[Peace-discuss] Letters to Tribune from Not In My Name Members

[David Green]

Message: 3
   Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 06:41:38 -0600
   From: Steven Feuerstein
<steven at stevenfeuerstein.com>
Subject: Two letters to the Chicago Tribune

Friends,

I thought I would pass these along in case you find
them helpful in 
your 
own writing to newspapers.

SF

First, a satirical commentary on Bush's response:

Dear Trib,

I was very glad to read that President Bush is "deeply
disturbed" by 
Israel's assassination by missile of Hamas founder and
leader Sheikh 
Ahmed 
Yassin. I was further heartened that the White House
spokesperson has 
made 
it clear that President Bush believes that "all
parties should exercise 
restraint and do everything possible to avoid any
further actions that 
make 
it more difficult to restore calm in the region."

Over the past several years, President Bush has made
it clear over and 
over 
again that he is "disturbed" by Israel's policy of
"targeted killings" 
that 
have taken the lives of dozens of innocent bystanders,
including many 
children. As a result, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon knows that 
he 
does not have a "green light" to assassinate
Palestinians and kill 
Palestinian children accidentally, no matter how many
times he does 
this, 
without President Bush being disturbed.

Perhaps we should all join together and send President
Bush packets of 
Tums; with all of these disturbances he is sure to get
a bad case of 
heartburn.

Next a response to the Tribune's very lame editorial

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0403230295mar23,1,4983999.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed

Dear Chicago Tribune,

I was surprised and disappointed at your editorial
regarding the IDF 
assassination of Sheik Ahmed Yassin (see end of
message for full text). 
You 
blithely dismiss or ignore the moral and legal issues
swirling around 
the 
assassination. You actually declare that even "if he
didn't mastermind 
every attack, he certainly provided much inspiration
for those who 
strap 
explosives to their chests." I hadn't realized that
providing 
"inspiration" 
was justification for assassination. What a horrible
concept to propose 
to 
your readers; I am shocked at such irresponsibility.

You don't mention that those many nations "quick to
condemn" the 
assassination did so largely on the basis of
international law. Is the 
Tribune no longer concerned about such laws? During
the invasions of 
Afghanistan and Iraq, many innocent civilians were
killed (though we 
will 
probably never know just how many since the Pentagon
doesn't keep count 
and 
keeps any information it has secret). Surely
embittered survivors could 
argue that President Bush "inspired" US troops. Shall
we assume hat you 
would understand if one of these people tried to
assassinate the 
President 
of the United States? Is there one set of laws for the
US and its 
friends, 
an another set of laws for everyone else?

And why don't you mention that Israel's "targeted
killing" policy has 
resulted in the deaths of dozens of innocent
bystanders over the past 
two 
years? Perhaps the lives of Palestinians are simply of
less importance 
than 
the security of Israel to the Tribune, since you
identify it as the 
only 
issue worth considering in evaluating the wisdom of
Israel's move.

Your virtually completely acceptance of Israel's view
of the conflict 
permeates the editorial. You blame the latest Hamas
bombing for causing 
the 
cancellation of talks between Ariel Sharon and
Palestinian Prime 
Minister 
Ahmed Qureia. That is ridiculous. Of course, Hamas
sought to terminate 
these talks with its terrible suicide bombings. The
Tribune knows that 
and 
Sharon knows that. So if Sharon was truly interested
in seeking a 
peaceful 
resolution, he would not use the excuse of this
bombing to cancel the 
talks. He would not give in to terrorism, but push
forward in the quest 
for 
peace.

You talk about Hamas gaining strength at the expense
of the Palestinian 
Authority without giving any indication of why that
might be taking 
place. 
No, wait. That's right. You mention that the PA's
finances are a 
"shambles." Perhaps the IDF devastation of the West
Bank during the 
Spring 
of 2002 (Operation Defensive Shield) and its ongoing
occupation of that 
territority, keeping Arafat essentially confined to
quarters, has a bit 
more to do with this situation? No, that doesn't seem
to be a matter 
worth 
mentioning to the Chicago Tribune.

You could have written a much simpler, more direct
editorial that makes 
much more sense on its face: The IDF could have killed
Sheik Ahmed 
Yassin 
anytime it desired. He is wheelchair bound and not
exactly in hiding. 
Thus, 
Sharon chose precisely this moment in order to
escalate the conflict 
and 
allow him to devastate the Gaza Strip before
(theoretically) he 
withdraws 
the 7,500 settlers from that war zone. No one believes
that by killing 
Yassin, Hamas will be destroyed. No one believes that
by killing 
Yassin, 
Israelis will be safer. Now we are all more fearful
and less safe than 
before -- which must be exactly what Sharon wants.

