Middle East & North Africa Archives - Page 310 of 635

USAID Boycott Off Target

by Sam Bahour | May 1, 2002

Palestine has scarce resources to face the enormous challenges in a struggle that has now continued for over five decades. Operating with a scarcity of resources is true of our Palestinian Authority (PA), the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that make up civil society, and our local and national institutions. For this reason, it is imperative that all available resources be mobilized in efforts that have the greatest potential political, social, and community return.

Israel’s State Terrorism

by Lev Grinberg | Apr 1, 2002

What is the difference between State terrorism and individual terrorist acts? If we understand this difference we’ll understand also the evilness of U.S. Middle East policies and the forthcoming disasters. When Yassir Arafat was put under siege in his offices and kept hostage by the Israeli occupation forces, he was constantly pressed into condemning terror and combating terrorism. Israel’s State terrorism is defined by U.S. officials as “self-defense,” while individual suicide bombers are called terrorists.

U.S. Eyes Caspian Oil in “War On Terror”

by Armen Georgian | Apr 1, 2002

The arrival of U.S. troops in Georgia on April 29 raised as many glasses in Ankara and Baku as it did jitters in Moscow. Touted as a new front in the “war on terror,” the Bush administration is in reality scrambling for Caspian oil in a bid to oust Russia from its traditional backyard. Washington insists its “train and equip force'” of 10 combat helicopters and 150 military instructors is solely intended to help Georgia combat Islamic radicals in the lawless Pankisi Gorge, allegedly a safe haven for al Qaeda militants and their Chechen allies. But other motives became apparent, although largely unnoticed by the Western press when Georgian Defense Ministry official Mirian Kiknadze told Radio Free Europe on February 27: “The U.S. military will train our rapid reaction force, which is guarding strategic sites in Georgia–particularly oil pipelines.” He was referring to the embryonic Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) project, set to reduce Georgia’s and Azerbaijan’s energy reliance on Russia and bring the southern Caucasus into the U.S. fold.

A Way Out

by Sam Bahour, Michael Dahan | Apr 1, 2002

Every foreign military invasion has a predefined end called withdrawal. The hideous Israeli incursion of internationally recognized Palestinian territories is no exception. Every military operation has a defined political goal, yet Sharon seems to be keeping this a secret from his cabinet, the Israeli people and, indeed, the world.

Economic Development Under Fire

by Sam Bahour | Apr 1, 2002

The Palestinian economy is one of the many, but less often discussed, victims of Israeli military aggression on Palestinian towns, cities, villages, and refugee camps. Before Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon was elected, the Palestinian economy was engaged in an internationally acknowledged pattern of growth. This growth started to be realized despite the fact that during the first several years after Oslo, the Palestinian standard of living actually decreased because of Israeli closures and land appropriation for illegal settlement building. The Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator in the Occupied Territories (UNSCO) reported, “In the spring of 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Finance projected that the Palestinian economy would continue to grow as it had since 1997 and that real growth rates for GDP and GNP for the Palestinian territory would reach 5 and 6 percent respectively.” Today the Palestinian economy is in shambles.

Palestinians and the American People

by Sam Bahour | Apr 1, 2002

The Palestinian people have no grudge against the American public. We never did. As a matter of fact, if one resists the media spin and takes a closer look at what the Palestinians have been struggling for during the past two weeks–let alone the past thirty-five years–it will be revealed that the Palestinian Intifada is a very American struggle. After all, it is a struggle for national independence, civil liberties, human rights, as well as a struggle to establish an open market in an independent economy, free to market forces and free from Israeli domination.

Bush Disengagement Not Limited to the Middle East

by Jeffrey Fields | Apr 1, 2002

President Bush is currently being assailed from all sides for his Middle East foreign policy. In his 15 months in office, the president allowed the Israeli-Palestinian situation to go from bad to worse with a baffling level of detachment. It would be easy to blame this on a president with a notable lack of foreign policy acumen. The Middle East peace process is complex and in the case of the current administration requires the moderation of the president between two camps in the administration at odds over the level of U.S. involvement, with one camp eager to look past it and take on Iraq.

One Path to Peace: Kofi Annan’s Multinational Force

by Jeremy Brecher | Apr 1, 2002

As war rages in the Middle East despite Colon Powell’s mission, there is one hope for peace: The whole world, including the U.S., must support UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s proposal for an impartial international force. All other options look catastrophic for Americans, for Israel, and for the peace of the world.

Ariel Sharon, Take A Bow

by Ian Williams | Apr 1, 2002

Let’s hear it for Saddam Hussein’s most important comrade–the man who has done more than anyone else to frustrate George Bush’s big push on Baghdad. Take a bow, Ariel Sharon.

Sharon’s War

by Simona Sharoni | Apr 1, 2002

In his televised address to the Israeli public following another deadly suicide bombing in Haifa, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared that once again Israel has no other choice but to wage war. As the military activated 20,000 army reservists, the largest number since the Israeli invasion of Lebanon–another unnecessary war masterminded by Sharon–the Israeli leader promised that this war will be a widespread, prolonged, and bloody campaign.