Your opinion The Enemy Within of May 14th, 2003 brought me to tears. I thank you for such a thought provoking and stirring peice. For many years, I have been distressed by young men and women who blow themselves up for any cause. I wonder about the 'leaders' who will manipulate and glorify these young people, goading them to kill themselves, while keeping themselves and their own children safe from harm. I think of all the innocent lives gone. What a difference these young people could have made, alive, through other means to change things in this world. Political means, non violent actions can and do gain much more than strapping on a bomb belt.

 

I admire your attitude. I admire this honesty. A breathe of fresh air. Perhaps if we join together, instead of killing one another, we can actually change our US foreign policy, we can actually change the unfairness of the Israeli/Palestine conflict. We can see to it that no one goes hungry, suffering under some of vile regimes in this world. Perhaps. One day.  

 

With renewed respect,

L.N. Gunter

California, USA

 

 

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Hello, my name is Zak and I am a student at The Evergreen State College in

Olympia, Washington. I am currently in a class titled "Mass Media and the

Middle East" and we are currently studying Israel Palestine.. I am also in

a work group who is to present information on the conflict between the two

and I was wondering if you could help out at all. I am looking for books,

videos, and websites. Any sort of guidance you could provide would be much

appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Zak Derrick

 

Editor: Look at the Media Watch section. You can find many videos in the Readers' letters. Also, PBS has produced a good video (50 years of Arab-Israeli conflict). Among the best produced videos is John Pilger's "Palestine is still the issue." Also, "Jeremy Hardy vs. The Israeli Army," a powerful new documentary by Leila Sansour about international activists agitating on behalf of Palestinians in the West Bank.

For books, look at the list of Edward Said's books. A good book about Palestine is Samih Farsoun's. Kathrine Christinson wrote a book about US policies towards Palestine. For websites, look at the readers' letters and some of them are in the Peace activists section. Good luck.

 

 

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"I don't want to die, Mommie!"

        At 2:30 am the other night, I was jolted awake by a series of earth-shaking explosions.  As I lay petrified in my bed, the whole house shook.  My ears rang and the room lit up like daylight.  Absolute terror filled my brain. 

      When I could finally get ahold of myself long enough to even think, my very first conscious thought was, "Oh My God. Those idiots in Washington have finally done it!"  This reaction was instantly followed by, "Oh My God. The neo-cons have just set off World War Three and HERE I AM WITH NO BOTTLED WATER!"

     Cautiously I got up to turn on the radio to check for emergency bulletins.  The lights still worked.  How long would the electricity hold out?  Where was my flashlight?  Then I heard a child cry, "Mommie!  Mommie!  I don't want to die!" and I realized that life as we knew it no longer existed, that this child's bright future of happy friends and pleasant days at school and carefree trips to Target and Walgreen had suddenly ended forever; replaced by the bleak reality of being a war-torn refugee with NO future -- or worse. 

     It was then that I realized that I would never again experience my normal, taken-for-granted, day-to-day life.  And I also realized that we only had three days' supply of canned food left.  Jesus H. Christ.

     Then there was the sudden sound of rain on the roof.  With tears in my eyes, I realized that the loud explosions had not been bombs.  They had only been thunder.  This time.

      "They aren't bombing us, Dear.  That's just thunder." 

      Those were the most welcome words I'd ever heard. 

     But in those brief moments when I had been forced to realize how fragile our world really is, I made two resolutions: First -- to work for peace and for the future of mankind.  And, second, to do everything I could to make sure that America stopped being run by mad dogs (and an Englishman).

     Stop mucking with my world, George. 

     America's current foreign policy is just plain crazy.  It's like kicking a hornets' net while wearing a Speedo.  That's just WRONG.  What goes around comes around and our current "administration" is putting us in grave and immediate danger.  The neo-cons may have "won" the war on Iraq but they have also taught people all over the world how to hate us. 

       America deserves better.

                 Very truly yours, Jane Stillwater, Berkeley, CA

     "Imagine a world where EVERY child is wanted, nurtured, protected and loved:  World Peace in one generation!"  And we won't have to stockpile bottled water.

Quotes:    

     "Every situation is connected and if you change one thing, it causes a chain reaction."  -- Joe Thompson    

     Speaking of connected situations and chain reactions, ALL of those people in Saudi Arabia would be alive right now if the neo-cons hadn't so gleefully kicked the Iraqi hornet nest.  Bush and them should be tried as criminals.  My heart goes out to these poor victims of neo-con hubris. 

     "You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake."  -- Jennifer Stone

     "Education, the economy, health care, infrastructure decay:  This is not just a war on a far-off place.  This is a war on our own people as well."  -- Maudelle Sherik

     "War with Iraq will multiply the risks of terror exponentially."   -- Howard Dean, Governor of Vermont,  Sadly, he proved to be right.

     "We've been fighting terrorism since 1492!"  -- Lakota Hardin, Native American

     "Punishment always leads to resistance."  -- John Gray, author of "Children are from Heaven"

Former CIA Director to Make Millions from War on Terror
http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/051203B.shtml

 

 

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Arab Condemnations of Bombings Reflect Dominant U.S. Role in Region

Critics of U.S. War in Iraq Denounce Attacks on Americans

By Jefferson Morley

Washington Post

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54199-2003May14.html