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"Internationals" Victorious For The Day Over Israeli Army
December 30, 2001
" INTERNATIONALS" TAKE ON ISRAELI ROAD-BLOCK
MID-EAST REALITIES - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 12/30/2001: You've got to hand it to these international activists, they are succeeding at the moment at least in drawing attention to what the Israeli occupation is really all about, they are putting their bodies on the line, they have now finally after so many years and provocations begun to organize and demonstrate for real. But there are a few serious problems in this.
First of all this group of a couple of hundred of "internationals" should never have aligned themselves with the terribly repressive Arafat regime -- the Palestinian people definitely yes, the Arafat regime definitely not. By going to visit Arafat last week and by letting Arafat use their visit as a photo-op for his manipulation of the European governments to send his corrupt regime more money, the "internationals" have been used for political and propaganda purposes they should have been smart enough and careful enough to avoid. Indeed, many of the serious complaints they rightly have about what has happened to the Palestinian people should also be addressed to Arafat and his cabal of Israeli/American annointed Palestinian VIPs; for it is a regime very much complicitous in the terrible neo-apartheid conditions of repression and poverty the Palestinian people now languish under.
Furthermore, the small group of American Jews among the "internationals"-- calling themselves "Junity" even though when they gathered in Chicago earlier this year the largely incestuous "Junity" crowd numering less than the "internationals" now in occupied Palestine couldn't even agree on a Statement about what they stood for -- was unfortunately among the instigators in running over to get photographed with Arafat.
As for what to expect from all this... Unless this group of internationals can quickly figure out a way to substantially increase their numbers, their following, and their staying power -- however dramatic, however sincere, however even courageous -- they will not really impact on the situation and will be just one more of the panoply of newsstories and photo opportunities generated by the Intifada. The Israeli government clearly has the means and the determination to outmanuever them; and has been doing so literally for decades now, each year the situation for the Palestinian people worse than before. Small and essentially leaderless as they are, they will be harrassed and infiltrated, they will be kept out of "closed military areas", they will be told to leave and not return as their visas expire, if need be they will be "detained" and "escorted" to the airport.
Sad to say, the history of what is primarily Christian non-violence in dealing with the Israeli occupation, now nearly 35 years old, is not a very uplifting story to recount. And in the end, of course, it is the very countries the "internationals" come from who have primarily funded, armed, and protected the Israelis over all these years; and now they do so for the Arafat regime which doubly occupies the Palestinian people in a situation far worse than before it came to be.
COLORADANS TAKE OVER ISRAELI MILITARY CHECKPOINT
5 From Denver/Boulder Join Over 200 Internationals in Unprecedented Action
Press Release - 12/29/2001: Amid tear-gas and sound bombs, five Coloradans joined dozens of Palestinians and over 150 internationals in nonviolently pushing back the Israeli military from their illegal checkpoint near Surda village -- a busy checkpoint between the Palestinian town of Ramallah and Bir Zeit University. For nearly six hours the international activists controlled the checkpoint, denying access to Israeli tanks and armored vehicles and keeping it open to all Palestinian traffic.
"For the Israeli military, tear gas and sound bombs are their polite warnings to move," said Coloradan Ben Scribner. "Clearly our level of coordination caught the Israeli soldiers by surprise and proved to them and the rest of the world the power of organized nonviolence."
After soldiers from two Israeli military jeeps attacked a line of protestors with tear gas, Coloradan Val Phillips suffered gas inhalation from two cannisters thrown at her. "I couldn't breathe at all. I was terrified," said Phillips. "Yet, I can't believe Palestinians ? who just want to go to school and work -- have to live with this every day of their lives."
Later at the same location an Israeli tank, two jeeps and an armored personnel carrier confronted a dozen activists attempting to nonviolently keep a main road open to Palestinian traffic. Israeli soldiers came out of their vehicles and began dragging people away, punching and kneeing people and in one case an American from Seattle was severely jabbed by an Israeli soldier's machine gun. Yet the line held.
Israel illegally maintains over 140 military checkpoints throughout the West Bank and Gaza, denying Palestinians access to education, commerce, medical care, and travel. Two days previous Coloradans witnessed Israeli soldiers humiliating and degrading Palestinians who were simply trying to go to work or school.
Today's action included activists from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Greece, Israel and Palestine.
