Breakthru 5 Documents

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="057285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>TurnTheTide</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TurnTheTide"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div>  <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U>Breakthru 1 Documents</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 2 Docments"><U>Breakthru 2 Docments</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 3 Documents"><U>Breakthru 3 Documents</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 4 Documents"><U>Breakthru 4 Documents</U></A>   |   <B>Breakthru 5 Documents</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="056d2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index_site_map.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="TurnTheTide"><U><B>LINK TO SITE MAP</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>OTHER DOCUMENTS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED:</B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id81_1__strong_must_rule_the_weak_said.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U><B>1. Strong Must Rules the Weak, said Neo-Cons' Muse</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81_4__atlanta_journal_constitution_the.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U><B>2.  Atlanta Journal-Constitution: the President's real goal in Iraq </B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81_6__speech_by_senator_chuck_hagel.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U><B>3.  Speech by Senator Chuck Hagel</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81_7__united_nations_resolutions_vetoed_by.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U><B>4.  United Nations Resolutions vetoed by the United States</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81_9__the_new_math_israel_s_numbers.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U><I><B>5.  The "New Math": </B></I></U></A><A HREF="id81_9__the_new_math_israel_s_numbers.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U><B>Israel's numbers dilemma.</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id81_10__leo_strauss_and_the_straussians.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthru 1 Documents"><U><B>6.  Leo Strauss and the Straussians: turning history topsy-turvy</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Breakthru 5 Documents</I></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Breakthrough Story 5 "><U><B>Click here to return to Breakthrough Story 5</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#1__zionist_s_failed_society" TITLE="Breakthru 5 Documents"><U><B>1. Zionist's Failed Society: a warning of what is to come</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#2__jeremiah___the_coming_exile" TITLE="Breakthru 5 Documents"><U><B>2. The Prophet Jeremiah and the Coming Exile</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#3__when_democracy_failed_the_warnings" TITLE="Breakthru 5 Documents"><U><B>3. When Democracy Failed: The warnings of history</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="#4__unofficial_israeli_palestinian" TITLE="Breakthru 5 Documents"><U><B>4.</B></U></A><B> </B><A HREF="#4__unofficial_israeli_palestinian" TITLE="Breakthru 5 Documents"><U><B>Unofficial Israeli-Palestinian Accord without US 10/13/03</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>5. </B></div> <div> <B>6.</B></div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="1__zionist_s_failed_society"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>1. Zionist's Failed Society</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Israeli society collapses while its leaders remain silent</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>By Avraham Burg</B></div> <bR> <div> Avraham Burg was speaker of Israel's Knesset from 1999 to 2003 and is a former chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel. He is currently a Labor Party Knesset member. This essay is adapted by the author from an article that appeared in the New York weekly Jewish newspaper "Forward." </div> <bR> <div> August 29 2003</div> <bR> <div> The Zionist revolution has always rested on two pillars: a just path and an ethical leadership. Neither of these is operative any longer. The Israeli nation today rests on a scaffolding of corruption, and on foundations of oppression and injustice. As such, the end of the Zionist enterprise is already on our doorstep. There is a real chance that ours will be the last Zionist generation. There may yet be a Jewish state here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.</div> <bR> <div> There is time to change course, but not much. What is needed is a new vision of a just society and the political will to implement it. Nor is this merely an internal Israeli affair. Diaspora Jews for whom Israel is a central pillar of their identity must pay heed and speak out. If the pillar collapses, the upper floors will come crashing down.</div> <bR> <div> The opposition does not exist, and the coalition, with Arik Sharon at its head, claims the right to remain silent. In a nation of chatterboxes, everyone has suddenly fallen dumb, because there's nothing left to say. We live in a thunderously failed reality. Yes, we have revived the Hebrew language, created a marvelous theater and a strong national currency. Our Jewish minds are as sharp as ever. We are traded on the Nasdaq. But is this why we created a state? The Jewish people did not survive for two millennia in order to pioneer new weaponry, computer security programs or anti-missile missiles. We were supposed to be a light unto the nations. In this we have failed.</div> <bR> <div> It turns out that the 2,000-year struggle for Jewish survival comes down to a state of settlements, run by an amoral clique of corrupt lawbreakers who are deaf both to their citizens and to their enemies. A state lacking justice cannot survive. More and more Israelis are coming to understand this as they ask their children where they expect to live in 25 years. Children who are honest admit, to their parents' shock, that they do not know. The countdown to the end of Israeli society has begun.</div> <bR> <div> It is very comfortable to be a Zionist in West Bank settlements such as Beit El and Ofra. The biblical landscape is charming. From the window you can gaze through the geraniums and bougainvilleas and not see the occupation. Traveling on the fast highway ›hat takes you from Ramot on Jerusalem's northern edge to Gilo on the southern edge, a 12-minute trip that skirts barely a half-mile west of the Palestinian roadblocks, it's hard to comprehend the humiliating experience of the despised Arab who must creep for hours along the pocked, blockaded roads assigned to him. One road for the occupier, one road for the occupied.</div> <bR> <div> This cannot work. Even if the Arabs lower their heads and swallow their shame and anger forever, it won't work. A structure built on human callousness will inevitably collapse in on itself. Note this moment well: Zionism's superstructure is already collapsing like a cheap Jerusalem wedding hall. Only madmen continue dancing on the top floor while the pillars below are collapsing.</div> <bR> <div> We have grown accustomed to ignoring the suffering of the women at the roadblocks. No wonder we don't hear the cries of the abused woman living next door or the single mother struggling to support her children in dignity. We don't even bother to count the women murdered by their husbands.</div> <bR> <div> Israel, having ceased to care about the children of the Palestinians, should not be surprised when they come washed in hatred and blow themselves up in the centers of Israeli escapism. They consign themselves to Allah in our places of recreation, because their own lives are torture. They spill their own blood in our restaurants in order to ruin our appetites, because they have children and parents at home who are hungry and humiliated.</div> <bR> <div> We could kill a thousand ringleaders and engineers a day and nothing will be solved, because the leaders come up from below - from the wells of hatred and anger, from the "infrastructures" of injustice and moral corruption.</div> <bR> <div> If all this were inevitable, divinely ordained and immutable, I would be silent. But things could be different, and so crying out is a moral imperative.