The Philadelphia IAC stands in Solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters

18 Oct 2000

The US media has depicted the terrible situation in the Middle East  as one where the violence is one sided. It accuses the Palestinian  people of being a "mob" causing all the violence, whipping at the same  time hysteria and anti-Arab racism here in the US. But, who is killing and who is dying? Palestinians, many of whom are just schoolboys, use stones as their weapons. These are met with Israeli rubber bullets and live ammunition. As of yesterday (October 12th) there were 120 Palestinans, mostly civilians, killed and 4354 wounded! This in contrast to less than a dozen Israelis killed, mostly soldiers.

How did it start? The catalyst for this uprising was the provocative visit of Israeli fascist Ariel Sharon last September 28 to the main Muslim holy site in Palestinian East Jerusalem. Sharon has been  the perpetrator of genocide against Palestinian people. He is most  hated for his role in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacres in Lebanon back in 1982 where more than 2,000 children, women and  men were murdered in three days.

This war criminal also conducted a massive Israeli settlement- building program in the late 1990's, seizing Palestinian lands in the West Bank. His visit to the heart of East Jerusalem, one of the most revered sites, could not go unanswered. And it did not! Hundreds of Palestinians fought back. The next day Israeli troops opened fire  with live ammunition on a Palestinian crowd who had gone to Haram al- Sharif to pray. Thousands of Palestinians, mostly youth but including  people of all ages, joined in the struggle.

This uprising against the Israeli occupation of their territory has spread to virtually every city, town and refugee camp in the West  Bank and Gaza. The Israeli Army responded by bringing up battle tanks, using heavy machine guns and opening fire on the demonstrators  from helicopter guns. Anti-tank missiles were fired into Palestinian buildings, destroying apartment complexes and Palestinian  Authority structures in Gaza.

The uprising by "Israeli Arabs," as the U.S. corporate media usually call them, sent shock waves through Israeli society. Comprising  over 18 percent of the population--1 million people--these Palestinians supposedly have "equality" in Israel. In reality, they are treated like third-class citizens and suffer extreme discrimination, poverty and unemployment.

Just as Sharon could not have gone to Haram al-Sharif without the knowledge and support of the Israeli government, the Israelis would not have launched this massive, well-prepared attack without a  green light from Washington.

Since the Camp David talks between Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister  Ehud Barak and U.S. President Bill Clinton broke down this summer, Clinton's foreign policy team has blamed the Palestinians for being "unreasonable." Yet it was the Israeli government that refused to concede Palestinian sovereignty over any part of East Jerusalem.

Israel illegally annexed East Jerusalem in 1970 in violation of international law. All Palestinians consider Jerusalem to be their capital, and East Jerusalem is almost entirely Palestinian.

The Israeli Army has been built up, armed, funded and supplied by  the Pentagon for more than five decades. The tanks, helicopters,  missiles and guns raining death on the Palestinians come from the United States. The U.S. government has played a key and irreplaceable  role in keeping Israel afloat since its birth at the expense of the Palestinian people 52 years ago.

In the "peace talks," Washington is anything but a neutral broker. It is the senior partner in a U.S./Israeli alliance. Washington's objective is not a just peace but an imperialist-led pacification of the entire Middle East.

This is happening at the same time when the US role in the Middle East, particularly their genocidal sanctions against Iraq are being questioned by many including former allies. Recently many  countries have challenged these sanctions by sending delegations with humanitarian aid to Iraq, even Turkey! It is not surprising then that we read in the US newsmedia that the US is blaming Iraq for the explosion of the US Navy battleship in Yemen! The soldiers killed in this expolsion are not mere bystanders. They are part of the US Army of occupation against the Arab World!

We must stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in  Palestine in their fight for self-determination and sovereignty!

Isued by the Philadelphia International Action Center 813 S. 48th St., Philadelphia, PA 19143  Tel.: (215) 724-1618, E- mail: philnpc@op.net

 

PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE