new this week on peacepalestine

["mary" <humdrum2 at libero.it>]

· Lives on hold: Birthright vs Right of Return – by Aaron Lakoff: It was my last day in the country after coming to Israel on a Birthright trip, a free 10-day trip to Israel given to anyone who is young and Jewish. I had come for the ten days and stayed for two months to work in Palestine. I figured that seeing Israel without seeing Palestine would be selling myself short - it wouldn’t really be cashing in on my birthright. This right came easily to me - I simply registered and was on the trip. However, such rights don’t come so easily to others. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/lives-on-hold-birthright-vs-right-of.html

· US soldiers against the war - I think our organization is unique, because we’re calling for immediate withdrawal of troops. We don’t think any slow, prolonged withdrawal is going to solve the problems in Iraq. We think that the U.S. military is an occupying force in Iraq, and the longer we stay there, the more resentment and destruction and death will occur there. And we feel that if you really want to support the troops, you need to demand that they come home now.
A lot of people take the view that, oh, we can’t pull out every troop right away because, you know, Iraq will fall into chaos. And our position is that Iraq is already in chaos, and the reason is because we are there. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/us-soldiers-against-war.html

· Two Lebanese Demonstrations - Meron Benvenisti In its arrogance, the superpower dares to impose its world view by force of arms, without considering the disaster that it is inflicting on the country that it presumably has come to rescue "for democracy," and its ideological allies are applauding. But the great crusade to impose liberty is being conducted cautiously, and in a hope that it won't be taken too seriously; it's only good as a slogan. After all, the political allies of the United States happen to be tyrants who have no intention of giving up their power, and the countries that have established any sort of democratic institutions, and in which a civil society is developing, are not necessarily the chief supporters of the United States. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/two-lebanese-demonstrations-meron.html

· By 2008 Palestinians will not work in Israel "In the Palestinian arena, a new leadership is adopting a 'state logic' and rejecting terror as a political tool," Ya'alon told participants of the IDF's Second International Conference on Low Intensity Conflict Warfare.
But, he added, "the ability of the new Palestinian leadership to develop into a responsible and effective player depends on its ability to advance the policy of 'one authority, one law and one legal bearer of arms.'" The military chief also said that Israel's strategic goal is to phase out Palestinian labor by 2008. Israel made the decision in response to more than four years of fighting with the Palestinians, Ya'alon told the security conference. Before the outbreak of violence in 2000, more than 150,000 Palestinians worked in Israel, most in menial jobs Israelis refused to fill. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/by-2008-palestinians-will-not-work-in.html

· US Military Recruiters and their Lies by Eric Ruder: Recruiters often hype education benefits as a way to get students to sign on the dotted line, promising up to $70,000 to help pay for college. But the military actually makes money off this program. That’s because recruits must pay into a fund to receive benefits. But so few end up with the qualifications necessary to take advantage of them that the military takes in $72 million more every year than it pays out!
And of course, recruiters never make the obvious point that education benefits aren’t much use if you’re dead. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/us-military-recruiters-and-their-lies.html

· Right of Return is the basis for any compromise: Yehudith Harel Israelis refuse to recognize the ROR exactly because they are not ready to admit that we have historically wronged the Palestinians. Our people are not ready to assume our share of historical responsibility for this tragedy. While denying and negating this RIGHT and claiming that it does not exist, Israelis are protecting their hegemonic status and the self-righteous and self-declared, moral superiority of the Zionist movement over the moral and historical rights of the indigenous people of this country. Such an approach cannot open the way for reconciliation. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/right-of-return-is-basis-for-any.html

· Anti-Americanism? by Mary Rizzo: Do the Italians resent being subalternate? Probably a little bit, but basically, that is not the major issue. The issue is that the Italian people do not believe in the goodwill of the US forces, and see that they are treated as occupying forces on account of it by the local population. The Italian connection with them is considered to be part of the US project, because, in a word, it is. This means hostility by the Iraqis. This means all Italians are a target and that there is no safety for any of them in Iraqi soil. The Italians were never sold on the reasons for the war, and the "reconstruction" myth wasn't sold here either. The Iraq war is worse than evil... it is pointless. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/anti-americanism.html

· Killing your friends: implications of the assassination of the Italian 007 by Mary Rizzo: I think the element to consider is the patriotism wave that Berlusconi is riding. He is not looking for a pullout of Iraq, as that is not his intention whatsoever, and it probably will not come about. What he is looking for is to capture that sentiment of national unity (rare in Italy) and to utilise it somehow. So, he for a moment asks the US ambassador to give an explanation. He says that those are responsible for this tragedy must assume their responsibility. I don't think he means anything more than the soldiers stationed at that checkpoint. He certainly does not expect accountability on any superior level, but for a while, a few days, he looks like a real Italian. Someone who thinks like we do, cares about the things we care about, suffers for the insanity of a life lost in vain. He gives his friends a good scolding, then once the dust has settled, "amici come prima" as we say here, "friends like before". http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/killing-your-friends-implications-of.html

