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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: matthew (Hijacked) who wrote (6832)	4/2/2003 7:40:32 PM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 21614

Hmmmm, I guess that says a lot about the quality of your thought. You like circumcised guys? And you are NOT a fanatic or a bigot?

To: matthew (Hijacked) who wrote (6832)	4/3/2003 3:17:16 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

Exclusive: Two Wars and Two Camps Dr. Buthaina Shaiban, Special to Arab News Even in these early days, the invasion of Iraq has already taken on the same characteristics we have been seeing daily for the last two and a half years in the aggression against the Palestinians. There is the same destruction of family homes and the same bombing of civilian areas with their clinics, museums and archaeological remains. There is the same arresting of young men who resist the aggression, the same use of forbidden weapons, the same assassination of children and the same cutting off of water, electricity and food supplies. The scenes repeat themselves in Baghdad, Basra, Nassiriyah, Najaf, Karbala and Umm Qasr. During the newscasts, it is impossible to tell whether the city being savaged is Gaza, Rafah, Ramalla, Nablus, Hebron or Jenin. An intelligent viewer will conclude that although the justifications for the aggression differ, the wars look the same in both places. The common goal in both cases is aggression against the Arabs, their land, their wealth, their civilization and their will power. I am not the only one who has seen the same war in both of these. On Wednesday (March 25) in a supplement to an Israeli newspaper, there was a long editorial under the headline "Similarities." The paper published photographs of bombed buildings in Iraq which looked very much like bombed buildings in Palestine. It was the same with photographs of Iraqi prisoners of war being guarded by American soldiers and "detained" Palestinians being guarded by Israelis. The newspaper said: "Over the years, the same force was used by the British and the Americans against the Israelis who fought against them (i.e. terrorism) in the Palestinian territories and now they are fighting in Iraq for the same reasons." The newspaper also said: "The photographs beginning to come out of Iraq are to a certain extent similar to those which have been taken in the Palestinian territories. In the clashes with civilians, we have suddenly seen them with their hands tied behind their backs! The methods being used by the coalition forces in battle remind us of the methods which are used by the Israeli forces." Among the photographs published by the newspaper was one from Basra of a number of armed coalition soldiers wearing battle dress pointing their rifles at unarmed civilians whose hands were raised above their heads. Beside this photo was a picture from Nablus of an Israeli soldier doing the same thing! They published two other photographs which showed plumes of smoke rising from Baghdad and also from Gaza. The cities were indistinguishable. How many more Arab cities do certain Arab leaders want to see bombarded, burned and humiliated before they understand that the two wars now being fought - Palestine and Iraq - are the beginning of wars No. 3,4,5 - wars which will be launched under various pretexts aimed at other Arab cities. The present wars are wars directed against the Arabs as a whole, all of them, and the goal is control of the wealth of the region, all under the pretense of restoring civilization. They want to treat Arabs like the unfortunate native Americans (the Indians) and kill millions of them in an attempt to plant their own counterfeit civilization on the ruins of the Arab civilization. Theirs is a civilization of violence, killing and destruction. How many of our women and children must be killed before the Arab regimes accept the judgment of the Arab street which rings out louder and clearer every day against the Zionist/American/British war? The warmongers make light of the occupation of one of our countries and without doubt they will make more incursions for similar reasons. Always these incursions will be launched under the pretext of fighting terrorism or in revenge for the events of Sept. 1l. At the moment in Iraq, the United States is pushing 120,000 soldiers to Baghdad while they continue to kill and destroy the people and civilization of Iraq. How long will some Arab regimes remain silent while secretly cooperating with the invaders? They are providing territory, skies and seaports to the enemy which uses these facilities to bring in weapons to kill Arabs and Muslims in Palestine, Iraq and perhaps in other countries as well. The events which took place before the present war divided the world into two camps: (1) the War Camp led by the United States, Israel and Britain and (2) the Peace Camp led by France, Russia, Germany and China. Syria and Lebanon were the only two Arab countries which stood with the Peace Camp against the War Camp. They pledged themselves to offer whatever political support they had to the Iraqi people in opposing the aggression against Iraq. The question is what some other Arab regimes did. To begin with, they expelled Iraqi diplomats and opened their lands, skies and seaports for use in launching attacks against Iraq. How long will it be possible for these regimes to continue with such acts in light of the admission of the Zionists that the war against Iraq is completely a Zionist war? It is a racist war now raging against the Palestinians who have been isolated for years. What do these people want in order to reach a common Arab defense agreement and in order to cry out in unison in the face of the entire world, "Stop this war and end the dirty aggression against Iraq or else?" The American/British forces announced that they would attack "soft targets," meaning that they would pulverize Iraqi buildings and cities into dust. Will the Arabs wait until they see all traces of the cradle of civilization destroyed? The archaeological treasures ruined? Their sons killed and their land occupied? Even then, will they make a move? Today, every single Arab regime must openly say for all to hear where they stand. By speech and action they must pledge themselves to abide by the treaties and documents of the Arab League and they must make a principled and friendly stand in support of brotherly Iraq. This is what the masses of the people are daily demanding. It is the least they could do for Arabism and history. The war against Iraq and all its trappings are in essence evil, murderous and destructive. It is the same with the Zionist war against the Palestinians. The Arabs are either with the "Zionists" or they must take a stand against them, once and for all. The Arab people in all countries are no longer prepared to accept vague and equivocal mouthings. They have begun to base their judgments only on real principles. Every day the people will judge who is standing where in regards to the war on Iraq and the war on Palestine and to which camp the loyalty of their country is attached: the Camp of War or the Camp of Peace. Dr. Buthaina Shaiban is a Syrian writer. Arab News Features 3 April 2003 arabnews.com