on another Middle East jaunt and took a stronger tone on April 4, calling for an Israeli withdrawal and even assuring reporters a few days later that “I meant what I said.” The Israelis got the message: We support you fully, but hurry up—you’re starting to make us look bad. As Powell took the scenic route, also stopping off in Spain, Egypt and Jordan (he was due in Israel on April 11, as In These Times went to press), the IDF stepped up its onslaught. Tanks and troops pushed further into Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin, cutting off electricity and water and bulldozing houses. Soldiers prevented ambulances from reaching the sick and wounded. Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israeli soldiers have been killed. According to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is privately referring to the Jenin incursion as a “massacre” that will “do us immense damage in the eyes of the world.” Another suicide bomber blew up a bus in Haifa on April 10, killing eight. No one disputes the depravity of these attacks, the tragic loss of innocent life. (Bush is right: The bombers are “not martyrs, they’re murderers.”) This is the very definition of terrorism. But the Bush administration and most of the U.S. media would have us believe that these terrible attacks somehow excuse Israel’s atrocities. Are we really to believe that escalation of the terror against Palestinian civilians will bring peace any closer than the murder of Israelis? That it will make Israel a safer place? So what are the real goals of Ariel Sharon’s campaign? Like Bush’s own “war on terror” (and couched in the same language), Sharon is exploiting national fear and outrage to accomplish his own long-held objectives: the utter obliteration of the Oslo peace process, the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat himself. Sharon may succeed, but Israel will be no closer to peace or security. As Gideon Levy asked recently in Ha’aretz: “What is the infrastructure of terrorism if not the occupation, the despair and the hatred?” Yet Bush has reserved most of his ire for Arafat, castigating him for not doing enough to stop the suicide bombers. He probably hasn’t. But it’s hard to imagine what Washington expects him to do now, under siege in Ramallah with Israeli soldiers in his living room. Why is it that the Palestinians are always being ordered to restrain themselves and police their own occupation, but the occupation itself is never questioned? As the Independent’s Robert Fisk has observed, while the Palestinians are encouraged to practice nonviolence (“á la Gandhi,” in the words of the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman), the Israelis are called on to deliver “a military blow that shows terror will not pay” (Friedman again). Yet even when “peace activists” like the ones profiled in this issue practice nonviolent resistance, they are widely dismissed as propagandists, hypocrites, even traitors. Critics ask: Why aren’t they also shielding the cafes and discos of Tel Aviv? A better question: When did the Palestinians become so dehumanized that it’s only shocking when unarmed Europeans are shot in the street?
The entire situation is all the more tragic because the outlines of a peaceful, political solution are clear: Israel, roughly within its 1967 borders, alongside an independent, demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. The Israeli occupation must end, and the settlements must be dismantled. The Palestinians will have to relinquish the “right of return” (but not some form of compensation). A U.S.-led peacekeeping force will be required. Neither side will be fully satisfied. Just look at the alternative. |
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ecretary of State Colin Powell started his latest world tour in Morocco, where the king greeted him with a simple question: “Don’t you think it would be more important to go to Jerusalem first?”
