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| 158.1 | Gulfwatch #8 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Thu Feb 07 1991 12:08 | 118 |
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** Topic: SCAWD GULFWATCH N. 8 - 24 JANUARY **
** Written 5:48 pm Jan 24, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
(SCAWD=Scottish Churches Action for World Development)
GULFWATCH No. 8 - Thursday, 24 January 1991
US NATIONAL NETWORK OF CAMPUSES AGAINST THE WAR
igc:ednoca mideast.action 4:10 pm Jan 23, 1991
Students representing student anti-war groups at over 58 universities and
high-schools nation-wide met at Loyola University in Chicago over the weekend
of January 19th to plan a national student anti-war conference. The conference
will be held over the weekend of March 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, in Chicago. Plenary
sessions, debates and workshops will be held on five main topics: 1) Building
the Anti-war movement; 2) Anti-war environmentalism; 3) Oppression (Racism,
Sexism, Classism, and State Oppression); 4) The history of the Gulf region, the
U.N.>, Imperialism, and "New World Order"; 5) Israel, Palestine, Zionism, and
Self Determination.
Student delegates voted to unite and coordinate anti-war activities
nationally around five basic points of unity: "U.S. and Allied troops out now";
"Stop the War"; "Money for education and human needs, not the military"; "End
racism at home and abroad"; and "No poverty draft, no legal draft."
PEACE PRAYERS AND POETRY
GulfWatch
Bishop Michael Hare-Duke is seeking poems and prayers for peace, to be
included in an anthology to be published very shortly. Items for consideration
should be sent urgently to him: Bishop's House, Fairmount Road, Perth, PH2 7AP.
STATEMENT: SPANISH BISHOPS' CONFERENCE
igc:jgutierrez mideast.gulf 8:23 am Jan 23, 1991 "El Pais" 23-1-91
The speaker for the Spanish Bishops' Conference, Augustin Garcia Gasco,
has declared, 22 January, in a press conference, "I dare say, this is not a
just war ... we don't know why, or for what purpose our soldiers are sent to
the gulf ... this is a secret which is being revealed to us only little by
little...no mother wants this war ... there are soldiers who rejected orders to
embark to the Gulf, this must be respected as a personal decision and dificult
to judge ... war is not compatible with the Gospel."
GREENPEACE USA GULF REPORT 21 JANUARY
web:greenbase mideast.gulf 12:50 am Jan 23, 1991 (Excerpts)
Comment: The Iraqis have two research reactors -- the small, 500 kw
Tammuz-2 and the 5000 kw IRT-5000 -- located in the Baghdad area, presumably at
the Nuclear Research Center in Tuwaitha. In addition there is a uranium
purification and fuel fabrication site at Tuwaitha. The location of the
uranium enrichment site is unknown, but believed to be either Tuwaitha or
Mosul. According to Nucleonics Week (29 Nov 90), 20 kilograms of high-enriched
uranium for their research reactors are under International Atomic Energy
Agency safeguards at the Tuwaitha facility.
Western Diplomacy: Coalition member Germany is deeply divided over force
in the Gulf; the sudden revival of the peace movement is said to have surprised
and paralyzed the federal government. On Friday Chancellor Kohl used his
re-election ceremony to reassert that Germany will not get involved in
hostilities. Bonn has issued a stream of assurances late last week that a
second front in Turkey will not drag Germany to war. Spain is divided too with
PM Gonzalez calling for Parliamentary support for the coalition, over the
weekend as 75% of Spain's secondary schools students and teachers skipped class
in protest.
Internationally, the largest pro-Saddam rally - of over one million people
- was held in Bangladesh on Monday.
NEW ZEALAND AND THE GULF CRISIS
peg:aldis mideast.gulf 1:23 pm Jan 23, 1991 Eve Sinton, freelance journalist
New Zealand's involvement in the Gulf war - a military transport team and
medical team - is about to escalate. Prime Minister Jim Bolger has bowed to UK
pressure and agreed to send a second medical team to assist the allied forces.
There was no significant parliamentary opposition to the move; Labour
leader Mike Moore stated that he saw no alternative to force in getting Saddam
Hussein's forces out of Kuwait but emphasised that he saw no combat role for
New Zealand in the Gulf.
The war is being promoted in New Zealand with a heavy pro-war bias from
the media, especially the premiere television channel, TVI, and the NZ Herald
which circulates in Auckland and most of the North Island.
FACT SHEET FROM JAPAN
geonet mideast.gulf Jan. 24, 1991, Tokyo
Japan will contribute an additional $9 billion to the U.S.-led forces
fighting Iraq, an amount that adds up to about $80 dollars for every Japanese
citizen. The government is also busy trying to find a way to send SDF planes
to the Gulf area for the purpose of "transporting refugees."
This plan, if it succeeds, will mark the first time since the end of World
War II that Japanese troops will have been sent into a war zone, participating
at least in some form in the war effort. They will of course be considered
military personnel under international law. A second and quite ominous aspect
of this seemingly innocuous plan is that it could very well represent the
beginning of an escalating Japanese involvement which could culminate in
involvement in the fighting itself.
US MEDIA COVERAGE OF SCOTTISH ACTION
GulfWatch
Maryanne Ure, National Secretary of the Justice & Peace Commission, just back
from several weeks in the USA, told GulfWatch that the Glasgow anti-war demo
and rally on 12 January was reported on CNN and all national TV networks in the
USA. All US national networks also carried reports on the Mass in St.Andrew's
Cathedral and Archbishop Thomas Winning's address on Monday 21 January.
CASUALTY FIGURES
GulfWatch
Further enquiries regarding the German Radio/TV report of 300,000 deaths
in Iraq, carried in GulfWatch No.7, revealed that a major UK daily had
investigated the report and turned it down on the grounds that it was not
sufficiently reliable.
BURNS NIGHT CEILIDH FOR PEACE IN THE GULF
Friday 25 January, 9.30 pm, Glasgow City Chambers. Organised by Scottish
Friends of Palestine (Stairheid Dynamite Ceilidh Band) Admission: 3.00.
(ends)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.2 | Gulfwatch #9 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Thu Feb 07 1991 12:11 | 106 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 150.0 **/
** Topic: SCAWD GULFWATCH No.9 - burns nt **
** Written 5:22 pm Jan 25, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No.9 - Friday, 25 January 1991
GULF PEACE TEAM UPDATE
peg:mhayes mideast.gulf 5:05 pm Jan 24, 1991 GPT Support Group, Brisbane
Fourteen Gulf Peace Team members arrived in Amman, Jordan at 11.30 pm on
22 January following a 35 hour bus trip from Baghdad after Jordanian Queen Noor
assisted with their evacuation. The bus they travelled in was hired by a group
of Indian refugees. The evacuees included 1 New Zealander, 5 U.S. citizens, 3
Indonesians, 4 Italians and 1 British.
New Zealander, John Livesey, said via a letter brought out with returning
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, that all in Baghdad were being treated
fairly, that they were eating well and had all been lodged in the El Rasheed
Hotel, sheltering in the basement during attacks. Water, power and
communications were totally cut off. It is believed that there are now 18 Team
members in Baghdad, after the departure of the 14. John Livesey has vowed to
stay in Baghdad until he knows all the Team are safe and he will continue to
liaise with the Iraqis.
There is a total of 91 Team members known to be in Iraq; 18 at the El
Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad and the other 73 either at the border camp or in
transit to Baghdad. Because of non-communication from the Camp it is
impossible to ascertain if a decision has been made to maintain a presence or
to evacuate. - GulfWatch has a status report on known location of Team at
23/1/91.
SCOTTISH PEACE CAMPER TO LEAVE FOR IRAQ
GulfWatch
A St.Andrews University divinity student plans to join the Peace Camp in
Iraq for two weeks. Rory MacLeod, a Cambridge graduate in Oriental Studies,
hopes to leave for Amman on 4 February. He will join others who hope to
establish a second peace camp in Jordan and try to initiate conversations with
local authorities regarding a just and peaceful settlement. With him Rory will
take several peace banners which have been made by Scottish university peace
groups.
Contributions towards the travel costs are actively being sought.
ARAFAT WELCOME TO WAR ?
igc:tshapin mideast.forum 10:46 pm Jan 23, 1991
The New York Times Jan 21 1991 has an opinion piece by Anthony Lewis
titled "Desperation and Folly" on Palestinian support for Iraq. In it, he
quotes Arafat as saying "then I say welcome, welcome to war". In fact what he
actually said was "if the US chooses peace then we say `welcome, welcome to
peace' and if they choose war then we say `welcome, welcome to war.'"
POEM FOR PEACE
Peace is not a thing to possess, but a way of possessing
Peace is not a gift to be given, but a way of giving
Peace is not a topic to teach, but a way of teaching
Peace is not a theory to learn, but a way of learning
Peace is not an option to hold, but a way of holding
Peace is not a resolution to strife, but a way of striving
Peace is not a creed to preach, but a way of preaching
Peace is not a God to serve, but a way of serving
Peace is not a question to ask, but a way of asking
Peace is not an answer to seek, but a way of seeking
Peace is not a journey's end, but a way of journeying
(Source unknown; quoted by Rev Douglas Galbraith, St.Andrews University)
PROTESTS IN GERMANY
igc:pnmideast mideast.action 7:15 pm Jan 24, 1991
On January 21st about 300 people blocked the stock exchange in Frankfurt.
"German stocks go up, when German arms kill!" they said. In Cologne the
mustering of recruits could not take place, because war resistors had blocked
the entrance of the building.
Since the beginning of this year, the number of active soldiers and
reservists who refuse war service has increased twentyfold, radio news
reported. Most of them said they had accepted army service, because they
thought that they would never have to fight in a war.
A Women against the War demonstration is held every Thursday in Cologne.
The women have four demands:
1. that husbands, sons and daughters should not go to war;
2. that work stoppages be fixed as a means of protest;
3. that `car-free' days be instituted;
4. that, since the standard of living of the West depends on oil, those who do
not want war for oil must limit their standard of living.
GULF CRISIS WEEKLY
Box G, Housman's Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Road, London N19 DX
Gulf Crisis Weekly, published every Wednesday from London, brings four
pages on the war, including this week an analysis of the Parliamentary debate
on the eve of war, 15 January.
"... Before the debate proper got under way, a Tory MP asked John Major
whether British troops in the Gulf would use nuclear weapons if attacked by
chemical or biological weapons. The Prime Minister replied, "We have a wide
range of weapons and resources at our hands, and I do not envisage needing to
use the sanction he suggests." This is far from a pledge not to use nuclear
weapons against a non-nuclear state. It was, in effect, a threat to use such a
`sanction' if Major envisages a `need'."
6.00 for 12 issues (incl. p&p)
MEDIA: THE GOOD AND THE BAD
igc:pfranck mideast.forum 6:50 am Jan 24, 1991
"It is clear that the battle has now shifted to the hearts and minds of
the US people, and that the media is the absolute key to that battle."
(ends)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.3 | Gulfwatch #11 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Thu Feb 07 1991 12:13 | 127 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 129.0 **/
** Topic: GULFWATCH No 11: 29 January 1991 **
** Written 5:47 pm Jan 29, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
(SCAWD=Scottish Churches Action for World Development)
GULFWATCH No. 11 - Tuesday, 29 January 1991
AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL THOSE WORKING FOR PEACE IN A TIME OF WAR (APPENDIX)
igc:Anonymous mideast.forum 12:58 pm Jan 24, 1991 by Robert McAfee Brown
In an open letter to all those working for peace in a time of war, Robert
McAfee Brown, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Ethics at Pacific School of
Religion in Berkeley, Ca., writes: "... Some of our actions will grow out of
frustration as well as cool, rational analysis. But all of them must make
clear to our policy-makers that they do not have a docile and willing people at
the grassroots ...
One of America's leading theologians, Bob Brown's Scottish connection
dates from his years as a post-graduate student at St.Andrews University in the
late '50s. "Let us insist on keeping alive the agendas we have for the future,"
he says, "by living them out now ...
"As part of the peace movement, we are committed to the ultimacy of love
and are trying to align our lives with it. That is basically what prayer is -
not so much words as a fusion of words and deeds. To pray for peace is hollow
if we are not working for peace, and working for peace frequently needs the
infusion of a new empowerment that words of prayer can sometime channel..."
IRANIAN CEASE FIRE PROPOSAL
igc:greenbase mideast.gulf 8:03 pm Jan 28, 1991 (US Greenpeace: Excerpt)
A new cease fire plan has come from Iranian Parliamentary speaker Mehdi
Karrubi. The five point peace plan, released on Sunday, calls for cease fire,
mutual withdrawal of Iraqi and coalition forces from Kuwait, an Arab
peacekeeping force, restoration of Kuwait and mediation, settlement of the
Palestinian question, and cessation of settlement in Israel of Soviet Jews.
