> WW News Service Digest #191 > > 1) Eyewitness report from Palestine > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 2) Anti-war group asks Israeli troops to refuse duty > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 3) Intifada reaches cyberspace > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 4) Stop U.S.-Israeli terrorism > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 5) Is Colombia another Vietnam? > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > 6) Sierra Leone: U.S., Britain step up intervention > by "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 16, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >EYEWITNESS PALESTINE: >REVOLUTION AGAINST COLONIALISM AND >OCCUPATION CONTINUES > >By Richard Becker > >While the corporate media focus almost exclusively on street >and military clashes, the reality is that all of Palestinian >society is involved in the 2000 uprising or Intifada against >Israeli occupation. > >This is not to say that the confrontations are not critical-- >they are the front-line of this great struggle. But what an >International Action Center delegation in late October-early >November saw clearly was that every sector and age group of >the Palestinian people is part of the new Intifada. They >join in marches, funerals, self-defense, medical aid and >other organized efforts. > >Everyone follows the events not only day-by-day, but hour-by- >hour if they can. > >In fact, what has erupted in the still-occupied West Bank >and Gaza is a revolutionary situation. > >"Revolution" is a word often loosely used. But the struggle >today inside the West Bank and Gaza has many of the >characteristics of a revolutionary situation. > >The old order has broken down. The Israeli occupation >authority can no longer rule in the way that it did before >Sept. 28, when the new uprising began, because the >Palestinian masses will no longer accept the intolerable >conditions of life imposed upon them. > >The people's anger--fueled by the decades of brutality, >humiliation and deprivation that have come with the >occupation--is universal. Seven years of unfulfilled "peace >process" promises have deepened the unanimous sense of >outrage. Whole families go to observe and support the >clashes on the outskirts of the Palestinian-controlled >cities. > >DUAL POWER IN WEST BANK, GAZA > >There is dual power in the West Bank and Gaza--two centers >of contending authority. One is the Israeli army and its >paramilitary death squads, the settlers. Israeli "authority" >over the Palestinian people, to the degree that it continues >to exist, is based on terrorist coercion and that alone. > >Israel has responded to the new Intifada with unprecedented >violence and firepower. The army now routinely uses >helicopter gunships and tanks against civilians. > >Counterpoised to the occupiers' power is a Palestinian state >seeking to emerge. Right now the Palestinians have control >over only small pieces of territory, divided from each other >by settlements, bypass roads and the Israeli military. The >Palestinian military and security forces, which engage the >Israeli army in struggle every day, are no match for their >firepower. But they are as resolute as the youths in the >streets. > >There are different political currents and views among the >Palestinians, but all are united in militant determination >to overthrow the power of the occupation force and replace >it with a full-fledged, independent Palestinian state. > >The Palestinian revolution is aimed at ending colonial >oppression. It is called by some the "Palestinian War of >Independence." While earlier anti-colonial revolutions in >Algeria, Zimbabwe, Vietnam and South Africa have had their >distinct characteristics, all were fought to free colonized >peoples from the grip of imperialist/settler rule. > >The anti-colonial revolution is the essence of the struggle >in Palestine today--an essence often obscured, deliberately >or otherwise, by attempts to portray it as a religious or >ethnic conflict. > >The new uprising has released incredible energy, as >revolutionary explosions always do, along with determination >and desire to struggle. The many children, teens and young >adults who go out day after day to confront the Israeli >troops with their vastly superior U.S.-supplied weaponry >appear utterly disdainful of danger. > >Racist Israeli and U.S. spokespeople try to make it appear >that the Palestinians have "no regard for life," and that >adults are using children as "human shields" to garner >international sympathy. > >But this lie is just the latest in a long history of racist >anti-Arab propaganda. It's not that the Palestinians, young >and old, "don't care about life"--just the opposite. > >What sends the youths into the streets day after day against >seemingly insurmountable odds is a burning sense of >injustice. What they want, and are determined to get, is a >life free from enslavement by colonial oppressors. > >Their relentless and courageous confrontations with the >misnamed "Israeli Defense Forces" have the heartfelt backing >of the people. Those who fall are deeply mourned and honored >as martyrs of the liberation struggle. > >AFTER SUNDOWN, BATTLE SHIFTS > >At night, the battle lines in the war are different than >during the daytime. > >One evening, the IAC delegation toured several Palestinian >checkpoints in the Bethlehem/Beit Sahour/Beit Jala area, >which has been a zone of heavy combat. The checkpoints, >staffed by Palestinian Authority security forces, are on the >perimeter of Zone A. > >The West Bank and Gaza are divided into zones called A >(Palestinian civilian administrative and security control), >B (Israeli security and Palestinian administration) and C >(Israeli security and administration). The A zones comprise >only about a quarter of the West Bank--major cities and >little else. > >After sundown, the Israeli army and paramilitary settler >groups frequently attack Palestinian-controlled areas, often >with tanks and helicopters as well as automatic weapons. The >PA military forces, armed with much older light weapons, are >deployed to protect Palestinian civilian areas in Zone A. > >Israeli military attacks are widespread throughout the West >Bank and Gaza. The delegates saw evidence of many nighttime >assaults in West Bank cities and even more so in Gaza >refugee camps and towns. We saw many apartment buildings >damaged by tank, helicopter and machine-gun fire. Some homes >in Gaza were marked by hundreds of large bullet holes. > >U.S.