>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: "International" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 18:32:11 -0400 > >International Action Center >39 West 14th St, #206 >NY, NY 10011 >212-633-6646 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >www.iacenter.org > >Activist Alert on Crisis in the Middle East: > >The Israeli Defense Forces have decided to try to end the Palestinian >resistance by carrying out a virtual state of war against the Palestinian >Authority and against the civilian population. > >Scores of Israeli missiles smashed into the headquarters of the >Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza. Also destroyed or >badly damaged were the Voice of Palestine Radio and other facilities. > >Make no mistake about it: this Israeli action was long-planned. It >signaled the start of the national unity government between Barak and >extreme right-wing and fascist forces and their leader Ariel Sharon. > >The death today of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah was a pretext. It >was an incident "waiting to happen." The swift Israeli military assault -- >using missiles directed at the most vital elements of the Palestinian >Authority's institutional facilities was obviously pre-planned. > >Who were these slain Israeli soldiers? "Innocent" reservists who took a >wrong turn, as the Israeli government claims. This claim is echoed >every five minutes in the U.S. mass media. Or were the soldiers part of >a sinister undercover unit of the Israeli military operating in Palestinian >territory, as claimed by the Palestinians. > >The true identity of the Israeli soldiers is an important but secondary >issue. If the incident was indeed a pretext utilized by the Israeli >authorities to launch a major escalation of the conflict then the most >important thing to assess is what is the goal of the operation. > >It is a clear signal that the Israeli government, with the full backing of >the Clinton Administration, has decided to physically overwhelm the >militant resistance of the Palestinian people. As the U.S. tried to do in >Vietnam, the Israeli authorities have opted for a strategy of high tech >terror against a peoples movement. > >Will this strategy succeed or will it instead provoke a new level of anti- >imperialist struggle throughout the region? There is every indication >that the severe military assault and clampdown of the Palestinian >people will ignite a new level of anti-colonial resistance. The people in >the United States must take a stand with the oppressed people in the >Middle East. > >The International Action Center is helping to coordinate protest >mobilizations and present educational material on the U.S. role in the >conflict. The U.S. provides the Israeli military with more than $10 >million aid each and every day. > >We present the following article as background material. The author is >Richard Becker, a Western Regional Coordinator of the International >Action Center. > > >______________________________________________ >______________________________________________ > >U.S. gives green light to Israeli repression Palestinian uprising defends >sovereignty By Richard Becker > >Provoked by a fascist politician and fired on by occupation troops, the >Palestinian people have launched a new uprising--a new Intifada. >Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in virtually >every town of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as inside the 1948 >borders of Israel. They have reminded the United States, Israel and the >world that their just demands cannot be ignored or shunted aside. > >By Oct. 4, the Israeli occupation army had reportedly killed 54 >Palestinians and wounded more than 1,300 in six days as they fired >indiscriminately into crowds of demonstrating youths. But the >unprecedented use of heavy combat weapons by the U.S.-armed Israeli >Army failed to break the protests. > >On the contrary, the demonstrations have grown. More guns have >begun to appear on the Palestinian side, some in the hands of >Palestinian Authority police who have often fought alongside the >demonstrators. A small number of Israelis have been killed in the >fighting, and more than a hundred have been injured. > >Heavy sustained fighting has taken place in many cities and towns, >including Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Hebron and many locations in >Gaza. > >On Oct. 2 alone, the Israeli Army shot and killed at least 19 >Palestinians, nine of them in predominantly Palestinian cities and towns >such as Uhm Al-Fahm and Nazareth in the Galilee region of northern >Israel. It was the biggest single-day death toll among Palestinians living >inside Israel since 1956. > >The uprising by "Israeli Arabs," as the U.S. corporate media usually call >them, sent shock waves through Israeli society. Comprising over 18 >percent of the population--1 million people--these Palestinians >supposedly have "equality" in Israel. In reality, they are treated like >third-class citizens and suffer extreme discrimination, poverty and >unemployment. > >Fighting broke out again on Oct. 3 in Jenin, Ramallah, Nablus, Gaza and >elsewhere, just a few hours after a "cease-fire agreement" was to >have taken effect. > >Sharon: Advocate of genocide > >The event that triggered the uprising--the most widespread since the >Intifada of 1987-1991--was a provocative visit Sept. 28 by the Israeli >fascist Ariel Sharon to the main Muslim holy site in Palestinian East >Jerusalem. The Al-Aksa and Dome of the Rock mosques are both >located on the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) plaza, which for >many years has been under the administration and security of Islamic >authorities. > >Sharon's invasion of the site was okayed in advance by Israeli >authorities. He was escorted into the area by 1,000 Israeli troops. > >This was a clear provocation, accentuated by Sharon's brutal record. >Blandly described in most U.S. media as an "opposition leader" or as >holding "hawkish" views, Sharon is both an advocate and a perpetrator >of genocide against the Palestinians. > >Sharon has long called for Israel's retention of all of occupied Palestine >and the expulsion of the Palestinians. The removal of a people from >their homeland is defined as genocide under international law. > >But Sharon is most hated for his role in the Sabra and Shatila >massacres in Lebanon. > >In 1982 Israel, with full backing from Washington, launched a massive >invasion of Lebanon. Its goal was to destroy the Palestine Liberation >Organization and the Lebanese National Movement. Intensive Israeli >bombing killed more than 30,000 Lebanese and Palestinians--mostly >civilians. > >During the Israeli occupation of Beirut under Sharon's command, >Lebanese fascists were allowed to enter two Palestinian refugee >camps, Sabra and Shatila, and carry out a mass slaughter of the >inhabitants. More than 2,000 children, women and men were murdered >in three days. The residents of Sabra and Shatila were families >expelled from Palestine in 1948 to make way for the creation of Israel. > >Even an official Israeli tribunal found Sharon responsible for this >atrocity. But the war criminal suffered no punishment for his acts, and >within a few years he was once again a cabinet minister. > >In the late 1990s, as part of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud government, >Sharon was minister of housing. He conducted a massive Israeli >settlement-building program on seized Palestinian lands in the West >Bank. > >The appearance of this bloody racist killer in the heart of East >Jerusalem, at one of Islam's most revered sites, did not, and could not, >go unanswered. Hundreds of Palestinians fought back. > >The next day, Sept. 29, was a Friday, and an estimated 20,000 people >came to Haram al-Sharif for prayers. They found 2,000 Israeli troops >surrounding the area. > >This new provocation proved beyond any doubt that the Israeli >government as a whole wanted to ignite a conflict--not just Sharon. > >Israeli troops open fire on crowd > >Thousands of Palestinians, mostly youths but including people of all >ages, joined in the struggle. > >Their stones were answered with rifle fire from the Israeli troops, who >used both rubber-jacketed steel bullets and live ammunition. > >Six Palestinians were killed and more than 200 were wounded that day, >including several who "had their eyes shot out" by rubber bullets, >according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. > >On Sept. 30, the uprising spread to virtually every city, town and >refugee camp in the West Bank and Gaza. In many areas, armed >Palestinian Authority police and security forces fought side-by-side with >the people against the Israeli occupiers, reportedly with the support of >the PA leadership headed by Yasir Arafat. > >The Israeli Army responded by bringing up battle tanks, using heavy >machine guns and opening fire on the demonstrators from helicopter >gunships. Anti-tank missiles were fired into Palestinian buildings, >destroying apartment complexes and PA structures in Gaza. Thirty-five >Palestinians were injured after an anti-armor missile hit one building. > >But despite the overwhelming firepower and heavy casualties, the >Palestinians--most armed only with stones--displayed incredible >courage and determination. > >At the Netzarim Junction, Palestinian youths and police stormed an >Israeli police station. The occupation troops retaliated by firing rockets, >destroying two apartment buildings. In the West Bank town of >Tulkarem, four Israeli factories were torched. > >Addameer, an Internet news summary posted by Ramallah activists, >reported that Israeli troops tried to invade the town of Jenin Oct. 2 but >were driven back. One Israeli soldier was critically wounded. > >Two Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in Beit Sahour, where >Palestinians also repulsed an attempted invasion of the town. > >Addameer also reported mass arrests of Palestinians inside the 1948 >Israeli borders and in Kalandia, on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Many >other clashes were reported. > >U.S. gives green light > >Just as Sharon could not have gone to Haram al-Sharif without the >knowledge and support of the Israeli government, the Israelis would >not have launched this massive, well-prepared attack without a green >light from Washington. > >Since the Camp David talks between Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud >Barak and U.S. President Bill Clinton broke down this summer, Clinton's >foreign policy team has blamed the Palestinians for being >"unreasonable." Yet it was the Israeli government that refused to >concede Palestinian sovereignty over any part of East Jerusalem. > >Israel illegally annexed East Jerusalem in 1970 in violation of >international law. All Palestinians consider Jerusalem to be their capital, >and East Jerusalem is almost entirely Palestinian. > >That latest U.S. propaganda blitz set the stage for the new Israeli >attack. > >In recent days the administration has publicly tried to equate the Israeli >brutality and the Palestinian resistance. But as PA spokesperson Saeb >Erekat said, decrying Clinton's call for a cease-fire, "One side is >shooting and one side is dying." > >Clinton's comments on the death of 12-year-old Muhammed al-Durrah >were especially cynical. > >The boy's death was filmed by a French TV crew in Gaza as he and >father attempted to shield themselves behind a stone block. Only the >Israeli soldiers had guns at the site. > >As his father frantically waved toward the Israelis, shouting, "The boy, >the boy," the Israelis opened a barrage of automatic weapons fire. >Muhammed died and his father was badly wounded. The Israeli troops >then shot and killed an ambulance driver attempting to aid the two. > >What was Clinton's response? On Oct. 2, he appeared on national >television to express his regrets for "the boy killed in a crossfire." > >U.S. weapons rain death > >The Israeli Army has been built up, armed, funded and supplied by the >Pentagon for more than five decades. The tanks, helicopters, missiles >and guns raining death on the Palestinians come from the United >States. The U.S. government has played a key and irreplaceable role in >keeping Israel afloat since its birth at the expense of the Palestinian >people 52 years ago. > >In the "peace talks," Washington is anything but a neutral broker. It is >the senior partner in a U.S./Israeli alliance. Washington's objective is >not a just peace but an imperialist-led pacification of the entire Middle >East. > >The Israeli Army is trying to force the Palestinians to accept the "peace >terms" that the PA refused at Camp David--in other words, surrender. > >For 52 years, Israel and the United States have tried to accomplish this >objective. Many times they have counted the Palestinians down and >out. But the Palestinian people have shown amazing determination and >resiliency. > >In recent days, the Palestinians have written another chapter in their >glorious history, and made it clear once more that without justice for >their people, there will be no peace in the Middle East. > > > > > >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] _______________________________________________________