This is similar to a plan reported last week from Morocco, of the Mahgreb
group, with the addition of immigration controls. It is now known that
India's foreign minister Vidya Shukla, leading the non-aligned effort with
Yugoslavia, had indications last week that a mutual withdrawal would be
acceptable to Iraq. This could be the core of an Arab solution and aftermath
to the war.
GREENPEACE USA GULF SUMMARY (Jan 28)
igc:greenbase mideast.gulf 8:03 pm Jan 28, 1991 (Excerpts)
There are currently 483,000 US troops in the region, and US officials
predict that this number will grow to over 500,000 by mid-February at the
latest. The Washington Post reported that it took three years to reach 536,000
military personnel in Vietnam during 1968.
Over 25,000 allied sorties have been flown to date, with 2,500 in the last
24 hours. There have been 30 Iraqi sorties in the last 24 hours: four Iraqi
planes were shot down, while others flew to Iran. Three Iraqi airfields have
been reported active in the last 24 hours.
The Navy proudly announced (with more than half an eye on the upcoming
budget debate on the usefulness of submarines for Third World conflicts) that
the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Louisville (SSN-724) was the first
submarine to launch a cruise missile in combat when it launched a Tomahawk on
19 January while in the Red Sea. The Louisville is a vertical launch
system-equipped submarine.
CONGRESS AND THE DRAFT
igc:mwehle mideast.gulf 1:03 pm Jan 28, 1991 Update: 27 January 1991
One of House Armed Services Committee Chairman Les Aspin's aides admitted
that the most critical shortage for the military is of medical specialists, and
that consideration of a draft might start with consideration of a doctor draft.
(Although he was quick to point out that the committee would probably propose
increases in pay, benefits, and incentives for military doctors before thinking
about a doctor draft.) Declines in enlistments and depletion of reserves make
Congressional debate on the draft an eventual inevitability.
Whenever Congress does get around to considering a draft, that discussion
(1) will begin in the Armed Services Committees and (2) will probably happen
very quickly in a climate of crisis.
REPRESENTATIVE GONZALEZ OF TEXAS - IMPEACHMENT RESOLUTION
igc:ttrudell mideast.gulf 12:44 am Jan 27, 1991
Representative Henry B. Gonzalez of Texas has introduced a Resolution of
Impeachment of President Bush on the grounds that President Bush has committed
high crimes and misdemeanors, including violations of the principles of the
Constitution. He presents five articles on impeachment, the first of which
claims that the President has violated the equal protection clause of the
Constitution. In his speech to the House, he states:
"Our soldiers in the Middle East are overwhelmingly poor white, black, and
Mexican-American. They may be volunteers, technically, but their volunteerism
is based on the coercion of a system that has denied viable economic
opportunities to these classes of citizens. Under the Constitution, all
classes of citizens are guaranteed equal protection and calling on the poor and
minorities to fight a war for oil to preserve the lifestyles of the wealthy is
a denial of the rights of these soldiers."
PAKISTANI VIEWS OF GULF CRISIS
igc:pnmideast mideast.general 9:20 pm Jan 28, 1991 (Voice of America)
As a result of PM Nawaz Sharif's visit to the Middle East, an Islamic
countries foreign minister conference is going to be held in Islamabad.
The Pakistani public is showing their support to Saddam using every
possible mean of expression. People in streets and bazars are praying for the
victory of Iraq... Many new born babies are named `Saddam Hussain'.
SWISS DEMO NEWS
ipb mideast.action 9:56 am Jan 28, 1991 (26 January, 1991)
In Bern 15,000 people rallied today against war in the Middle East, and
4,000 people in Geneva. The rallies jointly made a demand of the International
Committee of the Red Cross (based in Geneva) to move from its traditional
position of emergency relief to one of demanding the belligerents to put an end
to the murderous bombing - both of Iraq by the U.S. and its allies, and of
Israel by Iraq; and an immediate cessation of hostilities.
WOMEN'S EMERGENCY MEETING IN GENEVA, 2-3 FEBRUARY
ipb mideast.action 3:31 pm Jan 25, 1991
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and other
Geneva-based NGOs are calling an emergency planning meeting in Geneva, 2-3
February, 1991, for women's actions to end the war in the Gulf and to bring
about negotiations for the settlement of all conflicts in the Middle East.
ACTION
Edinburgh: A silent candle-lit vigil (bring a candle in a jar) is called for
Princes Street, West End, Thursday 31 February at 5.15 pm, to process along
Princes Street to the Mound. The regular Thursday evening silent demonstration
from the US Consulate to the Mound will begin at 5.30 pm in Regent Terrace.
(ends)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.4 | Gulfwatch #12 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Thu Feb 07 1991 12:17 | 193 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 133.0 **/
** Topic: SCAWD GulfWatch No.12 30 Jan 1991 **
** Written 6:17 pm Jan 30, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 12 - Wednesday, 30 January 1991
UNRESOLVED HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES CAUSE WAR - UN
12:33 pm Jan 29, 1991 by unic in peg:unic.news Central News
The (UN) Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights, Jan Martenson, said in a
opening statement this morning at the forty-seventh session of the Commission
on Human Rights that the effective defence of human rights was an essential
element to the preservation of peace. He stated further that the movement
towards the establishment of fully democratic systems was encountering serious
difficulties in several places, where force was replacing reason and dialogue.
The conflicts in the world today reinforced the understanding that violations
of human rights provided fertile soil for the seeds of war.
ISRAELIS PROTEST - EUROPEAN TECHNOLOGY ARMED SADDAM
igc:christic in gn:mideast.gulf quoting the Jerusalem Post, Jan. 25, 1991
"The extent of German involvement in the building of the Iraqi war machine is
staggering. It was Messerschmidt-Boelkow-Blohm, Germany's largest arms
manufacturer, which enabled Iraq to produce its own missile systems. The same
company has also helped the Iraq to produce biological warfare agents. An Iraqi
plant for the production of mustard gas and other nerve gas agents was built by
another German firm, and it was the guidance and aid of German companies which
enabled Iraqi's nuclear research facilities to advance much more rapidly than
expected toward the production of weapons..... Germany is not the only
(European) culprit. One would expect greater prudence from the Europeans."
PEACECAMP NEWS - Sunday, 27-1-91
5:30 am Jan 30, 1991 by f.soethe in gn:mideast.gulf
The German contact "Frieden am Golf" partially corrects earlier reports. Since
the war broke out there have not been any contacts with the peacecamp on the
border. The latest reports from there are from 2 days before the war was
started. At that time people there reported that two buses were waiting next to
the camp, possibly an indication that the Iraqi government was planning to
evacuate the camp. Mood among the people in the camp seemed to be that they
were trying to stop the war before it started, which did not necessarily
involve staying there in the midst of the hostilities. It is unclear whether
some people decided to stay anyway and were allowed to do so ... It was
further reported that the allied command had made it known that they knew where
the camp is located and would try to exclude it from the fighting.
NEWS OF U.S. AND GLOBAL DEMONSTRATIONS
2:42 am Jan 28, 1991 by igc:mitra in gn:mideast.actions and GulfWatch
GulfWatch has access to information on hundreds of planned US actions and
others in Australia and Europe. We had to stop downloading this from the
computer as the information was filling dozens of screenloads (GulfWatch had to
edit 50,000 words from GreenNet and 10 pages of fax today alone!). Active
groups are peace organisations, Vietnam veteran groups, and faiths (Catholic,
Presbyterian, Buddhist, Lutheran, Quakers, Unitarians, etc.). Says one report,
" We marched to UN Plaza. Even if the war ended tomorrow Bush would have
radicalised a whole generation; thousands of people made their first political
statement in the last two weeks. Once war stops they won't go back to
passively putting up with the lies and bad government they've been used to."
PEACE TEAM DIPLOMACY!
f.soethe mideast.action 5:30 am Jan 30, 1991 (From News system)
When the German activists from the Peace Teams found the German embassy in Iraq
deserted, they sent a fax to Mr. Genscher, our minister of foreign affairs.
Since, as they argued, the Peace-Teams and their peaceful action represent a
majority of the German people, they'd gladly fill in for the diplomats as long
as the crisis lasts and reopen the embassy in Bagdad. So far there's been no
reply from Genscher. ASTA UNI HANNOVER, Student Council of Hannover
University Mail: Welfengarten 2c, W-3000 Hannover 1, Germany Ph: +49 511 762
5061/62/63/64 (English as well!).
SENIOR PAKASTANI GENERAL OPPOSES WAR
6:34 pm Jan 29, 1991 by igc:pnmideast in gn:mideast.general, Voice of America
Islamabad Report :: Tuesday 29th January :: 6:15 AM
The most authorized military officer General Mirza Aslam Beg has criticized the
allied forces. He said America and her allies are exceeding the limits
permitted by United Nations to use force against Iraq to liberate Kuwait.
SCOTTISH NEWS ITEMS FROM GULFWATCH
The FORCES FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP has been established now the Royal Scots
and RHF are in the Gulf. Lothian Area Organiser Mrs Dorothy Fitzsimmonds, 41
Pinkie Ter., Musselburgh (031 665 3515) would appreciate publicity and donation
of a typewriter. Another contact is Margaret Newman on 031 665 2608 (eve).
The SCOTTISH PEACE CABINET has been established by the Scottish Green
Party comprising a distinguished list of academics, church people, medical
practicioners, etc. (not all Green Party people) to establish "an authoritative
Scottish focus for alternative news and comment on the Gulf War...." Their
first briefing is Thursday 31st Jan., 1300, Rm. 6, Partick Burgh Hall, Glasgow.
Phone: 041 334 9797; Fax: 041 339 2312; Mail: 9 Dalcross Pass, Glas. G11 5RA.
GLASGOW GREEN PARTY have a Gulf briefing conference, Saturday 16
February, 1000 - 1730, Netherton Community Education Centre, Temple, near
Anniesland Station, Glasgow. Details: Jackie Roddick, 041 334 9797.
RC Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, +Keith O'Brien, has sent us
the Pope's WAR IS NOT THE ANSWER statement from Osservatore Romano, 21-1-90 as
well as the Pope's prayer for peace, etc.. Copies - s.a.e. to GulfWatch. The
Pope says, "In these hours of great dangers, I would like to repeat forcefully
that war cannot be an adequate means for completely solving problems existing
between nations. It has never been and it will never be!" He prays, "...Hear
the single-hearted cry of your children, the anguished plea of all humanity: no
more war, an adventure without return, no more war, a spiral of death and
violence; no war in the Persian Gulf, a threat against all your creatures in
heaven, on the earth and in the sea....".
PEACE HOUSE (Ellen Moxley or Helen Steven) on 0786 88490 have available
many briefing papers on the Gulf from Quaker, UN, US, and MCANW sources.
APPENDICES are attached on PALESTINIANS from al Haq etc. and a C4 TV
documentary of U.S. WAR RESISTANCE. These will be posted to mideast.general
and mideast.media in GreenNet (PeaceNet - U.S.) computer networks.
GULFWATCH thanks most of you for sending in subscriptions promptly.
Individual Edinburgh Quakers have donated 200 and through Quakers, Joseph
Rowntree Charitable Trust 500. Other church and peace groups/people have also
given generously. Donations pay for computer/fax time, thereby keeping subs
covering just paper and post. This means we're funded for our first month.
GULFWATCH CONTACTS: 031 225 1772 (SCAWD), 031 332 6127 (Alastair
Hulbert eve), 031 445 5010 (Alastair McIntosh eve), 031 445 5255 fax. Scottish
Churches Action for World Development, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL.
RaC2 border=2
RaC3 pgwidth=79
RaC4 pgdepth=58
RaC8 curline=49
RaC10 windline=52
RaC24 limitright=79
(Sorry - that should read - Scottish Churches
Action for World Development (SCAWD), 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EL.)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
/** mideast.media: 58.0 **/
** Topic: British C4 TV News of US Demos **
** Written 6:27 pm Jan 30, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.media **
SUMMARY OF BRITISH CHANNEL FOUR TV PROGRAMME ON US PEACE MOVEMENT
"HELL NO, WE WON'T GO" CHANNEL FOUR, 28.1.91, 2300-2400HRS GMT
Media reaorts of opposition to the war are one of the items which according to
BBC TV (bulletin on the eve of the war) are subject to consultation with the
Ministry of Defence in relation to news broadcasts. This TV programme was not
"news", and gave a detailed insight into the US peace movement as seen through
the eyes of peace campaigners (particularly black church leaders and Vietnam
veterans) from 40 states across the US. The programme was produced by the Gulf
Crisis TV project in association with Paper Tiger Television and the Deep Dish
Satellite Network.
