FWIW :: My Political Views

Who decides what terrorism is? State terrorism, apparently, is a concept far too complex for most people to contemplate. But they should try.

Israel and Palestine : What may be incomprehensible to some critics of Israel regarding the Palestinian conflict is the double standard pushed by Jewish liberals and neocons – that is, the preferential right given to Jews to practice ethnic exclusiveness. They defend this apparent inconsistency by citing the Holocaust, a multi-purpose tool that is used against anyone who disputes the special rights that are claimed for Jews but denied to other ethnic groups. Note that the Israeli government stood with the Afrikaners, and not with the ANC, in South Africa. It seems to me that the Israelis have forgotten their own history and are engendering the same sorts of violence on Palestinians that they’ve always complained were inflicted on their own people. Turning the tables, in my not-so-humble opinion, doesn’t justify the deed.

The Middle East : As long as young people feel they’ve got no hope but to blow themselves up, we are never going to make progress. The problem is not one of religion or ethnicity or national borders (though it is often painted as such), it is the economic disparity between peoples, driven by corporate and national greed, that causes hopelessness and leads to violence, war, and terrorism.

Ireland : I find it amazing that while in Northern Ireland there have been 4,000 plus victims of terrorism, the Government of Great Britain has not recognised the victims plight. Indeed, the Government of Great Britain has, many times, been the base behind much of the terrorism in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland’s history. The Great Famine and the Clearings are not so easily forgotten as the royals and their Government would wish, and just mentioning such things seems to be taken as a great insult, regardless of what was done to the Irish victims and their families. To be a Catholic, or even a Pagan, in Ireland under English domination was to be a victim of State-sponsored terrorism. Even today, the brutality of the British security forces is screened from view by a monochromatic press campaign that demonises the IRA, yet fails to see and admit to what’s been done to the people of Ireland, and their descendants world-wide.

Cuba : The Bush Administration labels Cuba as a “terrorist nation” despite the fact that the United States has launched thousands of terrorist missions against Cuba, and has no evidence of Cuba initiating any retaliatory terrorist acts. Never mind the fact that the United States has invaded or intervened covertly in almost every Latin American country and overthrown dozens of elected governments. I’m no fan of Fidel Castro. I despise what he’s done to his own people. I deplore the lack of freedom for the Cuban people, their economic situation, their lack of internet access, and the fact that they feel they must take the ultimate risk and throw themselves into the sea to escape that nation, only to be returned to Cuba by the U.S. government once they get to the United States. These people have no place to go where they can feel safe, secure, and free… and we sentence them to prison (or death) by returning them to Cuba. Does that not make us just as bad as the nations we label as “terrorist”? And I haven’t even mentioned the illegal detention “camp” (prison) we have going on over in Guantanamo Bay Naval Station… that, in itself, is horrific enough to contemplate. Not only do military tribunals fail to afford the same protections as a civilian trial, but the U.S. government, which has a vested interest in getting a prosecution, devises the rules, appoints the judges, and is the sole avenue of appeal. Why do terrorism offenses (however those are defined and by whom) warrant different legal treatment than a civilian court? Also, keep in mind that no one at Guantanamo Bay, even after two years of detention, has been formally charged with any crime. I often wonder what the U.S. reaction would be were some foreign embassy in Washington to start detaining people within our own borders. I hardly think they’d look the other way.

BTW, do not underestimate the strength of your role as an individual. Even one person behind a computer, writing and speaking out on the injustices and violations of human rights world-wide, can make a difference. People who empower themselves to speak out, even against powerful governments and politicians, do society and democracy a great favor. I’ve written letters to the UN High Commission on Human Rights. I’ve pleaded the case of Native Americans on Reservation Lands. I’ve used this blog, too, to make people aware of many things that are going on in the world that they don’t see on their national news media. You can do those things too.

Sometimes, a still, small voice can be heard while giants shouting cannot.