|
|
|
The Road To Peace Is Through Ending US Military Aid
10/10/2000
- Political - Article Ref: IC0010-216
Number of comments:
By: Anisa Mehdi
IslamiCity* -
What can Yassir Arafat really do about
the violence swirling in Israel and the occupied territories? Not much.
He may withdraw his paramilitary forces and ask the Palestinian police to crack
down on young rioters -- but that will only shatter his already weak position.
Besides, Israeli forces are already cracking down on Palestinian youth.
And the rioters will keep it up because, to borrow a line from the 70s movie
"Network," they are fed up and they won't take it any more.
They're not going to listen to Arafat and they're going to continue their
pathetic struggle against those they see as a hostile and brutal occupying
force.
With what are they fed up?
Simple things like itching for a bath in the heat of summer in squalid refugee
camps where sewage runs raw and no fresh water is available, and looking across
the way to Israeli settlements where dogs and cars get washed. Serious
things like seeing their homes bulldozed. Sensitive things, like watching
their parents struggle to make a living as menial laborers while hearing stories
of the way it was, when they owned orange groves and olive trees.
Christian and Muslim Palestinians alike in the occupied territories and in
diaspora are aching to travel freely to see their holy sites.
They are fed up with being disenfranchised, compromised, occupied, and ignored.
They are tired of seeing their cause and their dead not register on the radar
screen of world public opinion, and American public opinion in particular.
So these Palestinian Davids are using the only weapons they have against the
Israeli Goliath. Stones.
Despite demands from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and American President
Clinton there's really nothing Arafat can do. He's in a pickle.
Just like Presidents Johnson and Nixon couldn't stop the campus uprisings
against the Viet Nam War in the 60s and 70s. Just like the Chinese
government couldn't stop protesters in Tiannenmen Square -- not peacefully, at
least. Just like Milosovec couldn't calm the Serbian supporters of
his rival. And just like King George's governors couldn't quell the Boston
Tea Partiers and all that followed. Sometimes rebellions take on a life of
their own.
Arafat's choices are to pull the trigger on his own people (like the Chinese
government or the National Guard at Kent State) or to prolong the quote/unquote
talks as long as he can until the situation simmers down on its own. And
that's not likely to happen as long as Israeli soldiers are shooting children
armed with stones. Or he can wait for the Americans to take the lead.
Ads by Google:
Advertisements not controlled by IslamiCity
|
Barak's choices are to keep the current level or turn up the heat. Or he,
too, can wait for the Americans to take the lead.
Because the solution lies with the Americans, not with the Arafats in this
situation.
But not in ongoing mediation.
Then what? If not talk, what kind of action could they possibly take that
could make a difference in such an ancient conflict? Money.
The kind that flows from the US Treasury to Israel's military institution.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed 12-year old Mohammad Al-durah in his father's
arms. Other teens have been killed; toddlers, too. I know of at
least one young man who was shot dead outside the clinic where he had just given
blood to help the wounded. Today's news continues with no reprieve:
Palestinians riot, Israeli settlers rampage, and the military responds with
deadly methods. Some call it self-defense. Some call it
aggression.
No matter what you call it, this and all Israeli military action is heavily
underwritten by American tax dollars. In fiscal year 1999, the US gave
Israel one billion eight hundred million dollars in military aid. That
breaks down to almost $5 million a day -- which makes the American government
and the American taxpayer party to this recent horror.
No wonder Arab anger at Israel boils over toward America.
The only way to stop the violence is to stop the flow of American military aid
to Israel. When Israel finds it can no longer shoot Palestinian children
with financial impunity it will need to reconsider its strategy.
Most Americans don't want this blood on their hands. When they demand that
Congress and the President suspend American military aid to Israel, then there
may be a moment's peace.
And in that moment, perhaps, Arafat and Barak can sit and talk as more equal
parties in this conflict; two parties acting with their own resources.
Neither basking in the unconditional backing of the world's greatest power.
If this happens President Clinton might, maybe, finally, get a chance for the
credit he so badly wants for brokering a lasting Middle East peace.
Anisa Mehdi is producing a PBS documentary on cultural and political Islam with
Alvin H. Perlmutter.
( RSS Feed / Podcasting 
)
|
The opinions expressed herein, through this article or comments, contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessarily those of
iViews. These are offered as a means for iViews to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission of being an educational organization.
The iViews site may occasionally contain copyrighted material the use of which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. iViews is making such material available in its effort to advance understanding of humanitarian, education, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17
U.S.C. Section 107, and such (and all) material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use any copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
|
|
