Twin TowersUri Avnery15.9.01.After the smoke has
cleared, the dust has settled down and the initial
fury blown over, humankind will wake up and realize a
new fact: there is no safe place on earth. A handful
of suicide-bombers has brought the United States to a
standstill, caused the President to hide in a bunker
under a far-away mountain, dealt a terrible blow to
the economy, grounded all aircraft, and emptied
government offices throughout the country. This can
happen in
every country. The Twin Towers are everywhere. Not
only Israel, but the whole world is now full of
gibberish about "fighting terrorism". Politicians,
"experts on terrorism" and their likes propose to
hit, destroy, annihilate etc., as well as to allocate
more billions to the "intelligence community". They
make brilliant suggestions. But nothing of this kind
will help the threatened nations, much as nothing of
this kind has helped Israel. There is no patent remedy
for terrorism. The only remedy is to remove its
causes. One can kill a million mosquitoes, and
millions more will take their place. In order to get
rid of them, one has to dry the swamp that breeds
them. And the swamp is always idenitical. A person
does not wake up one morning and tell himself: Today I
shall hijack a plane and kill yself. Nor does a person
wake up one morning and
tell himself: Today I shall blow myself up in a
Tel-Aviv discotheque.Such a decision grows in a
person's mind through a slow process, taking years.
The background to the decision is either national or
ligious, social and spiritual. No fighting underground
can operate without popular roots and a supportive
environment that is ready to supply new recruits,
assistance, hiding places, money and means of
propaganda. An underground organization wants to gain
popularity, not lose it. Therefore it commits attacks
when it thinks that this is what the surrounding
public wants.Terror attacks always testify to the
public mood.
That is true in this case, too. The initiators of the
attacks decided to implement their plan after America
has provoked immense hatred throughout the world. Not
because of its might, but because of the way it uses
its might. It is hated by the enemies of
globalization, who blame it for the terrible gap
between rich and poor in the world. It is hated by
millions of Arabs, because of its support for the
Israeli occupation and the suffering of the
Palestinian people. It is hated by multitudes of
Muslims, because of what looks like its support for
the Jewish domination of the Islamic holy shrines in
Jerusalem. And there are many more angry
peoples who believe that America supports their
mentors. Until September 11, 2001 - a date to remember
- Americans could entertain the illusion that all this
concerns only others, in far-away places beyond the
seas, that it does not touch their sheltered lives at
home. No more.That is the other side of
globalization: all the world's problems concern
everyone in the world. Every case of injustice, every
case of oppression. Terrorism, the weapon of the weak,
can easily reach every spot on earth. Every society
can easily be targeted, and the more developed a
society is, the more it is in danger. Fewer and fewer
people are needed to
inflict pain on more and more people. Soon one single
person will be enough to carry a suitcase with a tiny
atomic bomb and destroy a megalopolis of tens of
millions. This is the reality of the 21st century that
started this week in earnest. It must lead to the
globalization of all problems and the globalization of
their solutions. Not in the abstract, by fatuous
arations in the UN, but by a global endeavor to
resolve conflicts and establish peace, with the
participation of all nations, with the US playing a
central role. Since the US has become a world
power, it has deviated from the path outlined by its
founders. It was Thomas Jefferson who said: No nation
can behave without a decent respect for the opinion of
mankind. (I quote from memory). When the US delegation
left the world conference in Durban, in order to abort
the debate about the evils of slavery and in order to
court the Israeli right, Jefferson must have turned
over in his grave. If it is confirmed that the attack
on New York and Washington was perpetrated by Arabs -
and even if not! - the world must at long last treat
the festering wound of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, which is poisoning the whole body of
humanity. One of the wise guys in the Bush
administration said only a few weeks ago: "Let them
bleed!" - meaning the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Now America is bleeding. He who runs away
from the conflict is followed by it, even into his
home. Americans, and Europeans too, should learn this
lesson.The distance from Jerusalem to New York is
small, and so is the distance from New York to Paris,
London and Berlin. Not only multi-national
corporations embrace the globe, but terror
organizations do so, too. In the same way, the
instruments for the solution of conflicts must be
global. Instead of the destroyed New York edifices,
the twin towers of Peace and Justice must be built.
