Oh, Say Can You See American-Israeli Machiavellian Dominion in the Arab World?
By Genevieve Cora Fraser
As American troops moved from Baghdad to bases near the Najaf home to the Shrine of Ali, one of the most sacred
pilgrimage sites for Shiite Muslims, Iraq's US - selected Governing Council approved a new flag for the country. The new
design is white with a yellow stripe representing Iraq's ethnic Kurds sandwiched between two blue stripes. A pale blue
crescent similar in color to the Star of David that graces the Israeli flag is also prominently displayed. And though
the blue stripes may represent the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and therefore the river basin home to the country's Sunni
and Shiite Arabs, neither the Iraqis nor the Arab world in general is pleased.
The appearance of the proposed flag also comes close on the heels of the infamous Bush/Sharon pact which Arabs complain
echoes the 1917 Balfour Declaration where Britain promised to allow a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The Declaration is
viewed by Arabs as a symbol of colonial powers giving away another people's land.
Ziad Asali, the President of the American Task Force on Palestine complains, "The president of the United States,
publicly and clearly, redefined the right of return to mean the return to the yet-to-be-born Palestine. He questioned
the 'sanctity' of the 1967 borders and sanctioned 'reality on the ground' as a determining factor for the future of
settlements and borders."
United Nations Resolution 194 (III) of December 11, 1948, paragraph 11
Resolves that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do
so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to
return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made
good by the Governments or authorities responsible; Instructs the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the
repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation.
For 56 years Israel has refused to comply with the Palestinian's Right of Return and compensation as guaranteed under
international law. In contrast, compensation for the victim's of Nazi Germany was begun seven years after the war ended
in 1945 and the Jewish population is welcomed in Germany and most parts of the free world. And though with the advance
of Zionism, the Arab world regards this population with the deepest suspicion and in some instances outright
prohibition, ironically Palestine through the centuries welcomed the return of Jews faced with persecution, perhaps
because many Palestinians indigenous to the region were descended from families that once had been Jewish. (Of course
the Ashkenazi leadership in Israel in non-Semite, but rather of white European origin and some would argue converts to
Judaism in the 8th century.)
According to Anthony D'Amato, Leighton Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law, the Kellogg-Briand
Peace Pact of 1928, as defined by the International Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1948, abolished forever the idea of
acquisition of territory by military conquest. "No matter who was the aggressor, international borders cannot change by
the process of war. Resort to war is itself illegal, and while self-defense is of course legal, the self-defense cannot
go so far as to constitute a new war of aggression all its own. And if it does, the land taken may at best be
temporarily occupied, but cannot be annexed. Which means that nothing has changed the legal situation as it existed
after Resolution 181 in 1947. The legal boundaries of Israel and Palestine remain today exactly as they were delimited
in Resolution 181." (For a more complete explanation of the legal argument refer to http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/world/israelborders.php)
The implications of the above statement are enormous in terms of Israel's aggression toward Palestinian lands.
Basically, Israel is legally bound to remove itself back to the 55% Israel - 45% Arab territorial split, not the '67
borders. The argument also has ramifications for America's ill conceived preemptive strike and subsequent occupation of
Iraq. Rumor has it that the reason the administration is so anxious to set up the provisional government by June 30th
has to do with a proverbial limb out on which America has climbed. In order to legally justify the continued presence of
American troops on Iraqi soil, America needs to be legally invited and sanctioned by an Iraqi government, even if it is
a hastily constructed one. Of course, such a government would be a façade, a puppet regime, but who cares especially if
the UN starts to saw at that proverbial limb.
The Bush/Sharon Palestinian scheme though illegal could be implemented under the Might Makes Right principle of pariah
governments. But along with violations of international law, this particular pact with the devil is also absurd if one
is to apply human rights-based logic as opposed to Nazi emulation. Today 3.5 million Palestinians live incarcerated in
concentration camp conditions in isolated enclaves hemmed in by the Apartheid wall, electrified razor wire fence,
Israeli-only roads, militarized regions, settlement outposts, checkpoints and roadblocks. The land allowed by Israel for
use by the Palestinians is somewhere between 6 - 9% of what had been historic Palestine. In fact, some areas in Gaza are
the most densely populated in the world.
And though Palestinians have historically been considered to be the best educated in the world and a prosperous people,
present living conditions for the most part, particularly in refugee camps, are among the most squalid on the planet due
to Israel's brutalization of the people, their property and land. In addition to the continuous American funded assault
by helicopter gunships, fighter jets, armed assault vehicles, tanks, bulldozers, and IDF patrols Israel imposes curfews
for days, weeks and a month or more at a time. Disease brought on by enforced starvation and dehydration is common. It
is not unusual under these conditions for people to die within their homes while IDF soldiers ensure the corpses remain
and rot in place until the curfew is lifted.
The Bush/Sharon vision for a Brave New Palestine calls for relocating the largest refugee population in the world into
the "yet-to-be-born" Palestinian state. According to UNRWA statistics from 2000, in addition to the 824,622 refugees in
Gaza and 583,009 in the West Bank, there are an additional 2.4 million Palestinian refugees. Approximately 1.6 million
Palestinians live in Jordon; 383,199 in Syria and 376, 472 in Lebanon. That would bring the Palestinian population to
roughly 6 million living in a geographic area that has been currently reduced by 92 - 94%. Meanwhile Israel wants more
which results in further shrinkage of the occupied Palestinian territory as Israel plays its game of territorial musical
chairs.
