- The recent assassinations of Hamas leaders Sheikh Yassin
and Dr. Abdulaziz Rantisi are part of a long term Israeli strategy -- the
latest in a series of actions taken by Israel toward the ultimate destruction
of Palestinian society. Their implications may be far more reaching than
many analysts have observed, and the need for re-examination of US policy
in the Middle East has never been greater.
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- The first among Israel's objectives has been to convince
the public in Israel and in the West that the destruction of Palestinian
society is acceptable. Israel has succeeded in creating the wide spread
perception within Israel and among American society that violence committed
by the Palestinian paramilitary is reprehensible and never justified, but
that the violence committed by the Israeli occupation forces is somehow
defensible. Israel has unfortunately succeeded in convincing the Israeli
and American public that a Palestinian life is worth less than an Israeli
Jewish life. [1]
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- Israel's second objective has been to transfer (expel)
Palestinians to areas outside Palestine. In spite of its efforts and the
support of Jewish communities around the world, Israel's plan to import
enough immigrants to offset the increase in the Palestinian population
has failed. The plan failed even with the intense recruiting among gentiles,
in Asia, Latin America and elsewhere, and even with the promise of free
transportation, cash allowances, subsidized living and free housing on
confiscated Palestinian land. The alternative left for the Israeli government
-- long advocated by a sector of Israeli society -- has been to transfer
Palestinians out of Palestine by making life for Palestinians so unbearable
that they would "opt" to leave or by force if "voluntary"
departure fails. This plan will eventually succeed unless Palestinian living
conditions improve, which is not likely in the foreseeable future, and
the world community remains alert to Israel's plan.
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- Israel's third and latest strategy in pursuing its objective
of destroying Palestinian society has been to deceptively enlist the help
of the United States, with its military might and world domination, not
only as a partner, which it has already succeeded in doing as was recently
confirmed and announced by George W. Bush, but also as an active combatant.
This deception is no where clearer than in the case of the assassination
of Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Dr. Abdulaziz Rantisi. Sharon knows that Hamas
holds their leaders in high esteem and would no doubt avenge their assassination.
From their side, the Palestinians know that no Israeli action of this magnitude
is ever taken without first consulting with the United States and getting
US approval, in spite of denial of such complicity by the Bush administration.
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- Sharon's latest plot has been not only to invite Palestinian
violence against Israel, but also against the United States. Such violence,
in Sharon's mind, would invite the US to lump the Palestinian resistance
with al Qaeda and other "terrorists" under the US umbrella of
"war on terror," and cause the US to retaliate with brute force
or instigate Israel to do so on its behalf. That would certainly help legitimize
Sharon's objective of the total destruction of Palestinian society right
under the nose of the world community. Most likely, Hamas will see through
Sharon's plan, and will restrict its retaliation to Israel, as evidenced
by the retraction of threats against the US in the days following Yassin's
assassination. It is not likely that Sharon will succeed in inviting Palestinian
terror against the United States or its interests in the Middle East any
time soon. However, one can not expect the Palestinians to continue indefinitely
their self restraint with the United States when they see their remaining
land and their national rights being bartered away by a US president for
Jewish votes. Also, we should not be surprised if Sharon manufactures terror
against the US and blames it on the Palestinians with the intent of bringing
the United States as an active combatant on the side of Israel. A deception
of this kind would not be insurmountable or unusual for Mossad, the Israeli
intelligence service.
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- As Washington continues to ignore the basic underlying
causes of the disdain felt by so many around the world, the suffering of
Palestinians has been rising steadily. The humiliation of the Palestinians
and the erosion of their national rights are at their all-time peak. The
level of Palestinian suffering during the al-Aksa Intifada has been at
its highest since the Nakba ("cataclysm or catastrophe") of 1948.
If we continue to bankroll and lend political support to Israel's policies
of expansionism, I fear that we will continue to be shocked by senseless
acts of terrorism the like of which we have not seen. The President's decision
to bargain away Palestinian rights will certainly have been one of the
causes of such terror. [2]
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- Unless the United States does more to avoid involvement
in Israel's thick plot to eradicate Palestinian rights, we should not be
surprised if the US finds itself an active combatant, at a time and place
not of our choosing, at the expense of our interests throughout the world.
Israel will have deceived the United States to fight Israel's fight, in
a global and perpetual war against Palestinians, Arabs and Moslems throughout
the world. If we look around carefully, we can see traces everywhere of
this, the ultimate deception, an outcome we must do everything in our power
to avoid.
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- Michael S. Ladah is an Arab American who lived and worked
in various parts of theMiddle East. He is the author of "Quicksand,
Oil and Dreams: The Story of One of Five Million Dispossessed Palestinians."
He may be reached at mikeladah@cox.net
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- [1] The deaths among Israelis which have been caused
by Palestinian suicide bombers are labeled by our media and politicians
as "reprehensible crimes that must be punished." The loss of
Palestinian civilian life at the hands of the Israeli military machine
during the Al-Aksa Intifada period has been approximately four times greater
than losses suffered by Israelis; these Palestinian deaths have been caused
by military invasions and indiscriminate shelling of civilian towns and
villages, repression at road checkpoints, town closures and siege of civilian
populations, house demolitions and political assassinations carried out
through the use of indiscriminate bombs dropped from jet fighters often
killing innocent civilians in addition to their intended targets. Yet,
Palestinian deaths have been labeled as "justified by the need forIsraelto
defend itself." When there is an outcry in the UN or in the EU, our
government and media have labeled such condemnation as "not helpful
to the peace process."
-
- Sharon has lately found an ally in George W. Bush's "war
on terror" in justifying his actions in the same way that George W.
Bush does; they both claim that their fight is a "war on terror,"
and they both have sought the use of brute military force in the name of
security, each for his own reasons but not without the encouragement of
the other. Neither of them knows that the "war on terror," like
the war on poverty, the war on drugs or the war on hate, can not be won
by military force or, as a minimum, by such force alone.
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- [2] To anyone who observed the events over the last 50
years, the source of terrorism against theUnited StatesandIsrael(and their
allies) is obvious; it is not what the Israeli and American public have
been led to believe by their leaders and their media propagandists. The
source of terror against the United States has been its close alliance
with and support for Israel, which has facilitated Israel's policies of
repression against the Palestinians and expansionism into Palestinian land.
The longer the Palestinian problem eludes a just solution the more terrorism
we may be expected to endure. While the US war on terror may have had successes
in obscure locations around the world, it has been an utter failure when
measured against our objectives, thanks to the deception of the advisors
to our President and thanks to our government's pandering to the pro-Israel
lobby. The objective of the war on terror was to bring more safety to America
and more security to the interests of America and Americans everywhere.
After two wars in two countries, Afghanistan and Iraq, and after massive
spending, we are neither safer at home nor are our interests more secure
around the world. In fact, the opposite appears to be true. The US government
has sacrificed countless lives, squandered billions of dollars, and alienated
most of our strategic allies around the globe. In our zeal for waging this
"war on terror," we have also encouraged Israel in its repression.
The result will be more hatred and more terrorists seeking to cause us
harm.
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- http://www.counterpunch.com/ladah04292004.html
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