Response to Nicholas Kristof 10-18-2006

18, October 2006                   Response to Nicholas Kristof,

18, October RE: Sami al-Hajj

Nicholas Kristof deserves much credit for exposing the appalling injustice meted out to fellow journalist, Sami al-Hajj – a cameraman for Al-Jazeera. This case is a glaring example of the abuse of the new interrogation law gifted by a feckless Congress to the President allowing interrogators to torture detainees with complete impunity. Al-Jazeera has been a constant thorn on the side of the Bush administration for exposing the searing, visual images of the mayhem that is the reality of Iraq and Afghanistan. Their headquarters was the target of a US missile attack in the early stages of the war in Iraq. They continue to be a constant embarrassment to the Bush administration which cannot tolerate ‘un-imbedded’ truthful reporting free from spin and propaganda.  It is outrageous that Sami al-Hajj should be savagely brutalized in an effort to force him to malign his employer.   

Israel 10-18-2006

18, October 2006                           Israel

Dear Sir,         Rachel Corrie RE: Israel

The release of a play, ‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’ was originally scheduled to open last March at New York Theatre Workshop, but was indefinitely postponed under intense pressure from influential Jewish organizations. The play is based on Rachel’s writings prior to her tragic death when she was crushed by an Israeli (U.S. made) bulldozer while attempting to prevent a Palestinian home from being demolished. The censorship was widely criticized by artists, and human rights activists through the world – including Pulitzer Prize-winning Nobel laureate, Harold Pinter who commented – “Rachel Corrie gave her life standing up against injustice. A theater with such a fine history should have had the courage to give New York theatergoers the chance to experience her story for themselves.” The play was a blockbuster success in London and provides a glimpse of the appalling plight of the Palestinians living in ghettoized prisons in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. 

Repeated efforts to prevent the screening of the play were finally overcome when the play opened at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York last Sunday. It is a great tribute to the artists (including Vanessa Redgrave) and activists who were instrumental in allowing the general public to experience Rachel Corrie’s short, courageous life giving voice to the voiceless Palestinians.

North Korea 10-11-2006

11, October 2006                   North Korea

Add the Bush administration’s policy of containment of North Korea’s nuclear testing to the litany of foreign policy debacles. As a nation that has actually exploded nuclear bombs (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and used chemical weapons (napalm in Vietnam, white phosphorus in Iraq) and (banned) cluster bombs, we are now wagging a finger of disapproval at North Korea’s intransigence. What hypocrisy! While we ramp up our arsenal of developing new nuclear weapons, we are threatening to impose crippling economic sanctions which will exacerbate the suffering of a nation already on the verge of starvation. It is high time we tone down the harsh ‘axis of evil rhetoric’ and engage North Korea in direct talks based on mutual respect. One can hardly blame North Korea’s desire to defend itself after the US preemptive attack on Iraq and its aggressive posture on Iran. It is time for the US to honor the 1968 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty to eliminate all nuclear weapons. 

Response to local letter writer, RE: Israel 10-6-2006

6, October 2006               Response to local letter writer, RE: Israel
Daily 5th October
Dear Editor, ,

Sheree Roth (letters Daily, 5th October 2006) implies that Israel deserves unconditional support to compensate Jews who suffered from the Holocaust.  I would like to remind Roth it was the Germans who persecuted the Jews not the Palestinians. Perhaps Roth is unaware that the Israeli military occupation is in complete violation of international law and contrary to scores of United Nations resolutions. A staggering 80 percent of the land once owned by Palestinians has been illegally expropriated. 93 per cent of Israel’s land can only be leased or owned by Jews, a privilege denied non-Jews.
According to Phyllis Bennis, head of the Middle East Project at the Institute of Policy Studies, Israel is essentially an apartheid government where Jews are protected and enjoy privileges denied the indigenous inhabitants, closely paralleling the former white South African system of government. Anybody who resists the iron boots of repression and occupation is denounced as a ‘terrorist’.  Israel operates with complete immunity with targeted assassinations and arbitrary arrests. Currently, over 8,000 men, women and children are languishing in prisons, denied due process. Unless, the international community relaxes the crippling economic sanctions imposed on the Palestinians and Israel releases confiscated Palestinian funds, an appalling humanitarian catastrophe will result.  

Green card holders, beware! 9-28-2006

28, September 2006  Green card holders, beware!

Readers should be aware of a new law which may adversely impact green card holders Consider the case of Gurdev Singh Gill. Gill arrived in California from India in 1986. He began his American experience purchasing a gas station but soon acquired enough capital to purchase farm land. Like so many other Sikhs who had hailed from Punjab, Gill’s hard work and love of the land resulted in fulfilling the ‘American dream.’  Within a few years Gill had expanded a small ranch into a thriving 300-acre grape farm.  He gained local celebrity status last June appearing on the front cover of the American Vineyard magazine being nominated ‘Farmer of the Year’ for his contributions to the local community. He applied for US citizenship to culminate a successful career as an agro-farmer. 

The proverbial ‘shoe dropped’ when his application for citizenship was denied. Gill had fallen victim of to the draconian new law, One Strike, You’re Out. 15 years earlier the Gill family owned a gas station which became the target of drug dealers who would often vandalize his store. One day, Gill became incensed and feeling threatened took out his gun from his pick up and fired in the air. Gill was fined and given probation for possessing a firearm. Nothing more happened until Gill applied for US citizenship. His citizenship was denied and the court ordered Gill be deported because his earlier infraction made this frail 82 year ‘model citizen’ a ‘dangerous criminal’.  Bob Jobe, Gill’s attorney, has experienced the same selective use of the one strike rule in many parts of the country. This may well be a new tool to ethnically cleanse non-whites.  Other green card holders are also falling victim to the perverse interpretation of the one strike rule. Lucas Guttentag, who teaches immigrants' rights at UC Berkeley and Stanford law school, believes, “This is the most punitive immigration laws we've seen, I think, for a hundred years.” I would urge readers to contact their local representatives in Washington and demand that Gill’s deportation order be revoked and revocation of the One Strike Law. In the meantime all green card holders who are eligible for citizenship should not delay their application lest they become victims of the ‘One Strike Law.’ 

War on Terror 9-28-2006

28, September 2006               War on Terror

Spy agencies have confirmed what most Americans already know, namely, that the Iraq war has exacerbated the so called ‘war on terror’ and made America more vulnerable and less safe. Bush has displayed a callous disregard for the sanctify of human life – Americans and Iraqis -  by launching a war of terror on a sovereign state and sending thousands of innocent people to their early graves, fueling Islamic radicalism and deep hostility towards the US.

The Bush administration is now using the same script to intimidate and threaten Iran. Let us hope that logic will triumph over fear and our lawmakers will see fit to resist the failed policies of this reckless, dishonest and thoroughly incompetent administration. Finally, what is puzzling is the logic in creating 16 disparate spy agencies to perform essentially the same services. The average US citizen, armed with a calculator and a basic knowledge of the Iraq war would surely have come to the same conclusion and saved the treasury a great deal of money.

Torture American Style 9-21-2006

21, September 2006 Torture American Style 

Once again the Bush administration is pressuring Congress to serve as a rubber stamp to continue the despicable practice of torturing detainees. The pro-torture, anti-democratic neocons are attempting to slither around the Geneva Conventions humanitarian protections for detainees and thereby legitimize the CIA’s brutal interrogation tactics. Information extracted under torture is not only morally repugnant but worthless. A case in point was the rendition and torture of a Canadian citizen, Maher Arar. Mr. Arar was sent to Syria where completely false information was extracted under torture. Arar was completely vindicated by a Canadian Commission which issued a scathing report highly critical of both the US and Canadian governments. It is ironic that Syria, condemned for sponsoring terrorism, was selected as a target site for extracting information under torture! This should be a wakeup call for all Americans, especially we ‘brownies’ that may fit into a physical profile and merit unwanted attention from nervous security officials. 

It is laudable that Senator McCain and his colleagues are attempting to reign in the attempts of the Bush administration to gut the Geneva Conventions. However, what is critically absent from the McCain-Graham-Warner amendment is the absence of the writ of habeas corpus which gives detainees the right to challenge their detention. Abolishing habeas corpus would mean that anyone could ‘disappear’ and not be able to seek justice and protection through the US courts. This would be death blow to democracy and may serve as a brutal instrument to stifle dissent. This must not be allowed to happen. Congress needs to stiffen its spine and restore its oversight duties on this runaway presidency. Please contact your elected representatives and voice your support for the humane treatment of detainees and strict enforcement of the writ of habeas corpus.