Hakki -------------------------------- http://www.lemonde.fr/imprimer_article_ref/0,9187,3218--260157,00.html Israeli reservists refuse to participate in the "oppression" of Palestinians
Le Monde, 01.25.02 | 19:52
52 Israeli reserve officers and soldiers announced in a petition published Friday January 25, their refusal to take part in the future in " the oppression of the Palestinians and the occupation " of the territories. It is the first time since the beginning of second Intifada, in September 2000 that such a petition is published.
This text, published by the press, constitutes an open call to refuse to be serve in the Palestinian territories. " We will continue to serve in the army when it is a question of defending the State of Israel but not in tasks involing the oppression and occupation of the Palestinians ", the reservists wrote. The 52 protestors signed te petition with their names and specified their ranks, ranging from private second class to lieutenant. Almost all are from combat units, in particular parachutists, armored units and elite infantry.
In the preamble, they underline their attachment to " Zionism and the State of Israel " and affirm " to have served in the first-line defense of the country ". " the territories (the West Bank and Gaza Strip) do not form part of Israel and the Jewish colonies which were established there will ultimately be dismantled. We will therefore not continue to fight for them ", continue the signatories. " We will also no longer fight beyond the green line (between Israel and the Palestinian territories) with the aim of oppressing, expelling, starving and humiliating an entire people ", the text underlines.
" I'll be accused of saping army morale, but it's the army that saps my morale. I am not willing to stay silent any longer. Yes, the army commits war crimes ", explains reserve staff sergeant Amir Bar-Tzedek, in an interview with the newspaper Yediot Aharonot. This daily also presents the testimony of reserve lieutenant Chouki Sadeh: " I served in Lebanon, I served in the territories (Palestinian) so nobody can say that I'm yellow or that I'm copping out. But I've woken up and I know that in 10 or 20 years people will ask in shame what they did ", he confides. Standing next to him, second lieutenant Yishaï Sagui says: " We were sent to protect the colonists of Tapuah in the West Bank, who were throwing stones at Palestinian cars ".
According to the Israeli pacifist movement Yesh Gvul ("there is a limit ", in Hebrew), two hundred Israeli soldiers, mostly reservists, refused to join their units in the territories occupied since the beginning of Intifada, but only a small number was sanctioned. The press estimates that the absenteeism, not always for political reasons, affects a much more significant number of reservists.(...) -------------------------------- Bush "disappointed" with Arafat, Zinni says he's like a Mafia boss, US getting sanctions ready:
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo= 122283
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Israel's latest pretext for war: The arms ship. -------------------------------- http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4339656,00.html The strange affair of Karine A
Israel's official account of the Palestinian Authority's connections with a ship found loaded with weapons makes little sense, writes Brian Whitaker
Brian Whitaker Monday January 21, 2002 The Guardian
But the official version, as told by Israeli spokesmen and spoon-fed to selected journalists, makes little sense when it moves on to the questions of who did it and why. (...) The ship and its voyage Israel has so far failed to substantiate its crucial claim that the Karine A belongs to the Palestinian Authority. (...) On January 7, for instance, the defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, met the two senior European envoys, Javier Solana and Miguel Moratinos. He told them that "the ship was purchased by the Palestinian Authority after September 11" and that "the whole operation was managed and funded by the Palestinian Authority in cooperation with Iran and other sources". One of the conclusions they were supposed to draw from this was that the EU should reconsider its funding of the authority.
Unfortunately for Mr Ben-Eliezer, on the day of his meeting, the shipping newspaper, Lloyds List, published documents showing that the legal owner of the Karine A is an Iraqi passport holder named Ali Mohamed Abbas. (...) The role of the Palestinian Authority Apart from claiming that the ship belongs to the Palestinian Authority, Israel says that "senior figures" in the PA were involved in the smuggling, and that the weapons were intended for use by the authority.
Given the stringency of Israeli security measures, this is the part that many people find most unconvincing. Would the Palestinian Authority really be so stupid as to imagine that it could successfully import the weapons in this way?
Assuming the ship had not been stopped in the Red sea and had passed through the Suez canal without being caught by the Egyptians, the problem would be how to sneak its weapons into Gaza without the Israelis noticing. At current levels of surveillance, the chances of that happening are almost nil. (...) The role of Hizbullah Shortly after the smuggling operation came to light, American officials suggested that the weapons were intended for Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shi'ite organisation, rather than the Palestinians. (...) According to Ha'aretz newspaper, Hizbullah's air route [for weapons deliveries from Iran via Syria] was shut off last year when "Turkey began intercepting Iranian aeroplanes delivering weapons to Damascus". (...)President Asad has been trying to appear co-operative in the "war against terrorism" and it would not be surprising if the Americans - who formally outlawed Hizbullah last November - had been pressing him to stop the weapons flights. (...) What does it all mean? The only thing we can say with confidence is that when the full picture emerges it will be a lot more complex than the current official version.
There are still many pieces in this jigsaw that don't fit, but Israeli politicians have already decided what the finished picture should look like and tailored it to reinforce Israeli policies.
The Karine A affair has already been invoked as grounds for the overthrow of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, and for not resuming the peace process. (...)