Coastal
Post Online
January,
2004
America Needs To Stand Up To Israel
By Karen Nakamura
Palestinian-American "Afif" was unfazed by the arrest
of Saddam Hussein on December 14. "As far as I'm concerned, the whole
thing was a diversion from more important questions. When is Israel getting out
of Palestine and what is the role of the US and Israel in the Middle
East?"
He was also unimpressed with the Geneva Accords, the unofficial
set of negotiating points developed by former and present Palestinian and
Israeli officials.
"There are good ideas there. I really haven't looked into
them enough to make a judgment, but the Israeli government isn't going to give
up an inch of Palestinian soil. So, why bother? Sharon will throw us a bone to
shut us up for awhile but he'll continue stalling any real plan to end the
occupation. He'll remove a few illegal settlements with a couple hundred people
the Israeli courts said he has to anyway while at the same time, he's building
fortresses around settlements that contain hundreds of thousands of people."
Afif is right and the world agrees with him. Ariel Sharon,
father of the settlements, right-wing Israelis and conservative
Jewish-Americans have no intention of giving up Palestine. From the Jordan to
the Sea has always been their cry. They talk their talk while they refuse to
alleviate Palestinian suffering until Palestine is completely leveled. Why not?
America, the only country that can reign them in considers Israelis innocent
sufferers despite overwhelming evidence the country has conducted genocide
against Palestinians for 30 years. Israeli suffering is nothing compared to the
daily death and subjugation of the Palestinians. We know that. It has become
very clear in the past three years. Even Israeli soldiers see that.
And while polls show over 50% of Israelis are willing to see
either a two-state solution or a secular, one man, one vote state, most think
Ariel Sharon should be involved in bringing about the peace initiative. That's
as likely as Hitler easing up on the Jews surrounded by the Warsaw Wall. His
declaration on Dec. 18 that if the Palestinians don't force the Resistance to
surrender, he's going to act unilaterally only proves the point.
It's time Israeli and the United States face reality. The U.K.
Political Cartoon Society named a cartoon in The Independent as the best in
2003. It shows Ariel Sharon devouring a Palestinian child while screaming
"What's wrong? You never seen a politician kissing babies before?" In
the background helicopters drone "Sharon! Vote Sharon!" as they bomb
the West Bank. Anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism are rising exponentially
around the world. It has nothing to do with Jewish suffering in World War II.
It has nothing to do with the Arabs jealousy over American freedoms.
It does have everything to do with Israel's continuous and
blatant war crimes against Palestinians. It has everything to do with the
United States turning a blind eye to the most vicious armed camp in the Middle
East, of allowing that country's leaders to commit gross violations of
international law and going out of its way to shield the same leaders from
being held accountable. By allowing Israel to continue its genocide of the
Palestinian people, the US is hated around the world. Do we care? No. Israel is
our friend while Germany and France can be sloughed off in blink of an eye. If
Israel commits slaughter on a daily basis so what? It's got powerful lobbyists
in Washington. Besides, Sharon is smart enough to use the same excuses the US
has used to promulgate its own aggressions.
This attitude is making itself felt in the coming presidential
campaign. Within two hours of the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture,
political pundits were trying to show the world that now George Bush was sure
to win the election. They say if the US hadn't gone in, Saddam would still be
in power. The fact is if we'd had an enlightened leader, we could have given
the UN inspections another six months and agreed to removing sanctions after
fair and free elections. UN peacekeepers could have maintained order for
another year or two until democracy was stabilized.
Instead, on C-SPANN, Dec. 19, Jeanne Cummings, political
reporter for the Wall Street Journal, spilled the beans. Asked about Howard
Dean, she replied that he was vulnerable because he didn't go along with the
plan. When pressed by Brian Lamb about Dean's perceived flaws, Cummings
answered that Dean had given the wrong answer on the Israeli/Palestinian issue.
She didn't elaborate but stated that Bush and Cheney were certainly not going
to let his answer pass, that, and his disagreement about going to war in the
first place, was going to hurt him bad.
Let's step back a minute. Okay, the Bush/Cheney spin-doctors are
aiming for Howard Dean because of his position on the Israel/Palestine
conflict. So what is Dean's position? He thinks we should act in a more
balanced manner, to be an honest broker. Apparently, he's dared to think all
people are created equal and possess certain inalienable rights. All Howard
Dean is saying then, is that the Palestinians have the right to be heard, to
enjoy Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
Is this the state into which we've fallen in the past year? That
to side with the oppressed, the hungered masses yearning to be free and not
solely to serve at the pleasure of the rich and powerful is considered worthy
of vilification?
The plan Ms. Cummings so carefully sidestepped is to keep the
white boy network and their sons in power, and well, okay, a couple Jews and
other minorities but only if they submit to the divine intervention of the
Anglo-Saxon way. Bush, Cheney and gang are terrified of what could happen if
there is true democracy. Isn't that what's hanging up elections in Iraq? They
might want another form of government.
There is another way. Many Americans have tasted the liberation
of giving everyone their due. We live in a world composed of the diversity that
creates unity. We live in a world of Palestinian children playing with Israeli
children, of black and white mothers talking about the needs of the school, of
Iranians watching the Samurai flicks on Saturday night with their Russian and
Fijian neighbors. It's about the other America, the beautiful America,
compassionate and living in peace and harmony. It's about standing up when
anyone, anywhere, is oppressed. It's about answering their cries for help, just
as liberals rightfully did for the Jews after World War II and what we should
be doing for the Palestinians now. The founding fathers would certainly approve.