-supplied "Apache" helicopters have rocketed civilian >areas in many cities, including Ramallah, Nablus, Beit Jala, >Jericho, Gaza and elsewhere. > >Despite being heavily out-gunned, all of the Palestinian >soldiers and police we spoke with expressed resolute >determination to defend their territory and people. Many >battles have taken place between Israeli and Palestinian >armed forces, including militias of the Fatah Party, and >while most of the casualties in these clashes have also been >on the Palestinian side, the Israeli army has taken losses >as well. > >When IDF soldiers have fallen, the Israelis have retaliated >in the traditional manner of colonial occupiers, inflicting >collective punishment attacks on the civilian population. > >CAN THE PALESTINIANS WIN? > >If one looks only at the material assets of the two sides >directly involved in the conflict--the economic resources, >military might and U.S. imperialism's backing of Israel--a >Palestinian victory would appear impossible. So, too, >however, would many other struggles that have ultimately >won. What the imperialist strategists almost always leave >out of their calculations is the role of the people in >motion. > >It must also be noted, of course, that many revolutionary >opportunities have not ended in victory. > >But the heroic and determined struggle of the Palestinian >people will not easily be contained, much less defeated. And >their struggle is reverberating elsewhere. > >Of critical importance is the further intervention of the >Arab people outside Palestine. The 2000 Intifada has already >had a great impact on Arab and other Middle Eastern >governments, and has aroused anti-imperialist sentiments and >actions throughout the region. Anger over the genocidal >sanctions on Iraq is also widespread. > >The issues of Palestine and Iraq, along with the continued >impoverishment of the masses in this oil-rich region, are >fueling rebellions that could undermine the U.S. ruling >class's domination of the entire area. > >Solidarity from outside the region, particularly in the >United States--given its role as main prop and backer of >Israel--is crucial as well. It is encouraging that the >largest pro-Palestinian demonstrations in U.S. history have >taken place in recent weeks. Of course, much more is needed. > >Whether or not the current Intifada leads to victory in the >short-term, it has established beyond any doubt that the >Palestinian people are not going away, and that there can be >no real peace in the Middle East until there is real justice >for the Palestinians. > >Real justice means a Palestinian state with contiguous >territory and its own borders, with Jerusalem as its >capital, and with the right to return for the nearly 5 >million Palestinians living in exile. Nothing like this has >yet been offered by the U.S.-Israeli side in the >negotiations. > >The Palestinian people's long and heroic struggle is >inextricably linked to the fight against imperialist >domination and oppression here and around the world. It >deserves the support of all who stand for justice. > >[Becker was a member of the International Action Center fact- >finding delegation that visited occupied Palestine from Oct. >27 to Nov. 1.] > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > > > > >Message-ID: <00b901c04e9b$d64ad620$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Anti-war group asks Israeli troops to refuse duty >Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 19:34:35 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 16, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >ANTI-WAR GROUP ASKS ISRAELI TROOPS TO REFUSE DUTY > >According to Internet reports, in early November an anti-war >group in Israel, Yesh Gvul, began handing out leaflets to >Israeli Defense Force soldiers calling on them to refuse to >serve in the occupied territories. Part of the leaflet was a >tear-off attachment that the soldiers were asked to sign. It >read: "We, soldiers of the IDF, state hereby that we will >not participate in the continuing oppression of the >Palestinian people in the occupied territories and will not >take part in policing and in guarding the settlements, which >enhance this oppression." > >Already, some soldiers of Druze origin in the Israeli army >have refused duty, apparently out of identification with the >Palestinian cause. Palestinians of the Druze religious >denomination are the only Palestinians living within Israeli >borders who serve in the Israeli military. > >Also, some soldiers of Jewish origin have refused duty for >reasons of conscience. There has been no national publicity >in Israel of this resistance as of Nov. 5. > >The anti-war group has stated that it will support and >encourage any open resistance and even private avoidance of >duty as part of a punitive force within the West Bank or >Gaza. It believes any such resistance will help prevent >Israeli atrocities against Palestinians within those areas. - > >--John Catalinotto > >- END - > >(Copyleft Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to >copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but >changing it is not allowed. For more information contact >Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) > > > > > > > > >Message-ID: <00c101c04e9b$e5625ca0$0a00a8c0@linux> >From: "WW" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [WW] Intifada reaches cyberspace >Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 19:35:00 -0500 >Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="Windows-1252" >Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit > >------------------------- >Via Workers World News Service >Reprinted from the Nov. 16, 2000 >issue of Workers World newspaper >------------------------- > >INTIFADA REACHES CYBERSPACE > >By Gary Wilson > >As Israeli soldiers started shooting Palestinian children >throwing rocks, the Israeli settler regime took their war >into cyberspace. The Israeli government set up operations >aimed at shutting down pro-Palestinian Web sites. > >The Israeli government cannot control content on the >Internet the way it does with media in occupied Palestine. >So Tel Aviv attempted to block information from being spread >through the Web. The FBI appears to be assisting the Israeli >government's efforts to block pro-Palestinian news on the >Internet under the guise of "stopping terrorism." > >The Israeli government has set up a military department for >its cyber operations called MAGLAN. MAGLAN has helped >publicize sites set up by Israeli "citizens" that give out >information for jamming Palestinian Web sites, fax machines > _______________________________________________________ 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. 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