Letters to the Editor, March 6, 2004

I want to thank you again for your excellent web site. I get more truth and insight in one hour of reading your site than in an entire month of American corporate McNews. However, I continue to monitor corporate outlets so that I know the arguments wielded by the hapless victims of our government propaganda industry.

What has inspired me to write on this day is the excellent article by Abid Ulla Jan. This is exactly the type of information needed by those of out here in mid-America. I will use this information as I write letter to the editors of my local and regional newspapers. Educated and informed response is needed in these times of fear mongering and hate mongering.

I personally haven't the means presently to support your efforts financially and I apologize for that. I do however spread the word whenever I can to whomever will listen. Thank you again.

Best wishes,

Kerry T. Pokorny

:A LETTER TO CONGRESS ABOUT CURRENT HEARING 4 ISRAEL'S WALL

The congressional hearing on this was just introduced by Rep.Mike Pence (R-IN) to the House. So far 87 members of the U.S. Congress stand in defiance on international and humanitarian law by signing on as co-sponsors of this resolution.

Do Not Support House Concurrent Resolution 371

Dear Congresswoman Nancy Johnson,

Dear Congressman Christopher Dodd,

Dear Congressman Joseph Lieberman

I will be following House Concurrent Resolution 371 closely and I expect that you will not sign on as a cosponsor of this racist and unethical bill. If you have already signed on as a cosponsor I urge you to rescind your support for this resolution as it is one-sided and does nothing to promote peace for the Palestinians or security for us as Americans.

Israel is constructing an apartheid wall on land that has been stolen from the Palestinians. I expect you to demand that Israel stop violating international and humanitarian law and that they abide by the countless UN Resolutions demanding a stop to the theft of Palestinian land. We are living in a time that requires courage from our leaders. Will you step up and become a true leader for your constituents or will you remain a mouthpiece for the Israeli lobby in Washington? Do you represent me or special interest groups?

I expect an answer on this.

Sincerely,

Selma Hermez

New Britain, CT

The Holy City

By Catherine Stuart

March 6, 2004

I’ve had all kinds of crusades

I thought I had to protect and maintain you

Like the holy city

If I could just shore up the walls

Stop them from crumbling

Preserve against decay

My city of dreams

The promised land

Then all would be at peace

Treasure the relics, keep them precious and waiting for the return of the king, when all might and potency shall be revealed

I was one of the elect, one of the chosen

I had seen the face of God

It seemed like predetermination

I could see my path to the Holy City

Rising into the air, the path of pure gold, like clear glass

But like Easter, 1916, all’s changed, changed utterly; a terrible

beauty is born

The terrible beauty of the martyr

The delicate flowering of the bomb

The bliss of certainty, the beatitude of righteousness

The walls of jasper, chalcedony, and sardonyx have been shattered;

The gates of pearl spattered with blood

The shining towers, the white arms reaching to God

Broken and bandaged

Bleeding stumps

“Too long a sacrifice

Can make a stone of the heart…

And what if excess of love bewildered them till they died?...

Was it needless death after all?...

We know their dream; enough

To know they dreamed and are dead”

Catherine Stuart is a poet from Sydney, Australia. She wrote this poem at the end of 2001, entitled "The Holy City". I wrote it both in response to September 11, 2001, and the current intifada against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The last few lines are from a poem by William Butler Yeates called "Easter, 1916", about an Irish republican uprising against British rule in Dublin. It was suppressed after a few days and the leaders were shot. Oppression continues to touch all our lives and unite us all in the struggle for justice.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.

editor@aljazeerah.info