Dear Friends,
The situation in Palestine is deteriorating from hour to hour, and this is only the beginning. Sharon's plan is re-occupy all the West Bank, and apparently kill Arafat, directly or with some other trick that we shall never know certainly what happened (the desicion was not to deport him because he can be dangerous outside...).
Prof.Lev Grinberg
ISRAEL'S STATE TERRORISM
By Lev Grinberg *
Director of the Humphrey Institute for Social Research at Ben Gurion University
What is the difference between State terrorism and individual terrorist acts?
If we understand this difference we?ll understand also the evilness of the US policies
in the Middle East and the forthcoming disasters. When Yassir Arafat was put under
siege in his offices and kept hostage by the Israeli occupation forces, he was constantly
pressed into condemning terror and combatting terrorism. Israel?s Stateterrorism
is defined by US officials as "self-defense", while individual suicide
bombers are called terrorists.
The only ?small? difference is that Israeli aggression is the direct responsibility
of Ariel Sharon, Benjamin Ben Eliezer, Shimon Peres and Shaul Mofaz, while the individual
terrorist acts are done by individuals in despair, usually against Arafat?s will.
One hour after Arafat declared his support of a cease fire and wished the Jews a
Happy Passover feast, a suicide bomber exploded himself in an hotel in Netanya, killing
22 innocent Jews celebrating Passover. Arafat was blamed as responsible for this
act, and the present IDF offensive has been justified through this accusation.
At the same time, Sharon?s responsibility for Israeli war crimes is being completely
ignored. Who should be arrested for the targeted killing of almost 100 Palestinians?
Who will be sent to jail for the killing of more than 120 Palestinian paramedics?
Who will be sentenced for the killing of more than 1,200 Palestinians and for the
collective punishment of more than 3,000,000 civilians during the last 18 months?
And who will face the International Tribunal for the illegal settlement of occupied
Palestinian Lands, and the disobedience of UN decisions for more than 35 years?
Suicide bombs killing innocent citizens must be unequivocally condemned; they
are immoral acts, and their perpetrators should be sent to jail. But they cannot
be compared to State terrorism carried out by the Israeli Government. The former
are individual acts of despair of a people that sees no future, vastly ignored by
an unfair and distorted international public opinion. The latter are cold and "rational"
decisions of a State and a military apparatus of occupation, well equipped, financed
and backed by the only superpower in the world.
Yet in the public debate, State terrorism and individual suicide bombs are not
even considered as comparable cases of terrorism. The State terror and war crimes
perpetrated by the Israeli Government are legitimized as "self-defense",
while Arafat, even under siege, is demanded to arrest "terrorists."
I want to ask: Who will arrest Sharon, the person directly responsible for the
orders to kill Palestinians? When is he going to be defined a terrorist too? How
long will the world ignore the Palestinian cry that all they want is freedom and
independence? When will it stop neglecting the fact that the goal of the Israeli
Government is not security, but the continued occupation and subjugation of the Palestinian
people?
As Israelis in the opposition, we are fighting against our government, but the
international support that Sharon receives is constantly jeopardizing our struggle.
The whole international public opinion must be reverted, and the UN must deploy intervention
forces in order to stop the bloodshed and the imminent deterioration. Israelis and
Palestinians desperately need the awakening of the international community's public
opinion and a reversal in the global attitude. These are needed both in order to
save our lives (literally), and preserve our hope in a better future.
* Dr. Lev Grinberg is a political sociologist, and Director of the Humphrey Institute
for Social Research at Ben Gurion University