Excerpts: US a paper tiger.Israel takes advantage of suicide attacks. Israel
takes advantage of suicide attacks. Israel turning terrorist attack to its
advantage. Americans did the suicide bombing. The US under universal
suspicion and distrust 16 September 2001
+++ AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 13-19 Sept.'01:"The giant's feet of clay"
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "the scenes of jubilation from around the Third World,
will act as a humbling experience once the dust has settled."
"The rage of the disenfranchised and the disposessed, within America or
beyond its borders, must come home to roost one day."
==========
HEADING:"Chaos reigned, hubris came home to roost -- and Gamal
Nkrumah looked on in disbelief"
EXCERPTS: Tuesday 11 September will go down in history as a day that changed
the world. Doomsday or the Day of Judgement: incredulity met the news that
came -- quite literally -- like a bolt from the blue. ...one thing stayed
the same: the unmistakable discrepancy between official statements and
popular reactions in the South. . . . Washington, experienced the terror
suffered every day ... in countries where death has become too commonplace
to mention: Palestine, Afghanistan, Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone or Sudan. .
. . On Wednesday, the enormity of the disaster and its global ramifications
began to sink in. Commentators everywhere remarked on the attacks' symbolism
and the professionalism of their execution. People began to wonder if the US
was a paper tiger ... . . . . Perhaps this crushing blow, and the scenes of
jubilation from around the Third World, will act as a humbling experience
once the dust has settled. Perhaps, too, policy- makers will realise that
the US cannot live in sanguine isolation while a starving and destitute
world seethes with anger. The rage of the disenfranchised and dispossessed,
within America or beyond its borders, must come home to roost one day.
{IMRA: The US is not to blame for "the starving and destitute", and the
"disenfranchised and disposessed".}
+++ AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 13-19 Sept.'01:"Horror, horror"
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, voiced
disapproval of the attacks, adding, though, "America's racist policies must
not be forgotten.' "
"the net affect of the assaults... will be the hardening of those `racist
policies'."
"Defence Minister Biyamin Ben-Eliezer: "Extremist Islamic terrorism is the
main threat facing the nations of the free world today, soince its goal is
to destroy everything connected with the values shared by democratic
governments and western societies.' " ====
HEADING:"Graham Usher, in Jerusalem, writes on the implications of the
Washington and New York attacks for the situation in the region"
EXCERPTS: Late on Tuesday night a dozen or so Palestinian men gathered...in
an East Jerusalem supermarket ... . They were mesmerised by the replay after
slow motion replay of an American airliner cascading in flames against the
... World Trade Center....
... A minority -- those who danced in the streets of refugee camps in Nablus
and Lebanon and the few dozen who handed out sweets near the supermarket --
appeared to lose hold on reality altogether.
{IMRA: An fired weapons in the air in celebration.}
Were they really pleased that perhaps thousands of people -- including,
almost certainly, Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians -- had perished for being
in the wrong aircraft on the wrong side of town on the wrong day? "We are
happy America was hit. America is against us in supporting Israel", answered
one kid. ...
Other Palestinians grasped the gravity of the situation... "I send the
condolences of the Palestinian people to President Bush, his government and
to the American people for this terrible act," said Yasser Arafat, with
absolute sincerity....
Stung by bogus claims of responsibility on Arab TV networks,
{IMRA:L Whose claims were there?}
leaders from the Popular Front and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of
Palestine rushed out fervent denials that their factions had anything to do
with the WTC and Pentagon operations. Even Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh
Ahmad Yassin, voiced disapproval of the attacks, adding, though, "America's
racist policies must not be forgotten."
The cause of this factional unanimity was the awareness -- shared by every
Palestinian and Arab leader -- that the net effect of the assaults... will
be the hardening of those "racist policies". And nowhere more so than in the
indulgence the US is now likely to grant Israel's "counter-terrorism"
actions, whether in the occupied territories or region.
Israeli leaders, typically, saw this opportunity and grasped it with all
hands. Aside from expressions of sympathy and offers of support, one Israeli
leader after another rolled up to declare what the "free world" now stands
before is the Huntingdon chasm. On the high ground, us (America, Israel, the
West) and, beneath, them (Arabs, Muslims and that ubiquitous alloy of both,
Osama Bin Laden).
{IMRA: That's what President Bush said.}
For example, Defence Minister, Binyamin Ben- Eliezer: "Extremist Islamic
terrorism is the main threat facing the nations of the free world today,
since its goal is to destroy everything connected to the values shared by
democratic governments and western societies."
Or Foreign Minister Shimon Peres: "If there is anybody that can lead an
attack to end this dangerous war [against 'them'], it is only the US -- with
the help of all of us." . . . Ariel Sharon too saw the WTC and Pentagon
attacks as a "turning point" in the "international struggle of the free
world against the forces of darkness and those who seek to destroy our
values and way of life."
