Le courrier français des Etats-Unis

Dossiers

It is impossible to look at those acts of utter barbarism in New York and Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001, and not feel revulsion. Civilized people around the world cringed in horror that anyone could perpetrate such vile and disgusting crimes against innocent civilians. It is difficult to grasp that such depravity actually exists in our world.

Yet, in sober moments of calm reflection, we realize that it was not that long ago that Europe suffered the outrages of Adolph Hitler. In a single lifetime I have read the stories of Stalin and his gulags, of the Japanese conquest of Asia and their infamous prisoner of war death marches.

There have been massacres of hundreds of thousands of Hutus and Tutsis in East Africa. The Serbian atrocities against their Muslim neighbors chills our bones. It is difficult to ignore the fact that evil exists in such abundance in this world.

Even worse, is that these evils are done by people who do not see themselves as evil. They excuse their conduct on the grounds of revenge. They are getting even, paying back old scores. They believe that their cause is for the greater good of their country or religion. They all claim God’s protection.Unfortunately, evil begets evil.

When we look at the barbarism committed in New York and Washington D.C., we have to ask, Why? What did we do to deserve such a horrible retaliation? The answer is complex, but at its core is Israel.

It is not hard to understand why the Zionists behave as they do. They feel shame for having been so terrorized by Hitler, and they have vowed never to let it happen again.

By hanging on to a piece of land, regardless of how they came by it, they see their future security. Even if they have to drive the native Palestinians off their land, they keep on with their expansion of new, exclusively Israeli settlements. This is self-will run riot.

It is simply in the nature of human affairs that people will retaliate. America’s support of Israel is all too one-sided, and it is all too obvious. At some point, and we see warnings of it regularly in random acts of violence, a horrible and overwhelming price may be paid for this American dominated interference in the Middle East.

More soldiers and innocent civilians may pay with their lives for the foolish, proud policies of our leaders.

A policy of division and separation in Palestine, and in Jerusalem in particular, makes as much sense as the divisions of Germany, Korea or Viet Nam. It produces long-term strife by creating a cauldron for stirring bitter feelings.

The only sure path to peace in the Middle East is for Israelis and Palestinians to hold out their hands to each other in a spirit of acceptance of their differences.

They must each practice the fundamentals of their own religions and live lives of tolerance and humility with their neighbors. Only when Israelis and Palestinians confront each other as equals will there ever be peace, and it is critical to the survival of the Jewish population that they understand that God did not make them any better or more preferred than their neighbors.

We need to remember that there are almost as many schisms and sub-sects, and probably as many undereducated imams, within Islam as there are among Christians and Jews and that it is dead wrong to tar all Muslims with the same brush of intolerance vis-à-vis the Jews.

The problems in the Middle East were jointly created by Jews fleeing Europe after W.W. II and by Western politicians, particularly in the USA. These problems will not be resolved until the political and property rights of the Palestinians in and around Israel are redressed.

I hate to say this, because I know in advance that I will hurt the feelings of many of my Jewish friends, but an exclusively Jewish state that forces the majority Muslim population to a life in exile or subjugates them to second-class citizenship on Palestinian land is an affront to the civilized world. Religious pluralism, with equal voting rights, for Israeli Jews and the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank is the only logical path to long-term peace in Israel.

The majority must rule in Palestine — if necessary, with safeguards provided to the minority Jewish and Christian populations by the United Nations.

Among the doctrines that were once held important by Americans is the notion that part of the inalienable rights of man is the right to resistance of oppression, as well as the right to life, religion, property and security. Is it possible that we no longer believe this tenet of freedom?

How do you justify punishing people for losing hope and acting out? Palestinians, and many of their brother Muslims, believe they have no alternative but to fight in the face of American and Israeli intransigence at the bargaining table.

The essence of justice is fairness. Justice cannot be seen to make irreconcilable mistakes or else society loses faith in the system.

Perhaps it says something about the American and Israeli societies that the problems of terrorism and violence are more prevalent among us than in some other countries, but since they belong to us we must deal with them.

No, we are not alone in our arrogance, if that gives anyone any comfort. The British presence in Northern Ireland, for example, cannot bring peace to those troubled people, and they will eventually be forced to withdraw from that unhappy island.

The mere fact that many British subjects live in Ireland is no reason to continue with a policy of violence and subjugation of the native population. After Britain's withdrawal, the Protestants will learn to live in peace with the Catholics as they have in the rest of Ireland. I have no doubt that the Irish Catholics will revert to their ancient tradition of tolerance and neighborliness.

When all is said and done, the Irish are Christians, and when left alone, they will live their faith.

The «agreement» mediated between the opposing parties in Northern Ireland by the former U.S. Senator George Mitchell was an important first step in the peace process, but it is only the continued British presence in Ireland that makes possible the constant strife between these two otherwise civilized peoples.

The same can be said of Gibraltar. There may have been a time when British occupation of Spanish territory made some sense in furthering world peace, but that time has long since passed, and today it only irritates an otherwise friendly neighbor.

The extension of national power to foreign shores is a dangerous and strife producing action. It is extremely hard to justify such aggression in terms of the promotion of world peace.

Change must come to the U.S. Government policy in the Middle East. I will not speak for the British or the French or our other European friends, but they will recognize truth when they see it in their own circumstances.

The U.S. Government, however, must begin to see the need for reform in both its foreign and domestic policies if it is to survive. Bad governmental policies create riots and disorder.

The U.S. Government is equally responsible for the many displays of civil unrest in this country as are the people who break windows, loot and throw bombs.

Where the United States so frequently gets into trouble is when it acts unilaterally. Especially, it is not sufficient to obtain the agreement of the British.

The world sees us as cousins in the same family. Without a broader base of world support, and by acting alone, the U.S.A. becomes the Great Satan, in the Ayatollah Khomeni's words, and it becomes impossible to defend against the charge, regardless of how pure our motives may be.

The way to eliminate terrorism is not by losing another thousand soldiers in Afghanistan, but by owning up to our mistakes and doing what is right and just from now on. There is a reason that terrorism exists. If we take away the reason, then terrorism will disappear.

Peace can only be achieved when individual people display a mature regard for the needs and wishes of others and a humble submission of their personal wills to the greater good of the community.

The greatest task we face as citizens in a complicated, multicultural world is to shelve our own personal desires for revenge and punishment and to accept the guidance of our neighbors in the use of force.

It is tempting to think that we in the U.S.A., as the most powerful nation on earth, know best when to bomb and punish Saddam Hussein in Iraq, but if the decision is taken unilaterally, it is always seen by the rest of the world as a saber rattling, arrogant display of power.

Its long-term effect is to destroy any short-term gain achieved by the unilateral use of power.

That brings us to the concept of power and the notion that the private use of power is almost always negative in its effects. The reason for saying this is that if the result of a community action, or a decision that affects the lives of others, is positive, it is almost always achieved by way of consensus.

I do not mean to say that individual leaders are incapable of exercising power in mature, positive ways, but that when they behave responsibly to good purpose, it is usually in concert with their countrymen and fellow world leaders.

In these cases, their power is then seen, not so much as power, but as responsible leadership.

A positive contribution or action at anything beyond a personal level requires a consensus, and it is high time the U.S.A. learned this lesson.

Especially after our experiences in Vietnam one would think that the United States would not have any more appetite for a war in Asia.

It would be much easier to correct the flaws in our foreign policy and begin to treat the Palestinians as fairly as the Israelis.

By Edward Leon ANDERSON