</div> <bR> <div> Here is what the prime minister should say to the people:</div> <bR> <div> The time for illusions is over. The time for decisions has arrived. We love the entire land of our forefathers and in some other time we would have wanted to live here alone. But that will not happen. The Arabs, too, have dreams and needs.</div> <bR> <div> Between the Jordan and the Mediterranean there is no longer a clear Jewish majority. And so, fellow citizens, it is not possible to keep the whole thing without paying a price. We cannot keep a Palestinian majority under an Israeli boot and at the same time think ourselves the only democracy in the Middle East. There cannot be democracy without equal rights for all who live here, Arab as well as Jew. We cannot keep the territories and preserve a Jewish majority in the world's only Jewish state - not by means that are humane and moral and Jewish.</div> <bR> <div> Do you want the greater Land of Israel? No problem. Abandon democracy. Let's institute an efficient system of racial separation here, with prison camps and detention villages. Qalqilya Ghetto and Gulag Jenin.</div> <bR> <div> Do you want a Jewish majority? No problem. Either put the Arabs on railway cars, buses, camels and donkeys and expel them en masse - or separate ourselves from them absolutely, without tricks and gimmicks. There is no middle path. We must remove all the settlements - all of them - and draw an internationally recognized border between the Jewish national home and the Palestinian national home. The Jewish Law of Return will apply only within our national home, and their right of return will apply only within the borders of the Palestinian state.</div> <bR> <div> Do you want democracy? No problem. Either abandon the greater Land of Israel, to the last settlement and outpost, or give full citizenship and voting rights to everyone, including Arabs. The result, of course, will be that those who did not want a Palestinian state alongside us will have one in our midst, via the ballot box.</div> <bR> <div> That's what the prime minister should say to the people. He should present the choices forthrightly: Jewish racialism or democracy. Settlements or hope for both peoples. False visions of barbed wire, roadblocks and suicide bombers, or a recognized international border between two states and a shared capital in Jerusalem.</div> <bR> <div> But there is no prime minister in Jerusalem. The disease eating away at the body of Zionism has already attacked the head. David Ben-Gurion sometimes erred, but he remained straight as an arrow. When Menachem Begin was wrong, nobody impugned his motives. No longer. Polls published last weekend showed that a majority of Israelis do not believe in the personal integrity of the prime minister - yet they trust his political leadership. In other words, Israel's current prime minister personally embodies both halves of the curse: suspect personal morals and open disregard for the law - combined with the brutality of occupation and the trampling of any chance for peace. This is our nation, these its leaders. The inescapable conclusion is that the Zionist revolution is dead.</div> <bR> <div> Why, then, is the opposition so quiet? Perhaps because it's summer, or because they are tired, or because some would like to join the government at any price, even the price of participating in the sickness. But while they dither, the forces of good lose hope.</div> <bR> <div> This is the time for clear alternatives. Anyone who declines to present a clear-cut position - black or white - is in effect collaborating in the decline. It is not a matter of Labor versus Likud or right versus left, but of right versus wrong, acceptable versus unacceptable. The law-abiding versus the lawbreakers. What's needed is not a political replacement for the Sharon government but a vision of hope, an alternative to the destruction of Zionism and its values by the deaf, dumb and callous.</div> <bR> <div> Israel's friends abroad - Jewish and non-Jewish alike, presidents and prime ministers, rabbis and lay people - should choose as well. They must reach out and help Israel to navigate the road map toward our national destiny as a light unto the nations and a society of peace, justice and equality.</div> <bR> <div> <I>Translated by J.J. Goldberg.</I></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>SOURCE OF THIS DOCUMENT: </B></div> <div> <B>Churches for Middle East Peace Email Network </B></div> <div> <B>FROM: Corinne Whitlatch, CMEP Executive Director </B></div> <div> <B>RE: Reflections on Zionism by Israeli leader</B></div> <div> This email alert is also posted on our website at: <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2003Sep22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2003Sep22.htm"><U><U>http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2003Sep22.htm</U></U></A></FONT> </div> <bR> <div> CMEP's email messages are usually related to U.S. policy and policymakers, the issues they are dealing with, and the perspectives from Palestinian Christians and the national churches that are part of the CMEP coalition.  Occasionally, we send "Theological Reflections." CMEP does not strive to be your source for news about the Middle East or about the range of views among Israelis and Arabs. However, a number of people have asked me to bring your attention to this reflection by Avraham Burg, a prominent Israeli whose father Dr. Joseph Burg was a leading religious and political figure in the early days of the State of Israel.  It was published in the August 29 edition of the Forward, a New York weekly Jewish newspaper: <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="www.forward.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="www.forward.com"><U><U>www.forward.com</U></U></A></FONT> . Burg's article reminds us of the need to be sensitive to the similarly anguished debate within the American Jewish community. </div> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="2__jeremiah___the_coming_exile"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>2. Jeremiah & the Coming Exile</B></div> <div>       <B>From The Other Side, July - August 2003</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>By David Hilfiker</B></div> <div> <A HREF="http://www.theotherside.org/authors/hilfiker.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.theotherside.org/authors/hilf"><U><U>http://www.theotherside.org/authors/hilfiker.html</U></U></A></div> <div>  </div> <bR> <div> The war is over. As I write, the United States is celebrating its victory in</div> <div> Iraq. We witness celebrations of our troops and high poll numbers for the</div> <div> president. We congratulate ourselves on minimizing civilian casualties and</div> <div> on our humane efforts to feed the Iraqi people, rebuild their country, and</div> <div> guide them toward democracy. Our leaders continue to speak of our national</div> <div> commitment to freedom and our responsibility to ensure a world free of</div> <div> terrorism. The nation celebrates its military might, the righteousness of</div> <div> our cause, and the nobility of our national character.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The quick, overwhelming victory and the removal of a brutal dictator seem to</div> <div> justify the rush to war. True, many Americans are beginning to wince at the</div> <div> unforeseen post-war chaos and the lack of Iraqi gratitude for their</div> <div> liberation; but for most Americans the aftermath of "Operation Iraqi</div> <div> Freedom" sanctifies our nation's magnanimous intent as we prepare for</div> <div> further conflict--perhaps Syria, Iran, or North Korea.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Those of us who opposed the war are tempted to confusion, despair, perhaps</div> <div> even submersion in the tide of approval for the military action. We are not</div> <div> certain what to do. So the challenge before us now is a critical one: In</div> <div> these days we must sharpen our discernment and deepen our faithful</div> <div> convictions. Now is a critical time to interrupt the public revelry of our</div> <div> national power and greatness with a radically different word.