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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.