Sharon snatches defeat from the belly of victory
Sisters & brothers,
A massive gap has opened between Bush & Sharon. The 9/21 issue of NY's pro-Zionist Forward <http://www.forward.com/> reports in detail re the problems Bush faces because of his entanglement with Sharon & Zionism. I urge all to download the following articles listed & study them.
As it is unrealistic to think that busy folks will drop everything to read 4 articles on anyone's say so, allow me to focus on the highlights, so as to stimulate you to find time to read them, asap.
The crucial fact is that "Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah... was the key factor in convincing the administration that if Israel attacked Arafat under the umbrella of an American campaign against Islamic terrorism, the entire Arab world would unite against Washington. Consequently, he warned, the future of moderate pro-American regimes, such as those in Riyadh, Cairo or Amman, would be seriously jeopardized."
Sharon of course wanted to use the disgraceful cheering by some Palestinians at the deaths of thousands of Americans, against all Palestinians. Bush may be a fool, but Powell, a sophisticated soldier with some notion of politics, understands that they must take down bin Laden, & that is next to impossible if the Arab masses move against the regimes. Arab & Muslim support for catching bin Laden is crucial to the undertaking. Therefor Bush had to call for Sharon to allow Shimon Peres to talk with Arafat. That, Sharon doesn't want, no way, no how.
Peres, his Foreign Minister, understands that the US must defend itself, & that for Israel not to talk to Arafat is "rejectionist" to the nth power as far as Americans are concerned. As the prince warned, the bottom line for Arab support, or at least lack of opposition to US military efforts, is Washington making Israel sit down with the Palestinians. If they don't do that, it will mean dead Americans, the collapse of Wall St.'s native satraps in the region, & the lose of control of the Persian Gulf's oil to fundamentalism or nationalism & the left.
Instead of cooperating, Sharon freaked out. He "took his case to the American public... Addressing a group of Jewish community leaders in a teleconference with reporters invited to listen in, Mr. Sharon repeated his comparison of Mr. Arafat to bin Laden and declared that the "coalition against terror should struggle against all terror organizations"- and "must include the terrorist organization led by Arafat."... Sharon declared: "We are not going to pay a price for this coalition. We cannot do it."
The American Jews were stunned. "Several participants in the teleconference, which was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, privately expressed surprise and discomfort at what they called Mr. Sharon's 'extreme' and 'undiplomatic' language."
Everyone knows Arafat is a fool. But even a fool is wise after the event, in this case, the cheering for bin Laden. "There were Israeli intelligence reports that he had sent out an order to his security services to rein in the Islamic militants of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. He was also working feverishly to demonstrate Palestinian sympathy and solidarity with American victims of terrorism."
Bush blew up: "Sharon was also said to be surprised at the stark American insistence, delivered by President Bush in a reportedly heated conversation with the prime minister, that Israel go ahead with plans for a meeting between Mr. Arafat and... Peres."
"Sharon thus found himself at loggerheads with both the administration and his foreign minister. Mr. Peres was demanding that his meeting with Mr. Arafat be allowed to proceed, accusing Mr. Sharon of placing Israel in an anti-American "rejectionist front."
Now we have the crux of the matter. For good & bad reasons, Bush must have bin Laden's ass to show the world. But to get that fine fellow's posterior into his sling, he must persuade the Arab masses to let him do it. Suddenly their decision, their activity or non-activity, has become the decisive factor in Middle Eastern politics &, more crucially, in America's politics.
The cliche would be that Sharon snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. But don't have any illusions. He had to reach way down into victory's belly to pull this brilliant stunt off. Because there is no doubt that many Palestinians were happy at the news from America, contrary to the perfervid denial syndrome found among many Arab-Americans, who know how enraged millions of Americans became when they saw this. These Arab-Americans, of many politics, follow Arafat, who they usually despise, as a fool & despot, in minimizing that unspeakable reality.
That celebration grew directly out of Hamas & Jihad's own suicide bombs in Israel, which were likewise cheered to heaven. To be sure, both groups eventually condemned the WT. bombing. But Hamas' statement wins the Nobel Prize for brazenness. Hamas' English language organ asked "Who could be behind an atrocity on such a scale?... Could it be the same entity behind the bombing and destruction of USS Liberty in 1967 to widen the conflict?"
Bluntly: The Palestinian cause lost the 'American vote,' when folks here saw the fruit of fundamentalism, Palestinians overjoyed at their agony. Does anyone doubt that even 1 more suicide bomb in Israel or at Israeli targets abroad will confirm the 'terrified' popular American identification of homicide & suicide with the entire Palestinian movement?