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Jeremiah has been much on my mind lately. Jeremiah had a particularly grim</div> <div> prophetic vocation: He saw the coming defeat of his nation and the exile of</div> <div> his people. Long before anyone else could even smell the decay, Jeremiah saw</div> <div> that the rot had spread throughout all of Judah. Even as the political and</div> <div> religious leaders were still celebrating their power, Jeremiah saw that it</div> <div> was too late--even repentance and forgiveness, though always possible, were</div> <div> not going to happen. Jeremiah's message was painfully simple: "It's over,</div> <div> folks--prepare for exile."</div> <bR> <bR> <div> A prophet of national doom might seem strangely out of place, given the</div> <div> seemingly overwhelming power and dominance of the United States in the</div> <div> current geopolitical context. But in fact, I am haunted by the relevance.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> At the heart of Jeremiah's prophecy is this stark truth: There are</div> <div> consequences to breaking covenant with God. A nation that abandons its poor,</div> <div> that pursues self-aggrandizement rather than love and forgiveness, that</div> <div> seeks security through military power rather than the protection of</div> <div> God--that nation will face calamity. Although his prophetic voice was</div> <div> incomprehensible to those who could see only Judah's glory, Jeremiah knew</div> <div> that his nation had lost its way. The imagery he uses is raw: Judah was a</div> <div> prostitute running after lovers, sullying herself, her land, and God, her</div> <div> spouse (Jer. 2:22-28, 3:1-5). Despite this promiscuity, God had been</div> <div> willing, even eager, to take Judah back. But eventually things progressed</div> <div> too far. Judah was no longer capable of returning to God (15:1-9, 25:1-14).</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Jeremiah saw the coming exile. He saw the imminent military and political</div> <div> disaster as a spiritual crisis, the result of disobedience and sin. Our</div> <div> situation is not much different. So I wrestle with the question: Where are</div> <div> we now? What might things look like from Jeremiah's perspective? It's an</div> <div> urgent question for the church in this country.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Far from being proof of righteousness, the Iraqi war is symptomatic of a</div> <div> profound sickness that permeates our national life. The task of the faith</div> <div> community is to pierce the media fog and public rhetoric--"liberation,"</div> <div> "brutal regime," "weapons of mass destruction," "threat to America." This is</div> <div> a time for truth telling.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Part of the truth we must tell includes decades of U.S. Realpolitik that</div> <div> first helped prop up and arm an oppressive dictator, then turned against him</div> <div> when our interests were threatened; the twelve-year stranglehold of</div> <div> sanctions that decimated Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands; the months</div> <div> of political maneuvering and deception to justify the invasion; and now the</div> <div> myth that our military efforts are meant to foster democracy in the Middle</div> <div> East. We must unmask the blatant collusion of political and corporate</div> <div> interests: The same small group of CEOs and policymakers who pushed for the</div> <div> multi-billion-dollar orgy of bombing now will reap multi-billion-dollar</div> <div> contracts to rebuild (all at taxpayer expense).</div> <bR> <bR> <div> We must tell the truth that, in invading Iraq, the United States ignored</div> <div> four hundred years of international law, the United Nations Charter, the</div> <div> Geneva Accords, and the clearly articulated will of the rest of the world,</div> <div> seriously destabilizing international relations. The war was a crime,</div> <div> regardless of our soldiers' loyalty and courage, regardless of motive,</div> <div> regardless of outcome. We must unveil the core immorality of the new "Bush</div> <div> doctrine," in which the United States unabashedly reserves the right to</div> <div> attack any country preemptively, to overthrow any government that we</div> <div> perceive as a threat. We must recognize that the war in Iraq and even the</div> <div> broader "war on terrorism" are part of a comprehensive plan, developed over</div> <div> the past twelve years by a few, small, intensely ideological</div> <div> "neo-conservative" groups (many of whose members are now in positions of</div> <div> power), that seeks to reassert U.S. global dominance--a plan that includes a</div> <div> commitment to expanded nuclear weaponry and even possible first-strike</div> <div> usage.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> We must also look at other ways the United States has in recent years</div> <div> wielded the big stick of unilateralism for the sake of our global dominance.</div> <div> We have sabotaged a long list of international treaties: the Kyoto accords,</div> <div> a treaty to ban land mines, the ABM treaty with Russia, an agreement to</div> <div> reduce international "small arms" sales, the International Court, and</div> <div> others. Against the rest of the world we have financed and supported,</div> <div> virtually without constraint, Israel's occupation of Palestine. With new</div> <div> U.S. military bases planned for Iraq and the new bases in Asia resulting</div> <div> from the war in Afghanistan, we now have military semicircles ringing both</div> <div> Russia and China.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> All of these, as disturbing as they are, are still only symptoms. We must</div> <div> learn to name the deadly sickness itself: It is nothing less than empire.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> True, U.S. imperial designs already have existed for decades, from President</div> <div> McKinley's vision of civilizing "our brown brothers" in the Philippines to</div> <div> the declaration of "the American century" after the Second World War to our</div> <div> support of brutal Central American governments during the 1980s. But recent</div> <div> events have served to unmask a raw and unapologetic form of U.S. imperialism</div> <div> that is unlike anything that came before. This new imperialism is a</div> <div> political and economic threat to the world--and a spiritual threat that we</div> <div> must take very seriously.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> U.S. empire is fed ultimately by our affluence and consumerism, which demand</div> <div> a disproportionate share of the world's resources. Our standard of living is</div> <div> neither just nor sustainable and depends upon economic and political</div> <div> structures that impoverish others, structures that can be maintained only by</div> <div> domination. Addicted to consumerism, the American people often fail to see</div> <div> the connections between our lifestyle and the recent deaths of tens of</div> <div> thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers. We are unable to acknowledge that</div> <div> our material comfort is built upon the backs of both the world's poor and</div> <div> our own grandchildren.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> In order to maintain our affluence, we have committed ourselves, with almost</div> <div> religious zeal, to an extreme, free-market economics. The Bush</div> <div> Administration has declared that there is "a single sustainable model for</div> <div> national success: freedom, democracy, and free enterprise." Yet it is</div> <div> increasingly clear that such a view of capitalism--unfettered by</div> <div> government--leads inexorably to lethal injustice and ecological destruction.</div> <div> Within the last generation, we have forced the rest of the world to accept</div> <div> this same economic structure, damaging the local economies of many poor</div> <div> countries.