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February
4, 2002
John Chuckman
American
Politics of Grief
February
3, 2002
Zoltan
Grossman
War
and New Military Bases
February
2, 2002
Francis
Schor
Carlucci's
Strange Career
February
1, 2002
Dr. Susan
Block
The
Great Ashcroft Cover Up
Jeremy
Voas
Why
We're Suing Ashcroft
David
Vest
10
Things I Know About Him
January
31, 2002
Rahul
Mahajan
The
State of the Union:
A New Cold War
Dave Marsh
Miles
Copeland, War
and the Future of Music
John Pilger
The
Colder War
Alexander
Cockburn
American
Journal:
Killer Dog, Weird Couple
Dr. Susan
Block
Blowback
and Daniel Pearl
January
30, 2002
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Linda
Lay, Hill and Knowlton and the Tears of a Clown
Jack McCarthy
Free
Noelle Bush!
Michael
Ratner
Memo
to Bush: Adhere to
the Geneva Convention
Jay Moore
Proud
to be an American?
Susan
Block
The
Great Pretzel Swallower
and Guantanamo Porn
January
29, 2002
Gary Leupp
Why
This War Was, and Remains, Utterly Wrong
Alexander
Cockburn
The
Birds of Kandahar
Patrick
Cockburn
Afghan
Opium Trade
Back in Business
January
28, 2002
Larry
Chin
Brosnahan
for the Defense
Mokhiber/Weissman
Tyranny
of the Bottom Line
George
E. Curry
Civil
Rights Nominee Called Affirmative Action "Racist"
Sen. Russ
Feingold
Campaign
Finance Reform?
Think Enron
John Chuckman
Liberal?
Media?
January
27, 2002
Mokhiber
and Weissman
Enron's
Drip, Drip, Drip
Tom Turnipseed
MLK
Jr.'s Dream Perverted
January
26, 2002
Norman
Madarsz
Adieu,
Bourdieu
January
25, 2002
National
Lawyers Guild
Know
Your Rights
Alexander
Cockburn
You
Call This Terrorism?
CounterPunch
Wire
Cal
Energy Crisis Hoax:
It Wasn't A Shortage,
It Was a Shakedown
Tariq
Ali
Kashmir,
Klinghoffer,
the Kurds and Chomsky
Nadine
Strossen
Protecting
MLK Jr.'s Legacy:
Justice and Liberty After 9/11
January
24, 2002
Robert
Fisk
Turkey
Targets Chomsky
Dean Baker
Lying
on Top:
Ken Lay One of Many
David
Vest
Idiot
Wind
January
23, 2002
Terry
Waite
Guantanamo
Prisoners:
Justice or Revenge?
Molly
Secours
The
Case of Abu-Ali:
Racism and the Death Penalty
Robert
Jensen
Speak
Out, Get Slimed
A Photographic Journal of Life
in an Afghan Refugee Camp
By Judith Mann
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
(Click Here to Order from CounterPunch
Online at 20% Off Amazon.com's price!)
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EXCLUSIVE
TO
COUNTERPUNCH
SUBSCRIBERS
Published Oct. 15, 2001
8-Page Special Issue
War Diary
CIA's Assassination Plan a History of
Torture in US Prisons
bin Laden and Bush
Business Connections
Aisha Ikramuddin on the Hidden Hype
of US Food Bombs
Peter Linebaugh on
Pakistan
Christopher Hitchens' Love for Mrs. Thatcher
Jiang Zemin Tells Bush:
Nuke 'Em
Search
CounterPunch
Read Whiteout and Find Out
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
Buy
This Explosive
New Book at an
Amazing Discount!
Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual
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February 4,
2002
Israel Must End the Occupation
By Robert Jensen
While I was standing at the edge of a recent campus
rally in support of the Palestinian cause, students supporting
Israel passed out fliers. One of those students and I engaged
in a spirited exchange that made it clear how different were
our accounts of the problem and potential solutions. One of her
points was that Palestinians have to prove they are serious about
peace.
"Do you think Israel is serious
about peace?" I asked. "Of course," she replied.
If that's the case, I asked, why has
the number of Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza
almost doubled since the Oslo peace process began nearly a decade
ago? Given that those settlements are one of the most serious
obstacles to a peaceful solution, why would the Israeli government
-- during a so-called peace process -- expand settlements in
territory it illegally occupies?
The student steered the conversation
back to the one issue on which we agreed -- that civilians should
not be targeted for political violence -- and we parted on agree-to-disagree
terms.
Though it is painful for many supporters
of Israel to acknowledge, the actions of the Israeli government
are consistent with a desire for power and resources, not peace.
Much of the recent criticism of Israel has focused on the harshness
of the current violence against Palestinians, especially the
bombing of civilian targets. But just as important are the everyday
actions of Israel -- the expansion of settlements, demolition
of Palestinian homes, destruction of olive trees for the flimsy
reason that snipers might hide behind them, the humiliations
heaped upon Palestinians at roadblocks and checkpoints -- which
have long made it clear that peace is not foremost on the minds
of the Israeli government.
Even more crucial for Americans is the
simple fact that Israel can pursue those policies -- and get
away with them -- primarily because the U.S. government supplies
Israel with the necessary diplomatic cover, military assistance
and economic aid (at least $3 billion a year). Without that U.S.
backing, the longstanding international consensus for a political
settlement likely would have forced Israel to honor U.N. Security
Council resolutions and international law.
American pundits pontificate about what
might be the mysterious "secret" to peace in the region,
as everyone bemoans the supposedly intractable nature of the
Israel/Palestine conflict. All this obscures the fact that the
"secret" is no secret at all:
Israel must end the occupation, and the
United States must withdraw support from Israel until it agrees
to do so.
Since the end of the 1967 war in which
Israel seized the territories, both sides have squandered opportunities
to make progress. I am a fan of neither the Israeli government
(whether Labor or Likud) and its colonialist, expansionist program
nor the Palestinian Authority under the corrupt leadership of
Yasir Arafat.
Nor am I naïve; ending Israel's
34-year illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza will not
by itself bring peace, for there are many other problems and
potential roadblocks. Still, there is no hope for movement toward
a just and stable peace unless Israel ends the occupation.
That means not only returning land conquered
in war but dismantling the system of Israeli security roads and
checkpoints. It means the equitable sharing of water resources
and a respect for Palestinian sovereignty. It will not be enough
to allow a Palestinian state; it must be a viable Palestinian
state.
Although there are forces within Israel
that recognize these imperatives, the current government remains
committed to power, not peace. The Bush administration, along
with most Democrats in Congress, shows no sign of changing a
decades-long policy of U.S. support for Israel's rejection of
international law and world opinion.
That means U.S. citizens can be key players
in the creation of a real peace process, if we send a clear message
to elected representatives: U.S. support for Israel must end
if Israel does not end the occupation.
Certainly the complexity of the struggle
over Palestine cannot be reduced to slogans. But those three
words -- end the occupation -- capture a simple truth about the
hope for peace.
Robert Jensen
is a professor of journalism at the University of Texas and author
of Writing Dissent:
Taking Radical Analysis from the Margins to the Mainstream
His pamphlet "Citizens of the Empire:
Thoughts on Patriotism, Dissent, and Hope" can be downloaded
for free at http://www.nowarcollective.com/citizensoftheempire.pdf
He can be reached at rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu.
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