Frustration led to rage with two August 12 bombings in Israel after a multi-week one-sided lull. Sharon's position was clear. He ignored the ceasefire, demanded unconditional surrender and insisted resistance groups be disbanded. On top of it, throughout his life, he threw all his weight against a peace he never wanted and wouldn't accept. For decades (and most notably under George Bush), Washington has the same design and showed it repeatedly in UN Security Council vetos of everything unfavorable to Israel. In the eyes of many independent observers, the US is a "dishonest broker and a biased party (with no) genuine interest in (MIddle East) peace and stability."
At the same time, rumors about an Arafat-Abbas "power struggle" emerged. It was hard to imagine with the long-time Palestinian leader hugely popular and convincingly elected. In contrast, Abbas had a rock-bottom 3% approval rating so where was the disagreement. It was over differing visions. Abbas favored nonviolence and surrender while Arafat opposed suicide bombings but knew Israeli violence demanded resistance.
In the eyes of Tel Aviv and Washington, it made him persona non grata with Abbas a prefered safe alternative. He was even more conciliatory by vowing to crack down on Palestinian resistance, step up security, and pretty much tow the Israeli line. The plan ahead was clear - remove Arafat and replace him with a reliable Abbas.
It was a bad time for Palestinians to lose one of their iconic best. Baroud learned of it in a troubling email - "Edward Said passed away this morning." He'd suffered for years and finally succumbed to a decade-long battle with leukemia. Baroud describes him like many other admirers, including this reviewer: He "stood for everything that is virtuous. His moral stance was even more powerful than (his) essays, books, and music (as critic and consummate performer)...."
"He was an extraordinary intellectual....thoughtful (and) inimitable. And because of that, he was a target for those who wish to silence (powerful voices) of truth." Said was never silent or compromising in his beliefs or virtue. As a Palestinian, he was denied the right to live freely in his homeland. He spent his life instead teaching, writing, speaking forcefully and traveling the world to "convey the pain of his people (like no) intellectual" before him had done. No "wonder he....was adored by (his) people (and) detested by the" powerful he opposed. He died on September 25, 2003. He's sorely missed.
Others now carry on in his place and Baroud is one of them. He notes that the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights may work in some places but in others, like Occupied Palestine, it's just "ink on paper." Nonetheless, it endorses the notion that we're all "born free and equal in dignity and rights." Its Article 3 declares: "Every one has the right to life, liberty and security of person." Article 4 says: "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude," and under Article 6 "Every one has the right to recognition everywhere before the law."
Palestinians enjoy none of these and other basic human rights. They're falsely imprisoned and tortured; viciously attacked and killed; surrounded, harassed and humiliated; ethnically cleansed from their land; stripped of their homes and crops; denied their livelihoods and right of free movement; forced to endure a brutalizing occupation; and yet, on their own and without aid, they're united in their decades-long liberating struggle. "Why," asked Said? "Because (their cause is) just..noble (and) a moral quest for equality and human rights" everyone deserves.
In Intifada year three, Palestinians were sacrificed on the alter of continued Israeli viciousness. Attacks against them increased, they resisted as international law allows, media vilification followed, and Baroud reflects what most of them believe: that "the will of the people might some day prevail over tyranny and occupation. And it will, of this I am certain."
Intifada Year Four (2004)
The new year brought more pain and agony as well as "profound changes (and) insurmountable challenges." Hundreds of Palestinians died, countless others kept suffering, and Sharon's Separation Wall "became a reality" in spite of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling it illegal in July.
Targeted assassinations continued as well. Khalil al-Zabin, a 59-year old Palestinian journalist was gunned down outside his Gaza office in March. He was a close Arafat advisor, ran a newspaper, was funded by the PA, and "was entrusted with the complex and controversial subject of human rights."
Later in the month, Israelis targeted Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The IDF murdered him while he was returning from early morning prayer at a Gaza mosque. He was old, paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair, and no match for an Israeli missile that killed him and nine others.
Less than a month later, Israel assassinated Dr. Abdelaziz Rantisi, a top Hamas leader. Yassin's importance was spiritual, and he was respected and cherished for his role. Rantisi, on the other hand, was a hands-on political operative. Removing him was part of Israel's scheme to destroy Hamas' infrastructure and render it ineffective. More killings followed against even moderate leaders, Israel's reign of terror was relentless, it flagrantly violates international law, and Baroud called the elimination of resistance leaders "a counter-productive military strategy."
Gaza's history since the 1970s shows why. After the 1967 occupation, Palestinians sought alternative strategies. Armed struggle surged in the 1970s, Gaza was its hub, extreme poverty and overcrowding fueled it, and proximity to Egypt aided it at a time Palestinians "were determined to become the defenders of their own plight...."
Israel's response was savage, and it took its toll. Almost all resistance members were killed, imprisoned or forced into exile. A period of "hibernation" followed. Israel then invaded Lebanon in 1982, PLO factions were dispersed, and "homegrown resistance" reborn. It led to the 1987 Uprising - the First Intifada, a popular revolt against a repressive occupation. It also gave birth to Hamas. It became an integral part of Gaza, a full-fledged political and military force and much more. It provided essential services Gazans lacked - clinics, universities, vast charity networks, even daycare centers. It's little wonder it drew support it now enjoys.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Palestinian resistance changed. It fostered solidarity, and unlike in the 1970s "the killing of one resistance fighter (encouraged) ten others (to) join the struggle." For Israel, it was disastrous. Eliminating old leaders gave rise to new equally effective ones. It kept Israelis busy assassinating them, one by one, and by assaults on Palestinian towns taking scores.
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
After growing up as an admirer of plucky Israel, I am compelled to say that Israel's occupation of those terrotories it captured in 1967 has degenerated into a slow form of genocide.
It is decidely NOT pretty. Israel look at yourself in a mirror and see what you have become.
by
kwalsh (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 117 comments)
on Friday, May 9, 2008 at 12:56:01 AM