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Our commitment to such a death-dealing system requires both media for</div> <div> justification and military power for protection from the backlash of the</div> <div> vast majority who lose out. Through exquisitely sophisticated advertising,</div> <div> the U.S. media inflame desire, leading us (and everyone else in the world)</div> <div> to consider Western consumption normative. An accelerating concentration of</div> <div> media--all owned and operated by the wealthy--creates a well-documented bias</div> <div> in the way the news is presented, especially news that would threaten the</div> <div> system. The unwillingness of the media to seriously challenge the Bush</div> <div> Administration's flimsy weapons-of-mass-destruction rationale for the</div> <div> invasion of Iraq is just one example.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> U.S. economic power, and the resultant injustice, cannot ultimately be</div> <div> maintained without force. Consequently, the United States has found itself</div> <div> on the wrong side of almost every conflict in the developing world, as we</div> <div> have militarily supported non-democratic governments that accede to our</div> <div> economic interests.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> But we cannot be content to cite the usual laundry list of egregious</div> <div> offenses by the United States--militarism, consumerism, corporate power, and</div> <div> media complicity. We must recognize these not as separate elements but as</div> <div> integrated components of empire. The whole is far more powerful than the sum</div> <div> of its parts.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Our discernment must go further still. Reflecting biblically, we must</div> <div> confront the truth that U.S. empire is a prime manifestation of the powers</div> <div> and principalities in our time. As followers of Jesus, we must see these as</div> <div> spiritual powers that must be opposed spiritually.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Of course, from a historical perspective, empire and its workings are hardly</div> <div> new. Empire always controls the military and the media. Empire is always</div> <div> controlled by and for the wealthy few; it always exploits the many who are</div> <div> poor.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> But there is something new and terrifying in the equation for us today.</div> <div> Unlike empires of the past, we have the technological sophistication for</div> <div> unthinkable death and environmental devastation. Since 1945, we have had,</div> <div> for the only time in human history, the capacity to wipe ourselves out--and</div> <div> that capacity grows every year. Not only has the United States committed</div> <div> itself to an expanded nuclear arsenal, but technological advances are also</div> <div> refining weapons of mass destruction, making them available to virtually any</div> <div> committed group of people. In our future we can expect more potent,</div> <div> genetically modified, easily disseminated biological strains; more powerful</div> <div> poisonous chemicals; more compact, easily transportable nuclear weapons; and</div> <div> other weapons we cannot yet imagine.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The U.S. empire has correctly identified terrorism as a central threat to us</div> <div> all. It has mistakenly concluded that military force will be an effective</div> <div> response. Depending on such violence for security is a dead end--literally.</div> <div> We are developing tools that we are not, as a species, capable of handling.</div> <div> Given the scale of potential ecological damage and the inevitability of more</div> <div> destructive terrorism and war, human beings have only a short time to grow</div> <div> up spiritually if we wish to escape massive destruction. There is a race on</div> <div> between our technological growth and our spiritual growth. It does not look</div> <div> good.</div> <div>  </div> <bR> <div> I am not optimistic for the immediate future of our country or the world.</div> <div> The military, political, economic, and social paths on which we have</div> <div> embarked do not lead toward a beneficent future but toward our own version</div> <div> of exile--although it is not yet clear what that exile will look like.</div> <div> Devastating ecological damage seems certain. Militarism rages and increases.</div> <div> An unfettered free market is devastating the poor of the underdeveloped</div> <div> world. AIDS is ravaging Africa and Asia. We will not find our hope in</div> <div> optimism.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Jeremiah held no optimism for the future of Judah, either. He even suggested</div> <div> capitulating to the enemy forces to avoid further destruction. Judah was</div> <div> going to be destroyed by Babylon. Jeremiah did, however, have hope, for he</div> <div> realized that even in the coming devastation, God was still God. God's</div> <div> purposes would ultimately be fulfilled. Jeremiah would not himself see the</div> <div> return from exile, but he knew of God's love for God's people and the</div> <div> ultimate shalom that would come.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Perhaps this is the real issue for us: hope. Like Jeremiah, we must embrace</div> <div> a vision of hope. We must believe in and live the power of love in the</div> <div> world, which, we know by faith, is always ascendant; God's love will still</div> <div> be victorious. This is not the same as optimism. Perhaps God will raise our</div> <div> culture out of its devastation; more likely, the culture will be utterly</div> <div> destroyed. But out of the future God will create something beautiful. In</div> <div> that we find our confidence.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> But what do we do? How do we act hopefully? We can begin by educating</div> <div> ourselves about what is happening. We must read the signs of the times:</div> <div> Despite the economic, political, and military power we see marshaled around</div> <div> us, the United States is in that stage of inevitable decline marking any</div> <div> empire that forgets justice for the poor. Despite appearances, we are moving</div> <div> toward exile. We must begin to speak this harsh, prophetic word to the</div> <div> larger community. This will, of course, lead toward a different kind of</div> <div> exile, our exile from the culture.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Second, we must convince ourselves and others that the love and forgiveness</div> <div> of the Gospel have become practical political necessities, not just</div> <div> spiritual niceties. We must, as Jeremiah did, call the people, the church,</div> <div> the nation, and the world back to values reflective of God's covenantal</div> <div> love--not because these are noble ideas, but because the survival of our</div> <div> world depends on the enactment of those values. Justice for the</div> <div> poor--guaranteed economic equity around the world--is a non-negotiable</div> <div> component for a stable world community. Nonmilitaristic resolutions to</div> <div> conflict must be found, or the cycles of technologically sophisticated</div> <div> violence will engulf us all. Issues such as global warming, corporate</div> <div> globalism, and U.S. national security strategy all must be addressed in a</div> <div> coherent way, not as isolated arenas of resistance and organizing. They are</div> <div> of one cloth. Love and forgiveness must become our foreign policy.</div> <div> Literally.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Third, we must recognize how thoroughly the empire contaminates each of us.</div> <div> In going back to the Book of Revelation, we can discover how the early</div> <div> church--facing similar issues--lived through the decline and fall of the</div> <div> Roman Empire. <B>(Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther's study of Revelation,</B></div> <div> <B>Unveiling Empire, is a good tool for reflection.) We can re-read Bonhoeffer</B></div> <div> <B>and the story of the Confessing Church living through Nazism</B>. Yes, the</div> <div> church has always been accomplice to empire, but we can recount those</div> <div> hopeful moments when parts of the church--the Black church in South Africa,</div> <div> the base communities in Latin America, the U.S. civil rights movement--have</div> <div> spawned resistance and alternative visions. Drawing on these stories, we</div> <div> will discover that our life in community becomes utterly essential if we are</div> <div> not to be overwhelmed by the powers surrounding us.