. . . There are many distinctions between the specific situation in Iraq and the specific situation in the West Bank and Gaza. But almost all the points above [excerpted from the "Declaration of Jury of Conscience" at the World Tribunal on Iraq, 27 June 2005] bear strong analogies to aspects of Israel's ruthless occupation and its continuing war against the Palestinians. As citizens of a sovereign state with an active elections system and legislature, it is the people of Israel who bear direct responsibility for the occupation and oppression of the people of the West Bank and Gaza, through their government and their army. But it is a single power-based authority -- the United States -- that grants and protects the international impunity of both the occupiers of Iraq and the occupiers of Palestine. Resisting one of them requires and involves resisting the other. Resisting the occupation of Palestine means also addressing the U.S.A. and its actions in the region. Resisting the occupation of Iraq means also addressing Israel and its continuing contribution to the militarization of the region.
I believe that the groups resisting each part of this interconnected web could gain from finding out much more about each other and coordinating action at specific, clear-cut points. For instance, right now, New Profile is preparing a speaking tour in the U.S. for Diana Dolev (one of the organizers of this conference), and we've been trying -- though without clear results yet -- to set up joint talks with Iraq Veterans Against the War, with the feminist anti-war group Code Pink, and with other U.S. anti-war groups. We believe that the messages on each of these distinct cases -- Iraq and Palestine -- would both amplify and clarify each other; Would underline the urgency of each and both. This type of work could connect us to U.S. audiences who haven't yet invested much interest in Israel-Palestine. It could offer our American counterparts various methods, ideas, language.
For many, and maybe all, of us this link between occupations and occupiers is completely evident. But I'd like to stress that I believe it terribly important for some of us to invest in learning the specifics -- exactly how the channels of connection run; Precisely which economic and political bodies, institutions and individuals are active in both contexts. It's vital to understand as much as we possibly can about how those exercising power in these different but linked locations interact and interconnect. That is the matrix of power that we're resisting. We need to see it clearly in order to direct our resistance. . . .
FULL TEXT: <http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/mazali230805.html>
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org> * Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/mahmoud- ahmadinejads-face.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/2005/07/chvez- congratulates-ahmadinejad.html>; <http://montages.blogspot.com/ 2005/06/iranian-working-class-rejects.html>