This is a recent letter that was recently written about the Middle East. Its signers include Noam Chomsky and one of my favorite persons Naomi Klein. (Wonderful debater.)
A letter from Chomsky and others on the recent events in the Middle East (July 19, 2006):
The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The following day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner – and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis – there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.
That this “kidnapping” was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural resources – most particularly that of water – by the Israeli Defence (!) Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has befallen the Palestinians, on the land alloted to them by international agreements, during the last seventy years.
Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones. The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories of missile rip bodies apart horribly – who but field commanders can forget this for a moment?
Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.
This has to be said loud and clear for the practice, only half declared and often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it must be unceasingly and eternally recognised for what it is and resisted.
Tariq Ali
John Berger
Noam Chomsky
Eduardo Galeano
Naomi Klein
Harold Pinter
Arundhati Roy
Jose Saramago
Giuliana Sgrena
Howard Zinn
because words fail me right now when it comes to acknowledging what is so obvious and so obviously has this current administrations fingerprints on it as well! There are some really deeply disturbed sick people in power right now.
I have been speechless too, tracy. All I can do with my limited skill and influence is to try as hard as I can to make sure these sociopaths lose their majority in November.
I’m coordinating communications for the county Democratic Central Committee where I live and helping with the PR committee. A friend got a copy of the voter list and sorted it for walking and mailing lists and we got it out to candidates by burning it to cd or sending via e-mail.
We also make sure that polling places are watched very closely and have people with cell phones stationed at each, should anything weird happen. Our voting machines are scanners with a paper ballot. We have friends on the election board who monitor absentee ballot counting.
None of this stuff is glamorous or exciting, but its something most of us can do with minimal training and my hope is that if enough of us keep hacking away at the neo-con machine, we will be able to finally kill it. I don’t even want to think about another failed election at this point.
Do you have a link to the letter by any chance?
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3280556,00.html
here is the article refered to the abduction of the two ppl in Gaza