Arafat has ordered his forces to prevent any such bombs. Indeed he must or the entire Palestinian people in their homeland will pay terrible consequences, in lives & in losing American & world opinion.
We are at the ultimate juncture: The Palestinians must win the 'American vote,' Bush & Co. must win the 'Muslim vote.' If, and only if, Arafat closes down Hamas & Jihad as military organizations, the Palestinians stand to gain the respect of the American people, & Zionism will be exposed as "Rejectionist," i.e., against peace in Palestine/Israel, & a prime cause of the worldwide Muslim opposition to the US. Now even Powell, Bush, Peres & the American Jewish establishment can sense that they have a potential disaster on their hands if Sharon stays in power.
Ball in the Palestinian court, to say the least.
At this point, Powell wants the Palestinians talking to Sharon, rather than bombing or shooting at Israelis. But, as the Secretary of State of the American empire, he is still thinking of Israel making minor concessions to the Palestinians, along the lines envisioned in the Oslo accords. The problem is that the masses want their full rights, the abandonment of the apartheid Jews-only settlements in the occupied territories, a state with its capital in Jerusalem, the right of the refugees & their progeny to return to what is now Israel, and full equality for the 18% + Palestinian minority within Israel. They won't be satisfied if the talks don't give them significant gains. Empty talks will put them out onto the streets again, either in demonstrations, guerrilla war, or bombings. But any of these, alone or together, means that the US loses the Muslim vote, in the Arab countries & the world. Fundamentalism will take on an even more vigorous life, from Morocco to Indonesia, regardless of what happens to bin Laden.
Arafat, because he did set up a corrupt despotism which, among other things, banned the writings of Edward Said, the most famous Palestinian-American devotee of democratic secularism, has demonstrated that he has no intellectual capacity to take advantage of Sharon's exposure & isolation. All Arafat is thinking about is stanching the gaping wound of the cheering crowds, nothing more.
At this point it is up to the secular democratic Palestinian element, in all of Palestine & in exile, to get their act together. The day of this professor giving a fine talk on a campus here, that scholar writing a learned article for yet another journal there, then both of them on a symposium together, is well & truly over, in any effective sense. How many times have those academics demonstrated that Zionism in another form of apartheid? Well, guess what? Doesn't B follow A? It is time, indeed past time, for the democratic secular Palestinian factions to set up their version of the African National Congress & put the Palestinian masses on the streets in giant, peaceful demonstrations demanding their full rights in all of Palestine, from the sea to the river.
At this juncture, after, the WTC bombing, 1 of the most important events in human history, the American people are literally rallying around the flag. But, in varying degree, they are trying to figure out what the hell hit them, & how they can stop it from happening again.
The serious media, like the NY Times, is looking in all directions for information & they are not hiding the truth. References to the US having created the monster via patronage of bin Laden in Afghanistan are now routine. One thing is certain: No matter what happens in the immediate future re the Taliban handing over or not handing over bin Laden, the Democrats, who started the patronage of Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan against the Soviets, & the Republicans who continued their diabolical work, will be blamed by the mass of the American people for creating bin Laden. That will not be the work of a day, but it is inevitable. We have entered into the terminal crisis of the present establishment in America.
Its up to the democratic secularist Palestinians, & their supporters here & thruout the world, to get up to the plate and hit the balls that bin Laden & Bush are throwing. Mayor Giuliani, in NY, said we must try to go back to our normal lives so as not to let bin Laden win. But normal died with the thousands in the WTC. It is time for We the People, here & in the Middle East, to say no to bin Laden, Hamas, Sharon & Bush. It is that, or letting them push all of humanity into the abyss.
Lenni Brenner BrennerL at aol.com
=========
The crucial articles are:
<http://www.forward.com/issues/2001/01.09.21/news1.html> Question Mark Hovers Over Anti-Terror Pact: Who Is In, Who Is Out? 'Linkage' Returns As Jewish State Is Asked To Lay Low
<http://www.forward.com/issues/2001/01.09.21/news2.html> Sharon Seeking To Paint Arafat As Alliance Target
<http://www.forward.com/issues/2001/01.09.21/news3.html> Leaders Split on Overtures To Muslims' Organizations Divisions Emerge As Backlash Brews
<http://www.forward.com/issues/2001/01.09.21/arts1.html> Writing the Unimaginable, Then Seeing It on CNN An American Chiropractor Publishes, in Hebrew, an Eerily Prescient Novel About Terror in New York