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Why
the olives from Gaza Strip are bitter
By Linda S. Heard, Athens
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"Let me tell you about those Gaza olives.
First of all, they are the bitterest ones in the entire world. Gaza people
say that the olives get their bitterness from life in the Gaza Strip, from
the pressure of the Occupation.
And not only are these olives bitter, they can also drive you crazy with
their saltiness. And that is because of the tears of the Gaza women. Tears
they shed in the olive groves seep through into the olives". These
are words written by Tal Belo, a Staff Sergeant in the Armoured Corps of
Israel's occupying forces.
Tal Belo is one of more than 500 Israeli "Refuseniks" –
conscientious objectors currently refusing to serve in the West Bank and
Gaza. Part of a letter they have signed and delivered to their government
reads: "We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in
order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people."
Another signatory, Sergeant Noam Livne, makes an emotional appeal to the
Israeli people: "People wake up! This is now! Now it is happening!
Just a few kilometres from where you are sitting now there is a war which
is taking place, a brutal, awful, idiotic, unjust, voluntary war."
These words were written before the recent Israeli elections and as
history shows the Israeli public ignored the passionate appeals of those
who have taken part in the heinous occupation of the Palestinian
territories.
Instead, they once again chose an alleged war criminal, said to have links
with the Russian mafia, for their guiding light. Israelis have chosen and
will have to accept the consequences resulting from that choice.
Now it is our turn. We are faced with the dilemma of whether or not to
attack Iraq. Now it is up to the peoples of the American, British,
Australian, Spanish and Italian so-called democracies – whose leaders
are all supporters of the Bush doctrine – to make up their minds whether
or not to follow the contemptible Israeli lead and choose conflict over
peace.
Are we (I say "we" as a British national)... are we prepared to
condone the state-sanctioned murder of thousands, tens of thousands or
even hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people, including women, children and
babies?
A leaked United Nations report read: "Up to 500,000 people could
suffer serious injuries during the first phase of an attack on Iraq".
The report also suggests that up to 10 million Iraqis could require
assistance during the aftermath and warns of an enormous refugee problem.
Shouldn't this alone give us food for thought as to whether we can accept
such an outrageous toll?
An indication of our true feelings concerning Bush's pre-emptive war are
the polls which show that most of us want a peaceful solution to the
disarmament of Iraq. Almost 10 million concerned individuals voted with
their feet through the streets of more than 600 cities worldwide on
February 15.
Yet, in our "democracies" our leaders brush aside our expression
of solidarity with humanity. George W. Bush dismissed millions of
protestors as a mere interest group. If he is right then I am honoured to
be a member. This is a group, which believes in life over death and
altruism over greed, epitomising all that is fine about mankind.
Tony Blair admits that he has failed to convince us as to the
justification of this war but arrogantly clings on to his own
self-righteousness. Blair pits his own moral rectitude against that of
most religious leaders, including the Pope, who in a fraught face-to-face
meeting on Saturday urged him to "avoid the tragedy of war".
Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar, is another
opponent of American aggression. He said: "We reject any harm to
befall the Iraqi people who are an integral part of the Arab and Muslim
worlds".
Rowan Williams, the Arch-bishop of Canterbury issued a rare joint
statement with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor refuting any moral basis
for war, and condemning the quasi-religious rhetoric being used by certain
leaders to elicit support. It is obvious by Blair's words and deeds that
he feels he knows better.
Britain's Daily Mirror depicted the British Prime Minister with blood
dripping from his upturned palms on its front cover but what it didn't
explain was that we will all have the blood of Iraqi and Palestinian
children on our hands if this war is allowed to proceed.
Those of us who live in democracies must make our feelings known by
peaceful protest, letters, phone calls and emails. If our leaders refuse
to listen then our ostensible democracies are nothing but a sham. We will
at least have tried.
We try to salve our own consciences by telling ourselves that if Security
Council member nations approve Iraq's forcible disarmament then that's
fine. But is it? As I write, in the United Nations Headquarters, behind
closed doors, nations are being intimidated, threatened and bribed by
emissaries of the powerful warmongers.
Turkey has been offered billions to allow American soldiers to use its
soil as a launching pad for the invasion, Germany has been threatened with
economic isolation and France subjected to insulting rhetoric. The Arabs
have been scrutinising the signs which read "Watch out! You could be
next".
Some 114 foreign ministers, representing more than 50 per cent of the
world's populace, recently expressed their opposition to a U.S.-led war on
Baghdad, and urged the lifting of the debilitating sanctions. So, are we
truly able to call any United Nations resolution sanctioning war with Iraq
"the will of the international community?"
Russia has complained about pressure (from the U.S.) being put upon the
chief weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baradei, to declare
Iraq's non-cooperation.
Perhaps like many of us, the Russian government finds it suspect that the
inspectors are invariably hosted by Washington and London prior to their
visits to Baghdad.
Blix and El Baradei still maintain that they want more proactive
cooperation, whatever that entails, and have now presented the Iraqi
regime with a difficult choice.
With the enemy literally at the door and self-defence a prime concern of
the Iraqis, Baghdad is being told that hundreds of its Al Samoud missiles
will have to be destroyed before March 1 because they exceed the permitted
range of 150 kilometres by what most people would term an insignificant 20
kilometres.
If Iraq agrees, the country will be left vulnerable. If it doesn't, it
will be accused of being in material breach of Resolution 1441, a probable
trigger for war.
Even if we are willing to put our hands over our ears and eyes when it
comes to Iraq and convince ourselves that everything is the fault of
Saddam Hussain à la Tony Blair, what about the Palestinians?
How will a war with Iraq affect them? Does anybody care? America has
loaned Israel missile defence capabilities to protect Israelis. Sharon has
issued gas masks to Israeli citizens in the unlikely event that Iraq
launches missiles carrying biological or chemical warheads, destination
Israel. Israelis have the opportunity and the cash with which to purchase
protective kits.
The Palestinians, however, have been left defenceless in case of such an
attack even though, as an occupied people, their safety is the
responsibility of the occupying state. A petition filed with Israel's High
Court by various human rights organisations, asking that the Israeli
government be forced to hand out gas masks to all three million
Palestinians, was rejected.
Many Middle East pundits, including 100 Israeli intellectuals and
academics, say that Sharon is waiting anxiously for the bombs to begin
raining on Iraq, so as to implement his dream of a Greater Israel
"from the Nile to the Euphrates".
They believe that the Israeli Occupying Forces will carry out enforced
transfer of the Palestinian people across the River Jordan, and perhaps,
through the Rafah Crossing into Egypt. Others foresee an Israeli attack on
Lebanon and Syria.
Such prophecies have yet to be put to the test, but one thing is certain,
the olives of Gaza will never be as bitter as this year's harvest and the
next, and the next. And the tears of millions of women and children in
Iraq, Gaza Strip and the West Bank will never be able to wash clean our
collective conscience if this terrible war is allowed to proceed.
The writer is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs.