22 Jul 2002 17:06:09
Dear Friends,
1. Two new books, to which i've contributed, are being published. One, SHATTERED ILLUSTIONS, can be ordered. http://www.amalpress.com/ My contribution is an old article i wrote titled: "US aid to Israel: Tax dollars soaked in blood".
the other is in the works. It deals with Jenin with a forward by Chomsky and Charlie Reese. will send more info on that in the near future.
Noam Chomsky is also a contributor to 'Shattered Illusions.'
2. Those of you in PHilly, there will be a fundraiser for Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga). if interested, email me privately.
3. Teh playground is being delayed. everyone is under curfew and a new report indicates taht 67% of Palestinian children are malnourished, many are facing starvation.
4. this list will again be silent for a while. i am working on a documentary and tending to pressing personal matters. I will also be traveling back to Jenin in a couple of months.
5. Two of my friends who have been living in the Occupied Territories for the past two years (at least) as human shields, observers etc. are coming back to the states for a short while. they'll be giving talks around teh country--mostly on the west coast. if you'd like to have them speak in your town and are willing to set up the talk, let me know. i'm trying to set up a schedule for them on the east coast. they are both tireless activists, who have risked their lives numerous times to protect Palestinian civilians. they've been in Jenin since april and were the first people to talk with some of the residents who fled. they've also been living through the latest bombardment and curfews.
warm regards to you all, susie
REMARKS BY DR. FIDEL CASTRO RUZ, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
OF CUBA, AT A
RALLY HELD IN GENERAL ANTONIO MACEO SQUARE, SANTIAGO DE
CUBA, JUNE 8, 2002.
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United
Nations
315 Lexington Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10016
Tel: 212-689-7215 * Fax: 212-689-9073
Compatriots from Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo and all of
Cuba:
I had said that we would all respond to Mr. W. Bush. Our
children, our
teenagers, our young students; our workers, farmers,
professionals; our
journalists, historians, artists, intellectuals, scientists;
the fighters of
yesterday and of today; the youths, the adults, the elders
and especially
the mothers, the sons and daughters, and the close relatives
of all those
who have suffered themselves and their loved ones during 43
years of brutal
terrorism, aggressions and a murderous blockade maintained
by successive
U.S. Administrations against our people. They have all been
tearing to
pieces Mr. W. Bush's statements in Miami.
He went too far in his speech. He was rude. He insulted, he
lied, and he
threatened. He would only need to add now that the heroic
people he pretends
"to free", have all been forcibly mobilized to take part in
the huge and
enthusiastic demonstrations of Sancti Spiritus and Holguin
before, and in
this enormous rally held today here, in Santiago de Cuba.
Perhaps no other country has ever witnessed such an
imposing, combative and
sound political movement. Perhaps, never before a small
nation had the
strength of character and the courage to resist such a
powerful adversary.
This is an unprecedented confrontation that is taking place
in a new
historical stage between the force of just ideas and the
murderous ideas of
the brutal force.
When the arrogant use of force is imposed in violation of
every right, ethic
and reason, demagogy and lies remain the only possible
ideological support.
Hardly two thirds of a century has passed since Humanity
went through the
bitter experience of Nazism. Fear was Hitler's inseparable
ally against his
adversaries. First, he was tolerated as a buffer and a
potential ally
against communism. Then, he was made concessions. He
recovered the Ruhr, a
crucial zone for military build-up, and went on to annex
Austria to the
German Third Reich. Then, without a shot, he conquered a
large part of
Czechoslovakia. Later, his fearful military force enabled
him to strike a
non-aggression pact with the USSR on August 23, 1939, that
is, 9 days before
the outbreak of a war that would inflame the whole world.
The lack of vision
and the cowardice of the statesmen in the strongest European
powers of the
time opened the way to a great tragedy.
I don't think that a fascist regime can be established in
the United States.
Serious mistakes have been made and injustices committed in
the framework of
its political system--many of them still persist--but the
American people
still have a number of institutions and traditions, as well
as educational,
cultural and ethical values that would hardly allow that to
happen. The risk
exists in the international arena.
The power and prerogatives of that country's President are
so extensive, and
the economic, technological and military power network in
that nation is so
pervasive that due to circumstances that fully escape the
will of the
American people, the world is coming under the rule of Nazi
concepts and
methods.
I do not intend to exaggerate or dramatize. But, the truth
is that there's a
growing tendency to question and override the very existence
and the role of
the United Nations.
Last September 20, 2001, when Mr. W. Bush proclaimed that
those who did not
support his war project against terrorism would themselves
be considered
terrorists and exposed to his attacks, he was overtly
disregarding the UN
prerogatives. At the same time, based on his military power
he was assuming
the role of world master and policeman. For those of us
familiar with the
Marxist literature, that day was the 18th Brumaire of Mr.
Bush*. Future
historians should take note of the political leaders'
reaction in most
countries. It was panic and fear that came over most of
them.
Such conceptions and methods contradict the idea of a
democratic world order
based on principles and norms that ensure safety and peace
for all of the
peoples.
Long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, Bush had
promoted
enormous budgets for the research and production of more
deadly and
sophisticated weapons, although the cold war was over, the
old adversary no
longer existed and the weakened State that replaced it
lacked both the
economic resources and the will to face up to the
overwhelming force of the
sole hyperpower.
Why was that colossal military build-up program conceived,
and for what
purpose?
In a recent speech made on the occasion of the bicentennial
year of the West
Point Military Academy, an institution well-known for its
remarkable role in
the military history of the United States, Mr. W. Bush threw
a fiery
harangue at the graduation ceremony of 958 cadets. However,
his remarks were
also addressed to the United States and the entire
world.
