Violence, war and bloodshed is not the answer to solving the world's problems. Diplomacy, repect and love for one another is what will unite us all in a renewed sense of togetherness. I am hopeful for the future. However, we must all be diligent in our cause to obtaining the real truth and not what we are fed by the media. I learned this lesson by my exposure to Noam Chomsky. Do your own reserach and you may see history in a different light.
Currently in the Middle East, innocent Palestinian civilians have been murdered and their homes and ways of life have been ravaged by the Israeli Army. All under the cover of fighting terrorism. What the Israeli Army is doing in effect is trying to eradicate the Palestinian Authority so there is no more Palestinian government to conduct negotiations with and Israel can continue to build settlements and ignore UN sanctions against them. Chairman Arafat is huddled in a bunker in his ofice and being kept prisoner by the Israeli Army, Prime Minister Sharon continues to defy US and UN pleas to scale back his military operations. Ariel Sharon has been labeled a "man of peace" by President Bush. Laughable. A man who is responsible for excessive force in Lebanon in 1982 and has nothing but contempt and hatred for Palestinians.
The Palestinian Suicide Bombers are no better. The killing of innocent Israelis is not Freedom Fighting it is Murder, plain and simple. They are further instigating this crisis and must cease these criminal acts at once. But it is no excuse for the Israeli Army to level Jenin for example. As Nancy Stolhlman, an activist who went to the West Bank to help protect Palestinian civilians put it, "when the police search for a known criminal in his neighborhood, they don't level the neighborhood just to bring this one man to justice." Aptly put and can certainly be used in this context. The violence on both sides must end and peace must be negotiated. The Palestinians should have their own state and Israel should continue with their own state. I think UN peacekeepers should be stationed in the region once the Palestinian state has been recognized to keep the peace between these 2 states until which time both states can be trusted not to retaliate against each other.
Here are a few links for those of you looking to make a difference in this world.
Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace
War Resisters League
Amnesty International
Iraq Sanctions Challenge
Human Rights Links Collection
Free Tibet Campaign
Noam Chomsky Archive