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December 2001
U.S. and Israel Now Have Iraq In Their Sights
(December 31, 2001)
Britain's Telegraph Newspaper is well-plugged in with both the Americans and the Israelis, and is helping fan the flames of the likelier than not upcoming collision with Iraq. At the moment the U.S. is short of cruise missiles.
Sub-Continent Rushes Toward Conflagration
(December 31, 2001)
Pakistan and India are readying their military forces -
including their ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons - for
war.
Israelis Preparing The Way for 2002 - Now a Potentially Cataclysmic Year
(December 31, 2001)
Yasser Arafat remains under town siege in Ramallah, and his personal as well as historical nemesis, Ariel Sharon, continues to attempt to provoke more Palestinian hatred and violence which he will then use to justify still further Israeli military escalations, potentially cataclysmic in the year about to begin.
"We Will Win Nuclear War"! Crisis Escalates Further!
(December 31, 2001)
As the year turns, not since fourty years ago, not since1962 and the "Cuban Missile Crisis", has the world faced the possibility of an iminent orgastic nuclear war between two major countries.
The "Muslim" Bomb - Both Pakistan and Iran now Targeted in addition to Iraq
(December 30, 2001)
The Israelis have a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons; and in fact helped instigate the very regional arms race they are now so worried about; then fueled it further by ongoing attempts to crush and subjugate the Palestinians while colonizing still more territories.
Now, let's talk about terrorism, shall we?
(December 30, 2001)
If you are still shaken by the horrifying scenes of
September 11, please observe a moment of silence for
the 5,000 civilian lives lost in the New York,
Washington, DC and Pennsylvania attacks. While we're at it...
"Internationals" Victorious For The Day Over Israeli Army
(December 30, 2001)
You've got to hand it to these international activists, they are succeeding at the moment at least in drawing attention to what the Israeli occupation is really all about, they are putting their bodies on the line, they have now finally after so many years and provocations begun to organize and demonstrate for real. But there are a few serious problems in this.
India-Pakistan War Brews - Potential Nuclear Conflagration Looms
(December 29, 2001)
No matter what American and Israeli officials now say in public, at some point the "war against terrorism" as defined in Washington and Jerusalem was likely to begin to quickly expand in unforeseen ways in both the Middle East and the sub-continent.
Islamic Militants Attack Israeli Patrol, Defying Arafat's Truce Call
(December 29, 2001)
Ignoring Yasser Arafat's truce order, two members of the militant Islamic Jihad group on Friday attacked an Israeli army patrol in the Gaza Strip in a failed suicide mission.
U.S. INVESTIGATING WHETHER NUKES IN COUNTRY
(December 28, 2001)
"I wouldn't be the least surprised if there were a nuclear
explosion in Israel or the United States."
Congressman Chris Shays (R-Conn.)
Chairman of the House subcommittee on national security
The Real "OBSTACLE TO PEACE", and Egypt Targets Women - MER FLASHBACK
(December 28, 2001)
It's front-page news! Bill Clinton says Israeli settlements are an "obstacle" to peace. But this isn't the real story; nor are settlements the real obstacle.
INDIA, PAKISTAN PREPARE FOR WAR
(December 26, 2001)
Both India and Pakistan in recent days have deployed substantial combat forces to important strategic areas along their borders and with tension continuing to mount the Indian army has ordered residents in border villages to leave.
Pakistan warns of nuclear conflict with India!
(December 25, 2001)
As in Palestine, the Kashmir conflict originally resulted from Western policies in the last century. Now both conflicts threaten to explode into wars of mass destruction in this century.
The Terrible State of the Palestinians
(December 24, 2001)
After all his bluster and threats, Yasser Arafat remains essentially an Israeli prisoner in Ramallah, one of the militarily-surrounded Palestinian Bantustans that Arafat himself helped create when he put his pen to various Israeli schemes for which he received, quite literally, billions of dollars in payoffs and arms which he then distributed to cronies and entourage to keep himself in power.
Holy Land ShowDown - Will He or Won't He?
(December 24, 2001)
An atmosphere of tension and expectation has descended on Bethlehem as Palestinians wait to see whether their leader, Yasser Arafat, will successfully defy an Israeli ban on his travelling to the town for a highly symbolic Christmas Mass.
Israel Searches Convoy for Arafat...Political Brinksmanship Awaits Clock
(December 24, 2001)
As the clock ticks toward Christmas Eve and Midnight a grand game of political brinksmanship is underway between the two old protagonists, Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat.