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Perhaps the core of our challenge is this: How do we remain an alternative</div> <div> community in opposition to the dominant imperial culture? For most of world</div> <div> history, this was hardly a question: You opposed the powers, and you were</div> <div> persecuted and likely killed. But our society has refined co-optation to an</div> <div> art form. <B>Walter Brueggemann has suggested that if Moses were alive today,</B></div> <div> <B>Pharaoh would make him a talk-show host.</B> Our alternative stance is tamed</div> <div> into a benign example of society's "tolerance of dissent." God's word</div> <div> becomes one voice on a panel discussion. The powerful seduction of the</div> <div> culture continues, indefinitely, waiting for our resolve to grow weary, and</div> <div> we are lured back or find ourselves suddenly enmeshed without knowing quite</div> <div> what happened.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> How, then, do we as a community remain in opposition? Of one thing I am</div> <div> certain: Our disciplines become more important than ever--prayer,</div> <div> meditation, proportional giving, study, worship and liturgy, commitment to</div> <div> the poor, and simple living. Similarly, celebration is vitally necessary for</div> <div> those living in exile.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Finally, we must find ways to act. As Walter Wink wrote in these very pages,</div> <div> "It is of the nature of the powers that they wish to appear invincible. They</div> <div> do not want their great vulnerability revealed." One of the perverse effects</div> <div> of the torrent of media images that washes over us every day is to make our</div> <div> little efforts feel meaningless. But as Wink also suggests, "There is no</div> <div> such thing as objective powerlessness. Our belief that we are powerless is a</div> <div> sure sign that we have been duped by the powers." We don't have to do big,</div> <div> important things. God can and will use our small, individual acts of</div> <div> faithfulness to achieve God's purposes. But we must do something if for no</div> <div> other reason than to defy the propaganda of the powers--and leave the</div> <div> responsibility for results up to God.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The war is over--or at least we have seen the end of one particularly brutal</div> <div> expression of the powers and principalities of our times. But the powers</div> <div> thrive, and surely more war is coming. Our task is paradoxical: to live in a</div> <div> society that will probably collapse, yet continue to work with hope for</div> <div> peace, for justice, and for more humane, democratic structures. This is a</div> <div> task fit for people of faith, accustomed (as we should be) to God's taking</div> <div> our pitiable offerings and fashioning them into newness, miraculous and</div> <div> surprising, despite our lack of vision.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> This is not a call to a new political agenda. It is an invitation to</div> <div> recognize that, as Christians today, we are a community in exile, that we</div> <div> live in opposition to our culture, and that we desperately need each other.</div> <div> The primary task of the church is to be a community of resistance. I am</div> <div> convinced that it is only within such community that we will have the</div> <div> strength and fortitude to continue the long struggle. Our little, raggedy</div> <div> groups are our only chance.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.theotherside.org/archive/jul-aug03/rule.gif" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.theotherside.org/archive/jul-"><U><U>http://www.theotherside.org/archive/jul-aug03/rule.gif</U></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="3__when_democracy_failed_the_warnings"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <B>3. When Democracy Failed: The warnings of history</B></div> <div>    <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B> by Thom Hartmann</B></FONT></div> <div>  </div> <bR> <bR> <div> The 70th anniversary wasn't noticed in the United States, and was</div> <div> barely reported in the corporate media.  But the Germans remembered</div> <div> well that fateful day seventy years ago - February 27, 1933.  They</div> <div> commemorated the anniversary by joining in demonstrations for peace</div> <div> that mobilized citizens all across the world.</div> <bR> <div> It started when the government, in the midst of a worldwide  economic</div> <div> crisis, received reports of an imminent terrorist attack.  A foreign</div> <div> ideologue had launched feeble attacks on a few famous buildings,</div> <div> but the media largely ignored his relatively small efforts.  The</div> <div> intelligence services knew, however, that the odds were he would</div> <div> eventually succeed.  (Historians are still arguing whether or not</div> <div> rogue elements in the intelligence service helped the terrorist;</div> <div> the most recent research implies they did not.)</div> <bR> <div> But the warnings of investigators were ignored at the highest levels,</div> <div> in part because the government was distracted; the man who claimed</div> <div> to be the nation's leader had not been elected by a majority vote</div> <div> and the majority of citizens claimed he had no right to the powers</div> <div> he coveted. He was a simpleton, some said, a cartoon character of</div> <div> a man who saw things in black-and-white terms and didn't have the</div> <div> intellect to understand the subtleties of running a nation in a</div> <div> complex and internationalist world.  His coarse use of language -</div> <div> reflecting his political roots in a southernmost state - and his</div> <div> simplistic and often-inflammatory nationalistic rhetoric offended</div> <div> the aristocrats, foreign leaders, and the well-educated elite in</div> <div> the government and media. And, as a young man, he'd joined a secret</div> <div> society with an occult-sounding name and bizarre initiation rituals</div> <div> that involved skulls and human bones.</div> <bR> <div> Nonetheless, he knew the terrorist was going to strike (although</div> <div> he didn't know where or when), and he had already considered his</div> <div> response.  When an aide brought him word that the nation's  most</div> <div> prestigious building was ablaze, he verified it was the terrorist</div> <div> who had struck and then rushed to the scene and called a press</div> <div> conference.</div> <bR> <div> "You are now witnessing the beginning of a great epoch in history,"</div> <div> he proclaimed, standing in front of the burned-out building,</div> <div> surrounded by national media.  "This fire," he said, his voice</div> <div> trembling with emotion, "is the beginning."  He used the occasion</div> <div> - "a sign from God," he called it - to declare an all-out war on</div> <div> terrorism and its ideological sponsors, a people, he said, who</div> <div> traced their origins to the Middle East and found motivation for</div> <div> their evil deeds in their religion.</div> <bR> <div> Two weeks later, the first detention center for terrorists was  built</div> <div> in Oranianberg to hold the first suspected allies of the infamous</div> <div> terrorist.  In a national outburst of patriotism, the leader's flag</div> <div> was everywhere, even printed large in newspapers suitable for  window</div> <div> display.</div> <bR> <div> Within four weeks of the terrorist attack, the nation's now-popular</div> <div> leader had pushed through legislation - in the name of combating</div> <div> terrorism and fighting the philosophy he said spawned it - that</div> <div> suspended constitutional guarantees of free speech, privacy, and</div> <div> habeas corpus.  Police could now intercept mail and wiretap phones;</div> <div> suspected terrorists could be imprisoned without specific charges</div> <div> and without access to their lawyers; police could sneak into people's</div> <div> homes without warrants if the cases involved terrorism.