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2002/05/29
Thomas Mellen; The ‘New World Order’ Hits Eastern Europe, spark (Socialist Labour Party Youth), Issue 9, 2002
The statistical material that the United Nations regularly publishes on the conditions of the majority of the people in Romania (and in the other countries of the ex-socialist bloc) suggests that the restoration of 'democracy' and 'freedom' in these countries has been a phenomenon similar to the 'humanitarian' bombardment of Yugoslavia or the 'human rights' sanctions on Iraq - an ongoing social catastrophe for ordinary people, dressed up by our rulers as a righteous act of progress and liberation.
This is a more constructive comment to the current situation in Israel and Palestine than the article referenced in the posting below. Coexistence is the only possible solution.
Isaac Herzog; Co-existence or no existence, Jerusalem Post May. 28, 2002 Like them, I too believe the direction can be changed and the deterioration halted. The imperative of coexistence is not a clich ; it is more vital now than ever. It ensures nothing less than a normal existence for both of the peoples in this land. The government and the leaders of all sectors should give this matter their serious and immediate attention. As one of the leaders of the Arab public aptly stated last week: "The nature of the relations between Jews and Arabs in Israel not only depends on the Arab public. It depends first and foremost on the Jews' attitude."
Today, a comment from the Jerusalem Post aims at redefining the terms occupier and occupied. New-speak?!
Michael Freund; End Arafat's occupation, Jerusalem Post May. 28, 2002 Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority have got to go. For, if there is anyone who should be considered an "occupier" in the territories, it is Arafat and his dictatorial regime. 2002/05/27
Gary Younge; Do as we say, not as we do, The Guardian 27.05.2002
Before criticising US foreign policy, Europeans should look at the actions of their own states. One can understand why Bush might be a little confused. He has landed in a continent supposedly full of allies and signed a nuclear arms treaty with a former adversary. Yet almost everywhere he goes he finds diplomatic tension and demonstrators in the streets. He wanders the continent looking a bit like Ernest Harrowden in The Picture of Dorian Gray, whom Oscar Wilde describes as "one of those middle-aged mediocrities, who have no enemies, but are thoroughly disliked by their friends". 2002/05/23
Leading article: President Bush should listen to what he is told during his European trip, The Independent 23.05.2002
The attacks on 11 September seem only to have hardened the assumption in Washington that what's good for the US is, by definition, good for everyone else. It has hardened the conviction that it is America's manifest destiny to launch a war against Iraq, whatever its allies and the United Nations might think, and whatever the destabilising effects across the Middle East. Mr Bush talks of a Palestinian state, but undoes that good work by imposing his simplistic with-us-or-against-us template of the "war against terrorism" on a conflict that has infinite shades of grey. 2002/05/22
Marcos Roitman Rosenmann; The Language of Destabilization, Sand in the Wheels (n°127), ATTAC Weekly newsletter - Wednesday 08/05/02
It was the existence of a democratic process in Venezuela that caused the military coup to stall. This statement is based on the following analysis. Ordinary everyday citizens took to the streets to defend their government and its policies. This shows a high level of nascent politicisation following years of apathy and disinterest created by the corrupt government activity of Acción Democrática (AD) and the Christian Democrat Party (COPEI) in the eighties and nineties of the 20th century. This context had landed the former president, Carlos Andrés Pérez, in jail along with senior government civil servants. 2002/05/21
Bush knew of terrorist plot to hijack US planes, The Observer 19.05.2002
George Bush received specific warnings in the weeks before 11 September that an attack inside the United States was being planned by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, US government sources said yesterday. Tell us, Mr Bush, The Observer 19.05.2002 The aftermath of 11 September put not just the terrorist network al-Qaeda and its infrastructure on trial but also the values of the West. It has long been obvious that defeating al-Qaeda required not only military success. It also required an awareness of the fundamental human and democratic rights which distinguish open societies from their terrorist enemies. Britain, like the US, is an open society and there is a limit to how much we can and should be asked to take Government decision-making on trust.
Maurice Leomoine; Venezuela: a coup countered, Le Monde diplomatique May 2002
Employers, a corrupt trade union, the Church, the middle classes and the media, with the help of dissident generals, all calling themselves 'civil society', mounted a coup last month against the elected president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez. Senior officials of the Bush administration welcomed the potential removal of a leader whose independence has been anathema to Washington. But ordinary people and loyal soldiers turned out to resist the coup. They prevailed. So Chávez stays in power for now.
Ignacio Ramonet; The plague, Le Monde diplomatique May 2002
The Republican awakening expressed in street demonstrations all over France translated into anti-Le Pen votes on 5 May. Neo-fascism will not be voted in during the parliamentary elections in June either. But once the moment of fear has passed, if the parties carry on as before, with privatisation, dismantling public services, creating pension funds and accepting sackings to keep shareholders happy, if they continue to deny people's desires for a society that is fairer, more fraternal, more based on solidarity — then there is no guarantee that fascism, in alliance with the usual collaborators, will not win next time.
Blair attacks Europe's anti-Americanism, The Guardian 21.05.2002
Tony Blair has attacked growing anti-American sentiment across Europe, calling for politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to overcome tension surrounding issues such as Iraq and free trade. 2002/05/15
Mark Dejevsky; Nato and Russia join forces against terror, The Independent 15.05.2002
Nato and Russia last night concluded what both described as a historic agreement to banish the legacy of the Cold War. The agreement, signed in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, sets up a Nato-Russia Council that is designed to identify and combat common security threats, including terrorism and biological and chemical weapons. The Nato Secretary General, George Robertson, said: "It is impossible to overstate the importance of this recognition, that Nato and Russia must stand side by side in defence of common values and interests in the face of the challenges of the new century. 2002/05/14
War at the top of the world, The Observer 12.05.2002
The violence now threatens to engulf the entire Himalayan region, from Afghanistan to Pakistan through India, Kashmir and Tibet.
The Likud's hollow decision, Ha'aretz 14.05.2002
The Likud's decision, initiated by Benjamin Netanyahu, to oppose a Palestinian state, was a hollow, harmful political show. It is regrettable that such an important political party, whose chairman is a sitting prime minister, and which formulated the government's guidelines, was dragged into what Netanyahu himself described as "vulgar tricks," making such an anachronistic and irrelevant decision, which won't stand up to the test of reality for any government.
Sharon's humiliation – and courage, Jerusalem Post 14.05.2002
Sharon is no political novice, but it seemed that his younger rival ran rings around him that night. A sitting prime minister lost votes not once but twice at the hands of his own party faithful, inspired by the rhetorical virtuosity of Binyamin Netanyahu. But though Sharon suffered what was perhaps the greatest humiliation of his political career, it is Netanyahu who will ultimately pay the price. 2002/05/07
Unstoppable national renewal, Granma (Ingles Granma Internacional Digital) 25.04.2002
Political, economic and social sectors are daily immersed in a unique process which, according to Chávez, translates into the "rebirth of the rebirth." This phrase has been repeated many times since the Venezuelan people and army restored the Constitution and the legislative powers, infringed by Pedro Carmona and his backers. 2002/05/06
Paul Stuart; Camp Bondsteel and America's plans to control Caspian oil, World Socialist Web Site 29.04.2002
Camp Bondsteel, the biggest “from scratch” foreign US military base since the Vietnam War is near completion in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo. It is located close to vital oil pipelines and energy corridors presently under construction, such as the US sponsored Trans-Balkan oil pipeline. As a result defence contractors—in particular Halliburton Oil subsidiary Brown & Root Services—are making a fortune. |
