One Way Trip to Nowhere
by John Chuckman
Dissident Voice
January 17, 2003
As of this
writing, since the beginning of December, Israeli soldiers have killed about 70
Palestinians. These homicides, committed by some of best armed and equipped
soldiers in the world, included children and an old woman. They came after
Israel's wanton destruction of basic day-to-day civilian infrastructure in
reoccupying much of the West Bank and suppression of economic activity, acts
that have generated conditions comparable to a Great Depression.
Under these
circumstances, how is anyone surprised that once again, some Palestinians blow
themselves up in Israel? Can there be the smallest doubt that Mr. Sharon's
policies are "a one-way trip to nowhere"?
In news of
Israel's reprisal measures, I read that some buildings in Gaza were destroyed,
supposedly containing weapons-making facilities.
I could only
shake my head. Is it remotely plausible, in the course of his many destructive
rampages, that Mr. Sharon has left standing even a potential
weapons-manufacturing facility in Gaza?
Would it have
been left standing on the promise of good behavior? Perhaps Israel's policy of
"pinpoint targeting" -- that is Israel's euphemism for assassinating
mere suspects, a policy only this week given another ringing public endorsement
by Mr. Sharon -- had wiped out every person capable of running the facility,
and it had been spared?
Or was it
discovered only within hours of the bombing? Can it be possible that Israel's
army has anything less than the most exquisitely detailed maps of every building,
bomb crater, and broken water pipe in Gaza?
In the scheme of
things Middle Eastern, this seems an insignificant point, but it is a revealing
one. Common sense tells us that the report is glaring nonsense.
What of Mr.
Sharon's other reprisals, although one hesitates to use a word that implies the
Palestinians still having anything worth destroying?
He closed down
three Palestinian universities.
The mysterious
connection between higher education and hopeless people who blow themselves up
is one understood only by members of Likud and a few gifted clairvoyants. Lynne
Cheney, America's Second Lady, might qualify in light of her venomous campaign
against American academics opposed to a vicious, pointless war in Iraq. Perhaps
Mr. Sharon should consider putting her on a retainer to explain his idiotic
measure.
Israel has also
forbidden Palestinians to attend British-sponsored peace talks.
Even Mr. Bush's
official foreign-affairs doormat, Tony Blair, lost his temper over this
measure. A discussion involving Jack Straw and the poisonous Mr. Netanyahu
reportedly ended in an ugly shouting match. The British, quite understandably,
cannot see why forbidding peace talks is counted a suitable reprisal measure.
Perhaps here Mr. Sharon requires the contract services of Jerry Falwell, a man
with a remarkable record at trying to explain the irrational.
One despairs of
anything sensible happening in the Middle East. Israel's population is whipped
into a menacing hysteria. The Palestinians endure the most terrible privations
and endless humiliation. Mr. Bush adopts the more vicious practices of Mr.
Sharon and prepares for a meaningless war with Iraq, something that can have
only the most de-stabilizing and dangerous consequences for the world.
John Chuckman lives in Canada and is former chief economist
for a large Canadian oil company. He is a columnist for Yellow Times.org, where this article first appeared.