Kurai Tsuki
16th March 2004, 23:23
Three years have now passed since the attacks of September 11 and still nobody in the mainstream media (or even in the independent or liberal media) seems to be making a significant effort to explain the true causes of terrorism. Terrorism, we’re asked to believe, happens purely because of Islamic extremism and has no provocation on the part of the United States. But for those of us who know the history of American and U.S. backed or trained interventions, bombings, aid to Israel, and torture in the Middle East, to believe this would be to lie to ourselves. In this text I intend to give the exact details of what the American and U.S. backed Israeli governments have done in the Middle East to provoke terrorist acts on their, "respective," countries.
1. The first and most obvious act is America’s relationship with Israel and its funding of Israel’s brutality for the last fifty five years. Israel receives from America a total of three billion dollars per year in aid, taken from U.S. tax money, which they use for their continuous bombing of Palestinians and the occasional invasion, such as the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, in reaction to the Palestine Liberation Organization attacks of Israel from Lebanon (which were in turn done in reaction to the Zionists displacing most of the Palestinians when they invaded their homeland and took their homes). This invasion was not only done with American aid, but the United States military also took an active role in it, and bombed Beirut. The Israeli military claimed to be targeting militants in Lebanon, but in fact most of the people murdered were civilians, 10,000 of them. And then there is the infamous Shatila massacre, in which Sharon handed over a Palestinian refugee camp to Lebanese Christian militants, who then went into the camp killing women and children. It was in this time that the Lebanese Islamic guerilla army, Hizb Allah, translated, “Party of God,” was formed. The American mainstream had the nerve to be shocked when they bombed an American marines base; failing to consider that it was an American marines base in Lebanon during an American bombing campaign and a U.S. backed Israeli invasion, these factors obviously make the base a legitimate military target. Or does mainstream America think that the rules of war apply only to itself? I cannot help think it ungrateful when I hear a Lebanese youth say that Hizb Allah is only an extremist organization, when it was only because of Hizb Allah that Israel and the United States pulled out of Beirut and Israel eventually withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, allowing south Lebanese families to return to their homes and freeing prisoners who were subjected to such torture as being shocked on their genitals by the Israeli army. And Hizb Allah’s activities are more than simply military ones; they also provide food and shelter to Lebanese families whose homes have been destroyed by Israeli bombing.
2. Backing and attempted coup in Syria in 1953 to overthrow an elected government.
3. The United States reportedly gave the Iraqi Ba'ath party a list of communists in Iraq to be killed.
4. In the United Nations, a resolution to return Palestinian land occupied by Israel after the war of 1963 was blocked by the United States.
5. There is the involvement with Iran on the part of the United States before the revolution of 1979. A U.S. backed takeover overthrew a democratic government and installed to power Shah Pahlavi who in his attempts to westernize Iran sent many Iranians into poverty. Those who would protest his policies were often jailed and tortured, in fact, after the revolution a film was found which was made by the CIA on how to torture women. The trouble of course did not stop after the revolution, it never does; there was the, “mistaken” shooting down of an Iranian passenger plane which killed 290 civilians. George Bush Senior had this to say about the incident, "I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don’t care what the facts are." And of course there is a continued American media campaign to make it seem like the only motivation for the 1979 Iranian Revolution was Islamic fundamentalism.
6. The American navy maneuvered in waters near Libya’s coast with the aim of provocation. Libya responded by firing a missile which was probably a warning shot as it did not land near any target, but the U.S. responded by attacking Libyan patrol boats, killing 72 people. And of course there was the bombing of Libya which killed dozens of civilians and Quaddafi’s adopted daughter.
7. The people of Sudan were very proud of their pharmaceutical plant which produced half of the country’s medicine but apparently that sense of national accomplishment was not destined to last as that very plant was destroyed by American bombing, claiming that hit was a chemical weapons laboratory. The U.S. later acknowledged that there was no evidence for this claim, but the plant is still no more. Now of course Sudan will have to import more medication from American firms, isn’t it ironic how so many interventions seem to turn out in their favor?
8. The of the leader of the Palestinian Hammas movement, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was assassinated on March 23, 2004 as he left the Islamic Association Mosque in Gaza City. Helicopters fired three missiles at him, killing him, his three bodyguards and seven civilians. Yassin was sixty six years old, blind, and was leaving the mosque in a wheelchair. Condemnation of the attack has came from many governments, except of course the United States.
The United States government and media continue to project the idea that Islamic fundamentalism is the chief cause of terrorism, while making no mention of U.S. actions that just one of which would be sufficient provocation. And of course the mainstream is all to willing to accept this idea. First of all, many Americans know of the outside world only what they in the mainstream media or read in newspapers and magazines. Even when faced with the reality of the history of America’s involvement in the Middle East many people simply ignore the facts, unable to accept that their government would take any action which was unjustified in some way.
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When Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are not actually being threatened by Israel’s army or bombing, they often have to deal with Israeli bulldozers destroying their homes without provocation. There are also settlers who try to enter Palestinian territory and build small villages, then act pretend the violence is unprovoked when they become the targets of militants. Some of these settlers will go so far as to suggest that Palestinians have no historical right to the land. Arabs were living on the land long before the Hebrews arrived in the area after their exodus. And when the Zionists first arrived on the ship, Exodus, in 1948 the area had a majority of Palestinians; the Zionists drove the Palestinians from their homes by deporting them, using violence and placing them into internment camps. When this information is considered it can be seen that the idea of the Palestinians not having a historical right to this territory is nothing short disinformation.
