Montag, 28. August 2006
[SHOBAK] Cluster Bombs & Regarding Pain Of Others
artist against war, 21:10h
Now that the wreckage is being cleared in Lebanon, a new protest movement is emerging inside Israel. One that wants Olmert, Peretz and Halutz to resign – not because they fought a destructive war, but because they did not win. Human Rights Watch report on use of
cluster bombs ("Fatal Strikes") has moved even the US to launch a mild (soon to be shelved) inquiry into their use. But inside Israel the debate is about why more overwhelming force was not used.
Gideon Levy highlights the moral bankruptcy of the protests:
"Above all, it is depressing to find out that none of the protesters are raising moral questions. A protest movement that says nothing about the terrible destruction we wreaked in Lebanon, how we killed hundreds of innocent civilians and turned tens of thousands into impoverished refugees is by definition not a moral movement. Even after it has been proved that the excessive force was not effective, no protest has been directed at it. How long will we only focus on ourselves and our distress?"
In response to the protests, Olmert said:
“We have no other army. Who is the I.D.F.? It’s our children, it’s our brother, it’s our public, part of it in the regular army, part of it in the reserves. What are we going to do now? Stand them in a line and give them a slap on the face? Try them? Put them in front of commissions of inquiry each and every day, so they
won’t be able to properly assess the next conflict because they will be afraid we shall come complaining to them?” [NYT, 8/22]
Meanwhile, Amy Goodman hosts an interesting exchange between Refusenik Norman Finkelstein ("Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History") and ex Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami ("Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy").
Norman Finkelstein on 1948:
"Someone like Benny Morris will say, "Yes,
Palestinians were ethnically cleansed in 1948.” That's Benny Morris's expression. But he says it was an accident of war. There are wars, people get dispossessed. Mr. Ben-Ami, no, he will go further. He said you can see pretty clearly that they intended to expel the Palestinians. The opportunity came along, and they did so. Now, those are the facts. So where do we disagree? I think where we disagree is on responsibility. It's not just a question of moral responsibility. It's not simply a question of tragedy or sadness. It's a question of law, international law."
Shlomo Ben-Ami on Oslo:
"Arafat conceived Oslo as a way, not necessarily to reach a settlement, but more importantly to him at that particular moment, in order to come back to the territories and control the politics of the Palestinian family. Don't forget that the Intifada, to which Oslo brought an end, started independently of the P.L.O. leadership, and he saw how he was losing control of the destiny of the Palestinians. His only way to get back to the territories was through an
agreement with Israel. So in Oslo, he made enormous concessions. In fact, when he was negotiating in Oslo with us, an official Palestinian delegation was negotiating with an official Israeli delegation in Washington, and the official Palestinian delegation was asking the right things from the viewpoint of the Palestinians — self-determination, right of return, end of occupation, all the necessary arguments — whereas Arafat in Oslo reached an agreement that didn't even mention the right of self-determination for the Palestinians, doesn't even mention the need of the Israelis to put an end to settlements."
Meanwhile warmonger Thomas Friedman finally squeaks in a quiet little note that he was wrong about trumpeting wars as a way to create a "new Middle East". Robert Parry asks, why does this man still have a job. He may have been wrong on all major pronouncements over
last four years, but look, the world is still flat.
Finally, a note closer to home. Bangladesh is the largest troops contributing country in UN peacekeeping missions with approximately 11,000 soldiers operating as Blue Helmet peacekeepers in 11 countries around the world. Bangladesh was the earliest to offer a large
number of troops (2,000, which would have been a majority out of the initial 3,500 estimate), while European nations were dithering over their own commitment. But Israel's condition is that no troops can be sent from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, so it looks like Bangladeshi soldiers may not be deployed.
Naeem Mohaiemen
http://shobakorg.blogspot.com
cluster bombs ("Fatal Strikes") has moved even the US to launch a mild (soon to be shelved) inquiry into their use. But inside Israel the debate is about why more overwhelming force was not used.
Gideon Levy highlights the moral bankruptcy of the protests:
"Above all, it is depressing to find out that none of the protesters are raising moral questions. A protest movement that says nothing about the terrible destruction we wreaked in Lebanon, how we killed hundreds of innocent civilians and turned tens of thousands into impoverished refugees is by definition not a moral movement. Even after it has been proved that the excessive force was not effective, no protest has been directed at it. How long will we only focus on ourselves and our distress?"
In response to the protests, Olmert said:
“We have no other army. Who is the I.D.F.? It’s our children, it’s our brother, it’s our public, part of it in the regular army, part of it in the reserves. What are we going to do now? Stand them in a line and give them a slap on the face? Try them? Put them in front of commissions of inquiry each and every day, so they
won’t be able to properly assess the next conflict because they will be afraid we shall come complaining to them?” [NYT, 8/22]
Meanwhile, Amy Goodman hosts an interesting exchange between Refusenik Norman Finkelstein ("Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History") and ex Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami ("Scars of War, Wounds of Peace: The Israeli-Arab Tragedy").
Norman Finkelstein on 1948:
"Someone like Benny Morris will say, "Yes,
Palestinians were ethnically cleansed in 1948.” That's Benny Morris's expression. But he says it was an accident of war. There are wars, people get dispossessed. Mr. Ben-Ami, no, he will go further. He said you can see pretty clearly that they intended to expel the Palestinians. The opportunity came along, and they did so. Now, those are the facts. So where do we disagree? I think where we disagree is on responsibility. It's not just a question of moral responsibility. It's not simply a question of tragedy or sadness. It's a question of law, international law."
Shlomo Ben-Ami on Oslo:
"Arafat conceived Oslo as a way, not necessarily to reach a settlement, but more importantly to him at that particular moment, in order to come back to the territories and control the politics of the Palestinian family. Don't forget that the Intifada, to which Oslo brought an end, started independently of the P.L.O. leadership, and he saw how he was losing control of the destiny of the Palestinians. His only way to get back to the territories was through an
agreement with Israel. So in Oslo, he made enormous concessions. In fact, when he was negotiating in Oslo with us, an official Palestinian delegation was negotiating with an official Israeli delegation in Washington, and the official Palestinian delegation was asking the right things from the viewpoint of the Palestinians — self-determination, right of return, end of occupation, all the necessary arguments — whereas Arafat in Oslo reached an agreement that didn't even mention the right of self-determination for the Palestinians, doesn't even mention the need of the Israelis to put an end to settlements."
Meanwhile warmonger Thomas Friedman finally squeaks in a quiet little note that he was wrong about trumpeting wars as a way to create a "new Middle East". Robert Parry asks, why does this man still have a job. He may have been wrong on all major pronouncements over
last four years, but look, the world is still flat.
Finally, a note closer to home. Bangladesh is the largest troops contributing country in UN peacekeeping missions with approximately 11,000 soldiers operating as Blue Helmet peacekeepers in 11 countries around the world. Bangladesh was the earliest to offer a large
number of troops (2,000, which would have been a majority out of the initial 3,500 estimate), while European nations were dithering over their own commitment. But Israel's condition is that no troops can be sent from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, so it looks like Bangladeshi soldiers may not be deployed.
Naeem Mohaiemen
http://shobakorg.blogspot.com
