----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > PRESS RELEASE > Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism * > 11 John Street * Suite 506 * New York, NY 10038 > > For Immediate Release > Date: Oct. 20, 2000 > Contact: Georgia Wever > Phone: 212.233.7151 > FAX: 212.233.7063 > > > STATEMENT ON THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS > > by the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism > > > We are pained and outraged at the carnage in the Middle East, which has > now claimed over one hundred lives, overwhelmingly Palestinian. While > every death must be mourned, there is absolutely no moral equivalence > between Israel's use of its heavy weapons and advanced sniper equipment > against largely unarmed civilians. No rationalization or media spin can > justify this one-sided use of force, unprecedented in the history of the > region, to vanquish stone-throwers. > > WE DEMAND: > > 1. The US Administration must urgently prevail upon Israel to honor a > cease fire, pull back its troops from confrontation points, and end the > massacre that its armed forces have been carrying out. > > The United States is Israel's one and only patron. There is no way > Israel can resist even a minimal exertion of US will. In 1998 Israel > received $2.8 billion in economic aid, more than any other country. > > 2. In view of the now-obvious failure of the US-brokered Oslo peace > process, the focus of mediation between Israel and the Palestinians > must promptly revert to the United Nations and be carried out according > to the terms of the new Security Council resolution (no. 1322, adopted > October 7), which incorporates relevant earlier resolutions. > > The Oslo Peace Accords were signed by Israel and the PLO in September > 1993 after being negotiated secretly under Norwegian auspices. The > Accords did begin a needed dialogue, but were fatally undermined when > the United States assumed control over the negotiations. This > contributed to a long term process whereby the US has been drawing > responsibility for Middle East issues out of the hands of the UN, the > international authority whose Partition Resolution of 1947 had provided > for two states to be set up in Palestine. The Oslo Accords postponed > into the indefinite future implementation of UN Resolutions 242 and 338. > Adopted in 1967 and 1973, these resolutions called unambiguously for > Israel's withdrawal from the Palestinian territories it had occupied > in 1967. The new Security Council resolution reaffirms these older > resolutions as the basis for "a just and lasting solution" of the > conflict. > > The Oslo Accords were adopted by negotiating partners severely unequal > in power. Washington did nothing to maintain a balance in the > negotiations. This was to prove disastrous for peace; the Israeli > Right was emboldened to warp the negotiations so that the prospects > for a sovereign Palestinian state withered. The final outcome was intact > Israeli control over vanquished Palestinians, who were to have limited > "self rule" within an area carved by Israeli roads and surrounded by > Israeli settlements. The Palestinians were left with no state, no capital > in East Jerusalem, no adequate access to water and no right of return for > refugees who had been expelled. The frustration, humiliation and anger > wrought by unemployment, expulsions, home demolitions and jailings without > trial under the occupation finally burst on September 28. On that day, > Ariel Sharon, organizer a generation earlier of the massacre at the Sabra > and Shatila refugee camps, was allowed by the Barak leadership to venture > with over 1,000 armed police onto Haram al Sharif, an Islamic holy place, > to emphasize Israel's claimed sovereignty over all Jerusalem. And > Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, alone among world leaders, was > unable to condemn this action or comprehend the explosion of anger by > the Palestinians. > > 3. There must be an international investigation. On October 9 Amnesty > International called on the UN to "establish urgently an independent > international investigation, to include criminal justice experts known > for their impartiality and integrity, to investigate all killings of > civilians that took place since 29 September in Israel, the Occupied > territories and South Lebanon." In the context of strong support, we > also urge that the scope of the investigation be enlarged to include > responsibility for the crisis as a whole. > > Finding the truth is essential for ending the conflict and bringing > peace with justice to the peoples of the region. Accordingly, the > emergency summit on October 17 provided for the US to preside over > an investigation. However, the US, having demonstrated its bias many > times over in the past, is not a fit arbiter in the new situation. > > October 20, 2000 > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > Post a message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Website/URL : http://www.egroups.com/group/portside > Digest mode : visit website > >
