>From Rob Scott of EPI, occasionally reviled
on this list for his views on trade. He's
our biggest resident peacenik. As you might
expect, I am pleased to be holding down the
right wing.
mbs
>>>>>>>>>>
I'm terribly sorry for everyone's losses in this awful tragedy. Its
also important to thank the Ruckus folks for the following quote, which
is worth repeating:
"I believe violence will only increase the cycle of violence"
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama, September 12, 2001
There is a tremendous need for an immediate response to the foreign
policy sewer that our government and media have fallen into because of
this disaster. This is not a question of days or weeks, but minutes or
seconds.
The answer is a simple, eloquent, and obvious: a universal campaign
for "PEACE NOW." I'm intentionally stealing the term (with absolution
from Dean Baker).*
Shrub seems ready to unleash a holy war on the entire Islamic world
that will make Vietnam look like a tea party. Press reports suggest
that 90% of the American public supports an all out counterattack [check
question wording]. Is this right?
There can be little doubt that such a supremely idiotic maneuver
would undoubtedly incite an endless cycle of ever escalating guerilla
warfare
that we'd have little hope of ending by 2101. How could they? Its
obvious--the only people who win are the DOD, CIA, Interpol and the FBI.
The U.S. Congress gave them Carte Blanche yesterday. Most of "our guys" in
Congress are fast asleep in their Wall Street doggie beds. Where is Ike
when we need him?
We can't fix a problem if we don't name it, can we boys? Again,
we've all got blood on our hands, and the most recent chain reads
something like:
US-->Isriael-->Palestine. But it really doesn't matter which order you
pick, does it?
But the boys know: Israel. David Hula, Senior Fellow of the New
Republicrat Institute said it at lunch, today. Of course, he said not
one word of what that problem was, nor what should be done about it. He
left the dirty work to a slime bag from the Hudson Institute, and he had
a pretty good idea: "the enemy is radical islamic fundamentalism" and
we have to kill them all in Afghanistan, Pakistan.....Oh boy, a race
war, that sounds like fun! (I'll spare you the rant on Hudson--worked
there once as an intern, whoee, that one could be fun, but later on
ballfans).
Just to set the record straight, its pretty simple: Intifada ... Sabra
and Shatilla ... 1967 War...$5 Billion/year. Ghada Khoun says it pretty
well:
Sixteen Years After the Sabra-Shatila Massacre: The
State of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon
Sixteen years ago, Munir Mohamed survived one of the worst massacres in
the recent history of the Middle East. He was only 12 at the time, but
the memories still haunt him.
Three months after its invasion of Lebanon on June 6, 1982 and two days
after the assassination of Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel, Israel
transported its proxies� a special force composed of Phalangist
militiamen and members of the Israeli-funded South Lebanon Army�into Beirut�
s Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps on Sept. 16, 1982. They vowed
revenge for the death of Gemayel and pledged to eliminate the remaining
Palestinian presence in Lebanon after the PLO�s ouster by Israeli
forces.
Under the approving and watchful eyes of Israeli forces surrounding the
camps, the militiamen went on a rampage, indiscriminately slaughtering
children and the elderly, raping and then killing young girls and women,
and butchering unarmed men. About 38 hours later, some 2,000 civilians lay
dead�some so badly mangled that they were unrecognizable.
Last September when Palestinian refugees gathered at the mass grave in
Shatila to commemorate the 16th anniversary of the massacre, Munir
recalled the family he lost and his own ordeal as a survivor. He
described how he faked death throughout the night, lying still amid a pile
of bodies to the sound of moans and cries from his mother, Zehrah, and baby
sister, Iman, who lay beside him. They both died within a few hours. The
next morning, wounded and drenched in blood, Munir made his way out of a
heap of
corpses and was taken to a local hospital. Eleven months later, he
started a new life in the United States. Out of a family of nine brothers
and
sisters, Munir has one brother left�Nabil, who settled with him in
America�and one sister�Najat, who still lives in Lebanon.
(September 1998, pages 27-28
http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0998/9809027.html)
Sound familiar? And just which general stood observing the whole
thing from a cliff for 24 hours before calling off his ferrets?
So, how to have Peace Now? Its pretty obvious. Make Palestine,
free, safe and rich, let them earn maybe $3 more than the Israeli's,
forever. Who gives a shit how it gets done? We don't have time.
We must all, every one of us, do every single thing we can. It
doesn't matter who or how or where, just do it peacefully, cleanly,
righteously (oh, and a little organization might be nice). Remember,
you could be gone tomorrow and in a hundred years...
I lost four friends Tuesday: Leslie, Charlie, Zoe & Dana, mom, dad, 8
&3. Please, please, please, let them be the last.
I'm sorry for the maudlin tone--this is so obvious. Why isn't anyone
doing anything???
*PEACE NOW - the Israeli Peace Movement - was founded
in 1978 by 348 reserve officers and soldiers of the Israel
Defense Forces. The first and only mass peace movement in
Israel, PEACE NOW rapidly became the single most
important extra-parliamentary force for peace in the country,
attracting hundreds of thousands to its mass rallies
and activities. www.peacenow.org.il
or http://www.peacenow.org.il/English.asp?
I'm not connected with and have never had any contact or
involvement with this group. We don't have the time to work out
the politics--organize first, legalize later.
Rob Scott