But, as is his wont, he let actions speak louder than words. He declared a
national day of mourning so that "Israelis could stand as one with the
American people." Less publicly, he closed Israel's international borders
and tightened the blockades in the occupied territories.
{IMRA: Surely reasonable actions.}
+++ AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 13-19 Sept.'01:"Horror, horror"
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, voiced
disapproval of the attacks, adding, though, "America's racist policies must
not be forgotten.' "
"the net affect of the assaults... will be the hardening of those `racist
policies'."
"Defence Minister Biyamin Ben-Eliezer: "Extremist Islamic terrorism is the
main threat facing the nations of the free world today, soince its goal is
to destroy everything connected with the values shared by democratic
governments and western societies.' " ====
HEADING:"Graham Usher, in Jerusalem, writes on the implications of the
Washington and New York attacks for the situation in the region"
EXCERPTS: Late on Tuesday night a dozen or so Palestinian men gathered...in
an East Jerusalem supermarket ... . They were mesmerised by the replay after
slow motion replay of an American airliner cascading in flames against the
... World Trade Center....
... A minority -- those who danced in the streets of refugee camps in Nablus
and Lebanon and the few dozen who handed out sweets near the supermarket --
appeared to lose hold on reality altogether.
{IMRA: An fired weapons in the air in celebration.}
Were they really pleased that perhaps thousands of people -- including,
almost certainly, Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians -- had perished for being
in the wrong aircraft on the wrong side of town on the wrong day? "We are
happy America was hit. America is against us in supporting Israel", answered
one kid. ...
Other Palestinians grasped the gravity of the situation... "I send the
condolences of the Palestinian people to President Bush, his government and
to the American people for this terrible act," said Yasser Arafat, with
absolute sincerity....
Stung by bogus claims of responsibility on Arab TV networks,
{IMRA:L Whose claims were there?}
leaders from the Popular Front and Democratic Fronts for the Liberation of
Palestine rushed out fervent denials that their factions had anything to do
with the WTC and Pentagon operations. Even Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh
Ahmad Yassin, voiced disapproval of the attacks, adding, though, "America's
racist policies must not be forgotten."
The cause of this factional unanimity was the awareness -- shared by every
Palestinian and Arab leader -- that the net effect of the assaults... will
be the hardening of those "racist policies". And nowhere more so than in the
indulgence the US is now likely to grant Israel's "counter-terrorism"
actions, whether in the occupied territories or region.
Israeli leaders, typically, saw this opportunity and grasped it with all
hands. Aside from expressions of sympathy and offers of support, one Israeli
leader after another rolled up to declare what the "free world" now stands
before is the Huntingdon chasm. On the high ground, us (America, Israel, the
West) and, beneath, them (Arabs, Muslims and that ubiquitous alloy of both,
Osama Bin Laden).
{IMRA: That's what President Bush said.}
For example, Defence Minister, Binyamin Ben- Eliezer: "Extremist Islamic
terrorism is the main threat facing the nations of the free world today,
since its goal is to destroy everything connected to the values shared by
democratic governments and western societies."
Or Foreign Minister Shimon Peres: "If there is anybody that can lead an
attack to end this dangerous war [against 'them'], it is only the US -- with
the help of all of us." . . . Ariel Sharon too saw the WTC and Pentagon
attacks as a "turning point" in the "international struggle of the free
world against the forces of darkness and those who seek to destroy our
values and way of life."
But, as is his wont, he let actions speak louder than words. He declared a
national day of mourning so that "Israelis could stand as one with the
American people." Less publicly, he closed Israel's international borders
and tightened the blockades in the occupied territories.
{IMRA: Surely reasonable actions.}
+++ AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 13-19 Sept.'01:Editorial:ept.'01"Innocence lost"
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "The tragedy, however, should not be used as a pretext to
accuse Arabs and Muslims everywhere of involvement."
"Israel, of course, was quick to turn the awful attack to its advantage,
with battalions of experts and politicians claiming that Palestinian `terror
groups' were responsible."
{IMRA: Simply not so. This is an effort to turn the tragedy against Israel.}
=========
EXCERPTS: The world denounced Tuesday's horrifying terrorist attacks on New
York and Washington in virtual unanimity. Those responsible for the death
and destruction cannot expect to arouse sympathy or understanding ... . . .
. The victims of the Tuesday catastrophe died for no reason at all, save the
insanity of those who carried out the attacks. The tragedy, however, should
not be used as a pretext to accuse Arabs and Muslims everywhere of
involvement. Worrying reports are already emerging from the United States
and Europe, where Muslims communities are fearful of reprisals by extremist
right-wing groups. Israel, of course, was quick to turn the awful attacks to
its advantage, with battalions of experts and politicians claiming that
Palestinian "terror groups" were responsible.