</div> <bR> <div> To get his patriotic "Decree on the Protection of People and State"</div> <div> passed over the objections of concerned legislators and civil</div> <div> libertarians, he agreed to put a 4-year sunset provision on it: if</div> <div> the national emergency provoked by the terrorist attack was over</div> <div> by then, the freedoms and rights would be returned to the people,</div> <div> and the police agencies would be re-restrained. Legislators would</div> <div> later say they hadn't had time to read the bill before voting on</div> <div> it.</div> <bR> <div> Immediately after passage of the anti-terrorism act, his federal</div> <div> police agencies stepped up their program of arresting suspicious</div> <div> persons and holding them without access to lawyers or courts.  In</div> <div> the first year only a few hundred were interred, and those who</div> <div> objected were largely ignored by the mainstream press, which was</div> <div> afraid to offend and thus lose access to a leader with such high</div> <div> popularity ratings. Citizens who protested the leader in public -</div> <div> and there were many - quickly found themselves confronting the  newly</div> <div> empowered police's batons, gas, and jail cells, or fenced off in</div> <div> protest zones safely out of earshot of the leader's public  speeches.</div> <div> (In the meantime, he was taking almost daily lessons in public</div> <div> speaking, learning to control his tonality, gestures, and facial</div> <div> expressions. He became a very competent orator.)</div> <bR> <div> Within the first months after that terrorist attack, at the suggestion</div> <div> of a political advisor, he brought a formerly obscure word into</div> <div> common usage.  He wanted to stir a "racial pride" among his countrymen,</div> <div> so, instead of referring to the nation by its name, he began to</div> <div> refer to it as "The Homeland," a phrase publicly promoted in the</div> <div> introduction to a 1934 speech recorded in Leni Riefenstahl's famous</div> <div> propaganda movie "Triumph Of The Will."  As hoped, people's hearts</div> <div> swelled with pride, and the beginning of an us-versus-them  mentality</div> <div> was sewn.  Our land was "the" homeland, citizens thought: all others</div> <div> were simply foreign lands. We are the "true people," he suggested,</div> <div> the only ones worthy of our nation's concern; if bombs fall on</div> <div> others, or human rights are violated in other nations and it makes</div> <div> our lives better, it's of little concern to us.</div> <bR> <div> Playing on this new nationalism, and exploiting a disagreement with</div> <div> the French over his increasing militarism, he argued that any</div> <div> international body that didn't act first and foremost in the best</div> <div> interest of his own nation was neither relevant nor useful.   He</div> <div> thus withdrew his country from the League Of Nations in October,</div> <div> 1933, and then negotiated a separate naval armaments agreement with</div> <div> Anthony Eden of The United Kingdom to create a worldwide military</div> <div> ruling elite.</div> <bR> <div> His propaganda minister orchestrated a campaign to ensure the  people</div> <div> that he was a deeply religious man and that his motivations were</div> <div> rooted in Christianity.  He even proclaimed the need for a revival</div> <div> of the Christian faith across his nation, what he called a  "New</div> <div> Christianity."  Every man in his rapidly growing army wore a belt</div> <div> buckle that declared "Gott Mit Uns" - God Is With Us - and most of</div> <div> them fervently believed it was true.</div> <bR> <div> Within a year of the terrorist attack, the nation's leader determined</div> <div> that the various local police and federal agencies around the  nation</div> <div> were lacking the clear communication and overall coordinated</div> <div> administration necessary to deal with the terrorist threat facing</div> <div> the nation, particularly those citizens who were of Middle Eastern</div> <div> ancestry and thus probably terrorist and communist sympathizers,</div> <div> and various troublesome "intellectuals" and "liberals."  He proposed</div> <div> a single new national agency to protect the security of the homeland,</div> <div> consolidating the actions of dozens of previously independent police,</div> <div> border, and investigative agencies under a single leader.</div> <bR> <div> He appointed one of his most trusted associates to be leader of</div> <div> this new agency, the Central Security Office for the homeland, and</div> <div> gave it a role in the government equal to the other major departments.</div> <bR> <div> His assistant who dealt with the press noted that, since the terrorist</div> <div> attack, "Radio and press are at out disposal."  Those voices</div> <div> questioning the legitimacy of their nation's leader, or raising</div> <div> questions about his checkered past, had by now faded from the</div> <div> public's recollection as his central security office began advertising</div> <div> a program encouraging people to phone in tips about suspicious</div> <div> neighbors.  This program was so successful that the names of some</div> <div> of the people "denounced" were soon being broadcast on radio stations.</div> <div> Those denounced often included opposition politicians and celebrities</div> <div> who dared speak out - a favorite target of his regime and the media</div> <div> he now controlled through intimidation and ownership by corporate</div> <div> allies.</div> <bR> <div> To consolidate his power, he concluded that government alone wasn't</div> <div> enough.  He reached out to industry and forged an alliance, bringing</div> <div> former executives of the nation's largest corporations into high</div> <div> government positions.  A flood of government money poured into</div> <div> corporate coffers to fight the war against the Middle Eastern</div> <div> ancestry terrorists lurking within the homeland, and to prepare for</div> <div> wars overseas.  He encouraged large corporations friendly to him</div> <div> to acquire media outlets and other industrial concerns across the</div> <div> nation, particularly those previously owned by suspicious people</div> <div> of Middle Eastern ancestry.  He built powerful alliances with</div> <div> industry; one corporate ally got the lucrative contract worth</div> <div> millions to build the first large-scale detention center for  enemies</div> <div> of the state.  Soon more would follow.  Industry flourished.</div> <bR> <div> But after an interval of peace following the terrorist attack,</div> <div> voices of dissent again arose within and without the government.</div> <div> Students had started an active program opposing him (later known</div> <div> as the White Rose Society), and leaders of nearby nations were</div> <div> speaking out against his bellicose rhetoric.  He needed a diversion,</div> <div> something to direct people away from the corporate cronyism being</div> <div> exposed in his own government, questions of his possibly illegitimate</div> <div> rise to power, and the oft-voiced concerns of civil libertarians</div> <div> about the people being held in detention without due process or</div> <div> access to attorneys or family.</div> <bR> <div> With his number two man - a master at manipulating the media - he</div> <div> began a campaign to convince the people of the nation that a small,</div> <div> limited war was necessary.  Another nation was harboring many of</div> <div> the suspicious Middle Eastern people, and even though its  connection</div> <div> with the terrorist who had set afire the nation's most important</div> <div> building was tenuous at best, it held resources their nation badly</div> <div> needed if they were to have room to live and maintain their prosperity.</div> <div> He called a press conference and publicly delivered an ultimatum</div> <div> to the leader of the other nation, provoking an international uproar.</div> <div> He claimed the right to strike preemptively in self-defense, and</div> <div> nations across Europe - at first - denounced him for it, pointing</div> <div> out that it was a doctrine only claimed in the past by nations</div> <div> seeking worldwide empire, like Caesar's Rome or Alexander's Greece.</div> <bR> <div> It took a few months, and intense international debate and lobbying</div> <div> with European nations, but, after he personally met with the leader</div> <div> of the United Kingdom, finally a deal was struck.  