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April 2, 2002
Robert Fisk
Farce and Terror
in Ramallah
Steve
Perry
Let's
Roll! ®:
The Marketing of Lisa Beamer
April 1, 2002
Stanton / Madsen
America's War Inc.
Rep. Dennis
Kucinich
Peace
and Nuclear Disarmament: a Call to Action
Bahour / Dahan
Bloodshed in Palestine:
A Way Out
Molly
Secours
Tennessee's
Kangaroo Court
Phyllis Pollack
The Making of Exile
on Main Street
Dave Marsh
DeskScan:
This Week's
Top 10 CDs
Francis Boyle
The Big Lie:
Palestine, Palestinians
and International Law
March 31, 2002
Jordan
Flaherty
Last
Night the Israeli
Military Tried to Kill Me
Kristen Schurr
Live from Bethlehem
Maha Sbitani
The
Israeli Army Took Over My House
Robert Fisk
Lies Leaders Tell When
They Want to Go to War
March 24/30, 2002
Alexander Cockburn
The Year
of the Yellow Notepad:
Plagiarism and History
Rep. Ron Paul
Slavery and the Draft
Fidel
Castro
A
Better World is Possible
Edward Said
What Price Oslo?
José
Saramago
Justice
and Democracy Denied
Azmi Bishara
Talking to Tanks
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Clearcutting
Montana
Alexander Cockburn
50 Years of James Bond
Wilhelm
Reich
Gethsemane
Claud Cockburn
The Horror of It All
Dave Marsh
What's
Playing at My Houe
David Vest
Remembering Tammy Wynette
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Waylon
Jennings:
an Honest Outlaw
March 23, 2002
Mokhiber/Weissman
A
Corporate Lawyer
Speaks Out
Saeed Vaseghi
The US and Iran's Quest
for Democracy
Brian
J. Foley
Does
Pedophilia Scandal Spell an Opportunity for Catholics?
Sheperd Bliss
American Soul and Empire
James
Packard Winkler
Occupation
and Terror:
Politics from a Gun Barrel
M. Shahid Alam
A New International Division
of Labor
T.W. Croft
Enron's
Attack on Our
Economic Security
March 22, 2002
Robert Jensen
Corporate Power is a
Threat to Democracy
Tommy
Ates
The
Future of Black Academia
Rep. Ron Paul
Why are We in Ukraine?
March 21, 2002
McQuinn,
Munson, & Wheeler
Stars
and Stripes:
Killing for the Flag?
John Chuckman
How Change is Wrought
David
Vest
Hail
to the Chaff
March 20, 2002
Kay Lee
Censorship at Angelfire
Robert
Jensen
The
Politics of Pain
and Pleasure
Sheperd Bliss
Notes from Hawai'i:
Trouble in Paradise
Rick Giambetti
Prozac
and Suicide:
an Interview with
Dr. David Healy
Philip Farruggio
Bullies
Lori Allen
Live
from Ramallah:
The Madness of Occupation
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
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How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The New Crusade:
America's War on Terrorism
By Rahul Mahajan
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair
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Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual
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April 2, 2002
Israel's State Terrorism
By Lev Grinberg
What is the difference between State terrorism
and individual terrorist acts? If we understand this difference
we'll understand also the evilness of the US policies in the
Middle East and the forthcoming disasters. When Yassir Arafat
was put under siege in his offices and kept hostage by the Israeli
occupation forces, he was constantly pressed into condemning
terror and combatting terrorism. Israel's State terrorism is
defined by US officials as "self-defense", while individual
suicide bombers are called terrorists.
The only "small" difference
is that Israeli aggression is the direct responsibility of Ariel
Sharon, Benjamin Ben Eliezer, Shimon Peres and Shaul Mofaz, while
the individual terrorist acts are done by individuals in despair,
usually against Arafat's will. One hour after Arafat declared
his support of a cease fire and wished the Jews a Happy Passover
feast, a suicide bomber exploded himself in an hotel in Netanya,
killing 22 innocent Jews celebrating Passover. Arafat was blamed
as responsible for this act, and the present IDF offensive has
been justified through this accusation.
At the same time, Sharon's responsibility
for Israeli war crimes is being completely ignored. Who should
be arrested for the targeted killing of almost 100 Palestinians?
Who will be sent to jail for the killing of more than 120 Palestinian
paramedics? Who will be sentenced for the killing of more than
1,200 Palestinians and for the collective punishment of more
than 3,000,000 civilians during the last 18 months? And who will
face the International Tribunal for the illegal settlement of
occupied Palestinian Lands, and the disobedience of UN decisions
for more than 35 years?
Suicide bombs killing innocent citizens
must be unequivocally condemned; they are immoral acts, and their
perpetrators should be sent to jail. But they cannot be compared
to State terrorism carried out by the Israeli Government. The
former are individual acts of despair of a people that sees no
future, vastly ignored by an unfair and distorted international
public opinion. The latter are cold and "rational"
decisions of a State and a military apparatus of occupation,
well equipped, financed and backed by the only superpower in
the world.
Yet in the public debate, State terrorism
and individual suicide bombs are not even considered as comparable
cases of terrorism. The State terror and war crimes perpetrated
by the Israeli Government are legitimized as "self- defense",
while Arafat, even under siege, is demanded to arrest "terrorists".
I want to ask: Who will arrest Sharon,
the person directly responsible for the orders to kill Palestinians?
When is he going to be defined a terrorist too? How long will
the world ignore the Palestinian cry that all they want is freedom
and independence? When will it stop neglecting the fact that
the goal of the Israeli Government is not security, but the continued
occupation and subjugation of the Palestinian people?
As Israelis in the opposition, we are
fighting against our government, but the international support
that Sharon receives is constantly jeopardizing our struggle.
The whole international public opinion must be reverted, and
the UN must deploy intervention forces in order to stop the bloodshed
and the imminent deterioration. Israelis and Palestinians desperately
need the awakening of the international community's public opinion
and a reversal in the global attitude. These are needed both
in order to save our lives (literally), and preserve our hope
in a better future.
Dr. Lev Grinberg
is a political sociologist, Director of the Humphrey Institute
for Social Research, at Ben Gurion University
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