Academic analysts suggested that having lost the USSR as a
demonisation focus, the military/political/industrial hawks are now looking
towards the Arab world to provide a reason for not cutting military
expenditure. Demonisation of Saddam in the media is promoted to the extent of,
for example, the magazine "New Republic" using the same photograph of Saddam
as appeared in Time Magazine, but retouching his moustache to make him look
more like Hitler. The same media who previously ignored Iraqi human rights
abuses when he was an ally have now developed a previously unprecedented
interest in human rights infringements which the peace movement has been
campaigning about for many years.
Black Americans and Hispanics represent 40% of US troops in the Gulf.
Most are there because the military represented employment of the last resort
- they comprise a "poverty draft". Out of 535 US Congressmen only 2 have
children serving in the Gulf. (NB: the Scottish newspaper, Daily Record,
apparently carried a front page article yesterday claiming that 40% of British
troops in the Gulf are Scottish, and that to date they are not being allowed
to get the Record, which is Scotland's top selling daily tabloid with a left
of centre political angle. The 40% figure in both situations draws parallels!
The record were unable to say where they got the figure from when GulfWatch
contacted them this afternoon.)
The War Resisters' League is being swamped with calls from military
personnel wanting to become conscientious objectors. In November 1990 the US
army instituted regulations indefinitely extending soldiers' contracts until
the crisis is over. Present soldiers filing for conscientious objector status
may not do so until they are actually posted in Saudi Arabia. Said one, "I'm
not suggesting anyone go AWOL, I'm not suggesting anyone seeks out churches
offering sanctuary....I'm not suggesting any of these things because at this
time it is illegal for me to do so".
In military towns such as San Diego many of the peace demonstrators
are from military families. One of their slogans is "Just say no". Vietnam
veterans are prominent in the peace movement. Comparisons are being drawn with
what Gulf war expenditure could achieve, if spent on social problems at home.
At least 40% of homeless people in the US are war veterans - mostly from
Vietnam.
One veteran said that you don't do carpet bombing with B52s without
tens of thousands being killed. This is being censored from the US people. So,
"Wake up America!"
Slogans and captions from the American demonstrations include:
"How come 'our' oil got under their ground?"
"The price of cheap gas is too high."
"Stop drilling, start killing, so we can keep spilling oil."
Energy analysts pointed out that current low oil prices have prevented
the development of alternative energies and thereby in effect promoted the use
of fossil and nuclear fuels. It was suggested that one of the disincentives
for developing alternative energy sources is that windmills etc have no
military spin-offs.
Alastair McIntosh, GulfWatch, 30.1.91
** End of text from cdp:mideast.media **
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| 158.5 | Gulfwatch #13 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Thu Feb 07 1991 12:18 | 124 |
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** Topic: GULFWATCH No.13 - 31 January 1991 **
** Written 4:41 pm Jan 31, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 13 - Thursday, 31 January 1991
GUERNICA'S CALL FOR PEACE IN THE WORLD AND IN THE PERSIAN GULF
igc:jgutierrez mideast.action.386 3:22 am Jan 30, 1991
The Town Hall of Guernica in Spain has issued the following proclamation:
"Guernica, a small town in the wake of humanity, cannot keep quiet when faced
with the grave situation in the Persian Gulf. For we, too, have been the
victim of a barbarous bombing - as represented in the famous painting by Pablo
Picasso. Guernica, in valuing human life, expresses its unconditional
rejection of all violence... Armed conflict is a crime against humanity!"
On 31 January, Scholars' International Peace Day, the people of Guernica
will convene at 12 noon in the town square where a peace flag will be raised to
express their rejection of the war and proclaim world solidarity for peace.
FEBRUARY 15 LETTER CAMPAIGN
igc:sonomapj mideast.action.387 12:06 pm Jan 30, 1991
Sonoma County Centre for Peace & Justice (540 Pacific Ave, Santa Rosa, CA
95404, USA) has started a campaign to send letters to President Bush on
February 15 urging him to end the war. Each idea for peace can reach fruition.
Please share the February 15 letter campaign throughout the nation. Mailing
messages all on the same day will make an impact. Thank you. Barbara Goodman.
GulfWatch: Let us join our American friends in doing this. Letters to:
President George Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington,
D.C. 20500, USA - with copies to PM John Major, 10 Downing Street, London.
GREENPEACE REPORT ON IRAQI DEATHS
igc:pnmideast mideast.media.63 6:30 pm Jan 30, 1991 Greenpeace/USA
According to a source of mine in the State Department, a B-52 bomber
attack that was carried out this morning that wiped out Saddam's elite forces
has likely killed up to 150,000 Iraqi troops. That is the number of troops
that were housed in the encampment that was bombed. There is also some
question on the number of civilian casualties as a result of the attacks on the
chemical and nuclear weapons facilities -- no mention of what this has done to
the Iraqis (i.e. massive chemical, nuclear poisoning). Nor is there any
mention of the number of casualties in the mainstream press on the Iraqi side,
much like the way we handled Panama -- only focussing on our own losses. If
you can forward this info on to any one who might be interested, I would
appreciate it. Daphne Wysham, Greenpeace Magazine, Senior Editor.
(GulfWatch has no way of verifying this report.)
BAGHDAD THREATENED BY NUCLEAR/CHEMICAL CONTAMINATION
igc:prcsandiego mideast.gulf.279 9:18 am Jan 30, 1991 (January 26, 1991)
For the six million residents of Baghdad, the New World Odour may include
whiffs of toxic chemicals and radioactive dust following relentless allied air
attacks which have delivered the equivalent of four Hiroshima bombs on the city
during the first week of war. I interviewed a Gulf Peace Camp volunteer, just
arrived here from Baghdad, who told of fleeing a "chemical cloud" in one
section of the city. "You could see and smell it," he said. We ran for our
lives." He thought the toxic cloud could have come from industries damaged by
the heavy bombing.
In related developments, Dr. Abdullah Toucan, top science adviser to King
Hussein, told Vancouver artist Carl Chaplin and myself that he was concerned by
the release of Seranin, mustard gas, and other chemical warfare agents
following the destruction of an Iraqi chemical warfare factory ltLamara. Even
worse, the worldwide nightmare of sabotaged nuclear power plants has come true
with the bombing of a five megawatt nuclear plant near Baghdad. Dr. Toucan
fears that dangerously high levels of Iodine, Cessium, and other radio-active
contaminants may be spreading to that city. A look at a Middle East map shows
US troops in Saudi Arabia to be downwind from these toxic releases.
Dr. Toucan also described the oily pall of soot and smoke from a burning
Kuwaiti oil field at al-Wafra as "more toxic than any chemcial or biological
weapon in Sadam Hussein's command." Fears that this cloud of "Black Rain"
could grow to the size of the United States if hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells
are set alight during an imminent US invasion have prompted Dr. Toucan, Carl
Sagan, and other world scientists to call on the UN to invoke a special Article
of the UN Charter, involving an immediate meeting of the UN General Assembly in
the face of "danger to the world."
"This is not a military or political call for a ceasefire, which has
little hope of success, but an ecological call," said Dr. Toucan.
Randy Thomas, Gulf Environmental Emergency Response Team, Coordination
Centre, Mariott Hotel, Rm. 1229, Amman, Jordon. Tel. 011-962-6660-100
COSTS OF WAR
mts mideast.gulf.277 10:24 pm Jan 30, 1991
GulfWatch has available an MTS (Media Transcription Service) transcription
of "The Money Programme", BBC-2 Television - Sunday, 27th January, 1991. The
programme dealt with the costs of the Gulf War, featuring comment by: Rep. Lee
Hamilton, Dr Fred Bergsten (Director, International Institute of Economics), Dr
Robert Reischauer (Director, Congressional Budget Office), Senator James Exon
(Dem., Senate Budget Cttee.), Dr Laurence Korb (former Asst. Sec. of Defense),
Dwain Mayfield (Vice-President, General Dynamics), Senator Fritz Hollings
(Dem., Senate Budget Cttee.) and Rep. Leon Panetta (Chair, House Budget Cttee.)
Editor: David Nissan; Information Research: Debbie Whittaker.
POSTER SUGGESTIONS
igc:lareader igc:pfranck mideast.action.371. Jan 28, 1991
"Turn off your TV and Think!"
"The Media is Carpet Bombing our Consciousness!"
"A People can Never be Free at the Expense of Another People."
GULF PEACE TEAM LEAVE BAGHDAD
igc:mideastdesk mideast.action.390 3:05 pm Jan 30, 1991
86 Members of the Gulf Peace Team are departing for Baghdad by bus this
evening (6:30 pm Baghdad time), according to a CNN report this morning by Dr.
Anthony Lawrence, a U.S. citizen and member of the Team. The peace encampment,
at an abandoned pilgrim's waystation on the Iraqi-Saudi border, has been
inhabited by over 150 citizens from 16 nations. According to Dr. Lawrence, all
those in the peace encampment were removed by Iraqi soldiers three days ago.
The Gulf Peace Team will continue its efforts in Amman to press for an
immediate ceasefire and a return to negotiations. Since the outbreak of war,
hundreds of individuals from around the world have expressed interest in
joining the camp. Possibilities for a return to the border camp, as well as
possible additional encampments within the region are being explored.
I WAS IN WASHINGTON
igc:hfrederick mideast.action.365 7:10 pm Jan 28, 1991
I was fortunate enough to be in the Washington rally. In front of the
White House, confronted with a bunch of Ollie North clones yelling "We Support
the Troops", what did we yell back? -- "We Support the Troops too!"
(ends)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
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| 158.6 | Gulfwatch #17 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Thu Feb 07 1991 12:19 | 125 |
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** Topic: GULFWATCH No. 17: Tuesday, 5 Feb, **
** Written 5:30 pm Feb 5, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 17 - Tuesday, 5 February 1991
WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES STATEMENT
peacemedia mideast.forum.409 10:03 am Feb 4, 1991
In an appeal released in Geneva January 17, Dr. Emilio Castro, General
Secretary of the World Council of Churches called for an "immediate ceasefire
and cessation of hostilities" in the Gulf war and negotiations to settle
"outstanding issues in the region including Palestine and Cyprus...in a just
and credible manner." For full text, see Appendix.
PATRIOTS: THE LAST REFUGE FOR DEFENSE SPENDING?
igc:greenbase mideast.media.51 7:50 pm Jan 28 Greenpeace USA Pundit Watch
Anointed as the war's first hero, the Patriot missile is basking in its
fame. So much moralizing has surrounded the missile that almost got scratched
by the Pentagon, that the Patriot has become the Little Missile that Could.
How did this missile become a media darling? The mid-week single-minded media
focus on the Patriot may have taken place in part because control on reporters'
conduct simply left no other stories within reach. Between military censorship
and daily deadline pressure, journalists in Saudi Arabia needed a story. Voila
- one exploded right above reporters' heads and in camera range. But only
successful Patriots have been televised.
Raytheon`s stock (makers of the Patriot), both literally and figuratively,
soared. At the New York Stock Exchange on January 21 Raytheon stock was up
$4.50, to close at $74.625. On the same day, the Army stepped up production of
the Patriot to re-arm troops in the Gulf.
Defense contractors are smiling because the Patriot missile, with the
press as a guidance system, has scored another direct hit -- a few days'
reported success by a single missile system seems to have atoned for decades of
corruption and mismanagement in defense contracting. Members of Congress,
whose best information sources are the same censored news stories we've all
seen, have used the Patriot as a launching pad to revive the SDI and other
staggeringly expensive high-tech systems.
THE PLO AND THE SEARCH FOR PEACE
GulfWatch Alastair Hulbert 5 Feb
"The PLO has shot itself in the foot," was how a senior Foreign Office
official described to me the PLO response in early August last year to the
invasion of Kuwait. As the progress of the war strengthens the US-Israeli
alliance, and media coverage of Scud attacks on Israel make international
sympathy for Israel soar, let us recall the stated position of the PLO.
Palestinians must not once again become the casualty of world affairs, nor the
post-war international community allow itself to be held hostage to Israel.
The official PLO position has been from the beginning to uphold "the
principle of the withdrawal of the Iraqi forces from Kuwait." ("The PLO's
Position on the Gulf Crisis" by Nabil Shaath, Chairman of the Political
Committee of the Palestine National Council, Geneva, 31 August 1990). Little
is known however of how hard the PLO has worked for a peace solution.
In a detailed article in The Guardian ("Faltering Steps in the Sand", 4
Feb) Pierre Salinger, one-time press secretary to President J F Kennedy and now
chief foreign correspondent for ABC News in London, describes the relentless
efforts of PLO Chairman Arafat to find a peaceful solution to the conflict.Some
of the details of the article underline suspicions that a collision course with
Iraq was what the West wanted from the start (e.g. that the participants at the
Arab League Summit on 10 August were presented on arrival in Cairo with a com-
munique already written: Arafat, writes Salinger, "immediately came to the con-
clusion that it was written in English and translated into Arabic. Four other
delegates to that conference who I have talked to came to the same conclusion")
A TERRIBLE THING IS HAPPENING IN THE LAND!
CCINGO; PHRIC; UNWRA; Bir Zeit University; Palestinian Center for the Study of
Nonviolence, East Jerusalem; Beit Noah, East Jerusalem
A spate of fax messages from Jerusalem underlines the dreadful conditions
the Palestinian people in the Occupied Territories continue to be subjected to
(GulfWatch 12, 30 Jan). The Israeli-imposed curfew there will soon be running
into its fourth week. "Curfew" does not adequately describe the reality of
what is, in effect, the imprisonment of over 1.7 million Palestinians.
Irreperable damage to the economy, serious medical consequences and human
rights violations are reported by the Co-ordinating Committee of International
NGOs (Press Statement Feb 2). In a statement issued at UNWRA headquarters in
Vienna (Jan 31), Commissioner-General Giorgio Giacomelli called on the Israeli
authorities to lift curfews in the occupied territories as a humanitarian
measure. The Palestinian Human Rights Information Centre (Jan 31) speaks of
Palestinian subsistence being in jeopardy. Bir Zeit University (Jan 30)
appeals to academics and human rights activists to protest against the
administrative detention of Dr Sari Nusseibeh. A Professor of Philosophy, he
has a clearcut record as an intellectual advocating peace; besides, the
Nusseibeh family has been under curfew since war broke out.
"We also feel sorrow and sympathy for the innocent victims of Israel,"
writes the Palestinian Centre for the Study of Non-Violence, "but who is
denouncing the weekly air raids perpetrated by Israel in Lebanon, each time
causing enormous material damage and many casualties and leaving many families
homeless? Who is denouncing the harsh and cruel repressive measures taken in
the Occupied Territories by Israel, making daily casualties, demolishing homes,
uprooting trees, sending thousands into detention, deporting, beating,
torturing, killing, confiscating land, taking water, and restricting the
people's freedom in movement and travelling abroad?" (Letters of protest and
concern: Israeli Ambassador, 2 Palace Green, London W8 4QB. Tel 071 937 8050.)
"WAR REPORT" BEGINS PUBLICATION IN LONDON
igc:peacenet mideast.gulf.301 11:59 am Feb 4, 1991
"Britain might as well hand over TV news to the MoD. At least
then we'd know where we stand." - Tariq Ali
WAR REPORT is a London-based weekly newspaper against wartime censorship. A
quality tabloid, it brings stories on the war in the Middle East not covered in
the mainstream media, and opinions which have been ignored or downgraded. It
is produced by an independent group of journalists.
Issue # 1, published Feb. 2, includes:
Chomsky on Bush's Rush to War
Louvish on the Palestinian Peace Activist Deported by the Home Office
Are the Coalition Forces Preparing to Use Chemical Weapons?
Hundreds of US Troops Dodge the Draft--and Face Harsh Penalties
Plus: Peace Action Roundup, and reports on press censorship.
Price: 50p. Offers of help with sales, welcome. Order from:
WAR REPORT, 52 South Park Road, London SW19 8SZ. Tel. 081-543 1569.
FEBRUARY 21 CALL FOR STUDENT ACTION
igc:dsa mideast.action.418 2:42 pm Feb 4, 1991
Thursday February 21
International Day of Student and Youth Mobilization Against the War
On January 27, 1500 students and youth from over 100 campuses and high
schools met in Washington DC. At the same time, 500, from over 30 campuses,
met in Berkeley, CA. We have come together to unify our many protests into a
single day of mobilization to stop the war. Students from France and other
countries are joining in, making this an international day of action. (ends)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.7 | Gulfwatch #18 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Thu Feb 07 1991 12:20 | 125 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 113.0 **/
** Topic: GULFWATCH No. 18: Wednesday 6 Feb **
** Written 4:55 pm Feb 6, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 18 - Wednesday, 6 February 1991
THE POPE AND THE WAR
The Tablet 2 February 1991 (+ Keith Patrick)
The Pope's strongest language about the Gulf War so far came at the
Angelus last Sunday. He did not resign himself to war. He did not say that
since war had now broken out, the task was to concentrate on limiting its
horrors and humanising it as far as possible. On the contrary, he told those
responsible that they should "immediately abandon this war that is unworthy of
humanity..." The Pope cuts clean away from the traditional discussion about
whether this particular war is just or not.
PEACE ACTIONS IN ITALY
peacemedia mideast.action.415 0:10 am Feb 4, 1991
The Cardinal of Florence (who two years ago donated his episcopal ring to
help establish a fund for conscientious objectors to employment in weapons
factories) made his office facilities available to hundreds of people, fasting
for peace since 14 January. A tent has been set up next to the cathedral by
the CGL trade union. A group of people blocked a train leaving Florence
transporting Leopard tanks. Eight people were arrested but were released when
the railway workers paid their fines.
Women in black are demonstrating all over Italy. On February 3, Women for
Nonviolence met at the Baptist Church at Garbatella in Rome to discuss "What
women can do against war." In Arezzo and Rome there have been fasts, marches,
human chains and sit-ins. In Verese workers are fasting, asking for the
conversion of arms production to peaceful purposes. In Busto Arsizio, in
northwest Italy, people are demonstrating and fasting in support of Article 11
in the Italian Constitution which forbids resorting to war as a means of
solving problems. On February 17 many people will go to San Damiano near
Piacenca to form a human chain around a Tornado nuclear bomber base.
On Jan 30, anniversary of the death of Gandhi, the Fellowship of
Reconciliation in Rome began a fast at Saint Mark's in which people are
participating in turns.
The theological students at the Waldensian Faculty in Rome have raised
huge banners in front of their church with the text, "Blessed are the
Peacemakers" and "No War Builds Peace". They have been distributing leaflets
in the area of the church. Other parishes have taken similar actions.
JAPANESE EPISCOPAL CHURCH PROTESTS
NSKK Justice & Peace Committee (+ Michael Hare-Duke)
The Anglican Communion in Japan has vigourously protested against Japanese
support for the Gulf War, notably the commitment of massive financial aid and
the sending of the "Self-Defence Forces" to the Gulf. "We cannot provide any
reason for justification of this war," says a communique to all dioceses and
parishes of NSKK, "The Japanese Government... should hold a firm stand and
demand that the United States and other concerned countries effect an immediate
cease-fire."
LACK OF PEACE INITIATIVES FROM MAJOR COMBATANTS
igc:greenbase mideast.gulf 9:03 am Feb 5, 1991
In keeping with the accelerated nature of the war against Iraq, numerous
efforts have already emerged in the first two weeks to find a way to stop the
fighting. At this stage, a number of overlapping groupings of Arab/Islamic and
neutral and non-aligned countries have put forth proposals. The common element
of the peace proposals so far are fourfold: a cease fire, a mutual withdrawal
of forces from Kuwait (and Saudi Arabia), an international peacekeeping force,
and implementation of all the UN Middle East resolutions.
The US, western states, Soviet Union, and Gulf Cooperation Council states
led by Saudi Arabia, continue to oppose any cease fire effort that would occur
prior to Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait. Iraq has been largely silent on the
diplomatic front, instead urging Holy War against the US, and inciting
terrorist acts. There is no US government led peace diplomacy taking place, at
least none that is taking place in public. In addition, no US politicians of
any stature have proposed a plan to stop the fighting.
QUOTE: "The sense of comity, mutual deference... and the relentless search
for the lowest common denominator have disappeared and are unlikely to return."
- Western diplomat in Riyadh on the disintegration of Arab cohesiveness,
Washington Post, 4 February.
GULF CASUALTIES
igc:greenbase mideast.gulf 7:44 pm Feb 5, 1991 Greenpeace USA
The Pentagon still vehemently refuses to discuss Iraqi casualties. Some
Pentagon spokesmen state that this reluctance simply reflects the lack of
information. "We just have no concrete way of knowing," Pete Williams told
reporters. Trying to downplay media and public interest, these spokesmen
assert that casualties are not an important measure of the military success of
the war. But Gen. Schwarzkopf has made known his annoyance on a number of
occasions at being asked about casualties. They might remind people of how
public support was lost in the Vietnam War. "I have absolutely no idea what
the Iraqi casualties are," he said 18 Jan, "and I tell you... we're never going
to get into the body-count business."
US and allied casualties in combat so far number less than 100, according
to the Pentagon. But estimates of Iraqi military and civilian casualties vary
widely, from the few hundreds to the many thousands. The issue of casualties
is one that the US government and the military establishment is quite sensitive
to. "There's a tremendous irony at the center of the coverage of this war,"
said Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, "On the one hand we're told that it's the
first televised real-time war... but in truth, it's the first war that
reporters aren't allowed to get close enough to really cover."
"I'm very sensitive to having you around here, to tell you the truth..."
said Lt. Col. John Cassady, Marine Corps graves registration officer in Saudi
Arabia to the Washington Post on 5 Feb, "We're not a morgue, [but] it's not
appropriate for general knowledge. People could misunderstand very easily."
`COLLATERAL' DAMAGE
igc:lbensky mideast.action.409 12:39 am Feb 3, 1991 Response 1 of 2
As someone who's been trying to follow the issue of civilian
(euphemistically called "collateral") damage, I want to warn against the
tendency, which I see on CNN and in the press, to treat Baghdad as all of Iraq.
Iraq has a population of about 18 million; fewer than 3 million live in Baghdad
and environs. Heavy air assault against Basra and other places may well be
producing many more civilian casualties than in Baghdad. Neither Iraqi nor
foreign news agencies seem to be reporting on results of the air assault
anywhere but the capital, and even reporting about Baghdad is sketchy.
ACTION
ABERDEEN: Prayer and Song: an ecumenical vigil every Saturday in February,
2.00-3.00 pm, in the forecourt of Langstane Kirk, Union Street.
EDINBURGH: Silent walk from the US Consulate, Regent Terrace, to the Mound,
every Thursday leaving at 5.30 pm.
(ends)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
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| 158.8 | Gulfwatch # 19 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Fri Feb 08 1991 22:42 | 119 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 112.0 **/
** Topic: GULFWATCH No. 19, 7 February 1991 **
** Written 5:25 pm Feb 7, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 19 - Thursday, 7 February 1991
MINEFIELD OF RACIST VIOLENCE IN THE MAKING
The Guardian February 6, 1991 Akbar Ahmed
The media have succeeded in doing what Saddam Hussein has tried very hard
to do: make this a war between Islam and the West. For instance, they
constantly show Saddam at prayer. The not so subtle message is that of Saddam,
the holy warrior. WHat it does is equate all Muslims with Saddam by evoking
Islam. But while many Muslims may not support Saddam, no Muslim is happy at
the thought of hi-tech, non-stop bombing of civilian populations; nor of the
possibility of the damage to the holy shrines... Some of the holiest shrines
of Islam are in and around Baghdad...
In Britain, because of the simplistic media perspective on the Gulf war,
the tabloids are hinting at the Muslims as a kind of fifth column... The stage
is set for racist violence. The 1990s promise to be a time of racial unrest.
AMERICAN SOLDIER DECLARED PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE
robbieb mideast.gulf.306 1:59 am Feb 7, 1991
Amnesty International announced tonight that it was declaring an American
soldier who has refused to serve in the Gulf to be a Prisoner of Conscience.
Sergeant George Morse is the first prisoner of conscience in the US adopted by
Amnesty since 1987. He was sentenced in December last year to 5 months'
imprisonment for refusing to obey an order to help prepare supplies for troops
in Saudi Arabia.
International organisations including the UN Commission on Human Rights
now recognise conscientious objection to military service to be a legitimate
exercise of a fundamental human right. Amnesty say that this right does not
have to be shown to have been held continually by an individual and cannot be
withdrawn. "We believe that is a right at all times - before joining the army,
while in training, or even during a war", said a spokesman.
Sergeant Morse has said that his conscientious objection to participation
in all wars developed some time after he re-enlisted in the army four years
ago. But he had said that he was prepared to serve his full term, due to be
completed last December.
Since the invasion of Kuwait the US authorities have suspended all
discharges, and Morse was ordered to help prepare supplies for troops in Saudi
Arabia. Other soldiers have been told that they cannot apply for conscientious
objection status until their units arrive in Saudi Arabia or "their final
destination".
Last Friday 1 February Amnesty said that it consdered some of the Iraqi
and Palestinian detainees held without trial by the UK authorities to be
"possible prisoners of conscience".
BOMBS AWAY ?
mts mideast.gulf.305 11:47 pm Feb 6, 1991
General Schwarzkopf: (Quote from a military briefing!)