=========================================
For information about Gush Shalom visit the
website:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/
email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send a newsletter, share photos & files, conduct polls, organize chat events. Visit http://in.groups.yahoo.com
cleared, the dust has settled down and the initial
fury blown over, humankind will wake up and realize a
new fact: there is no safe place on earth. A handful
of suicide-bombers has brought the United States to a
standstill, caused the President to hide in a bunker
under a far-away mountain, dealt a terrible blow to
the economy, grounded all aircraft, and emptied
government offices throughout the country. This can
happen in
every country. The Twin Towers are everywhere. Not
only Israel, but the whole world is now full of
gibberish about "fighting terrorism". Politicians,
"experts on terrorism" and their likes propose to
hit, destroy, annihilate etc., as well as to allocate
more billions to the "intelligence community". They
make brilliant suggestions. But nothing of this kind
will help the threatened nations, much as nothing of
this kind has helped Israel. There is no patent remedy
for terrorism. The only remedy is to remove its
causes. One can kill a million mosquitoes, and
millions more will take their place. In order to get
rid of them, one has to dry the swamp that breeds
them. And the swamp is always idenitical. A person
does not wake up one morning and tell himself: Today I
shall hijack a plane and kill yself. Nor does a person
wake up one morning and
tell himself: Today I shall blow myself up in a
Tel-Aviv discotheque.Such a decision grows in a
person's mind through a slow process, taking years.
The background to the decision is either national or
ligious, social and spiritual. No fighting underground
can operate without popular roots and a supportive
environment that is ready to supply new recruits,
assistance, hiding places, money and means of
propaganda. An underground organization wants to gain
popularity, not lose it. Therefore it commits attacks
when it thinks that this is what the surrounding
public wants.Terror attacks always testify to the
public mood.
That is true in this case, too. The initiators of the
attacks decided to implement their plan after America
has provoked immense hatred throughout the world. Not
because of its might, but because of the way it uses
its might. It is hated by the enemies of
globalization, who blame it for the terrible gap
between rich and poor in the world. It is hated by
millions of Arabs, because of its support for the
Israeli occupation and the suffering of the
Palestinian people. It is hated by multitudes of
Muslims, because of what looks like its support for
the Jewish domination of the Islamic holy shrines in
Jerusalem. And there are many more angry
peoples who believe that America supports their
mentors. Until September 11, 2001 - a date to remember
- Americans could entertain the illusion that all this
concerns only others, in far-away places beyond the
seas, that it does not touch their sheltered lives at
home. No more.That is the other side of
globalization: all the world's problems concern
everyone in the world. Every case of injustice, every
case of oppression. Terrorism, the weapon of the weak,
can easily reach every spot on earth. Every society
can easily be targeted, and the more developed a
society is, the more it is in danger. Fewer and fewer
people are needed to
inflict pain on more and more people. Soon one single
person will be enough to carry a suitcase with a tiny
atomic bomb and destroy a megalopolis of tens of
millions. This is the reality of the 21st century that
started this week in earnest. It must lead to the
globalization of all problems and the globalization of
their solutions. Not in the abstract, by fatuous
arations in the UN, but by a global endeavor to
resolve conflicts and establish peace, with the
participation of all nations, with the US playing a
central role. Since the US has become a world
power, it has deviated from the path outlined by its
founders. It was Thomas Jefferson who said: No nation
can behave without a decent respect for the opinion of
mankind. (I quote from memory). When the US delegation
left the world conference in Durban, in order to abort
the debate about the evils of slavery and in order to
court the Israeli right, Jefferson must have turned
over in his grave. If it is confirmed that the attack
on New York and Washington was perpetrated by Arabs -
and even if not! - the world must at long last treat
the festering wound of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, which is poisoning the whole body of
humanity. One of the wise guys in the Bush
administration said only a few weeks ago: "Let them
bleed!" - meaning the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Now America is bleeding. He who runs away
from the conflict is followed by it, even into his
home. Americans, and Europeans too, should learn this
lesson.The distance from Jerusalem to New York is
small, and so is the distance from New York to Paris,
London and Berlin. Not only multi-national
corporations embrace the globe, but terror
organizations do so, too. In the same way, the
instruments for the solution of conflicts must be
global. Instead of the destroyed New York edifices,
the twin towers of Peace and Justice must be built.
=========================================
For information about Gush Shalom visit the
website:
http://www.gush-shalom.org/
email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx;
____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send a newsletter, share photos & files, conduct polls, organize chat events. Visit http://in.groups.yahoo.com