Tuesday, December 30, 2008

UNARMED HUMANITARIAN VESSEL ATTACKED IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS

The SS Dignity arrived in the port city of Tyre yesterday under Lebanese naval escort after being attacked and badly damaged in international waters by Israeli warships. The incident occurred as the Dignity was attempting to bring journalists, peace activists, aid workers, human rights observers, and three tons of desperately needed medical supplies to the besieged Gaza Strip where relentless air strikes have inundated strained local hospitals with thousands of casualties. On board where the nationals of eleven countries including citizens of the U.S, the U.K, Greece, Australia, Germany, Ireland, and a member of the Cypriot of Parliament. According to former U.S congresswoman and Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, who was on the ship at the time of the attack, around half a dozen warships surrounded the Dignity and declared it was participating in terrorist activities before opening fire with machine guns and ramming the vessel three times.

Although no one was injured in the attack and the crew evaded attempts to force their return to Cyprus the Dignity was badly damaged. The encounter left a gaping hole in the side of the ship that began drawing water. Under these circumstances the crew decided they would be unable to reach Gaza and sailed for Gaza. In Beirut President Michel Suleiman dispatched an escort of Lebanese warships to accompany the crippled vessel to port where it was greeted by cheering crowds. However, the three doctors and tons of medical supplies that could have saved dozens of lives are from Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals where the wounded are stacked in the streets and doctors are forced to make the difficult choices of which patients to let die.

Already Lebanon has promised a forensic investigation and the Cypriot embassy has lodged an official complaint over the incident, but there must be more accountability. The eleven nations whose citizens' lives were recklessly and deliberately endangered are entitled to an official explanation. The U.N has an obligation to investigate and if necessary condemn the behavior of the Israeli navy. A willful attack on a private vessel carrying out a humanitarian mission in international waters is a clear violation of international law which states that the sea can only be used for peaceful purposes. The most bereaved party though is not nations or international bodies, but humanity. This cowardly assault is a reminder that many still cling to a tribalistic ideology that subordinates human suffering to national pride. The belief system showcased by the attack on the Dignity is a threat to people everywhere and it must be resisted by people everywhere.

During apartheid South Africa the international community resisted this ideology with a campaign of boycotts, sanctions, and divestment. A similar campaign needs to be launched in response to the deplorable situation in Palestine. The attack yesterday and the bombing of Gaza are only two high profile incidents in a brutal pattern of racism and human rights violations. A nation that has so horrifically and systematically abused basic human rights, a nation that has institutionalized and militarized racism, a nation that not only kills scores of civilians in a bombing campaign, but then also prevents medical aid from reaching the survivors- those in that nation who enable those policies, either through their actions or their silent inaction, must be deprived of the pleasure of any contact with the civilized world.

This is not a campaign of revenge and it is not a campaign against Israel, like in South Africa many of the heroes of the anti-apartheid movement are Israeli. The sole objective of a campaign of boycott, sanction, and divestment is to undermine the deplorable policies and to isolate the regime that implements them. When the situation in Palestine is normalised relations will also be normalised. However, until then westerners cannot forget the millions of suffering human beings who are, in Palestine, suffering with the support of their governments and the complicity of their silence. From western China to the Western Sahara, from East Jerusalem to East Timor human suffering anywhere is a threat to humanity everywhere.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

SLAUGHTER IN GAZA

Israel thought it was clever in launching a massive preemptive strike against Gaza. The military said it was aimed at stopping terrorism. Already two hundred and twenty lives have been snuffed out. Israel mourns the loss of the thirty some Israelis who have perished in conflict this year, and there deaths are tragic, but seven times that many Palestinians have been murdered in a single day. Israel is not interested in fighting terrorism. This was an act of terrorism. It was a cowardly onslaught that made no distinction between civilian and soldier. It began just as children were returning from school. Israel says it was meant to deter rocket attacks, but they cannot be so naive as to not realize that a hundred rockets will be launched out of Gaza for every missile that is launched into Gaza. An Israeli civilian has already been killed in retaliatory attacks. Hamas has been made more popular by this attack than it ever has been before. This was not difficult to foresee. It is not difficult to see that there will be more retaliatory attacks. Perhaps it is because they foresaw this response the Israelis launched this brutal massacre. Perhaps they are only trying to provoke a response that will give them a pretext for further aggression.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

IQRIT REMEMBERED


Just south of the Lebanese/Israeli border is the remnants of an ancient Christian villages described by the Israeli government as an archaeological ruin. Iqrit was founded by Canaanites before construction of the nearby Roman ruins had even began, and unlike the Roman ruins it has had a sizable population within living memory.

