From: Mazin Qumsiyeh To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2001 7:08 PM Subject: [AL-AWDA-News] Netanyahu and other Israel gems Binyamin Netanyahu, a leader of the Likud Party and an ex-prime minister of Israel has been all over the news lately. Why did no one ask him about these incredible statements he made in Hebrew but available in English and widely cited. - He was giving a speech to dozen's of Likud Party members in Eilat. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz (7/15/01) reported that: "... giving his audience a bit of advice on how to deal with foreign interviewers [Netanyahu said]: 'Always, irrespective of whether you're right or not, you must always present your side as right.' " - After the peace process with the Palestinians stipulating no unilateral changes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Quoted in Ha'aretz 11/24/1998) said "There is no such thing as a freeze [on construction].... Our policy is to grow and expand...This issue must be coordinated behind closed doors with the army and not in front of the media." - "Israel should have exploited the repression of the demonstrations in China, when world attention focused on that country, to carry out mass expulsions among the Arabs of the territories." Benyamin Netanyahu, then Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, former Prime Minister of Israel, tells students at Bar Ilan University, From the Israeli journal Hotam, November 24, 1989. Instead of being asked about his policy of home demolitions while prime minister or about these statements, he was presented by many supine US media outlets as a "terrorism expert" and asked ad nauseum about how Israel can "deal with Arafat" in countless interviews in which the toughest question asked of him was if he will re-run for Prime Minister! Please do share these quotes with your source of news and views. Now for a couple of other ignored information (items below): 1) From Haaretz: Israel rejects partial truce offer by Islamic Jihad, Hamas 2) Amnesty International latest Press Releases Afghanistan: Inquiry into Qala-i-Jhangi fort killings must not be swept under the carpet 3) An older article from Haaretz by Meron Benvenisti that is still very relevant today. "The narrative blaming Yasser Arafat now joins a whole string of myths: the Tel Hai myth, the myth of the runaway refugees in 1948, the myth of the War of Independence as a defensive war that broke out because of an invasion by Arab armies, the myth of the few against the many, and the myth of the liberation of the homeland from the British boot - just to mention a few of the many myths that have been created here to deal with the reality that gave birth to many crises and second thoughts about the situation. Sincerely, Mazin Qumsiyeh http://Al-Awda.org ____________________ Haaretz 12/9/01 Source: Israel rejects partial truce offer by Islamic Jihad, Hamas By Amos Harel, Aluf Benn, and Dalia Shehori, Ha'aretz Corresondents and agencies Islamic militant groups said in a statement Sunday they will halt attacks within Israel for a week if the IDF ends strikes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A senior Israeli security official dismissed the offer and said Israel had no choice but to continue to "act in self-defense" as long as the Palestinian Authority failed to "fight terrorism and make arrests." "We are giving the enemy a period to stop its assassinations, destruction, killings and bombardments," said a statement by the military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and two groups affiliated with Fatah. "In return, we will stop our martyrdom attacks and armed attacks within the borders of the occupied land of 1948 during this period, which will begin as of midnight December 10 until the end of the month of Ramadan." _______________________ AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Latest Press Releases Afghanistan: Inquiry into Qala-i-Jhangi fort killings must not be swept under the carpet Publish date: 05/12/2001 Amnesty International today reiterated its call for an urgent inquiry into the large-scale killing of captured Taleban fighters and others at a fort on the outskirts of Mazar-i Sharif. It urged the US and UK to consider requesting a preliminary investigation by either the United Nations or the International Fact-Finding Commission. "The events at the Qala-i-Jhanghi fort must not simply be brushed under the carpet, like so many other killings before them," Amnesty International said. In letters to the US, UK and the United Front (Northern Alliance), the organization pointed to UN Security Council resolution 1378 which specifically calls on all Afghan forces to adhere strictly to their obligations under human rights and international humanitarian law. As it appears that this provision may have been breached, Amnesty International is calling on the US and UK, as members of the Security Council, to request a UN investigation, which should involve relevant human rights mechanisms including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan. Another option is for the US, UK and the United Front to call on the services of the International Fact-Finding Commission, established under the Article 90 of Protocol I, Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions to assist in investigating allegations of violations of the laws of war. This Commission, which is composed of 15 independent experts from around the world, would be willing to consider any request for such an inquiry. "This inquiry is needed to break with the past, and prove that for the first time in decades, human rights and accountability are being taken seriously in Afghanistan." "The means to conduct this inquiry are in place; it will not be an easy task, but is achievable with political will. A future for the Afghan people based on respect for human rights will only be realised if those with power and influence take responsibility and instigate this inquiry." Background The International Fact-Finding Commission was established under Article 90 of Protocol I, Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. This Commission is composed of "fifteen members of high moral standing and acknowledged impartiality" and is competent to "enquire into any facts alleged to be a grave breach as defined in the Conventions [the 1949 Geneva Conventions] and this Protocol or other serious violation of the Conventions or of this Protocol". The Swiss Government (in its capacity as the depository of the Geneva Conventions and Protocols) acts as the secretariat for the Commission. Its members include legal and military experts, judges and medical doctors drawn from all regions of the world. For the latest information on the 11 September Crisis visit: http://web.amnesty.org/11september.htm Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web : http://www.amnesty.org ___________________________ Challenging the Camp David myth By Meron Benvenisti Ha'aretz Thursday, August 02, 2001 Only rarely does the New York Times devote half its front page and two full pages inside its international news section to a historic description and analysis of events that don't have immediate news value. A week ago, Deborah Sontag published a special report called "Quest for Mideast Peace: How and Why It Failed." Its conclusion: "Many now agree that all the sides, and not just Arafat, were to blame." In the New York Review of Books, in an article due to appear next week, Robert Malley and Hussein Agha, who were involved in the negotiations at Camp David, reach the same conclusion, backed by eyewitness testimony by several of the participants. Ostensibly, Sontag's detailed, balanced and unprejudiced report in the prestigious newspaper should have been thought-provoking and won accolades. But it never had a chance. It was perceived as anti-Israeli because, in Sontag's own words, it dared challenge the "potent, simplistic narrative that has taken hold in Israel and to some extent in the United States. It says: Mr. Barak offered Mr. Arafat the moon at Camp David last summer. Mr. Arafat turned it down, and then `pushed the button' and chose the path of violence." That narrative is immune to fact or proof because it has become a myth in the service of a cause and like all myths, once it has caught on, it becomes more real than reality itself. Israeli society needs the myth, because it is unifying and justifies all actions, clears the conscience, defines the enemy as bloodthirsty and allows society to cope with the tough reality of "no alternative." The narrative blaming Yasser Arafat now joins a whole string of myths: the Tel Hai myth, the myth of the runaway refugees in 1948, the myth of the War of Independence as a defensive war that broke out because of an invasion by Arab armies, the myth of the few against the many, and the myth of the liberation of the homeland from the British boot - just to mention a few of the many myths that have been created here to deal with the reality that gave birth to many crises and second thoughts about the situation. Myths are not illusions but a salad of real and legendary events aimed at creating an image that the society wants to show to the world and itself - and God help anyone who dares to doubt them. No wonder that nearly every learned analysis of the "situation" is based on the careful calculation of "the nearly 100 percent Barak offered Arafat, the breaking of the Jerusalem taboo, the Palestinians' stubborn insistence on the right of return that means the destruction of Israel and the terrorist attacks that are aimed at winning with blood what they failed to get through negotiations." Anyone who tries to present a more complex and balanced view that doesn't clear the Palestinians but also criticizes Barak for his management and Clinton for his panic - and particularly criticizes the hubris of trying to "end the conflict" - is immediately branded an enemy, or "extreme leftist." But the ramifications of the myth are far-reaching: It's not the settlements that are an obstacle to peace, because in Arafat's eyes there's no difference between Psagot and Netanya; it's not the occupation that is the root of the violence, but the murderous instincts buried in Arafat's genes; there's no partner for negotiations and the conflict is existential. The trouble, of course, is that myths are inherently subjective for the society that creates them for its own needs, and that society's opponents create their own, contradictory myths, like mirror images. Therefore, there's no chance that third-party observers will be able to confront either side with objective facts. In such a binary situation, there is no place for a third party. If you don't buy the myth, you're against me, so I'll have to hire a better public relations firm to successfully sell you my self-image. Nonetheless, you wonder. Why should Deborah Sontag and Robert Malley do the work for us and tell us the facts that undermine the myth, and why is it so frightening for us to learn that Camp David's failure had many fathers? After all, if we can understand the facts, we can learn the lesson and if we stick to the myth, we'll only continue on the march of folly. It's sad to see that some of the best of the intellectuals and historians, who handle the myths of the past so well, don't have the courage to do it in real time. ================================================================= Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, is the largest network of grassroots activists dedicated to Palestinian human rights. To subscribe to Al-Awda-News, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To find out how to join an Al-Awda action committee in your area, please visit our website at http://al-awda.org ================================================================= FREEZE TERRORIST ASSETS! STOP US AID TO ISRAEL! Sign the petition letter online at: http://al-awda.org/terminate_aid_petition.htm ================================================================= Unless indicated otherwise, all statements posted represent the views of their authors and not necessarily those of Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________