All in all, your editorial is a grand exercise in the
most superficial 
analysis, the most dubious ethics and the most
short-sighted of 
perspectives. You do your readers, Israelis and
Palestinians a grave 
injustice with your white wash of this terrible action
by Israel.

TEXT OF EDITORIAL

Targeting a terrorist . . .(. . . and deploying the
young)
Published March 23, 2004

Many nations were quick to condemn Israel's killing of
Hamas spiritual 
leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin on Monday. The image of the
wheelchair-bound 
cleric, emerging from dawn prayers and facing missiles
fired from 
Israeli 
helicopters, incensed thousands of Palestinians, who
marched in angry 
protest.

Yassin was the leader of a terrorist organization.
Hamas is dedicated 
to 
eliminating the state of Israel, and its weapon of
choice is the 
suicide 
bomb targeted at civilians. If he didn't mastermind
every attack, he 
certainly provided much inspiration for those who
strap explosives to 
their 
chests and board Israeli buses or march into Israeli
restaurants in 
order 
to kill the maximum number of innocents.

There may be hope that negotiations with Palestinian
factions will one 
day 
lead to a peaceful settlement in the Middle East, but
Hamas will not be 
part of a successful negotiation.

Indeed, its professed goals and violent means harm the
Palestinian 
cause. 
Last week, suicide bombings claimed by Hamas and the
Al Aqsa Martyrs 
Brigades killed 10 people. The intent was to stop the
resumption of 
talks 
on the "road map" to Mideast peace, and they had the
desired effect. 
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled planned
talks with 
Palestinian 
Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.

We'll skip the mourning for Yassin. We will, though,
ask this: What 
measure 
of security did Israel achieve in exchange for
inviting the world's 
scorn? 
The answer: None.

Indeed, Israel once had Yassin where it wanted him,
behind bars. He was 
sentenced to life in prison by an Israeli court in
1989 for founding 
Hamas 
and inciting Palestinians to attack Israelis. Israel,
though, released 
him 
as a goodwill gesture to Jordan's King Hussein in
1997.

The killing of Yassin sets back the effort to resume
peace talks and 
will 
likely help Hamas recruit more suicide bombers. The
terrorist attacks 
will 
continue, perhaps increase.

The impact of this on the power struggle within
Palestinian leadership 
is 
more difficult to gauge. Hamas has grown increasingly
powerful in the 
last 
few years, at the expense of Yasser Arafat's
Palestinian Authority. The 
Authority's finances appear to be in a shambles and
Arafat's grip on 
power 
may be tenuous. That was underscored earlier this
month when a magazine 
publisher close to Arafat was gunned down.

Israeli leaders apparently are gambling that the
backlash from the 
killing 
of Yassin, which began hours after the attack, is
worth the price. The 
price, though, is likely to be very steep.

In the wake of Yassin's assassination, it is all the
more urgent that 
Sharon follow through on his plan to withdraw Israeli
settlements and 
security forces from the Gaza Strip as part of a
unilateral separation 
from 
the Palestinians. Sharon has been trying to build
support among some 
reluctant hard-liners in his Likud Party for such a
move.

The killing of the leader of Hamas only underscores
that separation may 
be 
the only solution for a conflict where bloodshed
begets bloodshed 
begets 
bloodshed begets bloodshed.

Copyright © 2004,
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion//>Chicago 
Tribune


[This message contained attachments]



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Message: 4
   Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 13:28:07 -0600
   From: "Cindy Levitt" <cindy at clevitt.com>
Subject: My letter to the editor Chicago Tribune

I decided to write a short letter in the hopes it
would have a better 
chance of being printed.
================================
The assassination of Sheik Yassin should be condemned
by the US 
government and all people, organizations and nations
who believe in the rule 
of law. If necessary, capture and re-imprisonment are
options that no 
one seems to be talking about. Sharon's actions will
certainly lead to 
more death and destruction of innocent Israelis and
Palestinians.  The 
Tribune editorial does not deal with the flagrant
disregard of 
international law and human rights that should be the
basis for creating a just 
peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Your
editorial states "The 
killing of the leader of Hamas only underscores that
separation may be the 
only solution for a conflict where bloodshed begets
bloodshed begets 
bloodshed begets bloodshed." Surely, you do not think
that the separation 
wall will not bring peace between neighbors.
Assassination will not 
create safer lives for Israelis. Those of us in the US
who are Jewish and 
advocate an end to the Israeli occupation know that
the path to peace 
will not be found firing US made weapons into densely
populated Gaza 
City. 

Cindy Levitt


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