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[ALISON WEIR CONTINUED] Today's Intifada includes numerous peaceful marches, demonstrations, and strikes. The problem is that these go unreported to the American public.An indication of the level of cover-up on this issue is the minimal coverage of the nonviolent people from around the world who are taking part in these efforts.
All of these people were unarmed. All believed in nonviolence. All were killed or mutilated by soldiers whose weaponry was provided by Americans - yet Americans were barely, if at all, informed about them.
- American Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old, was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer two stories high. This was barely covered in American news media.
- Tom Hurndall, a 21-year-old from England assisting Palestinian children, was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper. He was brain dead and in a coma for nine months. Not a single American television news program reported on this atrocity.
- Brian Avery, a 24-year-old American, was walking down a street in Nablus when he was shot in the face, and is now undergoing a long series of reconstructive surgery.
- James Miller, a British filmmaker waving a white flag, was killed in Gaza.
G21: Thes e are certainly important under-reported stories. But they could also be called "anecdotal evidences" rather than portrayals of a trend. More importantly, doesn't your viewpoint fly in the face of decades of United States foreign policy? Do you believe that policy should be changed?
ALISON WEIR: What's amazing is that, when you research this thoroughly, you discover that my viewpoint is completely in line with numerous reports by American analysts in the State Department and elsewhere, going back to Truman and before.
In 1947, when Truman was considering whether or not to support the creation of Israel, the director of the Office of Near Eastern and African Affairs in the State Department wrote numerous memoranda opposing such an action. For example:
"I feel it again to be my duty to point out that it seems to me and all the members of my Office acquainted with the Middle East that the policy which we are following in New York at the present time is contrary to the interests of the United States and will eventually involve us in international difficulties of so grave a character that the reaction throughout the world, as well as in this country, will be very strong..." -- NeffSecretary of Defense James Forrestal also considered support of Zionism extremely counter to US interests, stating that those urging Truman to support Zionism were doing so for "squalid political purposes." Forrestal stated that "United States policy should be based on United States national interests and not on domestic political considerations." (Donald Neff, FALLEN PILLARS, P. 29)Despite advice from government analysts for over fifty years to carry out an even-handed policy in the Middle East, however, numerous Congresses and Presidents have instead pursued policies favoring Israel. Why? The answer is neither complicated nor unexpected. They wish to be re-elected. If they vote against Israeli demands for more money - in fact, often if they simply raise questions about such demands - they are targeted for defeat by the Israel lobby. An excellent description of this process is contained in a book by Paul Findley, an eleven-term Congressman from Illinois, entitled They Dare to Speak Out. It is a must-read for all Americans.
G21: Prominent Palestinean exiles, like the late Edward Said, have said some mechanism should be provided for repatriation of exiled Palestineans, meaning those not residing in the Occupied Territories. How do you feel about the repatriation of Palestineans who claim they are exiled?
ALISON WEIR: The fact is, Palestinians HAVE been exiled. It's interesting that the American media so often report facts as Palestinian "claims." It's a little like saying that Americans "claim" that people were killed on 9-11. In 1948 the Swedish mediator Count Folk Bernadotte, appointed by the United Nations to work on partition (and assassinated by Israelis soon after) wrote:
"It would be an offense against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right of return to their homes, while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine, and, indeed, at least offer the threat of permanent replacement of the Arab refugees who have been rooted in the land for centuries." (Donald Neff, FALLEN PILLARS, P. 67)The simple fact is that Palestinians have the right to return. The International Declaration on Human Rights states in Article 13:"Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country."Palestinians not only have this right under various international law conventions, including United Nations resolution 194, passed in 1949 and reaffirmed every year since, but, interestingly, implementing this right is far more possible than most people realize. Prof. Salman Abu Sitta has done a great deal of research on this topic. (There is a valuable article about Dr.Abu Sitta's exchange with Tikkun founder Michael Lerner on this subject at http://www.counterpunch.org/sitta02122003.html )Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, a Yale professor, has also written on this subject a great deal, finding:
" ... research not only shows that the right of the refugees is legal but also possible. It is a myth that Israelis would have to be displaced to allow for the return of the refugees. A study on the demography of Israel shows that 78% of Israelis are living in 14 percent of Israel and that the remaining 86% of the land in Israel is mostly land that belongs to the refugees on which 22% of the Israelis live. However, 20% live in city centers, which are mostly Palestinian such as, Beer Al Sabaí, Ashdod, Majdal, Asqalan, Nazareth, Haifa, Acre, Tiberias and Safad. Only 2% live in Kibbutzim. Thus, only 154,000 rural Jews control 17,325 square kilometers, which is the home and heritage of five million Palestinian refugees."The main point that Israel and its partisans attempt to make on this principle is that allowing human beings to return to their own homes would "destroy Israel."What they mean is that this would undermine Israel's system of ethnic and religious supremacism and discrimination. When they talk about Israel's "right to exist," what they mean is "Israel's right to discriminate." I don't believe ANY nation has the right to discriminate - especially against its own indigenous inhabitants - and I certainly don't want my tax money enabling it.
G21: What actions would you advocate average Americans take to try to influence our country's policies toward the Palestineans and their grievances?
ALISON WEIR: It is time we all stopped allowing our tax money to go to Israel. We certainly have plenty of urgent needs at home - numerous schools are badly funded, many elders are destitute, multitudes of families are having difficulties making ends meet, businesses are struggling; people work hard for the money that they then send for taxes - why should this money go to Israel to create an unjust state that creates tragedy and, in doing so, imperils the region, the world, and Americans?
When we stop giving Israel a blank check, then the Israeli government will be forced to accede to international law and morality.
Economic pressure on South Africa caused it to dismantle its apartheid system. Similarly, economic pressure on Israel will bring to power those Israelis long calling for a just nation and legitimate compromise with the Palestinians over how the land will be shared.
G21: Isn't taking a pro-Arab position - any pro-Arab position - difficult since 9/11?
ALISON WEIR: Taking the right position is often difficult and always obligatory.
My position is the same whatever the groups involved - it is pro-justice, pro-democracy, pro-truth. It was essential to take this position before 9/ll and it is even more critical since. Our nation is undertaking actions of extreme wrong. Soldiers wearing the American uniform are torturing people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo, killing civilians, and launching wars against entire innocent populations. Governmental officials are shredding the Constitution, trampling on our most fundamental principles, and destroying our democracy. I cannot overstate the seriousness of these realities. I am writing this at a café full of people drinking coffee and listening to jazz. And the world outside falls around us.
G21: Thanks for being with us.
WEIR INTERVIEW PAGE 1
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