{IMRA: Simply not so. See comment under quote above.}
The US administration has acted responsibly by refusing to accuse a specific
party or group.... The last thing a nation traumatised by terrorism should
do is resort to acts of terror itself, bombing or killing innocent civilians
who have nothing to do with the crimes.
+++ AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 13-19 Sept.'01:"An inside job?" By Salah Montass
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "the unprecedented disaster witnessed by New York and
Washington ... was planned and executed by American citizens."
"the airports at which the planes were hijacked made no reference to an Arab
passenger, whose presence the media would have seized upon immediately."
"An operation involving the hijacking of planes at three different airports
requires months of planning as well as access to to computers and other
advanced technologies; this exceed the abilities of any Arab or Palestinian
within the United States."
"that the operation was conducted so precisely and on such a large scale,
also implies that it was carried out by Americans."
That there were so many explosives on the plane that crashed into the second
World Trade Centre tower suggests that the perpetrator belongs with the
extremist Michigan Organisation, of which McVeigh was a member"
========
EXCERPTS: I don't think it would be contentious to say that the
unprecedented disaster witnessed by New York and Washington the day before
yesterday was planned and executed by American citizens. . . . First, the
airports at which the planes were hijacked made no reference to an Arab
passenger, whose presence the media would have seized upon immediately.
Second, an American journalist on board the plane that crashed into the
Pentagon called her husband on her cell phone to tell him that the plane had
been hijacked. Had she suspected an Arab was involved, she would certainly
have mentioned that. On another plane, one passenger had a similar phone
conversation with his mother, and he too failed to mention seeing any Arab
faces among the passengers. . . . An operation involving the simultaneous
hijacking of a number of planes at three different airports requires months
of planning as well as access to computers and other advanced technologies;
this exceeds the abilities of any Arab or Palestinian within the United
States. Arab suspects, moreover, are under constant surveillance. They could
never have organised the operation under the nose of the American security
apparatus. If they were able to do so, this would indicate that US
intelligence has broken down irreparably.
Those who piloted the planes were perfectly familiar with their routes and
targets, perfectly coordinated and able to fly at low altitudes among
high-rise buildings, which suggests that they are insiders. The fact that
the operation was conducted so precisely and on such a large scale, also
implies that it was carried out by Americans.
Finally, this catastrophe resembles, in conception and method, the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing, for which Timothy McVeigh was executed on 11 June.
That there were so many explosives on the plane that crashed into the second
World Trade Centre tower suggests that the perpetrator belongs with the
extremist Michigan Organisation, of which McVeigh was a member.
{IMRA: The explosive was the jet fuel carried in the plane.}
Perhaps an investigation of the planes' black boxes, which has yet to be
undertaken, will surprise the Americans more than anyone.
+++ AL-AHRAM WEEKLY 13-19 Sept.'01: "American nightmare" By Salama A Salama
QUOTES FROM TEST: "the US has proved itself incapable of preserving its
...security. ...managed to turn the love and admiration the peoples around
the world once felt for the US as a champion of liberty, democracy and
self-determination, into universal suspicion and mistrust, ... the result of
Washington's misuse of power and abuse of the moral foundations upon which
it built its civilisation."
"Equally disasterous would be for the White House to unleash its wrath in a
spate of retaliatory operations, or for a nation such as Israel, which has
been waiting for the opportunity, to manipulate the tragedy for its own
ends."
========
EXCERPTS:
Over the past few weeks several signs had indicated that the world was
facing a potentially incendiary autumn and that anger and frustration at
Washington's foreign policies was not confined to the Middle East or, more
accurately, to Arab and Islamic peoples. That it extends to many other parts
of the world has been amply demonstrated by protest demonstrations against
the US at a series of international conferences, the latest being the World
Conference against Racism in South Africa, at which protesters lashed out at
the US and Israel.
This tragedy compels us, first and foremost, to feel compassion for its
victims. It forces us, too, to contemplate its implications with regard to
the US's international stature. In spite of its overwhelming might the US
has proved itself incapable of preserving its own peace and security.
Indeed, it has managed to turn the love and admiration that peoples around
the world once felt for the US as a champion of liberty, democracy and
self-determination, into universal suspicion and mistrust, a transformation
that is the result of Washington's misuse of power and abuse of the moral
foundations upon which it built its civilisation.
And the danger of this tragedy,... is that it may be just one link in a far
longer chain of attacks against US interests. Equally disastrous would be
for the White House to unleash its wrath in a spate of retaliatory
operations, or for a nation such as Israel, which has been waiting for the
opportunity, to manipulate the tragedy for its own ends. In America's case,
a loss of patience at this critical time would invariably entail a loss of
sound judgment.
Dr. Joseph Lerner, Co-Director IMRA
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