Sponsor-Whale and Ale
|
|
| |
Search by Artist or Event Name |
|
Our Suggestions:
|
 |
Archive
-
November, 2011
-
October, 2011
-
September, 2011
-
August, 2011
-
July, 2011
-
June, 2011
-
May, 2011
-
April, 2011
-
March, 2011
-
February, 2011
-
January, 2011
-
December, 2010
-
November, 2010
-
October, 2010
-
September, 2010
-
August, 2010
-
July, 2010
-
June, 2010
-
May, 2010
-
April, 2010
-
March, 2010
-
February, 2010
-
January, 2010
-
December, 2009
-
November, 2009
-
October, 2009
-
September, 2009
-
August, 2009
-
July, 2009
-
June, 2009
-
May, 2009
-
April, 2009
-
March, 2009
-
February, 2009
-
January, 2009
-
December, 2008
-
November, 2008
-
October, 2008
-
September, 2008
-
August, 2008
-
July, 2008
-
June, 2008
-
May, 2008
-
April, 2008
-
March, 2008
-
February, 2008
-
January, 2008
-
December, 2007
-
November, 2007
-
October, 2007
Home  At Length No Chance For Peace
|
|
No Chance For Peace |
PDF
|
| Print |
|
E-mail
|
|
Wednesday, 07 January 2009 |
Sadly as this year begins, the Middle East is mired in yet another war, which many believe is the seminal underlying cause for much, if not all, of the other conflicts plaguing this region. That Israel and Palestine are fighting once again in what everyone recognizes as the Holy Lands only adds layers of meaning and emotional reaction to this decades-old simmering conflict that is still unresolved. The cross-accusations of blame fly like bombs with Jews against Palestinians, Hamas against Zionists in a battle of both words and violence in which there are only innocent victims and perpetrators of violence– peace and justice are decidedly absent. I cannot in all consciousness take sides in this conflict except to point the ultimate finger of blame once again at our fearless and clueless President Bush, who with only days left in office has shown once again his incompetence on the world stage.
Rewind back to eight years ago when Bush was President elect and President Clinton was on his way out of office. Clinton’s last foreign policy mission was to try to solve the Palestinian issue with Israel in a “Land for Peace” deal that both sides were seriously negotiating. However, unlike today with President Elect Obama not entering into the fray, the not-yet empowered Bush team entered into illegal side-negotiations with Israel telling them in effect to “hold off as we’ll give you a better deal.” This interference into foreign diplomacy by an as yet to be sworn in president was confirmed several years ago by the American media, and only aired once or twice, then dropped from view. As a result there is still no peace between Israel and Palestine. Thank you once again for another war George Bush!
This penchant for incoming Republican presidents is historic. Nixon started negotiating with North Vietnam, even before the 1968 election, causing LBJ to speak of treason in recently-released tapes; and as many of you will recall, the opening gambit of the Iran/Contra arms for hostage deal, known as “the October Surprise” was negotiated by President Elect Reagan’s team, which effectively compromised President Jimmy Carter’s negotiations to have the American Embassy hostages released before the election. Both these acts of preemptive negotiations with foreign powers hostile to our government and Bush’s own acts rise to the level of being “high crimes” and are likely forms of political treason. In a more just world, all three, Nixon, Reagan and now Bush, would have been indicted, brought to trial in a federal court and then put up against a wall and shot! Or perhaps, in a show of mercy, sent to some Third World country to clean toilets for the rest of their lives.
But we have been left with a trail of political intrigue, suspicion and scandals that have obscured our history, then confused our allies, and in the end inspired acts of terrorism both domestically and from abroad. Our nation’s responsibility for these recent acts of violence and others in recent history stands as a testament to our own ignorance as citizens as to what has been done in the good name of this country, but without our consciously given consent. We have, as a nation of mostly law biding citizens, been bamboozled once again by corrupt power-hungry ideologues that place American economic supremacy over the legitimate rights of other peoples to the very rights and liberties that we hold so sacred for ourselves. These last eight years have been a travesty and a betrayal of the very creed that Americans pledge allegiance to everyday as they salute the flag.
That our local politicians, like our Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilwoman Janice Hahn, wish to step into the mire of this religious, political mayhem is beyond my comprehension, as they are damned regardless of which side they take, and it shows a veritable deficit of historic perspective. They have drunk the Bush kool-aide on foreign policy and don’t even realize it! There is no right and no wrong in attacking Gaza, both sides have long held animosities against each other and they have only been enabled in this addiction to war by our own nation’s acquiescence or worse– complicity in – the avoidance of peace. This absence of peace there in the tri-religious Holy land has only fueled the continued animosities against both our nation and Israel by every fundamentalist Muslim or terrorist offshoot organization from North Africa to the Far East.
Hahn’s official statement tries to straddle both sides by saying, “I stand firmly with the Mayor in supporting Israel’s right to defend its citizenry from Hamas' senseless violence. As a Christian who just celebrated Christmas – a holiday that represents peace on earth - I am opposed to violence and war. I am also sensitive to the plight of ordinary Palestinian people, who, like everyone else, simply want a land to call their own. However, Hamas is a terrorist organization that fails to even recognize the right of Israel to exist, and until they stop firing these rockets at innocent Israeli civilians, there will be no peace."
This position does little to solve the problem nor does it admit to our culpability in both creating and sustaining this decades old conflict. It doesn’t help that she touts Christian religiosity as a grounds for taking sides either––as many a Christian crusade was launched with just such excuses. A more reasoned approach would have called for an immediate ceasefire on all sides, for the immediate action of the United Nations to intercede with an international peace keeping force and for a multi-national peace conference to once and for all settle the division or not of Palestine from Israel. Increasingly, progressive Jewish-American voices, such as the recently-formed J Street, are calling for such evenhanded measures to enable Israel and Palestine to find the peace both desire, but cannot achieve left to their own devices.
If both the Mayor and our Councilwoman are as opposed to violence and war as they say they are, then they need to look no farther than their own recent efforts to bring peace to the streets of Los Angeles by advocating and helping to implement negotiations between LA’s warring gangs. This model of neutrality in advocating for peace should start with a dialogue between those factions currently demonstrating outside the Israeli Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard in our own city. And for Christ’s sake let the Bush legacy of endless war die of it’s own ignoble incompetence.
|
|
|
Sponsor - Available Space
This space is available.
Box Size is 160x200.
Your ad could be here.
Call (310)519-1442
for more information.
|
Advertise with Us!
Deliver your message to thousands of readers every day.
Our readers are influential opinion makers, community activists, local business owners, and politicians.
Learn more about ads with our 2012 Ad and Publication Schedule.
Call our office at (310)519-1016
or email us for more information.
|
|