After the military</div> <div> action began, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain told the nervous</div> <div> British people that giving in to this leader's new first-strike</div> <div> doctrine would bring "peace for our time."</div> <bR> <div> Thus Hitler annexed Austria in a lightning move, riding a wave of</div> <div> popular support as leaders so often do in times of war.  The Austrian</div> <div> government was unseated and replaced by a new leadership friendly</div> <div> to Germany, and German corporations began to take over Austrian</div> <div> resources.</div> <bR> <div> In a speech responding to critics of the invasion, Hitler said,</div> <div> "Certain foreign newspapers have said that we fell on Austria with</div> <div> brutal methods. I can only say; even in death they cannot stop</div> <div> lying. I have in the course of my political struggle won much love</div> <div> from my people, but when I crossed the former frontier [into Austria]</div> <div> there met me such a stream of love as I have never experienced. Not</div> <div> as tyrants have we come, but as liberators."</div> <bR> <div> To deal with those who dissented from his policies, at the advice</div> <div> of his politically savvy advisors, he and his handmaidens in the</div> <div> press began a campaign to equate him and his policies with patriotism</div> <div> and the nation itself.  National unity was essential, they said,</div> <div> to ensure that the terrorists or their sponsors didn't think they'd</div> <div> succeeded in splitting the nation or weakening its will.  In times</div> <div> of war, they said, there could be only "one people, one nation, and</div> <div> one commander-in-chief" ("Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer"), and</div> <div> so his advocates in the media began a nationwide campaign charging</div> <div> that critics of his policies were attacking the nation itself.</div> <div> Those questioning him were labeled "anti-German" or "not good</div> <div> Germans," and it was suggested they were aiding the enemies of the</div> <div> state by failing in the patriotic necessity of supporting the</div> <div> nation's valiant men in uniform.  It was one of his most effective</div> <div> ways to stifle dissent and pit wage-earning people (from whom most</div> <div> of the army came) against the "intellectuals and liberals" who were</div> <div> critical of his policies.</div> <bR> <div> Nonetheless, once the "small war" annexation of Austria was</div> <div> successfully and quickly completed, and peace returned, voices of</div> <div> opposition were again raised in the Homeland.  The  almost-daily</div> <div> release of news bulletins about the dangers of terrorist communist</div> <div> cells wasn't enough to rouse the populace and totally suppress</div> <div> dissent.  A full-out war was necessary to divert public attention</div> <div> from the growing rumbles within the country about disappearing</div> <div> dissidents; violence against liberals, Jews, and union leaders; and</div> <div> the epidemic of crony capitalism that was producing empires of</div> <div> wealth in the corporate sector but threatening the middle class's</div> <div> way of life.</div> <bR> <div> A year later, to the week, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia; the  nation</div> <div> was now fully at war, and all internal dissent was suppressed in</div> <div> the name of national security.  It was the end of Germany's first</div> <div> experiment with democracy.</div> <bR> <div> <B>As we conclude this review of history, there are a few milestones</B></div> <div> <B>worth remembering.  February 27, 2003, was the 70th anniversary of</B></div> <div> <B>Dutch terrorist Marinus van der Lubbe's successful firebombing of</B></div> <div> <B>the German Parliament (Reichstag) building, the terrorist act that</B></div> <div> <B>catapulted Hitler to legitimacy and reshaped the German constitution.</B></div> <div> <B>By the time of his successful and brief action to seize Austria,</B></div> <div> <B>in which almost no German blood was shed, Hitler was the most beloved</B></div> <div> <B>and popular leader in the history of his nation. Hailed around the</B></div> <div> <B>world, he was later Time magazine's "Man Of The  Year."</B></div> <bR> <div> Most Americans remember his office for the security of the  homeland,</div> <div> known as the Reichssicherheitshauptamt and its SchutzStaffel,  simply</div> <div> by its most famous agency's initials: the SS.</div> <bR> <div> We also remember that the Germans developed a new form of highly</div> <div> violent warfare they named "lightning war" or blitzkrieg, which,</div> <div> while generating devastating civilian losses, also produced a  highly</div> <div> desirable "shock and awe" among the nation's leadership according</div> <div> to the authors of the 1996 book "Shock And Awe" published by the</div> <div> National Defense University Press.</div> <bR> <div> Reflecting on that time, The American Heritage Dictionary (Houghton</div> <div> Mifflin Company, 1983) left us this definition of the form of</div> <div> government the German democracy had become through Hitler's close</div> <div> alliance with the largest German corporations and his policy of</div> <div> using war as a tool to keep power: fas-cism (fbsh'iz'em) n. A  system</div> <div> of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right,</div> <div> typically through the merging of state and business leadership,</div> <div> together with belligerent nationalism."</div> <bR> <div> Today, as we face financial and political crises, it's useful to</div> <div> remember that the ravages of the Great Depression hit Germany and</div> <div> the United States alike.  Through the 1930s, however, Hitler and</div> <div> Roosevelt chose very different courses to bring their nations back</div> <div> to power and prosperity.</div> <bR> <div> Germany's response was to use government to empower corporations</div> <div> and reward the society's richest individuals, privatize much of the</div> <div> commons, stifle dissent, strip people of constitutional rights, and</div> <div> create an illusion of prosperity through continual and ever-expanding</div> <div> war.  America passed minimum wage laws to raise the middle class,</div> <div> enforced anti-trust laws to diminish the power of corporations,</div> <div> increased taxes on corporations and the wealthiest individuals,</div> <div> created Social Security, and became the employer of last resort</div> <div> through programs to build national infrastructure, promote the  arts,</div> <div> and replant forests.</div> <bR> <div> To the extent that our Constitution is still intact, the choice is</div> <div> again ours.</div> <bR> <div> ===</div> <bR> <div> Thom Hartmann lived and worked in Germany during the 1980s, and is</div> <div> the author of over a dozen books, including "Unequal Protection"</div> <div> and "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight."   This article is copyright</div> <div> by Thom Hartmann, but permission is granted for reprint in print,</div> <div> email, blog, or web media so long as this credit is attached.</div> <bR> <div> <http://www.thomhartmann.com/>http://www.thomhartmann.com</div> <bR> <div> <B>SOURCE:  </B><B>From: Tom Wodetzki <tw@mcn.org></B></div> <div> <B>Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:47:18 -0800</B></div> <div> <B>To: Alliance for Democracy <tw@mcn.org></B></div> <div> <B>Subject: When Democracy Failed: The warnings of history, by Thom</B></div> <div> <B>Hartmann</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="4__unofficial_israeli_palestinian"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>4.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><B> </B></FONT><B>Unofficial Israeli-Palestinian Accord: </B></div> <div> <B>    </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B><U> 2 1/2 years of negotiation in Switzerland without U.S.