"I'd like to talk a little bit about the isolation of the Kuwaiti theatre
of operations. One of the ways we do this is by destroying the bridges that
lead into the Kuwaiti theatre of operations area. We've targeted a total of
thirty-six bridges. Out of those thirty-six bridges, we have attacked
thirty-three of them, with over seven hundred and ninety sorties."
Question - what happened to the remaining seven hundred and sixty odd
sorties? Did the aircraft not have bombs aboard, or did the bombs miss the
targets?
SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS 660-674 ON THE GULF
peg:ianp mideast.gulf.311 5:30 pm Feb 7, 1991
Between 2 August 1990, the date of the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, and 29
October 1990, the Security Council adopted ten resolutions relating to the
crisis in the Gulf, beginning with resolution 660. The full text of these ten
resolutions is available from GulfWatch.
CPC PUTS PEACE PROPOSALS TO IRAQ
Christian Peace Conference (CPC) Press Release, Prague 4 Feb 1991
In response to a message calling for a new initiative for peace (GulfWatch
14, 1 Feb) Canon Kenyon Wright, Coordinating Secretary of CPC, was invited to
meet with the Iraqi Ambassador to Czechoslovakia on 4 February. During the
discussion Canon Wright emphasized that the concern of the CPC was basically
humanitarian; to prevent further bloodshed and restore stable peace in the
Middle East. To this end he proposed that Iraq might consider stating clearly
two simple principles:
1. To declare acceptance of an immediate cessation of hostilities on the
basis of adherance of all concerned to urgent implentation of all UN
resolutions on the Middle East. To be followed by immediate negotiations.
2. To declare full observance of the Geneva Convention on prisoners of
war and civilian populations, on the understanding that the allies would make a
similar commitment.
This should be followed by the swift recall of the UN General Assembly.
The Iraqi Ambassador stressed that SCR 678 did not sanction the bombing of
civilian population or destruction of Iraqi cultural, religious and economic
targets. He further deplored the refusal to recall the UN Security Council.
The Ambassador expressed his deep concern over the dangerous long-term harm
that might be done to relationships between Christians and Muslims who have
lived together in harmony for centuries.
NEUTRON BOMBS HUMANE
igc:dkeller mideast.forum.400 8:32 pm Feb 5, 1991 Response 3 of 3
The press in Pittsburgh is hot on the story of the potential of the
neutron bomb to "save American lives". A reporter here showed me a transcript
with Professor Cowan, the "father of the neutron bomb", claiming it was the
perfect weapon for desert war, and that it was at least as humane as napalm.
ACTION
CAMBUSLANG AND RUTHERGLEN: Saturday 9 Feb. Stop the War Now! March and Rally.
Assemble 10.15 am Cambuslang Shopping Centre; march off 10.45. Rally 12.30 at
Rutherglen Cenotaph. Speakers: CND, Trades Council, political & church reps.
GLASGOW: Wednesday 13 Feb, 12.30-1.30: Scottish CND and the FOR in Scotland
annual Act of Repentance outside Kentigern House, Ministry of Defence offices,
Argyll Street (west end). As this year Ash Wednesday falls on the 46th
anniversary of the Fire Bombing of Dresden by Allied airforces, which killed
over 50,000, the liturgy will link our past complicity in the mass murder of
civilians with the current air attacks on Iraq being carried out in our name.
(ends)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.9 | | RAVEN1::WATKINS | | Tue Feb 12 1991 16:18 | 9 |
| I am glad that Sgt. Morse is in jail. Loading supplies is not
killing. That is no more killing than a person loading a car for
shippment is killing when the person that receives the car runs someone
down. Or when a person loads a truck with hotdogs and someone who
eats them later dies of a heart attack due to to much fat in their
bodies.
Marshall
|
| 158.10 | | DECWIN::MESSENGER | Bob Messenger | Tue Feb 12 1991 17:16 | 8 |
| Re: .9
I don't think those are the best analogies, Marshall. What if someone loads
machine guns into a truck owned by the Mafia (and that person knows that the
truck is owned by the Mafia), and the Mafia later uses those guns to kill
policemen?
-- Bob
|
| 158.11 | | 3149::MSMITH | Ramsey Clark: An American Twerp. | Tue Feb 12 1991 18:03 | 16 |
| re: .10 (Bob)
That analogy doesn't hold water either, Bob.
A more proper one would be if the person loads guns into a truck owned
by the police, knowing that those guns will later be used by the police
to defend the public and themselves against sociopathic criminals bent
on a spree of destruction. He has a signed contract and sworn duty to
perform his duty, toward which the taxpayer has expended significant
sums of money preparing him for that role, but because of newly found
"scruples", wants completely out of his contract, and won't even load
stuff onto a truck.
Just a change in perspective maybe, but a significant one.
Mike
|
| 158.12 | | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Tue Feb 12 1991 18:06 | 7 |
| Bob, you are correct in your anaology. In my view, there is no
difference, morally, between pulling a trigger and helping someone else
pull the trigger. If you are morally opposed to participating in war,
then helping others to conduct the very actions that you are morally
opposed would hardly seem acceptable.
-- Mike
|
| 158.13 | | DELNI::MEYER | Dave Meyer | Tue Feb 12 1991 18:20 | 15 |
| Mike,
I agree with you - somewhat - in that if you are morally opposed to
a war then ANY participation in that war must be objectionable. I do
not agree with Bob's analogy, though, and come to another conclusion. A
soldier, particularly a volunteer, who refuses to follow legal orders
for any reason must be prepared to accept the just and reasonable
consequences of that action. There are times when morals and ethics are
incompatible and a person must choose one over the other. A person who
chooses ethics is endangering their soul (or sanity, or whatever) and a
person who chooses morals must brave "ethical retribution" (jail). Some
soldiers, like Oliver North, have followed immoral paths by following
illegal (and unethical) orders yet seem to have been rewarded for their
actions. We must pray that this does not bercome a standard and that
those who stand fast to their morals are willing to prove good examples
by accepting the consequences.
|
| 158.14 | | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Tue Feb 12 1991 18:39 | 40 |
| Dave, there are a couple of important points here. First of all, in
general, I agree with Amnesty International that
this right [of conscientious objection] does not have to be shown
to have been held continually by an individual and cannot be
withdrawn. "We believe that is a right at all times - before
joining the army, while in training, or even during a war", said a
spokesman.
I therefore believe that the state has a moral obligation to recognize
that some people, as they grow morally and spiritually over time, may
come to develop a position towards war that is different than at an
earlier time in their lives. To force a person, against their will, to
participate in war when they consider morally wrong is, in my view
(and in the view of Amnesty International) a violation of human rights.
Considering Bob's example, let us support that someone volunteers to
work with the Mafia, and then changes their mind and decide that the
Mafia is an immoral organization. What happens if the Mafia decides to
break their kneecaps as a result of not their not continuing to carry
out their oath of support? Should we say that this person has nothing
to complain about, that they should have accepted the consequences of
signing up for the Mafia in the first place? My view is no--that one
is not ethically bound to continue to uphold an oath to support an
organization that we come to consider to be criminal or immoral.
Morse's specific case in even more interesting, though, because he was
scheduled to be discharged by a certain date, and was prevented from
doing so because the military changed the rules on him and prevented
him by putting a hold on discharges (this sort of reminds me of
"Catch-22", by the way). So now he is being asked to continue to
support what he considers immoral when he was expecting to have left
the military by that time anyway. Given those circumstances, I think
he has really been left holding the bag.
I fully support Morse in this case, as well as other conscientious
objectors who have come to their position while serving in the
military.
-- Mike
|
| 158.15 | | DECWIN::MESSENGER | Bob Messenger | Tue Feb 12 1991 20:15 | 30 |
| Re: .11 Mike Smith
> That analogy doesn't hold water either, Bob.
>
> A more proper one would be if the person loads guns into a truck owned
> by the police, knowing that those guns will later be used by the police
> to defend the public and themselves against sociopathic criminals bent
> on a spree of destruction.
OK, but in your analogy you'll also have to assume that the person has come
to the conclusion that the police will use the guns in an immoral way. My
analogy was designed to let you see the situation through Morse's eyes: it
*is* immoral to load guns for the Mafia, and within Morse's code of morality
it *is* immoral to help the war effort by working in a supply group.
As I've said elsewhere, I'm not a pacifist. However, I think the United States
can afford the luxury of having an all-volunteer army, and therefore it can
afford the luxury of allowing people to claim conscientious objector status.
Some CO's find it immoral to kill the enemy but don't think it is immoral to
act in a non-combat role, such as supply. Other CO's think that is immoral to
help the war effort in any way at all. I think it should be a matter of
individual conscious, and that Morse should be given an honorable discharge (or
a discharge specifying that he was given CO status).
Yes, some people would abuse that privilege and claim CO status simply
because they didn't want to have to fight, but I think the United States is
strong enough that we can replace those people with volunteers who *are*
willing to fight.
-- Bob
|
| 158.16 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Tempered Peace | Tue Feb 12 1991 21:08 | 13 |
| Note 158.9
> I am glad that Sgt. Morse is in jail.
Marshall,
I don't have an analogy. However, I am curious about this one
statement. Do you believe your gladness about the incarceration of Sgt.
Morse to be in keeping with the teachings and spirit of Christ Jesus?
If so, could you elaborate?
Peace,
Richard
|
| 158.17 | | DELNI::MEYER | Dave Meyer | Tue Feb 12 1991 21:21 | 7 |
| Mike,
I agree with the thrust of the AI quote. That does not change my
stance. (the contract conflict does, more later) A CO has the right to
object and to request non-battle-related, and to be punished in
accordance with the law if they fail to follow the rules. Someone held
beyond their term of contract has a contract dispute which would seem
to negate the validity of the government's control over their actions.
|
| 158.18 | | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Tue Feb 12 1991 22:35 | 20 |
| Dave,
My understanding is that the law does recognize the right of military
personnel to apply for conscientious objector status. People have
applied for CO status in the past, even when there wasn't a war going
on, and many such applications were accepted.
Much of the hostility that I have seen expressed against the recent CO
applications seems to be based on the erroneous assumption that CO
applications have not been taking place all along during peacetime.
Thus certain people are questioning the sincerity of Morse's
application. Flag waving and saber rattling notwithstanding, since the
government *does* apparently grant CO applications to military
personnel, and has been doing so over time, the only real question is
Morse's sincerity, as far as I am concerned. If he is sincere (and I
have no reason to believe that he isn't), then I believe he should be
granted his CO request, and should not be imprisoned.
-- Mike
|
| 158.19 | | 3149::MSMITH | Ramsey Clark: An American Twerp. | Wed Feb 13 1991 10:19 | 4 |
| If Morse is sincere, then maybe he should be given an out, however the
burden of proof must be on him and not the government.
Mike
|
| 158.20 | | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Wed Feb 13 1991 10:30 | 6 |
| CO applications are, as far as I know, *never* granted without the
applicant first having to show the basis of their beliefs. The more
proof they can offer, the better. Morse's case would therefore not be
unusual with respect to that consideration.
-- Mike
|
| 158.21 | | 3149::MSMITH | Ramsey Clark: An American Twerp. | Wed Feb 13 1991 13:29 | 1 |
| Fair enough.
|
| 158.22 | | DELNI::MEYER | Dave Meyer | Wed Feb 13 1991 15:08 | 11 |
| Mike,
let us assume that we are instead discussing someone who had an
undisputed contract with the Army at the time of the CO announcement.
This person would have an obligation to provide comparable service in
place of "war" services. Medical corps service has often been an
acceptable alternative to killing people in such situations. Supply and
Motor Pool have been other options. A CO is not allowed to break the
contract without penalty just by claiming CO status, but that status
may be a qualification for a different, morally acceptable, form of
service. It is the refusal to serve that justifies the punishment. Jail
is the "penalty for early withdrawal", not for refusing to kill.
|
| 158.23 | | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Create peace. | Wed Feb 13 1991 15:42 | 6 |
| Dave, I would think that supply and motor pool would be unacceptable to
1-O conscientious objectors, because they would still be assisting in
the war effort (although those activities would probably be acceptable
to 1-A-O COs).
-- Mike
|
| 158.24 | | 3149::MSMITH | Ramsey Clark: An American Twerp. | Wed Feb 13 1991 16:08 | 4 |
| How about medical corps duty? That effort is directed at saving lives,
not ending them.
Mike
|
| 158.25 | Gulfwatch #30 | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Note cuisine | Fri Feb 22 1991 11:15 | 224 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 124.0 **/
** Topic: GULFWATCH No. 30: Wednesday 20 Fe **
** Written 5:28 pm Feb 20, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 30 - Wednesday, 20 February 1991
WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, CANBERRA, STATEMENT
GulfWatch Fax WCC/EPS 1235 GMT, 20 Feb 1991
`By a substantial majority, the Seventh Assembly of the WCC called (20
Feb) for an immediate ceasefire in the Gulf war, to be followd by the
immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait.