· Italian 007 shot by US Marines while rescuing hostage “We are faced with the most absolute folly and we are left in the hands of madmen. They have put the lives of everyone at risk. We can’t remain there one minute more,” Scolari said. He then added that “Calipari had taken that particular road very many times and therefore one can start to reason in a certain manner: that the Americans didn’t want the happy ending. This is a good reason to leave Iraq”.
And lastly, the terrible twist. “The American soldiers had impeded the rescue for several minutes and had impeded that anyone at all got near to the car and they told those in the car to disconnect their cellular phones. Guiliana spoke of dozens of bullets, handfuls of them which were on the car seat after the shooting. Shots that certainly weren’t fired against a military armoured jeep, but only against a car…” and the bitter conclusion: “Giuliana had certain information, and for this the USA wouldn’t have let her return home alive”. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/italian-007-shot-by-us-marines-while.html

· Gaza settlers won't go quietly by Yoel Marcus: There is no split down the middle in this country. If there is a rift, it's between a handful of fanatics and the Israeli majority. The findings of five major polling institutes published over the weekend produced an unequivocal result: 70 percent of the population supports disengagement. Gaza's 7,500 settlers can't ignore figures like that. Even if they protest during the pullout, and hang on to the walls of their homes for dear life together with their wives and children, they deserve some understanding. But when it comes to those who are hitching a ride on them, Israel must be tough.
According to data amassed by the IDF, some hoodlum types are trickling into Gush Katif and registering as residents. Their ultimate goal is to flood the areas slated for evacuation with thousands of people. In the interim, they plan to riot in the streets and clog intersections all over the country to create an atmosphere of civil war. Gush Katif will soon be declared a closed military zone. But it could be "too little, too late." http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/gaza-settlers-wont-go-quietly.html

· Mustafa al-Barghouti - Transforming Reality Israel is desperate for the world to forget that the crux of the conflict resides in its occupation of Palestine and its refusal to accept the Palestinians' inalienable right to self- determination. Its strategy is to reduce Palestinian cause into a series of security and administrative arrangements, holding out the possibility of some improvements in their standard as the carrot for sliding peacefully into a system of racial discrimination and enslavement. Its aim is to reduce the concept of an independent state to a semi- autonomous entity, with no sovereignty over its land or borders, the primary task of which will be to serve as the occupier's policemen. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/mustafa-al-barghouti-transforming.html

· Azmi Bishara - Death, Lies and Politics Even if it is in the higher interests of the state -- and it most certainly is -- to mount an investigation into the assassination of Al-Hariri, if it did so and identified the culprits and proved their guilt beyond any reasonable doubt no one would believe the verdict if it was not in their interest to do so. What matters to them is how right they are and how wrong the other side is. All facts, including the identity of the killer, are assessed on the basis of a single criterion: the extent to which they serve their own cause. "The assassination of Al-Hariri and Syria's refusal to respond to all international demands [talk about pots calling kettles black!] does not leave the world many diplomatic options. The US should study the possibility of using force to deter the Syrian regime [to serve as a lesson to other Arab countries that refuse to bow first to Israeli and then to American hegemony in the region, we read between the lines]." So editorialised Yediot Aharonot on 15 February 2005. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/azmi-bishara-death-lies-and-politics.html

· Karma Nabulsi - On the London Meeting There has been no partner for peace in the Middle East for years, and the absent partner is Israel, not the Palestinians. Ariel Sharon's absolute rejection of an international political process is the heart of the problem. The real question for the conference is: where is Israel? Why is it permitted to block the peace process, hold Palestinian land and relieve itself of any international obligations, while the Palestinians are scapegoated?
The insistence that Friday's suicide bomb in Tel Aviv broke the ceasefire, when 25 Palestinians had been killed by Israel since it began, means that there is no transparent benchmark for assessing who is killing the chances for peace. Good governance means applying principles that you are happy to apply to other conflicts. Citing UN security resolutions on the inadmissability of the acquisition of territory by force everywhere but occupied Palestine is not good governance. Encouraging Iraqi exiles and refugees to participate in elections while treating Palestinian refugees as pariahs is not applying democratic principles that the international community seems to want to teach the Palestinians. http://peacepalestine.blogspot.com/2005/03/karma-nabulsi-on-london-meeting.html