Friday's (Sun, May 3) biased coverage of the pro-Zionist rally appalled me for omitting any Palestinian perspectives.
If, as Sheldon Isenberg believes, a just and sustainable solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict will happen only by dialogue and not by armed conflict, why doesn't he criticize the hypocrisy of US-funded Israeli occupation and military violence against unarmed Palestinian civilians?
The facts omitted in the capitalist American media, but reported worldwide are that the current conflict arises out of a history bloodied by displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians from their homeland between 1948 and 1967, 34 years of military occupation, murder, hundreds of thousands of imprisonments, torture, illegal settlements and home demolitions, apartheid, live burials, humiliations, denial of movement, and unequal access to education.
Human rights groups, including the UN, Red Cross/Red Crescent Society, and Human Rights Watch condemn Israel. The Israeli army routinely deploys live ammo, snipers, armored vehicles, US-supplied Apache assault helicopters, etc. against unarmed civilians, killing hundreds (including children) and injuring thousands.
Palestinian resistance should be viewed as a struggle for freedom from colonial occupation and oppression, not unlike the struggles of Native Americans. Can this cycle of violence end if Israeli conquest of Palestinian land continues?
Meanwhile, why doesn't West Suburban Friends for Israel include Arabs or Muslims in its efforts to disseminate accurate information about the Israeli-Arab conflict? Why are Zionists using the Semitism card to defend racist Zionist policies? Where is The Sun when 5,000 Palestinians demonstrate in the Loop?
Dan and Ginnie Stenman from Bridges for Peace state ". . . it is more important than ever that we set and example of peace and tolerance." Then let us reexamine the role of America as it "leads the world in the fight against terrorist" while spending billions of our tax dollars to spread death, destruction and despair in the Middle East and beyond.
05/10/02
