-Caveat Lector- Yes there were documents drafted - that no one in power signed. No one. On either side. Of any of the multiple possibilities. The issue is not whether documents were written. That's easy.
(There needs to be a recognized state before one can institute a constitution.) As to Sharon's visit to the mosque - Yes he's a fucking pig. Yes he had way to much security with him. But shouldn�t he have a right to visit the mosque? Shouldn't anyone? Doesn't the idea of not allowing someone to visit your holy site because of their religion seem dangerous? Yes - Sharon is an asshole. If the palestinians had welcomed him to share in prayers, instead of with the flaming sword, they would have scored major international points, opened a path to reconciliation - I mean if they could welcome Sharon they couls welcome ANYONE - and maybe have been in a situation where they have a state to run under this constitution, instead of a 2 year war against an enemy with superior fire power. on 7/2/02 7:03 PM, Jei at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > -Caveat Lector- > > http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/181/oped/What_Bush_doesn_t_know_about_Palest > ine+.shtml > > What Bush doesn't know about Palestine > By Wendy Pearlman, 6/30/2002 > > PRESIDENT BUSH'S speech on Palestinian reforms included several astute > observations. The president was right to note that the ''Palestinian > Legislature has no authority and power is concentrated in the hands of an > unaccountable few.'' Palestinian legislators, after all, are trapped under > military curfew. Power over all aspects of Palestinians' lives is in the > hands of the Israeli prime minister, who is unaccountable to international > law, no less to the 3 million Palestinian civilians who suffer an > unrelenting siege. > > > And the president was also right to remark, ''the Palestinian people lack > effective courts of law and have no means to defend and vindicate their > rights.'' The Israeli army, after all, has rounded up thousands of > Palestinians without charge or trial. They endure inhuman conditions and > languish in Israeli prisons indefinitely. > > But the president was misinformed when he told the Palestinians to draft a > democratic constitution. The Palestinians already have such a constitution. > I know, because I translated it. > > Yasser Arafat established a Constitution Committee in 1999, long before > either George Bush or Ariel Sharon came to power and assumed the right to > tell Palestinians how to run their affairs. After months of research and > debate, the Committee completed a draft in September 2000. Two friends and > I, all three of us students of Arabic sharing an apartment in Cairo, were > asked to translate the draft. We eagerly agreed. > > For days on end, we hovered around my laptop, meticulously considering every > word we translated. As modern twentysomething women, we were determined to > make the Palestinian constitution even more democratic than the American one > by rendering the English text gender-neutral. Not unlike male politicians > and academics everywhere, however, the members of the Palestinian > Constitution Committee eventually reinserted the he's that we had taken such > pains to circumvent. > > So I've reviewed every ''for,'' ''if,'' and ''but'' of the Palestinian > Constitution, and I can say that it's not too bad. It provides for regular > elections, separation of powers, and civil rights. It addresses the rights > of Palestinian refugees, and it pledges religious tolerance. Granted, the > constitution is far from perfect. Palestinian human rights activists have > called attention to loopholes that grant the executive branch the wide > discretion that it enjoys throughout the developing world. More than grounds > for invalidating the current draft, however, this debate illustrates that > democratic dialogue is alive and well in Palestinian civil society. > > My friends and I became completely absorbed in the constitution of the > Palestinian state-to-be in order to meet our Sept. 30, 2000, deadline. > > It was only after we had submitted our translation, therefore, that we > switched on the news and discovered that Palestine was in flames. Two days > before, Ariel Sharon had visited the Al-Aqsa mosque. Clashes had ensued > between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police the next day. According to > the Palestinian Red Crescent, some 60 Palestinians were killed and 2,500 > injured during the week following Sharon's visit. Within a month, another > 125 Palestinians would be killed. The 126th to die was this intifada's first > suicide bomber. The rest is history. > > The three of us spent weeks in our Cairo apartment consumed by the news from > Palestine. Listening to the reports about the bombing of neighborhoods, > demolition of homes, and countless funerals, we would exclaim, ''How can > this happen? The Palestinians have a constitution!'' We knew then what our > president still does not understand. A Palestinian constitution means little > as long as the Israeli occupation continues. > > Palestinian reforms will not end the conflict, because Palestinian politics > is not the source of the conflict. The violence will not end until Israel > takes its soldiers and settlers and leaves the West Bank and Gaza, once and > for all. > > President Bush's call for democracy in Palestine, therefore, is not wrong as > much as it is beside the point. It does not matter how the Palestinians > choose their leaders when Israel retains the power to besiege, arrest, or > assassinate them. It does not matter what free-market institutions the > Palestinians develop as long as Israel can impose a closures that brings > commerce, not to mention all daily life, to a screeching halt. > > Israel is wreaking havoc in Palestinian towns and refugee camps with > impunity, and the White House's solution is to audit the PNA? Perhaps the > president got the Enron and Middle East files mixed up. His speech reads > more like a prescription for reforming American finance than a vision for a > just resolution to the Palestinians' 50-year struggle for statehood. > > The Palestinians already have a constitution; they don't need another one. > What they need is to be treated like a people. > > Wendy Pearlmanis earning a PhD in government at Harvard University. > > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER > ========== > CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic > screeds are unwelcomed. Substance?not soap-boxing?please! These are > sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'?with its many half-truths, mis- > directions and outright frauds?is used politically by different groups with > major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. > That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and > always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no > credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. > > Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. > ======================================================================== > Archives Available at: > http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html > <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of > [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> > > http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ > <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> > ======================================================================== > To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: > SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: > SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Om -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsel or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands of those who feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you. Samuel Adams NEURONAUTIC INSTITUTE on-line: http://home.earthlink.net/~thew <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