Added to this population mix may be the future results of a proposed ethnic cleansing of the native Bedouins of the
Negev desert region and the Arab Israeli population that was trapped within Israel following the 1948 war. Certain
Zionists refer to these populations as the "Growing Cancer" within the Jewish state. Israel is NOT a non-sectarian,
democratic country like the United States, Israeli blog sites opine. The only way to control the demographic reality is
to put a stop to it the way a surgeon puts a stop to a growing cancer, by removing it, some argue. If these populations
were forced to migrate to Palestine a potentially explosive situation would be further exacerbated. Perhaps Israel, as
medieval scholars once did, debate how many Palestinians like angels can dance on the head of a pin.
Millions more could be added to the already over crowded conditions. I have found language at the website "Israelinside"
suggesting that the Arabs be starved (which is the de facto policy of Israel toward the Palestinians). "How can they
possibly conduct business? They are landlocked," one individual comments with obvious enthusiasm at their plight. Of
course, starvation, dehydration and disease along with further murderous rampages by the Israeli military may be able to
winnow down the population, making room for more. But rest assured, Israel will not invest in obvious mass killings, but
rather conduct business on the sly such as imposing starvation conditions so that currently ¼ of Palestinian children 5
and under are at severe risk of permanent, irreversible brain-damage, according to the UN Report on the Right to Food.
It is also reported that renal dysfunction is on the rise due to Israel's destruction of Palestinian water supplies, so
that they now rely on saline water or expensive Israeli tanker disease laden water supplies.
To suggest that Israel-American policies resemble Nazi policies is to risk the charge of Anti-Semitism, though they have
been publicly exposed as studying Nazi plans pertaining to the Warsaw Ghetto. And to be fair, there is no indication
that Israel plans to use the skin of Palestinians for lampshades. And Israel as far as I know has no plans to build gas
ovens to liquidate the population. Instead, the IDF merely sprays the population with chemical agents guaranteed to
subdue and disperse crowds as they bulldoze their homes and launch assaults on Palestinian school children. Some die
from these sprays and by asphyxiation from tear gas canisters tossed into closed areas, but others live. (See the
documentary "Gaza Strip" available on video/DVD.) And of course, Palestinian resistance which includes suicide bombing
is used as further justification for collective punishment which is also prohibited under international law.
ATFP's Ziad Asali notes that President Bush has "committed the United States to maintain Israel's qualitative edge over
the Arabs." Bush's support justifies Israel's brutal occupation and daily attacks on the Palestinians who are being
"ethnically cleansed" from their land. Israel's assaults and land theft are somehow justified as their right to defend
themselves from Palestinian "terror" -- namely, Palestine's resistance to Israel's deadly policies and military
incursions. Imagine if thieves barged into your house to assault, steal and drive you out and the police came and
arrested you for resisting. Thus we find America's funding and political support of Israel to be an assault on basic
human values and international law.
For Iraq and other Arab nations to see the Islamic crescent as pale blue on an Iraq flag bearing two blue stripes,
(Arab/Muslim traditional colors are red, black and green) is a clear sign that Zionist Israel in collaboration with
America may indeed have larger imperialistic designs on Arab lands. Central to Judaism is Abraham's exodus from Ur in
Mesopotamia in present day Iraq to the land lying between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in Canaan a.k.a. Palestine.
Zionists promote the idea that their "rights" based on biblical tradition extend between the Nile and Euphrates. This
Promised Land geographically extends across today's Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and eastern Egypt.
That is why the proposed Iraqi flag which sports the Israeli/Zionists' flag's two blue stripes, symbols of the Nile and
Euphrates, and their desire for a "greater Israel" serves as both a threat and warning to the Arab world. With Palestine
as an example of the treatment of Arabs by American funded Israel, the resistance to America's occupation of Iraq may
have just begun.
But to paraphrase the great Scottish poet, Bobbie Burns, "The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry." According
to Ekklesia.co.uk, over 600 Christian scholars recently gathered in Jerusalem to examine the dangers of Zionism and to
look at ways of challenging Christian Zionism, a political force in America with enormous clout. Organized by the Sabeel
Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre, over 20 presentations were delivered by international theologians, political
scientists and legal experts. Sabeel is an Arabic name which means "the way" and refers to the name given to
first-century Christians in Palestine, who were called "the people of The Way."
According to conference presenters, Zionism embraces extreme ideological positions based on selected scriptural texts
and forms a worldview that is detrimental to a just peace in the Holy Land. It is a worldview where the Gospel is
identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism, and militarism.
Before Israel gets too carried away with their schemes perhaps they would do well to read Deuteronomy, Chapter XXVIII,
Verse 63. "And it shall come to passé, that as the Lord rejoiced over you, to do you good and multiply you; so the Lord
will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to naught; and ye shall be plucked off the land whither thou
goest to possess it."
ENDS