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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FaultLine who wrote (14256)	12/20/2001 6:10:32 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

There was a good example this week of how Arafat gets a much better press in the US than he deserves. Last Sunday Arafat made a speech calling for a halt to armed attacks as part of the ongoing intifada. The main points were: 1. The brave Palestinian people are winning their struggle. 2. We will have our state of Palestine and our flag over Jerusalem 3. The Palestinian people will never be humiliated. 4. Stop the armed atttacks and the terrorism (which I've always decried) because this is a clever new way to outwit Sharon. The New York Times ran this speech under the headline "Arafat Calls for a Halt in Armed Attacks". I call it a very mixed message; point 4. says 'stop fighting', while points 1. through 3. say, 'keep fighting, we're winning'. He definitely did not call a halt to the intifada as he had been pressured to do. This speech got wide coverage in the US Press, with similar headlines to those in the New York Times. On Tuesday, Arafat gave a much more bellicose speech to associates in Ramallah. In it he said, "I appeal to my beloved in Jerusalem: 'More determination, more strength, more resolve. And Allah willing, we will pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Allah willing, Allah willing." "I say these things so that they be heard by far and near in the whole world, the nation of giants will defend this holy land with its blood, its souls, its property and with everything it has. This land is a holy land, this is the land of our nation of giants, from the cradle to the grave..." "We stand by the child, by the flower, by the man, by the woman, by the old man, and by the young man. We all redeem the holy Christian and Muslim sites, we will defend them and will strengthen them since this is our destiny, to live on the frontline until judgment day. [Islamic tradition states that] 'One martyr of these is worth seventy' [namely, one martyr on the front line in Jerusalem, is worth seventy martyrs on any other front of Jihad]. Why? Because we are in the holy land..." "We shall fight on this blessed land, on this blessed land, this is our message and it is not by accident that one-hundred and four years after [the First Zionist Congress] and despite all the conspiracies and all the blood that was spilled, this nation continues to raise its head and its flag, Allah willing, Allah willing. One of our flowers and one of our cubs will wave the flag over the walls of Jerusalem, over its mosques and over its churches..." In this speech Arafat also spoke of the conspiracy to "Judaize" Jerusalem -- according to the official position of the PA, there were never any Jews in Jerusalem before the Zionists came; there was never a Jewish Temple on Temple Mount. Thus, there are no Jewish religious sites in Jerusalem. This speech has received ZERO coverage in the US press. This follows the pattern of all Arafat's previous bellicose speeches in Arabic; they have also been ignored. I think in the mainstream press I have only heard Tom Friedman report on Arafat's habit of talking peace and war simultaneously.

To: FaultLine who wrote (14256)	12/20/2001 7:36:18 PM
From: Rollcast...	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Poll blames U.S. policy for Sept. 11 attack By William Neikirk Washington Bureau Published December 20, 2001 chicagotribune.com WASHINGTON -- Opinion leaders from around the world believe that America's own policies caused the Sept. 11 attacks and are pleased that the U.S. now feels a sense of vulnerability, according to a survey released Wednesday. The survey of 275 political, media, cultural, business and government leaders from 24 countries also found little support outside the U.S. for extending the fighting in Afghanistan to Iraq and Somalia, even if it is proved these countries have backed terrorism. The American policies the respondents blamed the attacks on weren't identified in the survey, which was conducted by the Pew Research Center and The International Herald Tribune for a project on global attitudes headed by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. But 58 percent of the foreign leaders said U.S. policies were responsible for the attacks, while only only 18 percent of the U.S. opinion leaders interviewed held that view. Albright said many of the responses in the survey reflected a long-standing "love-hate" attitude toward the United States but added that other countries think that "we no longer can be above the turbulence" that they have suffered. The survey said 70 percent of those interviewed in other countries believed it was good that the U.S. now feels vulnerable after the attacks. Albright said she wasn't surprised by this finding, adding, "It's a very high price to pay for consciousness." Only 29 percent of non-U.S. respondents said the U.S. should next attack Iraq and Somalia, which Albright and Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Center, said indicates that the U.S. would have a difficult time building a coalition for such a policy. But Albright said the failure to build a coalition should not be the decisive factor in whether the U.S. decides to expand the war on terrorism to these two countries. While the survey indicated a generally favorable view of the U.S. by opinion leaders, it also showed that America is disliked mostly because of its power in the world and because of perceptions that U.S. policies have contributed to a growing gap between the rich and poor. Albright cited resentment over the rich-poor gap as a "major red flag" that should cause a reassessment of American assistance to the rest of the world. "There is a sense that we are the richest country in the world and we don't share," she said. To her, it indicated that the U.S. will be judged not only on winning the war in Afghanistan but also in the role it plays in reconstruction of that country. The former secretary of state said the U.S. should expand economic assistance out of a sense of national security. Americans can't make the rest of the world love them, she said, but "you don't want to live in a neighborhood where everybody hates you." She said that calling such assistance "foreign aid" doesn't bring much support: "It's like selling leprosy." Instead, foreign aid should be repackaged as a national security budget, she said. Kohut said the findings were reliable insofar as they reflected the opinions of leaders in the 24 countries, which included those from all major regions of the world, including the Mideast. The survey indicated the leaders believed there is little backing in their countries for Osama bin Laden and his terrorist group. In general, they support the U.S. war on terrorism. Also, 52 percent saw little or no slowing of the pace of globalization from the attacks, while 73 percent said globalization was a minor cause in terrorism. It showed that the popularity of American consumer products, music and movies is high. Copyright © 2001 ***************************************************** The power of jealousy.