</U></B></I></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>October 13, 2003</B></div> <div> <B>TO: Churches for Middle East Peace Email Network </B></div> <div> <B>FROM: Corinne Whitlatch, Executive Director </B> </div> <div> This email alert is also posted on our website at: <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2003Oct13.htm</U></FONT> </div> <bR> <div> It's understood by everyone that any Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will require leadership by the United States. Nevertheless, as was shown by the talks hosted by Norway in Oslo in 1993, significant progress can come about from discussions that do not include the United States. This article from the Israeli newspaper <I>Ha'aretz</I> reports on agreements reached by important Israelis and Palestinians as a result of talks that have been taking place in Geneva for two and a half years. </div> <bR> <div> At this time it may seem difficult for some to sustain commitment to advocate for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. It appears that the Bush Administration is not willing to use the diplomatic pressure required to implement the Road Map peace process plan, and that neither Israeli nor Palestinian Authority leaders are capable of fulfilling the obligations set out in the Road Map. Nevertheless, the will for and necessity of Israeli-Palestinian peace cannot be underestimated. Let us take as our model those Israelis and Palestinians who focus on the future and are preparing for the time when their leaders are willing and able to negotiate agreements. </div> <bR> <div> Our role, as Christian peace advocates in the US, is to continue to press politicians and the broader public toward actions and policies consistent with peacemaking. </div> <bR> <div> ---------------------------</div> <div> <B>Ha'aretz, October 13, 2003 (www.haaretzdaily.com) </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Beilin-Abed Rabbo Accord Infuriates Right</B></div> <div> <B>By Mazal Mualem</B></div> <bR> <div> A concession on the right of return for Palestinian refugees in exchange for Palestinian sovereignty over the Temple Mount is the core of a draft peace agreement concluded by unofficial Israeli and Palestinian negotiators yesterday. </div> <bR> <div> Palestinian sources said that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was updated on the talks and is aware of all the details of the agreement. On the Israeli side, however, all of the negotiators were members of the opposition, acting without the government's knowledge or approval; thus the draft has no official status. </div> <bR> <div> The draft, known as the Geneva Accord, is to be signed in Switzerland in the coming weeks - possibly on November 4, the anniversary of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. The Swiss Foreign Ministry financed and mediated the negotiations, which took two and a half years. In the weeks leading up to the signing, both sides intend to embark on an aggressive campaign to market the agreement to their respective publics. </div> <bR> <div> Yesterday's ceremony in Jordan to mark completion of the document was attended on the Israeli side by former minister Yossi Beilin, who headed the Israeli negotiating team; MKs Haim Oron (Meretz), Amram Mitzna (Labor) and Avraham Burg (Labor); former MK Nehama Ronen; Brigadier General (reserve) Giora Inbar and author Amos Oz. Other Israelis party to the initiative include former chief of staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, MK Yuli Tamir (Labor) and several Meretz MKs. The Palestinian representatives at the ceremony, who also led the talks for their side, were former ministers Yasser Abed Rabbo, Nabil Kassis and Hisham Abdel Razeq and two leaders of the Fatah-affiliated Tanzim organization, Kadoura Fares and Mohammed Khourani. </div> <bR> <div> Abed Rabbo, who defined the draft as "the start of a new era," said that he had received congratulations on the agreement from Arafat, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Qureia's predecessor, Mahmoud Abbas. </div> <bR> <div> Khourani, who noted that four of his brothers are in Israeli jails, said: "We understood that Israel cannot defeat us by military means, but we also understood that we can't defeat Israel, and the solution must be political." </div> <bR> <div> Declared Mitzna: "The peace camp now has an agenda. We've finished the easy part; now we've come to the hard part - to return to Israel and knock on every door, and convince the public." </div> <bR> <div> Oz noted that "those who attack us will undoubtedly ask: `What have you done? You've given them everything in exchange for a few embraces' ... But what we have done today will determine the future." </div> <bR> <div> Beilin, responding to his critics on the right - who charged that the architect of the Oslo Accords was now repeating his disastrous error - said: "I know that they'll say this is a bad agreement, that we caved in and gave away everything. But one thing they won't be able to say: that there is no partner [for an agreement]." </div> <bR> <div> Government officials led the attack on Beilin and his colleagues. "There is a government in Israel, and it is the one that deals with such matters," said Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. "Everything else is virtual. I wouldn't have expected much else from those who brought us the Oslo Accords, for which foolishness we are still paying the price today, but therefore, we need to keep this in proportion." </div> <bR> <div> Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who first began attacking the Beilin-Abed Rabbo initiative last week, said yesterday that it has foiled any chance of advancing serious negotiations on a peace agreement. </div> <bR> <div> Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres declined to comment on the document, saying he could not do so until he knew what it said. </div> <bR> <div> The main points of the draft are as follows: </div> <bR> <div> * The Palestinians will concede the right of return. Some refugees will remain in the countries where they now live, others will be absorbed by the PA, some will be absorbed by other countries and some will receive financial compensation. A limited number will be allowed to settle in Israel, but this will not be defined as realization of the right of return. </div> <bR> <div> * The Palestinians will recognize Israel as the state of the Jewish people. </div> <bR> <div> * Israel will withdraw to the 1967 borders, except for certain territorial exchanges, as decribed below. </div> <bR> <div> * Jerusalem will be divided, with Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem becoming part of the Palestinian state. Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, as well as the West Bank suburbs of Givat Ze'ev, Ma'aleh Adumim and the historic part of Gush Etzion - but not Efrat - will be part of Israel. </div> <bR> <div> * The Temple Mount will be Palestinian, but an international force will ensure freedom of access for visitors of all faiths. However, Jewish prayer will not be permitted on the mount, nor will archaeological digs. The Western Wall will remain under Jewish sovereignty and the "Holy Basin" will be under international supervision. </div> <bR> <div> * The settlements of Ariel, Efrat and Har Homa will be part of the Palestinian state. In addition, Israel will transfer parts of the Negev adjacent to Gaza, but not including Halutza, to the Palestinians in exchange for the parts of the West Bank it will receive. </div> <bR> <div> * The Palestinians will pledge to prevent terror and incitement and disarm all militias. Their state will be demilitarized, and border crossings will be supervised by an international, but not Israeli, force. </div> <bR> <div> * The agreement will replace all UN resolutions and previous agreements.</div> <bR> <div> --------------------------------------------</div> <div> Formed in 1984, Churches for Middle East Peace is a Washington-based program of the Alliance of Baptists, American Friends Service Committee, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Church World Service, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Mission Service, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Maryknoll Missioners, Mennonite Central Committee, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church (GBCS & GBGM) . For further information, see <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>www.cmep.org</U></FONT> </div> <div> Holly Byker, Office Manager </div> <div> Churches for Middle East Peace </div> <div> 110 Maryland Ave NE, #311 </div> <div> Washington, DC 20002 </div> <div> Telephone (202) 543-1222 </div> <div> Fax: 202-543-5025 </div> <div> holly@cmep.org </div> <div> <U>www.cmep.org</U></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>