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I thought the Israelis bombed the USS Liberty (a ship that was outfitted with electronic warfare/eavesdropping hardware) to cover up their massacre of Egyptian POWs in the Sinai desert. (I'm pretty sure this was in that book on the NSA by William Bamford, "Puzzle Palace".)
Getting back to the issue:
I find it particularly odd that the Gaza bombing was allegedly carried out by a previously-unheard of group. Yet again, a little too convenient. It is within the realm of possibility, of course, there are a number of splinter groups with extremist leanings in the region. But still, for a new group to go out of its way to target Americans at such a juncture...I'm just not buying it.
It should be pointed out that the PLO was set up as an umbrella organization to unite various Palestinian nationalist groups under one banner. Nationalist being the key word, which also goes along with secular. Arafat has no control over splinter factions like the Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, just as he has no control over groups like Islamic Jihad and Hamas (who are allied, at least ideologically, with Iran). In the past, Palestinians always relied on small-scale guerilla actions from neighboring Arab countries (mostly Jordan & Lebanon), along with media-grabbing terrorist actions and hijackings. But the suicide bombing campaign is a completely different stratagem, one that has been embraced, for the most part, by Islamic extremists and that speaks volumes about the levels of both desperation and commitment now involved in the struggle for a Palestinian state. But will that nation be geared more toward Palestinian nationalism, or Islamic fundamentalism?
Sharon and Co. use this rift to their advantage as they continue to play "divide and conquer" with the Palestinian people, along with attempting to isolate Arafat as much as possible. That needs to be taken into account. So too, the rift that exists between Zionists and anti-Zionists in the international Jewish community, including, but not limited to, the US. Its not just about groups like Gush Shalom in Israel. There is a growing divide within Judaism that's only being exacerbated with each action Sharon's govt. takes.
This goes way beyond Israel's borders in terms of overall impact, whatever the outcome may be. That being said, it should also be recognized that even if Israel doesn't practice racial apartheid against the Palestinians (as some allege that it does), it can be conclusively argued that Israel does most emphatically practice economic apartheid against the Palestinians. The checkpoints, walls, and curfews are ample enough proof of that alone. |
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