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NEWS & LETTERS,
January-February 2003
Our Life and Times
More death in Israel
Two consecutive suicide bombings in a poor immigrant
neighborhood of Tel Aviv killed 23 and injured over 100 on Jan. 6. The
victims were mostly undocumented immigrant workers from the Philippines,
Vietnam, China, Ghana, Romania and Bulgaria. Many of the survivors
couldn't even get medical care for their injuries for fear of being arrested and
deported from Israel once their undocumented status became known. The Al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigade, which took responsibility for these bombings, once again showed
that it is one with Israeli rulers in its racism and inhumanity toward workers. The Sharon government immediately used these bombings to
prevent Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza from attending a London
conference on Palestinian reform. The conference was held nevertheless on Jan.
14 and the Palestinian representatives were able to participate through a video
hookup. Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, who spoke from
Ramallah, said the following in his speech: "The suicide bombings will not
bring us peace, and confiscating of our liberty will not bring you security. Let
us together reject extremism in all its forms. Let us together choose the path
of peaceful negotiations." The continuing Israeli army siege of the West Bank and
Gaza is stifling any voice for peaceful co-existence and secularism among
Palestinians. Within Israel, the corruption and bribery scandals of Sharon's
Likud government have angered some. But the deep class divisions, ethnic
chauvinism, and increasing violence against women in Israeli society have not
become the subject of discussion by the parties running for election. That election reflected the lowest voter turn out since
Israel’s founding in 1948. Sharon’s Likud party received 37 out of 120
parliament seats. The right wing secular party, Shinui, increased its seats. The
Labor party slumped to 19 seats. While the Labor Party under Amram Mitzna had promised to
empty most Israeli settlements and renew peace negotiations, it also favors the
continuation of the building of the separation wall between Israel and the West
Bank and Gaza. This 220 kilometer concrete barrier annexes another 10% of the
Occupied Territories and in doing so also destroys Palestinian homes, productive
agricultural land and many groundwater wells. --Sheila Sahar, Jan. 22, 2003 |
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