Opinion/Editorial

Meanwhile, in Palestine...

Omar Karmi 30 March 2003

The US appears to be the only country in the world that fails to realize the centrality of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for Middle East peace. It appears that the road map this administration is navigating by will take it to Baghdad, Damascus, Tehran and Riyadh before it realizes that all roads lead to Jerusalem. That’s a long route to take. 

War in Iraq and Israeli occupation: A devastating resonance

Ali Abunimah and Hussein Ibish 28 March 2003



For almost three years Arabs have been subjected to daily images of Palestinians being killed by Israeli occupation forces in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. They see the United States not only doing nothing to stop this, but continuing to supply Israel with high-tech weapons, particularly Apache attack helicopters. Now they see those same Apache helicopters bringing war to Iraq. The spectacle of an American occupation of Iraq may dovetail in the minds of many with the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, and be seen as an American extension in Iraq of what Israel is doing to the Palestinians. EI’s Ali Abunimah and ADC Communications Director Hussein Ibish ask what it will take to mitigate the damage. 

Rachel

Ghassan Andoni 25 March 2003

This is the first time in which I could sit behind the computer and write about the tragic murder of Rachel. Since that happened many of us at the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) have lived through really hard times. What added to my sadness and grief is being the one who received and went through almost all of what was written about Rachel’s tragedy. Ghassan Andoni writes from Beit Sahour. 

Time for better decisions to be made on Palestine-Israel

Ziad J. Asali 24 March 2003

The sad fact is that the issue of Palestine has become the latest “last refuge of scoundrels.” The rest of us, unencumbered by divine certitude about the future and open to reason and compromise, have found it harder to have a public voice and space. It is our task to reclaim both. ADC president Ziad J. Asali offers an overview of the bigger picture. 

The Lilliputians are no longer tiny people

Tanya Reinhart 19 March 2003

It appears that all the Lilliputians managed to do so far is to delay the giant for a few months. But these months were crucial. Today the Lilliputians are no longer tiny people. It started with thousands of small organizations, scattered around the globe and communicating over the Internet - organizations which are connected by a shared sense that if things go on like this, the human race will destroy itself. Tanya Reinhart writes in Yediot Aharonot. 

This is a road map to nowhere

Ahmad Samih Khalidi 19 March 2003

George Bush and Tony Blair’s burst of enthusiasm for Palestine and the ‘road map’ is a transparent attempt to stretch the sticking plaster of a Middle East settlement over the gaping wound of the Iraq crisis. But what the Palestinians need is an end to occupation, not bogus statehood writes Ahmad Samih Khalidi in The Guardian. 

Of broken bodies and unbreakable laws

Laurie King 19 March 2003



“Rachel Corrie died for the sins of all High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions who have neglected to discharge their legally binding obligations to protect human rights and prevent impunity for confirmed rights violators. It should not fall on the shoulders of college seniors from Olympia, Washington to rectify the tragedies that nation states helped to create and are obligated to prevent.” EI co-founder Laurie King-Irani traces the sources of Rachel Corrie’s courage to the principles of International Humanitarian Law while noting that her murder highlights the urgency of halting Israeli impunity. 

Rachel Corrie, Nuha Sweidan and Israeli War Crimes

Steve Niva 16 March 2003



“The Israeli bulldozer that ran over and killed American peace activist Rachel Corrie, 23, in the Gaza Strip today had killed before. A few weeks ago, on March 3, an Israeli bulldozer killed a nine-month pregnant Palestinian woman, Nuha Sweidan, while destroying the house next door in a dilapidated Gaza refugee camp. Palestinian witnesses said that Mrs. Sweidan, 33, bled to death under the rubble as she cradled her 18-month-old daughter. Her unborn baby also died.” Steve Niva, a faculty member of Evergreen State College, makes an important call for action. 

Why Israel is so excited about "prime minister" Abu Mazen

Ali Abunimah 15 March 2003


Mahmoud Abbas (“Abu Mazen”)
Under intense pressure, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has appointed a Palestinian “prime minister.” EI’s Ali Abunimah writes that popular objections to this move stem both from the notion of introducing a “prime minister” in the context of an endless foreign military occupation, and the notoriously corrupt character of the person Arafat chose for the job. 

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