Israel Prepares For Arafat's "Walk" or Copter to Bethlehem
(December 23, 2001)
It's even possible Arafat could tomorrow win this round in what has evolved into a kind of personal Sharon-Arafat political wrestling match. We're all anxiously waiting to see just how this drama is going to unfold Monday; and whether Arafat can even approach the political skill and timing of Mahatma Gandhi.
Arab Regimes Helped Bring Sharon To Power - MER FlashBack
(December 23, 2001)
It was the Arab client regimes themselves, especially the
Hashemites in Jordan and the Egyptians, who actually helped bring Ariel Sharon
to the pinnacle of power in Israel. This from MER archives four years ago:
"It's a humiliation for the entire Palestinian people"
(December 23, 2001)
"This is an example of the arrogance of occupation.
It's a humiliation for the entire Palestinian people,
Christians and Muslims... Sharon is playing with
fire -- he wants blood and tears instead of
Christmas carols."
Yasser's Historic Moment Monday To Walk Peacefully Into History
(December 22, 2001)
As we said the other day, we're all aware that Yasser Arafat's record of doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons in the right way is rather tarnished, to say the least. But even tarnished almost consumed historic figures sometimes have their possible moments of historic redemption.
War Year 2002 - Stage Set for "Transferring" Palestinians, "Jordan is Palestine"
(December 22, 2001)
If major wars and more "terrorist incidents" break out in the Sub-Continent and elsewhere in the Middle East region, as now seems likely in the weeks and months immediately ahead, that is just what Ariel Sharon and the "right-wing" Israelis -- with at least acquiescence from Barak, Peres and the so-called "left-wing" Israelis -- have been waiting for.
Darkness in the Once Holy Land
(December 21, 2001)
"The Oslo agreements were a sham... The understanding
on the Palestinian side was that Oslo would eventually
lead to Israeli withdrawal from the territories. In fact,
the accords turned into a state-run land grab of
astounding proportions..."
Arafat Threatens to Walk to Bethlehem - NewsFlash!
(December 21, 2001)
Just a week ago now MER wrote of the urgent need for Arafat to "do a Gandhi". "Message to Arafat - Do a Gandhi, right now, before it's too late!" was the title of the MER article published last Friday at this time. And it seems MER's impact is even greater than we imagined!
U.S. and Israel Cozier And More Intertwined Than Ever
(December 21, 2001)
The United States plans to offer Israel an expanded missile defense cooperation relationship.
The cooperation is meant to follow the model of the current U.S.-Israeli Arrow-2 joint program.
Time to Suspend Israel from the U.N. General Assembly
(December 20, 2001)
The General Assembly could act seriously today; it has the power. And there is the precedent as well -- South Africa in the days of Apartheid. The U.S. has no veto in the GA; something that under today's conditions, and precisely because of last week's "astounding" Security Council veto, should be acted upon.
"So let's hope the president will resist the siren calls for new wars"
(December 20, 2001)
Warnings have already come, and in public, from all over. The Germans, the French, the U.N., there's already quite a long list. But the Americans are definitely planning to march forward on their crusade...there are many "phases" already not just planned but in various forms of execution.
Peres Himself "Shudders"; and "Evil" Israeli-Style Unleashed
(December 19, 2001)
Shimon Peres ought to know. This is hardly the first time the Israelis have been caught at what for most of the world deserve to be categorized as "war crimes." And for every time they have been caught there are ever so many other times that the dastardly things they have done have been successfully hidden from view, so far that is.
Thank You Der Spiegel
(December 18, 2001)
We've yet to see the full English translation of yesterday's important article by Publisher Rudolf Augstein of Der Spiegel. But right away we can certainly comment that it's about time German intellectuals and journalists realized that precisely because of their past they have a special obligation to stand up against racism and facism and brute militarism -- from whatever quarter it rears its ugly tentacles.
LIES, TRICKS, DECEPTIONS...then and now?
(December 17, 2001)
Was what the world watched a few days ago, originally broadcast direct from the Pentagon no less, the real OSB and the whole truthful story of the conveniently found and timed tape? Was this just a part of the real but more more complex and convoluted story? Was there a CIA Sting involved as has been reported by the establishment British press in London over the weekend?