The assembly called for church actions consistent with "the biblical vision of
peace with justice for all". It called on the UN "to reassert your role as
peacemaker, peacekeeper, conciliator and negotiator". It called for "the
initiation of a Conference on Peace, Security and Cooperation in the Middle
East with the equal participation of all interested states and peoples".
Finally, it expressed refusal "to be separated from brothers and sisters of
other faiths as a result of this war, and to reject especially any effort to
divide Christians, Muslims and Jews".' (Appendix)
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
igc:greenbase mideast.gulf.358 12:21 am Feb 19, GP SITREP26 Chemical Weapons
There are few doubts about the presence of Iraqi chemical weapons on the
front lines, nor of Iraq's willingness to use them. But at this point,
chemical attacks will probably be restricted to small pockets on the
battlefield, and will probably have little military effect. By some estimates
50 tons of chemical agents are needed to contaminate a square mile.
Aadams (topic 361) adds: Not only do most chemicals (except mustard gas)
degrade in high temperatures common in the area; but the Iranian news agency
has reported that a standard Iraqi tactic during the recent Iran-Iraq war, was
to engage large Iranian units in close combat, then drop chemical weapons on
everyone...
SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE ARMS SALES DOCUMENTATION
igc:aadams mideast.gulf.360.US CDC Sold Bio-Tech... 5:45 pm Feb 19, 1991
The Simon Wiesenthal Center, in Israel, has apparently documented sales of
biological and chemical weapons technology to Iraq by every western nation
except for Canada. Included in the list are the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) which sold Iraq "non-lethal" live bacteria.
INTERNATIONAL APPEAL/GATHERING - EUROPEAN NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
Via folkets, Finland, e-mail, Wed Feb 20 06:19 GMT 1991
We are appalled by the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein but also by the
manipulation of the United Nations as an instrument of war-making. The war is
polarising the world, rich against poor, European against Arab, Christian
against Muslim, Jew against Palestinian. It could mark the beginning of a
North-South confrontation that replaces the old East-West confrontation as a
way of organising global relations. The dizzy standards of Western consumption
go hand on hand with poverty and violence in the Third World. By selling arms
and buying oil and other natural resources, the West has created Saddam Hussein
and its own enemies in the South. These enemies in turn help sustain the
war-making culture in the West now that the Soviet threat has disappeared. Both
sides invoke God to mobilise the war effort. Their clamour muffles the voice
of humanity. The Gulf war has shown that we cannot rely on Governments and
international institutions acting on their own. We therefore undertake to
organise an international gathering of concerned citizens in Italy in the near
future. Contact: END, 11 Goodwin St., London N4, Tel: +44 (0)71 272 9092. The
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom are also organising an
International Conference in Geneva, 5-8 March, 1991.
DANIEL ORTEGA PEACE PROPOSAL
igc:nicanetny mideast.gulf.357.Int'l Peace... 10:54 pm Feb 18 Amman
We believe that the preservation or restoration of peace, based on
justice, is a supreme objective of mankind. We are firmly convinced that the
attainment and preservation of peace involves a scrupulous commitment to
upholding the rule of law in international relations at all times and without
exception. We also believe that peace requires a practical recognition of the
essential equality of all peoples, their right to live in an uncontaminated
environment and in conditions compatible with their dignity as human beings...
(Full text and signatories available from GulfWatch)
BBC ADMITS BOMBING SELF CENSORSHIP
The Guardian 18 Feb 1991
"...Film from Baghdad provided those who are anti-war with images of far
greater impact than any verbal argument. The effect was enhanced during the 9
o'clock (BBC 1 TV) News on Wednesday when the announcer explained that even
more terrible pictures had been received but were not being shown.
"Working at the BBC on Thursday, I found several supporters of the war
angry that the news-reader had mentioned this self-censorship. They felt those
against the war would be able to say: "See, the true horrors of the bombing of
civilians are being withheld...
"Had film of the charred victims of the Hamburg fire-storm been seen in
every British home two days later, could the bombing have gone on? Churchill's
reaction on seeing footage at that time was: "Are we beasts?" What would the
British public have said?" ( Article by Martin Gilbert, historian and official
biographer of Winston Churchill)
U.S. PUBLIC MISINFORMED SAYS NEW OPINION SURVEY
igc:peacenet mideast.media.126.Public Misinformed! 8:51 am Feb 19, 1991
A System Three survey in the Glasgow Herald shows that 77% of Scots
support the war. But other surveys show that just over 50% of women oppose it.
An important survey of U.S.A. Gulf war attitudes and opinion manipulation has
been carried out by researchers at the Department of Communication, University
of Massachusetts/Amherst. It says, "Despite the months of television coverage
devoted to this story, most people, we found, were alarmingly ill informed. If
the news media had done a better job in informing people, would there be less
support for the war? Our study indicates that the answer to this question is
yes. (Report available from GulfWatch).
MAHATMA GHANDI SPEAKS OUT
mideast.forum, antennae
"The bravery of the non-violent is vastly superior to that of the violent.
The badge of the violent is his weapon -- spear, or sword, or rifle. God is
the shield of the non-violent." [Harijan, 1.9.1940, p268]
MORE SCOTTISH GULF HELPLINES
Scottish Council for Vol. Orgs, 3rd Sector
Osprey, the international student service, are working with colleges and
universities to provide help and information to families of Iraqis and others
who have been detained or troubled. Contact: Susanne Marshall, Osprey, 4a
Brungsfield Cresc., Edinburgh EH10 4EZ. Tel: 031 452 9243.
For support/help/advice of families with military personel in the Gulf:
Grampian Helpline 0224 - 580930 or 694453; Tayside Regional Council Gulf
Helpline 0382 23168; Lothian Gulf Family Helpline 031 452 9706; Gulf Crisis
Self-Help Support Group 041 221 9606. (ends)
GulfWatch Appendix: 20.02.91
WCC ASSEMBLY CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE IN GULF WAR
Ecumenical Press Service, WCC Seventh Assembly, Canberra 20 February 1991
By a substantial majority, the Seventh Assembly of the World Council of
Churches called (20 February) for an immediate ceasefire in the (Persian) Gulf
war, to be followed by the immediate, complete, and unconditional withdrawal of
Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Despite a crowded agenda on its final day, the
assembly devoted approximately four hours to debate on the Gulf.
After acting on dozens of proposed amendments, ranging from minor textual
changes to attempts to reverse the direction of the proposed text, the Assembly
approved an eight-page statement on `The Gulf War, the Middle East, and the
Threat to World Peace,' including two pages of `appeals and affirmations.'
Expressing `deep human concern for all those who are victimized by the
war,' the assembly called for church actions consistent with `the biblical
vision of peace with justice for all.' It called on the United Nations `to
reassert your role as peacemaker, peacekeeper, conciliator and negitiator.'
It called on combatant nations and their leaders to`ceast fire immediately
and to work for a negiotiated solution of the Iraq-Kuwait dispute within the
context of the United Nations.' It called for `the initiation of a Conference
on Peace, Security and Cooperation in the Middle East with the equal
participation of all interested states and peoples.'
Finally, it expressed its refusal `to be separated from brothers and
sisters of other faiths as a result of this war, and to reject expecially any
effort to divide Christians, Muslims, and Jews.'
In adopting the text, the assembly first adopted, but later rescinded, an
ammendment calling on WCC members `to give up any theological or moral
justification of the use of military power, be it in war or through other forms
of oppressive security systems, and to become public advocates of a just
peace.' Proposing the addition, Konrad Raiser [(United) Evangelical Church of
Germany] noted that the language was taken from the report of the 1990 WCC
World Consultation on Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation.
Nicolas Lossky (Eastern Orthodox, France) spoke in oppostion to the
addition, observing, `I am convinced as a theologian that there is no such
thing as a just war. But there are times in history when wars have to be
fought. It is a contradiction. But we Christians are surrounded by such
contradictions all the time.' Following a balloting procedure fraught with
points of order, the amendment was adopted (268-193, 79 abstentions).
Hours later, following the lunch break, a number of delegates indicated
their anxiety that the amendment would be understood as a WCC declaration of
pacifism. By 366-160 vote, it decided to reconsider its previous decision. In
the absence of time for extensive discussion, some delegates counselled that
the more general question of the permissibility of war not be addressed in a
specific statement on one particular conflict. The amendment was removed from
the text by a majority vote.
Barry Rogerson (Anglican, England) proposed an amendment calling for Iraq
to `signal its intention' to withdraw completely and unconditionally from
Kuwait before a ceasefire. Rogerson told the assembly: `We do not want the
land war to begin, but we want the World Council of Churches to be heard
clearly.' Janice Love (Methodist, USA), chair of the public issues committee,
replied that the committee felt it important that the call for a ceasefire be
the primary appeal from the assembly. Rogerson's amendment was defeated.
Over the course of the assembly, the committee invited suggestions from
changes in the draft statement. Some of the additions made by this process
resulted in references to the bombing of a Baghdad air shelter, ecological
damage caused by the war, activities of regional Christian bodies, visions for
`a new world order,' and condemnation of anti-Muslim intolerance.
Several African delegates objected to the criticism of anti-Muslim
intolerance unless it were balanced by a condemnation of anti-Christian
attitudes. Joseph Omoyajowo (Anglican, Nigeria) said, `It is our experience
that Islam actually humiliates other religions.'
Further objections were raised because the statement did not express
appreciation to the government of Israel for its restraint in not immediately
retaliating against Iraqi missile attacks. Love responded that the committee
had concluded that `the military integration between the United States and
Israel makes such a commendation impossible.' Jean Zaru, a Palestinian Quaker,
observed that `Israel does not have to retaliate against Iraq. The United
States is doing their work for them.'
The assembly defeated an attempt to amend the statement to `express our
deep dismay that, without reference to the United Nations Security Council, the
United States and other nations persistently refuse to consider any other
parties to break the political stalemate and to reach for a negotiated
settlement.'
Prior to defeat of the amendment, General Secretary Emilio Castro spoke
against commenting on attitudes and actions which may reflect `just one moment
in the conflict.' He noted that even as the assembly debated there were new
reports of further attempts at negotiation.
James Rogers (Reformed, Scotland), warned against criticism which ignored
the realities and ambiguities confronting nations and their leaders. He
challenged delegates to consider the question, `Is the World Council of
Churches trying to occupy some high moral ground which so far removes it from
the real world that it will not be listened to in the real world?' (EPS)
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.26 | Gulfwatch #34, part I of II | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Naute cuisine. | Wed Feb 27 1991 16:06 | 113 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 127.0 **/
** Topic: GULFWATCH 34: Mon. 25 Feb (5 page) **
** Written 5:24 pm Feb 25, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 34 - Monday, 25 February 1991
112,000 IRAQI CIVILIANS DEAD?
aldopacific mideast.gulf.375 9:50 pm Feb 24, 1991
John Roussel, Christian Aid Secretary for Manchester, received a
phone call from Iraq on Sunday evening, 24 Feb, from a Jordanian friend
who had been a student in Manchester 1988-90 and whose voice he
recognised immediately. The friend said he was phoning from Northern
Iraq where he was now working for the Red Crescent. According to him,
the Iraqi Red Crescent is reporting 112,000 civilian deaths from the war,
of which 60% are children.
WAR REPORT (23 Feb) reports: The Iraqi casualty total has topped
100,000 even according to official figures which are thought to be
misleadingly low. US Secretary of Defence Richard Cheney this week said
15% (80,000) of Iraq's troops have been killed or seriously wounded. The
Iraqi authorities said there were over 20,000 civilian casualties.
NUMEROUS US BOMBS PROBABLY MISSED TARGETS
Washington Post Feb 22 1991
US bombs dropped on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait suggest that
hundreds of precision-guided munitions, as well as thousands of "dumb"
bombs, have missed their targets and in some cases struck unintended
sites, according to US officials. These accidents involved a minority of
the tens of thousands of tons of bombs that have been dropped in allied
air operations that have achieved an overall level of bombing accuracy in
the Persian Gulf War that exceeds the Pentagon's pre-war expectations and
the record of bombing accuracy in previous wars. But US officials so far
only have disclosed anecdotal evidence of perfect bomb strikes.
A total of 110 million to 120 million pounds of explosives have been
dropped on targets in Iraq and Kuwait during the past five weeks, a
senior Pentagon official said -- an amount that may equal approximately
150,000 individual weapons, according to several experts familiar with
the U.S. munitions being used.
WAR COULD COST UP TO $77 BILLION THIS FISCAL YEAR
Washington (Feb 21) Wire Services
The US administration believes the Gulf war will cost between $58
billion and $77 billion this fiscal year, according to Defense Department
documents. To pay for the war, the administration will announce Friday
that it will ask Congress for $15 billion in taxpayer money as part of a
supplementary military budget. All $51 billion pledged so far by US
allies would be used to cover the rest of the cost of war, according to
documents obtained by a US news agency.