1. The first and most obvious act is America’s relationship with Israel and its funding of Israel’s brutality for the last fifty five years. Israel receives from America a total of three billion dollars per year in aid, taken from U.S. tax money, which they use for their continuous bombing of Palestinians and the occasional invasion, such as the invasion of Lebanon in 1982, in reaction to the Palestine Liberation Organization attacks of Israel from Lebanon (which were in turn done in reaction to the Zionists displacing most of the Palestinians when they invaded their homeland and took their homes). This invasion was not only done with American aid, but the United States military also took an active role in it, and bombed Beirut. The Israeli military claimed to be targeting militants in Lebanon, but in fact most of the people murdered were civilians, 10,000 of them. And then there is the infamous Shatila massacre, in which Sharon handed over a Palestinian refugee camp to Lebanese Christian militants, who then went into the camp killing women and children. It was in this time that the Lebanese Islamic guerilla army, Hizb Allah, translated, “Party of God,” was formed. The American mainstream had the nerve to be shocked when they bombed an American marines base; failing to consider that it was an American marines base in Lebanon during an American bombing campaign and a U.S. backed Israeli invasion, these factors obviously make the base a legitimate military target. Or does mainstream America think that the rules of war apply only to itself? I cannot help think it ungrateful when I hear a Lebanese youth say that Hizb Allah is only an extremist organization, when it was only because of Hizb Allah that Israel and the United States pulled out of Beirut and Israel eventually withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, allowing south Lebanese families to return to their homes and freeing prisoners who were subjected to such torture as being shocked on their genitals by the Israeli army. And Hizb Allah’s activities are more than simply military ones; they also provide food and shelter to Lebanese families whose homes have been destroyed by Israeli bombing.
2. Backing and attempted coup in Syria in 1953 to overthrow an elected government.
3. The United States reportedly gave the Iraqi Ba'ath party a list of communists in Iraq to be killed.
4. In the United Nations, a resolution to return Palestinian land occupied by Israel after the war of 1963 was blocked by the United States.
5. There is the involvement with Iran on the part of the United States before the revolution of 1979. A U.S. backed takeover overthrew a democratic government and installed to power Shah Pahlavi who in his attempts to westernize Iran sent many Iranians into poverty. Those who would protest his policies were often jailed and tortured, in fact, after the revolution a film was found which was made by the CIA on how to torture women. The trouble of course did not stop after the revolution, it never does; there was the, “mistaken” shooting down of an Iranian passenger plane which killed 290 civilians. George Bush Senior had this to say about the incident, "I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don’t care what the facts are." And of course there is a continued American media campaign to make it seem like the only motivation for the 1979 Iranian Revolution was Islamic fundamentalism.
6. The American navy maneuvered in waters near Libya’s coast with the aim of provocation. Libya responded by firing a missile which was probably a warning shot as it did not land near any target, but the U.S. responded by attacking Libyan patrol boats, killing 72 people. And of course there was the bombing of Libya which killed dozens of civilians and Quaddafi’s adopted daughter.
7. The people of Sudan were very proud of their pharmaceutical plant which produced half of the country’s medicine but apparently that sense of national accomplishment was not destined to last as that very plant was destroyed by American bombing, claiming that hit was a chemical weapons laboratory. The U.S. later acknowledged that there was no evidence for this claim, but the plant is still no more. Now of course Sudan will have to import more medication from American firms, isn’t it ironic how so many interventions seem to turn out in their favor?
8. The of the leader of the Palestinian Hammas movement, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was assassinated on March 23, 2004 as he left the Islamic Association Mosque in Gaza City. Helicopters fired three missiles at him, killing him, his three bodyguards and seven civilians. Yassin was sixty six years old, blind, and was leaving the mosque in a wheelchair. Condemnation of the attack has came from many governments, except of course the United States.
The United States government and media continue to project the idea that Islamic fundamentalism is the chief cause of terrorism, while making no mention of U.S. actions that just one of which would be sufficient provocation. And of course the mainstream is all to willing to accept this idea. First of all, many Americans know of the outside world only what they in the mainstream media or read in newspapers and magazines. Even when faced with the reality of the history of America’s involvement in the Middle East many people simply ignore the facts, unable to accept that their government would take any action which was unjustified in some way.
****
When Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are not actually being threatened by Israel’s army or bombing, they often have to deal with Israeli bulldozers destroying their homes without provocation. There are also settlers who try to enter Palestinian territory and build small villages, then act pretend the violence is unprovoked when they become the targets of militants. Some of these settlers will go so far as to suggest that Palestinians have no historical right to the land. Arabs were living on the land long before the Hebrews arrived in the area after their exodus. And when the Zionists first arrived on the ship, Exodus, in 1948 the area had a majority of Palestinians; the Zionists drove the Palestinians from their homes by deporting them, using violence and placing them into internment camps. When this information is considered it can be seen that the idea of the Palestinians not having a historical right to this territory is nothing short disinformation.