From the heart – Bush’s new Middle East!’

Well, I am back again after a long break. I had hoped in this week during which we celebrated another anniversary of slave emancipation to share some continuing thoughts on these annual celebrations, examining in the process the impact they are or are not having and pointing to the direction I think we need to go. However, I am being haunted daily by the frightening and horrific images coming from Lebanon and Gaza. I write today on this emancipation holiday knowing fully well that by the time this paper hits the street, a lot would have happened, perhaps for the worse. I write as I see it.{{more}}

Can anyone look at those images of slaughtered innocent women and children that appear regularly on our television screens and not be appalled by the gruesomeness, inhumanity and callousness? Meanwhile, a few lame expressions of dismay come from the Christian and Western world but with little movement to stop the revolting scenes. Nothing, of course can be done while the most powerful man on earth, so they say, and his dear friend Condolezza openly, although indirectly, give the green light to this massive slaughter of civilians. Do you believe that the epithet terrorist can only be used against Hezbollah fighting against Israeli occupation of Arab land? Despite Condolezza’s absurd mutterings there can never be a lasting peace until Israel fully surrenders control of acquired lands.

The struggle will continue for regardless of what happens to the current members of Hezbollah others will continue the fight, for Israeli and American actions create more recruits for Hezbollah, every minute of the day. In fact, Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, is now the most popular figure in the Middle East. What do you expect from young people looking at their parents and relatives being murdered in cold blood? Israel is allowed to do virtually anything in the interest of protecting its territory, but those who are fighting to recover their lands are dubbed terrorists. Remember even those who had fought against the evils of apartheid were described as terrorists. Admittedly, the line blurs between those who might be called terrorists and those who fight to defend their land and their rights.

The Middle East is really once again on fire and the President of the United States of America cannot escape a lot of the blame for this sordid state of affairs. When he invaded Iraq, his mission, he said, was to create democracies in the area, about which President Vladimir Putin reminded him when he informed Bush that he didn’t want to have a democracy like Iraq. But really, George Bush is the only world leader that can have any control over the Israelis, because it is America that pays for and supplies the arsenal and wherewithal to allow Israel to do what it does best.

Someone who should have been a source of pride to black people, since she occupies one of the highest jobs in the USA and the world, is now turning out to be an embarrassment. I speak of Condolezza Rice, who is one of the instruments being used by the Bush ‘elite’ to attempt to complete their dominance of oil and control of the Middle East.

It is likely that a cease-fire can take place by the time this issue of the paper reaches the streets. Condolezza Rice, will probably be the key figure in achieving this, for after all she is the American Secretary of State. But even if that happens, it will not erase the callousness she displayed and the encouragement she gave to the Israelis.

Rice and Bush and their cohorts speak with forked tongues. When you hold positions of power and authority one expects that you will display the responsibility that goes with it. Instead they are sacrificing the lives of thousands of innocent people by giving the green light to Israel to destroy Hezbollah, the group that had the spine to take the struggle to the Israelis.

All of this is not to evade the issue that led to this current phase of the struggle, that is the capture of two Israeli soldiers. There are two matters here.

One is that the Hezbollah action has to be seen in the context of a broader struggle involving Israel and the Arab world.

The massive destruction of Lebanon and savage attacks on Gaza and the assassination of so many people are clearly out of proportion to the initial incident that sparked off all of this.

There is also so much hypocrisy involved here. I share the view being expressed increasingly by many that Israel and the US are guilty of war crimes. Just think of the number of innocent civilians killed and the attacks on the UN headquarters. These were not mistakes. They were deliberate acts by people who have gone wild.

Where will this all end is anyone’s guess. It can get completely out of hand and create even more negative consequences for the rest of the world and for us here.

Meanwhile, the US frustrates efforts by the UN to demand a cease-fire. Let us see what will be their next move. Their hope obviously is that by the time they are forced by world opinion to make a serious move, Israel would have achieved what both of them set out to achieve in the first place. After all, this is supposed to be Bush’s ‘new world’ order.