disinformation | twilight's last gleaming: gun diplomacy in the west bank

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twilight's last gleaming: gun diplomacy in the west bank
by Alex Burns (alex.burns@disinfo.net) - October 18, 2000

Monday 15th May, 2000 will be remembered as the Palestinian 'Day of Rage' that went haywire. Three people died and over 300 people were injured in clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli police in the Gaza Strip and West Bank hot-spots. But the uprising may have obscured a darker event: a possible Israeli assassination attempt on 'Palestine Liberation Organization' leader Yasser Arafat.

Whether it is a propagandistic rumour or a realpolitik gambit, the possibility of Arafat's assassination raises some complex issues. Since the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords (September, 1993), an aging Arafat has faced two choices: continue to get nothing at all for Palestinians and remain historically liable, or compromise with the US and Israeli-driven 'peace process'. Israel is a regional military superpower within the Middle East (with strong US funding), and is rumoured to have a nuclear weapons capacity surpassing that of India and South Africa. It controls key resources such as water, and investment in the occupied territories. This has resulted in dire socio-economic gaps between Palestinians and Jewish settlers, and rapidly falling living standards.

Increasingly, Arafat has fought to recognize the parallel rights of Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs (long-adopting UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338: "to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries"), but the 'Day of Rage' uprising and subsequent assassination attempt allegations (May 19th, 2000) has momentarily damaged his calculated public image with the Western media. Although Arafat denounced terrorism with the 'Cairo Declaration' (November, 1985), and an historic UN hearing (December, 1988), he is still regarded with suspicion, given his organization's 1970s campaigns, and the continuing influence of Israel's militaristic right-wing politicians on US domestic politics.

Ironically in the same week as the West Bank uprisings, Israel faced renewed problems in South Lebanon, whose politics it has been enmeshed in since a 1982 invasion. Comparison of Israel's murderous incursion into Lebanon (such as the 1985 'Iron Fist' campaign) with Palestine's struggle for indigenous self-determination offers media analysts an intriguing case-study in 'Low Intensity Conflict' operations and the manipulation of democratic societies by all sides ('democracy', 'human rights'?).

The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian question is an example of a geo-political flashpoint in which the general public is treated as an object in debates, not an active participant. Internet-based media offers a diversity of opinions far beyond the hawks versus doves narrow consensus. Learn the key concepts of macropolitical systems analysis, and cut through the jungle of deceit, hypocrisy, and necessary illusions.

Arabic Media Internet Network
The Arabic Media Internet Network presents news coverage and analysis from a Palestinian viewpoint, featuring notable scholars including Edward W. Said. Features viewpoints rare to be found in Western media sources.

CNN: Middle East
Detailed mainstream US coverage via the worldwide resources of CNN. Features a growing array of excellent multimedia clips for your immediate viewing.

BBC World News: Middle East
BBC world news coverage offers an alternate Western mainstream perspective to US sources, and has at times been critical of US intervention in the Middle East. Highly recommended!

MSNBC: Middle East
MSNBC offers avowedly mainstream media coverage of Middle East issues. Useful for 'environmental scan' purposes; check stories with a variety of other news sources as well.

Foreign Policy Instructional: Understanding US Foreign Policy
This ZMI course on US foreign policy (June 1998) conducted by Stephen Shalom is now available on the Internet. A very useful resource for understanding geopolitical systems and conflicts.

Arabia.com
An excellent Arabic news anaylsis portal. Useful for general coverage.

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
A range of activist resources and lobby group analysis on Middle East issues, including facilities to contact US Congressional decision makers.

Columbia University: Middle East Studies
First-rate scholarly information on Middle East history, religion, and culture, from Columbia University. Useful for background research and contextual understanding.

The Committee For Middle East Reporting in America
The Committee For Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is a media monitoring group which deconstructs Western claims of objectivity, revealing ideological biases and selected sources.

Conference For Middle East Peace
This Web site features a summary of Israeli & Global News, and facilities to lobby the US Congress on specific issues.

Jerusalem Post: Internet Edition
The Jerusalem Post is one of Israel's major newspapers and an important information source for keeping up to date with the Israeli perspective regarding the 'Days of Anger'.

US Report on the Middle East
Macro-economic news and international news analysis, focusing upon the Middle East and bilateral trade relations with the US. Useful analysis if you can cut through the deceptively diplomatic language.

The Pro-Israel Lobby
This Z magazine article (July 1994) by Edward S. Herman examines how Israel has influenced the US mainstream media, and the controversy regarding perceived anti-Arab bias. Thought provoking!

Vision E-zine
Looks like the Salon.com of the Middle East, with plenty of entertainment news, and virtually nothing on the many ongoing geopolitical flashpoints, hot-spots and crises. But there is plenty of news on Ricky Martin, Robert De Niro, Stephen King. Can you say 'manufacturing consent'?

Israeli Apartheid and Terrorism: Part 1: The Reality
This Z magazine article (May 1994) by Edward S. Herman examines Israel's human rights record and finds it wanting.

American Near East Refugee Aid
This Washington-based organization helps Palestinian and Lebanese children and families with relief and development projects in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Israel and Lebanon.

Americans For Peace Now
Peace Now is one of the most notorious pro-Israeli lobby groups within the United States. They quote Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, "To be pro-Israel is to be pro-Peace." Orwellian 'doublespeak', anyone?

A Spiral View of Terrorism
A multi-polar world requires multi-dimensional tools for resolving geo-political conflicts. Dr. Don Beck and Chris Cowan of the National Values Center (Denton, TX) present here an invaluable paper on different types of terrorism.

The Complete Guide to Palestine's Web Sites
Here's an aspect of Palestine that you never hear about: its growth on the Internet! Sample Palestine culture here.

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