[WCUSP] NYT editorial on US assistance to Isr-Pal security...

Thu Jul 24 08:16:40 EDT 2008

When we toured the West Bank with WILPF International delegation about
5 years ago, we visited the police headquarter in Ramalah, a beautiful
complex, probably built with EU money,that had been bombed to shred by
the Israelis. ( I still have a power point presentation about this
tour.)  The main Palestinian TV station also had been bombed to shred.

This was when the Israelis were saying repetitively that Arafat was
not doing enough to control the security situation.!

The security headquarter was bombed to pieces, and we could see all
the file cabinets destroyed, glass everywhere, ruins..we met with the
security chief that was besides himself. Before they did have the CIA
coming in and doing trainings, I would think it was a program very
unpopular with the local population.The Palestinian population is very
aware of where the weapons come from, the US and the money to upkeep
this intense militarization, occupation of which they are victims. In
the Palestinian hospital the medical director showed us a jar of US
bullets that were taken from the bodies of the children with missing
limbs lingering in his hospital' beds, that is small compared to the
bombs having destroyed many neighborhood,  F 16 and assassination of
the leadership.

The problem is not about the lack of security in the West bank but
about the lack of will for  sharing land and peace on the part of  the
Israeli government and the increased militarization, occupation, that
keep the Palestinian crippled. The Palestinian violence is called
resistance to the occupation. Think of France during second world war,
occupied by Germany, we also had German police: the Gestapo, training
French police to up keep the occupation: tranfer jews to concentration
camps and find the resistants to jail and torture them, erradicate the
resistance.

