>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Speech at PALESTINIAN RIGHT TO RETURN RALLY >Sept. 16, 2000, Washington, D.C. >By Richard Becker, Western Region Coordinator, International Action >Center > >(The march and rally was a big success with 4,000 people >participating. Most of the crowd was youth and students, but there >were people of all ages, including Palestinian refugees from 1948 and >1967.) > >On behalf of the International Action Center, I want to express our >solidarity with the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition for organizing >today's historic demonstration. > >The United States government poses as the great defender of human >rights, but its record from Vietnam to South Africa to Chile to the >genocidal sanctions against Iraq show that this pose is nothing but a >fraud and that there is no greater violator of human rights in the world >than Washington. This same government claims to be a neutral, >"honest broker" in what is called the Middle East "peace process." But >is the U.S. an "honest broker?" > >It has given one side - Israel - hundreds of billions in aid over the past >half-century It has turned the same country into one of the world's >leading military powers armed with nuclear weapons. The U.S. shields >Israel from any international sanction despite the fact that Israel has >violated and continues to violate dozens of UN resolution. Without the >support it has received from the U.S., there would be no Israel. > >The U.S. and Israel are acting in alliance in saying NO to any >Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem, in saying NO to the right of 5 >million dispossessed Palestinian to return to their homeland, NO to a >truly independent Palestinian state. And then Clinton blames the >Palestinians for the break down of talks at Camp David. > >Why does Washington lavish such extravagant support on Israel, more >than all of its combined aid to Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America >combined? Is it based on sympathy or sentimentality? No, they have >none. > >The real reason is that Israel plays a key role in the U.S. imperial >system, particularly in the Middle East, which due to its vast oil >resources and strategic geo-political position is considered absolutely >crucial by Corporate America. Domination of this key region is what >drives the policy of blockade against Iraq and the continued >dispossession of the Palestinian people, both crimes against humanity. > >Fifty years ago, imperialism attempted to erase the name of Palestine >from the map of the world and to deny that there were any such >people as the Palestinians. But through a struggle marked by >indescribable sacrifice, determination and heroism, the Palestinian >people not only refused to disappear, but instead have made their >cause one which even the most powerful cannot ignore. By their >courageous and steadfast resistance the Palestinian people have won >the admiration of all who stand for justice world-wide, including >growing numbers of people here in the U.S. > >The enemy that the Palestinian people face - the military-industrial-oil- >banking complex - is in fact also the enemy of the American people and >all of humanity. We must stand together with all those who are >resisting the empire from Iraq to Cuba to Mumia Abu-Jamal to >Palestine. This is not just a matter of sympathy but of solidarity. Our >struggles and our fate are linked together. It is the very survival of >humanity that it is at stake in this great struggle. > >No Return - No Peace! >No Independent Palestinian State - No Peace >No Justice - No Peace! >U.S. Out of the Middle East! >Long Live Palestine! > >International Action Center >39 West 14th Street, Room 206 >New York, NY 10011 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >web: www.iacenter.org >CHECK OUT THE NEW SITE www.mumia2000.org >phone: 212 633-6646 >fax: 212 633-2889 > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi _______________________________________________________ Kominform list for general information. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anti-Imperialism list for anti-imperialist news. Subscribe/unsubscribe messages: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________