Destroying Saddam/Bathist Regime Being Planned by US, Israel
(December 17, 2001)
When you send a recently retired Marine Corp General and regional Commander to the Middle East as your "Peace Negotiator" it's war not peace you have in mind. But the popular press is ever-so-gullible and compliant of course.
Neighborhood Bully - A Former U.S. Attorney General on American Militarism
(December 15, 2001)
When I picture a high-ranking government official, I think of someone who is corrupt. I think of a corporate shill. I think of someone who is not a friend to the people of this country. I think of Lord Acton's famous line about power corrupting, and absolute power corrupting absolutely.
Israeli Stage Set For Regional War and Destruction
(December 15, 2001)
"Arafat's real crisis is among his own people. They see
him as just an Israeli sheriff who happens to speak their
language."
Message to Arafat - Do a Gandhi, right now, before it's too late!
(December 14, 2001)
Palestinian support groups in the US and elsewhere are pathetically weak, terribly lead, and still engaged most of the time in rather juvenile uninformed internal debates about who is who and what is what. But even so, once and awhile there's a good idea circulated in their incestuous and bloated email forums, though there is hardly ever any follow-through in any serious way.
Arafat's Last Stand... European Betrayal... Devastation and Catastrophe...
(December 14, 2001)
"Arafat came as collaborator as much as liberator.
For the Israelis, security - theirs, not the Palestinians' -
was the be-all and end-all of Oslo. His job was to
supply it on their behalf."
Arafat in Bunker; Israeli Missiles Seek Bin Laden; Propaganda Campaigns Escalate
(December 13, 2001)
Greatly emboldened because there have not been the kinds of major demonstrations and violent clashes in Arab and Muslim countries that some predicted, the U.S. and Israel have decided to push forward with crushing military power, still more covert CIA actions, and further administrative and financial restrictions worldwide.
Israelis Spies Held by U.S. While Israelis Unleash More Death and Destruction
(December 13, 2001)
The very day the White House went to great lengths to position the Israeli flag right behind the President, and to purposefully highlight the Star of David to the greatest degree possible, the whole subject of Israeli espionage against the U.S. has also unfurled once again.
Israeli Spying in USA, Part I
(December 13, 2001)
Israeli Spying in USA, Part II
(December 13, 2001)
Israeli Spying in USA, Part III
(December 13, 2001)
Israeli Spying in USA, Part IV
(December 13, 2001)
Boycott the USA Says Famous Egyptian
(December 12, 2001)
When Egypt's most popular television commentator, Hamdi Qandil, called for a boycott of U.S. goods, which his government opposes, it got past the censor. But he was stopped from repeating it.
Israel: The 51st State?
(December 12, 2001)
September 11th, 2001, has become the tragedy of opportunity for Israel; a perfect turning point in which the "war against terrorism" analogy has been fully exploited by Ariel Sharon's radical right-wing government to sustain, even intensify, the horrors of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.
What Drives A Bomber to Kill the Innocent Child? MER FLASHBACK
(December 11, 2001)
I once asked the head of the Lebanese Hizbollah if he could explain to me how the mind of a suicide bomber works. Sayed Hassan Nasrallah was dressed in his black turban and robes. He had formerly been the Hizbollah's military commander in southern Lebanon and from his legions had emerged the first Arab suicide bombers who would - after more than a decade and a half - sap the morale of Israel's retreating army.
"...Symbol of Hatred and Fury of This Filthy War"
(December 10, 2001)
They started by shaking hands. We said 'Salaam aleikum' - peace be upon you - then the first pebbles flew past my face. A small boy tried to grab my bag. Then another. Then someone punched me in the back. Then young men broke my glasses, began smashing stones into my face and head.
Robert Fisk Nearly Beaten to Death
(December 9, 2001)
Robert Fisk is one of the world's preeminent experts about the Middle East and world affairs. He is the longest serving Western correspondent in the region. He is also an extraordinarily courageous person who always conducts himself with great determination, fortitude, and professionalism.
Just Call Me 'Uncle Jim', Saudi Propaganda, Academia Subverted - MER FLASHBACKS
(December 4, 2001)
Lies About "Peace" and a "Palestinian State" - Then and Now
(December 1, 2001)
More than twenty years ago now another American President was promising a complete "settlement freeze" and a "transitional period" leading to a "Palestinian State". The notion that George W. Bush is doing so for the first time, sui generis, is not only blatantly historically fallacious but downright disingenuous.
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