The war will cost from $25 billion to $44 billion through March 31,
according to the documents. The precise cost will depend on what type of
fighting is involved, they say. The administration had not said publicly
how much it thinks the war to eject Iraqi troops from Kuwait will cost.
US SUICIDES AGAINST THE WAR
f.soethe mideast.action.558 8:30 pm Feb 23, 1991 From News system
Two US citizens publicly committed suicide as a result of their
country's war against Iraq. At the end of January, Michael Creamer, a
highly decorated bomber pilot in the Vietnam War, shot himself to death
because he could not cope with the pictures from the B52-bombings of Iraq
that reminded him of his own sorties some 20 years ago.
And on Monday Feb 18, Gregory Levey from Amherst poured turpentine
over himself and burned to death, leaving only a peace of cardboard with
his driver's license and the word PEACE on it behind. I wish they could
have found another way than this ultimate way to protest against the
insanity.
Vietnam Veteran Hal Muskat writes (igc:hmuskat mideast.media.124.
Brokaw... 5:14 pm Feb 20, 1991): "This vet. is pissed off each time
another one of us takes their lives. They have no right! And at the
same time they have every right to take this drastic action. Michael is
another victim of not only Bush's war, but of this war the American
people seem to want fought - at least by youth. Michael won't be the
first Namvet who can't handle this, and you don't need to be "disturbed"
to possess enormous emotional feelings.
Over 65,000 American GI's lost their lives in Vietnam. 20,000 by
so-called "friendly fire"! Yes, I know that's 1/3! A million Vietnamese
died. And since the war has ended over 150,000 veterans have died as a
result of violence, either self inflicted or otherwise. The Vietnam War,
while "over" 15 years ago is clearly not over for too, too many of us.
POSTWAR PEACEMAKING
igc:sfreedkin mideast.action.567 7:49 pm Feb 24, 1991
Soon we (members of the Peace Resource Center of Santa Barbara) will
begin a discussion series on the topic, "After the war -- what should the
peace community be doing?" Because this is a topic of vital concern to
all peace activists, I am inviting you to join in this discussion...
I believe it is not too early to begin thinking and planning for the
peace community's activities after the Persian Gulf War has ended. We
must face the harsh realities of this conflict: President Bush and
company have developed strategies for effectively freezing voices of
peace out of the American agenda. We must develop strategies for
countering theirs...
RON BEASLEY of Edinburgh, one-time Chairperson of IFOR, writes: "In
the light of the... news of the beginning of the land war, do you not
think that now is the time to step up the dimension of Making the Peace
after the war is over? Could not GulfWatch alert and make our followers
aware of the importance of taking control for ourselves of our own policy
in this regard? Otherwise we will have an even worse disaster when the
Peace Conference comes and Western superiority will demolish any vestige
of justice, compassion, hope, mercy and the important task of listening
to the people and not the militarists and those who have a closed
agenda..." (See Appendix I for text by Ron Beasley) Responses?
INTERNATIONAL PEACE MARCH TO THE MIDDLE EAST
f.soethe mideast.action.557.Marsch... 6:29 pm Feb 23 1991 News System
Join us from March 31 to May 9 from Berlin, Germany to Iraq. You are
not powerless! Do your share against the insanity of war! We shall end
the war where it is happening with our numbers and our energies. Convert
the Gulf War and any any other war to peace in a peaceful way.
|
| 158.27 | Gulfwatch #34, part II of II | CSC32::M_VALENZA | Naute cuisine. | Wed Feb 27 1991 16:06 | 172 |
| ACTION
EDINBURGH: A group of Christians from all churches, interested in
organising a major city-wide Christian event in opposition to the war in
the Gulf, will meet at the Catholic Chaplaincy, 23 George Square, Monday
4 March at 7.30 pm. Enquiries: Gilbert Markus, 668-1776.
FALKIRK: Falkirk Old & St Moden's Parish Church. Prayers for the Gulf
Crisis, every Monday, 7 pm.
NEW WORLD ORDER MORAL CHECKLIST "in convenient form for posting on your
kitchen refrigerator" by Garry Trudeau, New York Times Feb 19. (igc:
airhitch mideast.forum.414.Boycott - Appendix II (ends)
GulfWatch Appendices: 25.02 91
A DIFFERENT KIND OF PEACE CONFERENCE (Excerpts)
For a Peace Conference to achieve some positive success it seems
that the following criteria may be useful as guidelines:
1. All parties should have an equal involvement in the planning of the
Peace Conference itself, under the absolute control of the United
Nations.
2. As far as is humanly possible we should not fall into the trap of the
occasion being billed as a dialogue between the victorious and the
defeated. Such a dialogue would be a dialogue of the deaf. In an
ultimate sense there are no victors in modern war. We will all be
defeated in one sense or another.
3. Care should be taken to ensure that no nation should be represented
entirely by politicians and members of the military. There is no
evidence that they have particular skills in creating the fabric of
peace, nor do they have any monopoly of wisdom.
4. To ensure a deep process being genuinely initiated, women and men
with a spiritual perception who are steeped in the discipline of dialogue
with sensitive listening, should be included in the delegation of each
nation.
5. A Peace Conference is an appropriate occasion to implement skills of
conciliation, reconciliation, conflict resolution and open encounter.
Here in the U.K. we recognise the importance of A.C.A.S. in industrial
disputes within commerce and industry and in the public sector. Likewise
counselling is increasingly recognised as a therapeutic tool in enabling
estranged and tormented individuals to come to a new perception of their
condition and of possible new ways ahead in the pursuit of wellbeing.
These skills and disciplines reflecting an inter-professional range are
no less required within the international Peace Conference framework.
Indeed without them, we can say without doubt any Peace Conference will
be unsuccessful.
6. Those authentic groups and agencies who have given a lifetime or
longer to the study and practice of peacemaking should be invited to be
present at the Peace Conference in the capacity of consultants and
advisers. There will be a need for some to have the precise
responsibility of an overview of the whole Peace Making Process, not
being distracted by the subjective concerns of any nation engaged in the
Peace Conference itself.
7. To undergird this sixth criterion, the authentic peace organisations,
such as Amnesty International, the International Fellowship of
Reconciliation (IFOR), Pax Christi, the International Conference of
Religion & Peace, the War Resisters' International, and other such groups
representative of the Islamic, Buddhist and Humanist persuasions should
have membership of the consultant and advisory group. A small corps of
women and men long experienced in hard bargaining amd difficult
negotiating, who have demonstrated gifts of impartiality and objectivity
should be drawn together as a secretariat and convenor/presidium to have
over-all responsibility for guidance and fairness of opportunity for all
the constituent members of the Peace Conference. The N.G.O.s attached
and affiliated to the United Nations will themselves be key advisers in
formualating the whole process on which such a Peace Conference will be
established.
... We need today a different kind of Peace Conference. So let's
start making this a real possibility now. There is no time to lose.
Ron Beasley 7 February 1991
NEW WORLD ORDER MORAL CHECKLIST Garry Trudeau (New York Times)
I. BAD INVASIONS, OLD WORLD ORDER
- Syria invades Lebanon, 1976
- Vietnam invades Cambodia, 1978
- USSR invades Afghanistan, 1979
- Argentina invades Falklands, 1982
- Libya invades Chad, 1983
II. GOOD INVASIONS, OLD WORLD ORDER
- China invades Vietnam, 1979
- Iraq invades Iran, 1980
- Israel invades Lebanon, 1982
- U.S. invades Grenada, 1990
III. BAD INVASIONS, NEW WORLD ORDER
- Iraq invades Kuwait, 1990
IV. GOOD INVASIONS, NEW WORLD ORDER
- U.S. invades Panama, 1989
- U.S.S.R. invades itself, 1991
- U.S. et al. invade Kuwait, 1991
- U.S. et al. invade Iraq, 1991 (est.)
V. BAD DICTATORS, OLD WORLD ORDER
- Muammar al-Quaddafi (Libya)
- Mikhail Gorbachev (U.S.S.R.)
- Hafez al-Assad (Syria)
- Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (Iran)
- Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua)
VI. GOOD DICTATORS, OLD WORLD ORDER
- Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines)
- Manuel Noriega (Panama)
- Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
- Augusto Pinochet (Chile)
- Deng Xiaoping (People's Rep. of China)
VII. BAD DICTATORS, NEW WORLD ORDER
- Ferdinand Marcos (Philippines)
- Manuel Noriega (Panama)
- Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
- Augusto Pinochet (Chile)
VIII. GOOD DICTATORS, NEW WORLD ORDER
- Mikhail Gorbachev (U.S.S.R.)
- Hafez al-Assad (Syria)
- Deng Xiaoping (People's Rep. of China)
IX. BAD U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS, OLD AND NEW WORLD ORDERS
- None.*
X. GOOD U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS, OLD AND NEW WORLD ORDERS
- All of them.*
*Traditionally, the U.S. supports all Good Resolutions and vetoes
all Bad Resolutions (such as resolutions on U.S. invasions of
Grenada and Panama). So none of the latter have passed.
GulfWatch Appendix: 25.02.91
SCAWD Spring Conference
ENCHANTMENT & LIBERATION
Celebrating Life in a Time of War (in the Wake of War)
Friday-Saturday, 5th-6th April 1991
Scottish Churches House, Dunblane. Cost: 18
Sorrow and fear and dread have accompanied us daily during these last
weeks, when our world has been involved in a terrible war. There has
been a real Good Friday feeling about. Lent 1991 has become a time of
prayer and action for a cease fire and an end to hostilities which are
bringing death and destruction, suffering and waste on a massive scale.
The SCAWD Spring Conference this year comes a week after Easter. Let us
hope and work for an end to hostilities in the Middle East before then.
But whether we be still at war or it be over, we want to look beyond the
rhetoric and hypocrisy, the power and technology, the hatred and enmity
which threaten us and our world. We want to celebrate our freedom and
humanity, creation, the gifts of the Spirit, the arts - life itself. We
want to re-enchant the earth!
Rev John Bell of the Iona Community - musician, hymn and song writer,
leader of the Wild Goose choral group - is the guest "animateur" of the
conference. We will meet in plenary and in groups. There will be art,
music and song, biblical celebration, sharing and meeting one another;
time for worship and a ceilidh in the evening.
The conference is open to all, of whatever faith or none. It begins with
dinner at 6.00 on Friday and ends at 4.00 pm on Saturday.
Scottish Churches Action for World Development
41 George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1 EL
Tel. 031 225 1772
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.28 | | RAVEN1::WATKINS | | Sun Mar 03 1991 15:55 | 7 |
| When did an Islamic, Buddhist, Humanist, Amnesty International, and IFOR
ever have a Christian perspective? Islamic and Buddhist are not
Christians. They do not follow Christ.
Marshall
|
| 158.29 | Gulfwatch #38 (part I of II) | CSC32::M_VALENZA | N�te d'Azur | Sun Mar 03 1991 22:23 | 96 |
| /** mideast.gulf: 120.0 **/
** Topic: GULFWATCH No 38: 1 March **
** Written 3:46 pm Mar 1, 1991 by gn:aldopacific in cdp:mideast.gulf **
GULFWATCH No. 38 - Friday, 1 March 1991
TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT
CRAG Newsletter 28 CAABU Religious Affairs Group, London Feb 28 1991
In commenting on the support for the anti-Iraq coalition expressed
by the leading members of the church in Britain (England!), it would be
too trite to refer to the Christian injunction to love one's enemies.
The guidelines laid down by Jesus of Nazareth two thousand years ago are
difficult to apply to today's global politics. Yet what is surprising is
the condoning of policies, which will lead to the destruction of a
country and its citizens, as those of a Just War...
It is hard to believe the blindness of those who feel impelled to
give this western assault their spiritual blessing. There are persuasive
strategic, military and political reasons why politicians have decided to
enforce UN resolutions now. The moral reasons, however, are completely
bogus, and the invocation of God's name and blessing profoundly
undermines the moral stature of the church in this country. Do Iraqi
Christians (who make up 10% of the Iraqi population) and Muslims pray to
a different God? Does God really distinguish between the gassing of
Kurds and the bombardment of Baghdad? Now that innocent have been killed
by the anti-Iraq coalition, has not that coalition reduced itself to the
moral equivalence of Saddam Hussein?... (Michael Dumper, Ed.)
AMERICAN FRIENDS' STATEMENT
igc:afscid mideast.forum.354.AFSC... 12:39 pm Feb 28, 1991
The human family, and especially the industrialized West, will have
to come to grips with a new moral equation in modern warfare. The vast
disparity of suffering and death between the two sides in the Gulf War
means that participation in war, especially for those from the West,
means a willingness to be a part of massive, one-sided killing. The
issues of conscience have become more stark. If there is hope that
survives our resort to war, it is based on the heartening and surprising
fact that so many questioned the need to wage it in the first place.