In October of 1948 the town's 450 residents peacefully capitulated to the Zionist army with the promise and the hope that they would be allowed to remain on the land they had inhabited for thousands of years. In exchange for pledging loyalty to the Zionist state and surrendering their weapons they were promised peaceful coexistence within the nascent Israeli state. However, six days after surrendering the villagers were forcefully relocated twelve miles south to the town of Rama. On Christmas eve, 1951 the entire town, with the exception of the church and cemetery, were demolished by Israel.

Every month the residents of Iqrit and their descendants hold Mass at the church and dream of the day when they will be able to return. Despite favorable rulings in Israeli courts and the support of Israeli and international groups they still wait.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

"What has been lost in all of the discussion about the shoe throwing incident in Iraq is the right of the man to throw his shoes at a visiting head of state."


No, this is not another satirical post, it is a verbatim excerpt from a right wing blog. As amusing as watching Bush dodge the shoes of an Iraqi journalist was watching right wingers dodge the questions raised by such an incident is even more entertaining. Muntadhar al-Zaidi's case has revealed the deep unpopularity of the U.S "democratization" of Iraq, the discrepancy between the positions of the Iraqi government and the views of its people, and the flaws in that nation's justice system. After Zaidi hurled his shoes at Bush and called the President a dog, in retaliation for the Iraqis killed in the President's war, he was hailed on the street as a hero by Iraqis of all sects. In prison he was tortured and made to write a phony apology letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki. Does this sound like a democratic government that respects human rights?

A BAILOUT FOR THE REST OF US

America is on the verge of a cataclysmic economic disaster. In the last few days trillions of dollars have been wiped out in the stock market, credit markets have tightened, and the average American has sunk deeper into debt. Congress is reluctant to spend $700 billion to stabilize the markets and economists fear that even such a massive infusion of cash will not solve the underlying economic issues. The experts scrounging over the details of the bailout package are gifted economists, but they have failed to grasp a basic aspect of the problem. The trillions of dollars lost in the stock market, the $700 billion the government wants to spend to fix the problem, and the trillions of dollars in debt that started this problem exist only on paper. Nothing tangible has been lost.

A paper problem requires a paper solution. It is time for America to employ a strategy which successfully financed the Revolutionary and the Civil wars. With the $700 billion Congress plans to spend to bailout the Wall Street speculators that caused this problem they should bail out the common people. For a cost of $1 the government can print $2,400. For an investment of a mere $700 billion in printing presses and paper, the Treasury could send each American a check for $6,700,000. This is an instant solution to our nation’s financial difficulties. Thousands of unemployed printers will find work, stock prices and home values will skyrocket as the average American becomes a member of the upper class, the liquidity crisis will end as the markets burst with cash, the bad loans that led to the present situation will be paid off, and so will our national debt.

There will be some who say that this will cause inflation, but the word inflation is only a dysphemism for an investment opportunity. History makes clear that citizens prosper with this plan. When this system was experimented with on a smaller scale in America a wagon full of supplies was worth a wagon full of money. In pre-Nazi Germany, there are famous images of everyday Germans made so affluent by this plan that they burned money to heat their homes. Today, under the guidance of President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, the implementation of a similar economic policy has created the highest per-capita number of billionaires anywhere in the world. The most successful implementation of this policy, though, came in Hungary in 1946. Economist Thomas Pittenger reports that wages rose by over four quintillion percent during a particularly prosperous month in Hungary. Even common factory workers were paid four times a day with wheelbarrows full of money and while a return that impressive might not materialize in the U.S the example set by Hungary in the wake of World War II serves as a powerful testament to the benefits of this plan.
Congress does not need to worry about where to find the predicted $700 billion it will take to repair the economy. That is a paltry sum in an economy that could and should be booming with an influx of quadrillions of dollars. Unlike the version proposed in Congress this bailout plan will cost nothing, benefit the common people, and address the root cause of the economic problem: a lack of liquidity.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

ZIMBABWE: A MORE EFFECTIVE COURSE


It should be obvious by now that despite all of the rumblings the U.S government is not really that concerned about human rights in Zimbabwe. For all of the talk about the humanitarian situation in Africa's two anti-western dictatorships, Zimbabwe and Sudan, there is never a peep over the equally abysmal records of the continent's dozens of pro-western tyrants. Robert Mugabe is one of the world's worst tyrants he has transformed, in the words of one angry Zimbabwean, the bread basket of Africa into a basket case. He has plundered the nation's resources on a massive scale at a time when his people are fleeing the country en masse and suffering from starvation, record inflation, and disease.

How has such a man stayed in power for nearly thirty years? Mugabe began his political life as the democratically elected leader of the freedom struggle against white minority rule and British colonialism. He was a hero to the masses disgusted with western imperialism and racism. As his popular support declined he resorted to a combination of terror, force, and pay offs to purchase the loyalty of corrupt cronies. To stay in power though he still requires a degree of popular support. He achieves that by pandering to ultra-nationalism. He flaunts his credentials as a hero of the revolution, blames all of the country's problems on western conspiracies, and portrays himself as the people's only defender against such aggression.

Africans know that for all of the talk about human rights the west is more interested in seeing a less hostile regime take power than they are in seeing an end to the abuses of ZANU-PF. They look to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Egypt, and Equatorial Guinea and see brutal regimes that stay in power with American and British support. On his merits as a leader Mugabe will only command the support of those he can buy or intimidate, but by portraying western pressure on his regime as a conflict between east and west he gains the support of that segment of the population that will flock around a leader who waves a flag and yells "us. vs. them". To be fair most Zimbabweans are not fooled by Mugabe's conspiracy theories and chauvinistic rhetoric, but enough are to help keep him in power.

Western confrontation with Zimbabwe has been a blessing for Mugabe. It has helped him partially legitimize his regime and perpetuate his rule. Westerners are undermining themselves by publicly confronting Zimbabwe. All of their talk has bolstered Mugabe's credibility at home without improving the situation on the ground. Quiet diplomacy is a better route for the west to play. The U.S can encourage other African leaders to publicly work against Mugabe, as they have been in increasing numbers, while pursuing a more passive public face. Leave public criticism to human rights groups and African leaders whose comments cannot be construed by Mugabe as an attack on Africa by the west.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

BREAKING THE SIEGE





Gaza's 1.5 million residents have been living under an Israeli siege for over a year now in what can only be described as a grave crime against humanity. Millions of people are starving in darkness for no reason other than Israeli racism and hatred. Medical patients are dying in droves because the Israeli authorities have refused to allow lifesaving medicine in or patients out. They are a security risk we are told, that is why they must die from treatable diseases. People like three year old leukemia patient Isama Azlouri are dying a slow and painful death because they are a threat to Israel's security. The economy is in shambles, families are separated, hospitals cannot provide needed care, every facet of normal existence is gone. The only thought of 1.5 million Gazans is resistance. For them survival is resistance.

It is clear that sufficient humanitarian aid will not come to Gaza through Israel, which regularly refuses aid groups, human rights activists, international dignitaries such as Jimmy Carter, and foreign journalists entry into the coastal enclave. It is also clear that smuggling tunnels under the Egyptian border are neither safe nor practical for large scale shipments of aid and it is clear that the western governments are content to be complicit in this crime, it therefore falls upon ordinary citizens to fill the void left by their governments. It is time for human rights defenders, peace activists, aid groups, Arab governments, and all those who react with disgust to what is being done to Gaza's civilian population to join together and organize a Berlin Airlift style operation to relieve Gazans by sea.

On three occasions boats carrying Israelis, Palestinians, and internationals were able to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. Two Arab ships were turned back. The aid carried by these vessels was largely symbolic, but even in the western media they garnered attention for the plight of Gazans. They also proved a valuable lesson: Israel might turn back Arab ships, but it is not willing to risk the international outrage that would come with firing on unarmed ships carrying western and Israeli activists bringing desperately needed aid to starving people.

These three small scale operations have demonstrated the viability of delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza by sea, but they have not had a serious practical impact on the ground. For that to happen a large scale international operation will be needed. The Israeli government cannot be shamed into ending its siege. If it can listen apathetically to the pleas of a dying three year old girl than it will never be moved to change their policies by any sense of morality. That is not the goal of this operation. Israel relishes the suffering of the people of Gaza with a sadistic pleasure.

The Israeli government may be morally naive, but it is not politically naive. They know the consequences of harming western activists and journalists who would be on board the ships. They tried killing westerners in 2003 and it failed miserably. Westerners, of course, would not be the only activists participating. Israelis and Palestinians, acting out their dream for peace between the two groups, and motivated by their shared belief that human suffering does not carry a passport would join together to play a leading role. This operation would not appeal to any sense of humanity in the Israeli government. It would challenge that government to calculate what the suffering of the Gazans is worth to them. Journalists on the ships will witness for the world everything that happens. Israel will be forced to decide if stopping the ships is worth a major PR fiasco.

A campaign to relieve Gaza will not be an easy undertaking. There is no guarantee that Israel will not injure, arrest, or even kill activists, Israelis who participate will face arrest and prison terms upon returning home, Cyprus will be pressured to close its ports to the aid groups, and if the Cypriot government refuses Israel may try to sabotage the activists by planting weapons on the ships, or, as they did to the al-Awda, sinking them, and even if there is no interfere the financial cost will require an extensive fundraising campaign and the support of the world's major charities, logistically it demands organized coordination, and it requires the assemblage of hundreds and possibly thousands of international activists. It would be easier to abandon Gaza's 1.5 million residents, it would be easier to leave Gaza's ill to their fate in the Strip's inadequately supplied hospitals, it would be easier to do like the others and forget the plight of these forgotten people. But could we do that, could we consign the fate of yet another people to the unchallenged militarized racism of a government we would rather not confront?