Odile Hugonot Haber

On 7/23/08, Barbara Taft <beejayssite at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> I have long had problems with commentaries by Anthony Cordesman, as
>
> he is actually a militarist.  Although he has long been looked to as an
>
> advisor on governmental issues, I have found much of his advice to be
>
> rather frightening.  I agree with Carol that there are other viewpoints
>
> about how to solve this situation.
>
>
>
> I receive regular mailings from contacts in Brazil, some of which are
>
> not available here.  A recent one of these indicated that Israel has been
>
> pulling back from Gaza so that they can organize for further attacks.
>
> They have no chance of "winning" there--whatever that means!?--and
>
> they're not used to being in a losing position.  Perhaps the reason
>
> they are not winning is because the Palestinians recognize that Hamas
>
> is a legitimate leader, having won in the elections.  And this would
>
> indicate that Abbas and his government are not the "address" to which
>
> discussions of eventual peace should be addressed.
>
>
>
> Barb Taft
>
>
>
> --- On Wed, 7/23/08, Carol Urner <carol.disarm at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: Carol Urner <carol.disarm at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [WCUSP] NYT editorial on US assistance to Isr-Pal security...
> To: "C.J. Minster" <cjminster at gmail.com>
> Cc: "Int ME Committee" <middle_east at wilpf.ch>, "National Middle East"
> <wcusp at wilpf.org>
> Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2008, 2:30 PM
>
>
>
> Hello C.J. and WCUSP list,
>
> I saw your comment and editorial on the WCUSP list to which I have
> subscribed almost from its inception.  Just a comment:
>
> I would think the WILPF position could include support for viable police
> forces in both Israel and Palestine, but not security forces (such as the
> U.S. seeks to build elsewhere) that could be used in aggressive warfare.  We
> would also support, I should think, training in the least violent methods of
> crowd control, etc. and restorative justice such as we support (but haven't
> achieved yet) in the United States.
>
> Also I would think our position would be that the U.S. military forces
> should not participate in this training.  The U.S. military has not been
> operating in the Middle East with a peace keeping or peace building agenda
> and would certainly be distrusted in Palestine because of previous support
> for the harsh tactics of the Israeli occupation, and for known abuses
> arising from special forces and CIA covert actions.  Canada  (and even
> Britain) would be more trusted because of their own past records in training
> for peace keeping.
>
> Surely WILPF would support moving Israel as well in the direction of
> disarmament, including nuclear disarmament under a no WMD treaty as already
> proposed.  That process must include an end to occupation and will be
> difficult and complex, but that is the direction in which we must go.
> Allowing U.S. soldiers to train Palestinian security forces would be a
> dangerous policy and extricating the U.S. from aggressive military
> cooperation with Israel is a necessary one.
>
> DIscussion among those on the WCUSP list serve of this article (or other
> ones shared) and U.S. policies could be fruitful, I think, rather than just
> posting articles without active inter change of ideas in search of common
> directions and ways  to proceed.
>
> in peace,
> Carol Urner
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 10:38 AM, C.J. Minster <cjminster at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Does WILPF international, WILPF Palestine, or WILPF Israel have a position
> on American military personnel involvement, specifically in the use of
> American (or other international forces) to train Palestinian security
> forces?
> >
> > A friend emailed me the following op-ed.
> >
> > The New York Times
> > July 22, 2008
> > Op-Ed Contributor
> > Help the Palestinians Help Us
> > By ANTHONY H. CORDESMAN
> > Washington
> >
> > HAVING just returned from the Middle East, I find it hard to have much
> > optimism about peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
> >
> > Israel sees Hamas's control of Gaza as a situation it cannot do
> > anything about, a weak and divided Palestinian Authority on the West
> > Bank, increased arms smuggling and a growing threat from Israeli
> > Arabs. Palestinians see a steady growth in Israeli settlements and
> > restrictions, a weak Israeli government and faltering international
> > assistance. And all sides seem to see Secretary of State Condoleezza
> > Rice's visits as an end-of-administration effort in résumé building.
> >
> > There is, however, one potential chance to move forward. It centers on
> > an American-led mission, based in Jerusalem, that is trying to build
> > new security forces on the West Bank that will support stabilization
> > efforts by the Palestinian Authority's president, Mahmoud Abbas,
> > prevent a Hamas takeover there and end the corruption and abuse of the
> > older intelligence forces, Yasir Arafat's Mukhabarat.
> >
> > The importance of this effort cannot be overstated: unless there are
> > effective Palestinian security forces, Israel will never trust in a
> > Palestinian state or be able to act on the quiet progress being made
> > toward reaching a final settlement. And we've had some promising
> > signs. With assistance from Jordan, Britain and Canada, the Americans
> > have activated the first battalion of the so-called Presidential
> > Guard, and it's had some success in bringing order to the refugee camp
> > at Jenin. There are more battalions to come, and a real possibility
> > that this aid effort could create effective new security forces.
> >
> > As became all too clear on my visit to Israel, however, this
> > American-led effort is being crippled by decisions within the State
> > Department. The small mission, called the office of the United States
> > Security Coordinator and under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Keith
> > Dayton, is effectively locked into a building in Jerusalem. While it's
> > a military mission, the State Department and the consulate in
> > Jerusalem are in charge of Palestinian affairs and General Dayton's
> > advisory teams.
> >
> > There are several reasons for this — from not wanting the American
> > government to appear to be favoring any faction in a complicated
> > situation to good old-fashioned turf wars — but the result is that the
> > Dayton team has to rely on British and Canadian officials and private
> > contractors to do its work in the field and develop critical personal
> > relationships with Palestinian officers and officials. In fact, even
> > the American military attachés at the embassy are forbidden by the
> > State Department to go into the West Bank and Gaza to carry out
> > liaison efforts with Palestinians or develop human intelligence on the
> > threat of Hamas.
> >
> > Admittedly, letting the American military take on a greater direct
> > role raises risks. All of those involved know they will be targets of
> > violence and may pay with their lives. Many in the Israeli forces and
> > government fear that any American military presence in the West Bank
> > would undermine Israel's status there and become, in effect, direct
> > military support for the Palestinians from Washington. And Mr. Abbas
> > has failed to abolish the older Palestinian security services like the
> > Mukhabarat, which specialize in corruption, repression and
> > incompetence, and will resist the new Palestinian units.
> >
> > There is, however, no lack of courage among the American military
> > personnel, and they know they cannot succeed without freedom of
> > movement, embedding with fledgling Palestinian security units, and
> > forming personal relations with Mr. Abbas's officers.
> >
> > It's a shame that at such a pivotal moment in the peace negotiations,
> > a key barrier to the first real step toward peace — and an effective
> > war on terrorism in the West Bank and Gaza — is a set of State
> > Department decisions.
> >
> > Anthony H. Cordesman is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic
> > and International Studies.
> >
> > --
> > ------------
> > C.J. Minster
> > Intl Communications Committee Convener
> > Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
> > railing against the military industrial complex since WWI
> > http://www.wilpf.org
> >
> > ~Social Upheaval~
> > political analysis from a feminist, activist perspective
> > http://www.socialupheaval.com
> >
> > ~angelheaded hipster~
> > cotton candy for the brain
> > http://www.angelheadedhipster.com
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Wcusp at wilpf.org
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> in peace, Carol Urner
> cell: 503 320 9108
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