Some of the ideas expressed there are a reflection of his
thinking, and that
of his closest advisors, long before the brutal attacks of
September 11,
which now serve as an excellent pretext to justify what was
already then a
rather dangerous, inadmissible, unsustainable and peculiar
idea of the
world. He said for example:
"If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have
waited too long."
"In the world we have entered, the only path to safety is
the path of
action. And this nation will act."
"Our security will require transforming the military you
will lead, a
military that must be ready to strike at a moment's notice
in any dark
corner of the world. And our security will require...to be
ready for
preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and
to defend our
lives."
"We must uncover terror cells in 60 or more
countries...Along with our
friends and allies, we must oppose proliferation and
confront regimes that
sponsor terror, as each case requires."
"We will send diplomats where they are needed, and we will send you, our soldiers, where you're needed."
"We will not leave the safety of America and the peace of the planet at the mercy of a few mad terrorists and tyrants. We will lift this dark threat from our country and from the world."
"Some worry that it is somehow undiplomatic or impolite to speak the language of right and wrong. I disagree. We are in a conflict between good and evil, and America will call evil by its name. By confronting evil and lawless regimes, we do not create a problem, we reveal a problem. And we will lead the world in opposing it."
"Generations of West Point officers planned and practiced for battles with Soviet Russia. I've just returned from a new Russia, now a country reaching toward democracy, and our partner in the war against terror."
As you can see, he doesn't mention once is his speech the United Nations Organization. Nor is there a phrase about every people's right to safety and peace, or about the need for a world ruled by principles and norms. He only talks of alliances between powers, and of war and more war. He speaks of war on behalf of peace and liberty, words that coming from him sound as meaningless and empty as soap bubbles. His entire speech is no more than a sweetened exaltation of chauvinism, and of the superiority of his country?s culture, glory and power.
The miserable insects that live in 60 or more countries of the world chosen by him and his closest assistants--and in the case of Cuba by his Miami friends--are completely irrelevant. They are the "dark corners of the world" that may become the targets of their unannounced and "preemptive" attacks.
Not only is Cuba one of those countries, but it has also been included among those that sponsor terror. And, on top of it all, the cynical fabrication that Cuba produces bio-weapons; they simply overlook the fact that the entire world knows it is a colossal lie.
What is the difference between that philosophy and methods and those of the Nazis? Why is it that so many governments are trembling with fear and keeping silent?
It is not a simple coincidence that the fascist right forces are gaining ground in various European countries.
The American people will refuse to educate their children in such a philosophy.
In the face of such cowardice, many peoples of the world will look hopefully to the American people as the only one capable of putting a straightjacket on, or stopping, the bigots in their lust for power, abuse and conflict. Many peoples in the world showed their unanimous solidarity with the American people after the attacks of September 11; our noble and generous people did too, and certainly not out of hypocrisy or fear.
We would like for those West Point cadets to come to Cuba as tourists some day, when Americans are again free to travel, but not as invaders.
Who has actually reaped the benefits of the terrorist attacks of September 11? Those that President Eisenhower defined as the military-industrial complex; those whose authority had been called into question by the electoral fraud; the Miami terrorist mob; those who want to destroy the United Nations; those who advocate the predominance of hegemonic policies and who want to reshape the world as they wish.
I don't believe for a second that anyone--whatever his position--who could have prevented the obnoxious crime of the Twin Towers deliberately allowed it to happen in a yearning for popularity and power or for any other purpose.
But, calling things by their name, as Mr. Bush said in West Point he likes to do, I'd say that I think the President of the United States has made serious mistakes in the way he has handled the situation after the tragedy. I shall mention only a few made both domestically and overseas:
He should have never implanted fear in the minds of the American people.
He should have kept calmed.
He should not have adopted hasty decisions without even considering other possibly more promising options, which would have been unanimously supported by all governments, by the most influential religions and by the fundamental political trends, from both the left and the right.
He should not have identified over half of the countries in the Third World as his enemies, much less as terrorists.
He should not have pursued a path that will have the effect of multiplying the number of bigots and suicidal persons in the world, thus seriously complicating the struggle against terrorism. The Palestinians' is a case in point: for every Palestinian that has been murdered, the number of walk-in suicide bombers has markedly increased, which has led to a predicament with no way out in sight.
He should not have concealed the intelligence reports he received, particularly that of August 6, which has given rise to all sorts of doubts and guesses. It is necessary to be valiant and transparent with the people. No one can believe that this is impossible for security reasons. Those of us who have lived and struggled for decades against thousands of terrorist plans and actions originated in the United States are perfectly familiar with the nature of such intelligence reports, whose sources need to be highly protected by those who draft and forward them.
He should not have met with, or accepted the presence at that meeting in Miami of, well known characters that have organized, directed and carried out thousands of terrorist attacks against Cuba and other countries, including several hundreds inside the territory of the United States.
For many years and until September 11, the Cuban American National Foundation financed, organized and publicized countless terrorist actions and plans to murder Cuban leaders. Today, that same organization continues to fund the defense, protection and impunity of the worst terrorists while waiting for the Cuban Revolution to be destroyed by the United States. Everybody knows this, both in Miami and the White House. Mr. Bush's intimate relationship with these terrorists completely undermines his moral authority and disqualifies him as a world leader to fight against terrorism.
He should not have allowed the fabrication of that stupid lie about Cuba developing bio-weapons. As for the alleged theoretical capacity to produce them, needless to say that even when all governments could lie that doesn't mean they all do.
CUBA, JUNE 8, 2002.
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Cuba to the United
Nations
GoodDAY Philadelphia followed Susan Abulhawa to a Philadelphia School and aired a segment on Friday, May 17. They used some of Susan's footage filmed in Jenin and also provided insight to the Playgrounds For Palestine mission.
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