POGO FOR PRESIDENT
geonet mideast.gulf.233.Gulf War... 7:36 pm Feb 27, 1991
The US cartoon character, Pogo, said `I have met the enemy and he is
us' - a phrase popularised by the US anti-Vietnam war movement.
POLITICAL FALLOUT IN THE ARAB/ISLAMIC WORLD
igc:greenbase mideast.gulf.232.GP Sitrep34 8:15 pm Feb 28, 1991
The countries most destabilized by the war are Jordan, Pakistan, and
Morocco. Jordan, with a majority Palestinian population all supporting
Iraq, looks quite unstable. Other countries threatened by internal
Islamic instability because of their lack of strong support for Iraq are
Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
The war has exacerbated anti-US feelings in Pakistan, consequent to
the Bush Administration decision to cut the aid package from $500 to $208
million in October 1990. Critical remarks by Pakistan's Chief of Staff
Gen. Beg, suggest Pakistan's military is alienated from both the US, and
the civilian government. The Pakistani people seem confirmed in their
Islamic identity, and a January 19 poll showed 89% in sympathy with Iraq.
Overlooked has been the unfolding tragedy in Sudan. Yemen and Sudan
openly sided with Iraq, and Gulf states have stopped all aid to these
countries. Sudan was already plagued by years of civil war between Arab
Islamic north and African Christian south. The Islamic fundamentalist
regime of Gen. Omar Hassan has stopped food supplies to the south, and is
now pursuing all out war while pursuing a reign of terror and genocide in
the north. Perhaps 11 million people are threatened by famine.
ISRAEL QUIETLY DESTROYS HOMES, SEIZES LAND
Intifada (Tunis) Vol.III, No.9 28 February 1991
Israeli troops last week demolished or sealed the homes of ten
Palestinian families, uprooted hundreds of olive and citrus trees
belonging to Palestinian farmers and confiscated several acres of
Palestinian land. The continuing destruction and seizure of Palestinian
property came as Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir reaffirmed his
government's intention to keep the occupied Palestinian territories in
defiance of Security Council resolutions.
Shamir made the announcement in a BBC interview on February 18. Two
days later, the U.S. administration announced that it approved $400
million's worth of loan guarantees for Israel, to help it house the
hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews flowing into the country - many of
whom are being sent to illegal settlements in Jerusalem and other parts
of the Occupied Territories... The approval of the loan guarantee also
follows Shamir's appointment of Rehavam Zeevi as a Cabinet minister.
Zeevi, of the Moledet Party, openly advocates the expulsion of the
Palestinian people from the Occupied Territories to Jordan.
In the Jerusalem district, a group of armed Jewish settlers guarded
by Israeli troops raided the groves of the village of Bait Sourik last
week and uprooted 600 trees, including 200 ancient olive trees...
In the Nablus district, the mayor of the village of Kasra has been
notified that 250 acres of the village's land were marked for
confiscation. The notification, dated January 12, 1991, states that the
village has the right to challenge the confiscation order within a period
ending December 15, 1990 - a month before the order was served. The
stolen acres are to be given to an illegal Jewish settlement near Kasra.
(Appendix I: Shamir and Bialik)
|
| 158.30 | Gulfwatch #38 (part II of II) | CSC32::M_VALENZA | N�te d'Azur | Sun Mar 03 1991 22:24 | 184 |
|
CHRISTIAN EXODUS FROM HOLY LAND
CRAG Newsletter 28 (Newsbriefs) February 28, 1991
According to Bernard Sabella, a Palestinian sociologist from
Bethlehem, nearly 10,000 Palestinians have left the occupied territories
for the USA in the last 3 years. For Christians, the situation is graver
still. Out of the 45,000 Christians in the West Bank and Gaza, some 6,480
have left since 1987.
APPEAL TO THE CITIZENS OF ALL EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
From Ken Coates MEP, Chairman/Subcommittee on Human Rights 22 Feb 1991
A large number of members of the European Parliament met in Brussels
on February 13 with colleagues from national parliaments, churches and
peace organisations. There was a remarkable consensus about the war.
The agreed statement (Appendix II) is circulated for signing.
PHANTOM TREEPLANTERS' CEILIDH
To celebrate the peace movement, all welcome on Sunday afternoon, 24
March for some phantom treeplanting in the Pentland Hills to create peace
groves on tree-less land owned by the army... Followed by a bring-and-
share meal, music and song. (Contact: Alastair McIntosh - 031 445 5010)
"In this interconnected, interrelated living system, dependent upon
diversity, all life has meaning..." (From Beyond War, e-mail from Jane
Stavoe, Mt Prospect, Ilinois/USA) (ends)
GulfWatch Appendix I: 1.03.91
SHAMIR & BIALIK
Alastair Hulbert
"What seems to be lurking in the future is a confrontation between
the age-old realities of the Middle East and Mr Bush's wide-eyed vision
of his new world order. One important clue to Mr Bush's thinking is that
he will almost certainly be the last American President to have fought in
the second world war, and to have known that moment of American glory,
when its power was global, its prosperity unequalled, and all this
enjoyed in a brief period of impunity before the Soviet H-bomb. This may
be the psychological root of Mr Bush's dream." ("A World without Saddam"
by Martin Walker, The Guardian, Tuesday February 26 1991)
This reflection on how the experience of youth can affect a
politician's behaviour throughout life, has led me back to some work I
did a while ago on the poetry of Chaim Nachman Bialik. It might help us
understand the politics of the aging Israeli leadership. Yitzhak Shamir
will almost certainly be the last Israeli Prime Minister to have lost all
his family in the Holocaust.
_____________________
"Of steel and iron, cold and hard and dumb,
Now forge thyself a heart, O man! and come
And walk the town of slaughter."
These are the opening lines of Chaim Nachman Bialik's great and
terrible poem "In the City of Slaughter", written after the Kishinev
pogrom of Easter 1903 in Bielorussia. It is a harsh work, full of
indignation and rage - not so much against the perpetrators of the
massacre as against Jews themselves for allowing such shame and
humiliation to befall them. It marked the climax of the literary output
of Bialik who is regarded as the greatest of the Hebrew poets of the
Diaspora. "In the City of Slaughter" is the cry of someone who has had
more than he can take; it voices his rebellion against every aspect and
form of the life of the ghetto which was so much a part of the poet's
childhood and featured so much in his early work.
The effect of the poem was extraordinary. It has been compared, for
the bitterness of its invective, with the second half of Deuteronomy 28,
which describes the consequences of disobeying the voice of the Lord:
"you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword, among all the
peoples where the Lord will lead you away..." (v.37). Arguably as
important for Zionists of the time as Theodor Hertzl's pamphlet "The
Jewish State", it influenced a generation of inhabitants of the Jewish
ghettos of Eastern Europe, stimulating Maccabean tendencies and
self-defence organisations which later made their mark on Palestine.
The poem allows no respite. There is no catharsis to be derived
from it. For all the tears in Bialik's earlier works, there is no room
for sorrow here. This is not tragedy, this horrifying slaughter; it has
no meaning but the void. It provokes
"the old, old question
The one that never yet has reached to heaven,
And never will: Why? Why?"
Bialik speaks of a God humiliated by his chosen people, who longs for
their curses instead of their prayers. His prophesy of a lasting change
in the Jewish people is dreadful. It is here quoted at length in a
translation by Helena Frank. The poet is speaking to the companion who
accompanies him throughout the city of slaughter.
"And hear, thou son of man!
When next the reader cries upon the platform,
`Arise, O God, avenge the slaughtered victims,
Avenge thy holy ones, the pious greybeards,
The suckling children, God, the little children!'
And all the people cry with him together,
And when, like thee, the very pillars tremble,
I will be cruel to thee, very cruel
For thou shalt have no single tear to shed;
And should a cry arise in thee, I'll choke it,
And between thy teeth, if need be, I will choke it.
I will not have thee mourn as do the others.
The tear unshed, that bury in thyself,
Deep down within thy heart, and build a tower
Of gall and hatred round it; let it lie
A serpent in a nest (and men shall suck
And pass its venom on),
With thirst and hunger still unsatisfied.
And when the day of retribution comes,
Then break the wall and let the serpent out,
And like a poisoned arrow shoot it forth
With hunger raging and with thirsty fang,
And pierce thy race, thine own race, through the heart!"
The Jewish experience of the pogrom reached a point of no return in
1903 in terms of the psychological trauma that resulted and that is
expressed by Bialik. Elsewhere, in an earlier, more compassionate poem,
he speaks of sitting "at the crossroads of curse and benediction," though
eventually choosing the curse. Here he can offer only a form of nihilism
- corporate, not individualistic, racial.
Looking at the complex character of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
through the lens of Bialik's "In the City of Slaughter", bearing in mind
that as a child Shamir endured the desolation and humiliation of the
holocaust, there is little room for optimism as regards his willingness
to cooperate internationally or come to terms with the Palestinians. He
and his government would seem to have built "a tower/Of gall and hatred
round" their own experience of desolation, and it represents a trauma
from which they and their people will not lightly recover. Indeed Bialik
in the poem counsels madness for his "son of man".
Politically speaking, it seems that the only way Israel might be
brought to the negotiating table with the Palestinians would be through
the use of sanctions. And the idea of American sanctions on Israel is
virtually impossible to envisage now. Only if the Europeans consert
themselves on this issue, bringing pressure to bear on Israel, might
there be a glimmer of hope.
There may however be not much time left before the "final solution"
(as some Jews with ominous echoes have called it) be put into effect -
i.e. the transfer of the Palestinian people from the West Bank and Gaza.
This, argues the Maryknoll Jewish theologian Marc Ellis, would signal not
only the end of Palestinian culture in historic Palestine; it would also
be the end of (the spirit of) Judaism: "And pierce thy race, thine own
race, through the heart!"
RaC2 border=2
RaC3 pgwidth=73
RaC4 pgdepth=60
RaC7 page=3
RaC8 curline=183
RaC10 windline=189
RaC24 limitright=73
--HDR1.0-- 28 TX;
GULFWATCH is a daily bulletin of news, information and comment about the
Gulf war, gleaned from GreenNet and other (mostly) alternative media sources.
It is published by SCAWD, a small ecumenical agency of the Scottish
churches, founded in 1972 and active in Scotland in solidarity work (in recent
years particularly with the Pacific, Central and Latin America, and the Middle
East), cultures and a critique of "development". SCAWD is the Scottish base
for "One World Week" and has been closely involved in alternative investment
through the Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society (the WCC development
bank). SCAWD's international networks include WCC, WSCF, South-North Network:
Cultures and "Development", and EDCS.
Convener: Rev Kathy Galloway; Secretary: Alastair Hulbert
Main advisor and ideas person for GulfWatch: Alastair McIntosh
Scottish Churches Action for World Development (SCAWD),
41 George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EL,
Scotland
Tel.
031 225 1772 (SCAWD Office)
031 332 6127 (Alastair Hulbert - home)
031 445 5010 (Alastair McIntosh - home)
Fax 031 445 5255 (attn. SCAWD)
Telex 94070350 ICPI G (attn. SCAWD)
Electronic Mail GreenNet - aldopacific
Electronic Mail Comtex/One-to-One - 94070350
** End of text from cdp:mideast.gulf **
|
| 158.31 | | LNBOAT::NOONAN | l950's style hug-kitten. mew | Mon Mar 04 1991 10:10 | 22 |
|
>> <<< Note 158.28 by RAVEN1::WATKINS >>>
>>When did an Islamic, Buddhist, Humanist, Amnesty International, and IFOR
>>ever have a Christian perspective? Islamic and Buddhist are not
>>Christians. They do not follow Christ.
>> Marshall
So? What is your point, Marshall?
Well, *that* sounds snitty! I would honestly be interested in knowing
what your reply means?
Thanks,
E Grace
|
| 158.32 | | DELNI::MEYER | Dave Meyer | Mon Mar 04 1991 15:27 | 9 |
| E Grace,
I think he's trying to tell us that this is the C-P conference and
that if you don't have a Christian Perspective then your words have no
place here. He may have forgotten that Christ was a humanist and that
AI is composed of people who have many religious orientations - even a
few who are Christians. He may also have forgotten that Islam portrays
Christ as a great holy man - as do I. He may have forgotten that much
of what Christ taught could be interpreted as an amalgum of Jewish and
Buddhist teachings of the time. Sounds exclusionary to me.
|
| 158.33 | | CSC32::J_CHRISTIE | Surgical Strike Pacifist | Mon Mar 04 1991 22:10 | 7 |
| Re: last two
I suspect Note 158.28 was lodged in response to my 159.2 and 159.5.
If so, I would consider it "playful jousting" and not be offended.
Peace,
Richard
|