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

To: frankw1900 who wrote (54551)	10/25/2002 12:25:44 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 281500

The only things getting in the way of palestinians being a state beside Israel are their leadership problems, which are huge. Well, in part... Arafat is definitely the major problem because he has his own personal agenda... He's looking to glorify his position in history as the "father of his country" against an "enemy" largely of his own creation. For decades the Israelis were able to "manage" to live with Jordan holding the West Bank.. It was always a sense of military concern, with Fedayeen guerilla constantly attacking across the border.. And personally, I think they could do it again, if the Palestinian state was peacefully inclined and demilitarized. But Arafat is the "albatross" hanging around the neck Palestinian statehood. He's the one who opted to side with Saddam Hussein during the Gulf war, and continue to maintain those relationships, as well as with Iran, in order to perpetuate the Arab-Israeli conflict until resolved on HIS terms. I really don't see the Palestinians ever being grantd anymore sizable territorial concessions from the Israelis until Arafat dies and a more moderate leadership replaces him. Here's an interesting site "Reporters without Borders", where they lay into both sides, Israel and the PA.. Apparently the PA banned Journalists from taking photos of Palestinian children dressed up in uniform and carrying weapons: rsf.fr Palestinian journalists union admits error concerning ban on photos of armed children The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) in the Palestinian Occupied territories, today reversed its much-criticised decision of three days ago to ban local and foreign journalists taking pictures of masked gunmen or of children carrying weapons or wearing military uniforms in street demonstrations. The PJS Council said it knew nothing about the statement, "which we condemn. It did not in any way represent the position of the PJS, which honours the role of media personnel," said the union's leader, Naeem Tubasi. He said the statement had been issued by a senior member of the PJS acting on his own and had not been authorised by the union. The Palestinian information ministry had also condemned the ban, saying it "did not reflect the position of the Palestinian National Authority." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08.26 - Palestinian journalists' union bans photos of armed children Reporters Without Borders called today on the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate to immediately reverse its ban on local and foreign journalists taking pictures of children carrying weapons or wearing military uniforms. The union, announcing the measure yesterday throughout the Palestinian occupied territories, said such pictures were "a flagrant violation of the rights of children." But Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard called the ban "a misguided way to protect children aimed at misinforming the world about the real situation in the Occupied Territories." He added : "It is also very odd, to say the least, for a journalists' union to forbid journalists to do their job." The union said any Palestinian journalist filming or photographing armed para-military children or masked men would face sanctions by the union, since such pictures "serve Israel" and its "campaign against our just [Palestinian] cause." It said Palestinians working for foreign media should ensure their foreign colleagues respected the ban. The union called on Palestinian groups to stop using children in military uniform and masked men in their activities and said it would boycott rallies where they appeared. A cameraman and a photographer from Reuters had their pictures seized in Bethlehem on 1 April while they were covering the killing of a man suspected of collaborating with Israel. *************** I would call that reversal a very positive sign that journalists are starting to pry open the restrictions on news coverage in the PA.. Now if they can just get the Israelis troops to quit shooting at Palestinian Journalists... (and I'm not sure that this is governmental policy, or merely the actions of a rogue IDF soldier exacting his "revenge" upon what he might perceive as propaganda). So, you if really want to know if the palestinians are candidates for statehood get rid of the rulers and see what the rest of them want to do. That does mean getting rid of Arafat, his cronies, hamas, hizbollah, and their ilk. I concur completely... Hawk