Laying the blame
Yula Geredov ("Write On", GLW #466) claims that I have distorted the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by only providing the "Palestinian's account of the story". She claims that "blaming will not do a thing except intensify the hatred and prolong the violence".
By portraying the conflict as a spat between two equal contestants with "mistakes made by both sides", Geredov repeats the line we hear peddled ad nauseum from the liberal mouthpieces of the bourgeois media — the conflict is "difficult", "complicated" and it would be "foolish to blame only one side".
Thankfully for those more interested in accuracy and actually seeking to gain an understanding of the situation, facts are quite stubborn things and in this situation the facts are patently clear: Israel is a state founded on racism and the dispossession of the indigenous Palestinian population.
Israel's brutal military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip has led to the deaths of 686 Palestinians and 16,000 wounded from a population of just over three million. Almost all of those killed are civilians and around one-third of them children.
Around 50% of the Palestinian population are living under the poverty line of A$4 a day as a direct result of Israel's stranglehold over the Palestinian economy and the Israeli military checkpoints that make movement between cities and towns almost impossible.
In contrast, Israel's standard of living ranks alongside the wealthiest European countries, it receives more US aid than any other country in the world and the F-16s and Apache helicopters it uses to attack a civilian population — armed with little more than stones and a few rusty Kalashnikovs — are free gifts from the world's only superpower.
And what of the suicide bombings in Israeli cities? Unfortunately such actions speak volumes of the deep sense of frustration and powerlessness people feel as their lives are destroyed on a daily basis while the world sits idly by.
And stories of Palestinians celebrating on the streets at the terrorist attacks in the US? Palestinians overwhelmingly and unconditionally condemned the attacks, schools closed in mourning and people rushed to donate blood for the victims. Why? Because Palestinians know what it is like to face terrorist attacks every day of the year. Perhaps this is something you missed on your CNN diet.
No, Yula, the Middle East is really not that complicated. The first step in doing something to change a situation is to understand it, to analyse the facts. The root cause of the problem is Israel's occupation of Palestinian land and the system of apartheid it uses to perpetuate its control over the Palestinians. To deliberately obfuscate this point only "prolongs the violence", as you put it. Thankfully GLW is around to provide a voice for those attempting to explain and change this reality.
Ahmad Nimer
Ramallah
Palestine
Statement on terrorism
There are two paragraphs in the statement issued by the Democratic Socialist Party on September 13 that, in my opinion, should have been omitted or written differently.
The first one is "Our objection to this kind of terrorism is not based upon morality, but on the grounds that it does not work." It would have been more accurate to state: "Our objection to this kind of terrorism is built upon socialist humanitarian concepts of morality, and also that it is politically wrong as history has proved, and that the perpetrators are mad and bad."
The second statement that "socialists oppose any war on terrorism" should have read: "Socialists oppose wars instigated by capitalist ruling classes whose purpose is profit and the maintenance and extension of their political power. The instigators of the terror bombings on September 11 should be found, put on trial and given the punishment that is commensurate with the terrible crimes committed."
Bernie Rosen
Strathfield NSW
Woomera prison
I went on the recent bus trip to Woomera to protest the illegal imprisonment of innocent asylum seekers. I met many people on the trip and all were well informed, level-headed and with a full understanding of what has been happening in relation to our asylum seekers.
The protesters, who were tired and withdrawn having just completed an extremely long bus trip, all showed a great deal of common sense and magnificent restraint. It's no fun standing helplessly while innocent people, who are caged like animals, are water-cannoned and tear-gassed repeatedly.
The Woomera compound is commonly referred to as a detention centre. That is a very poor description indeed. The proper terminology is prison. Nothing more, nothing less. The organisation that operates the prison is a US prison company named Wackenhut. The prison, which is currently occupied by about 1300 inmates, consists of a series of simple buildings, is surrounded by large barbed wire cyclone fencing and is patrolled by trained prison guards around the clock. At night, Woomera prison is "lit up like a Christmas trees". It is a prison!
The protesters were "real" mainstream Australia. They were aged from their early teens to 79. They were of Aboriginal, Chinese, Italian, African, Canadian, English and Sri Lankan heritage. They were of many different religious beliefs. If that is not mainstream what is?
There are asylum seekers inside Woomera prison. No queue jumpers. No illegals. No one is illegal of course. The only thing illegal in Woomera is Woomera prison. John Howard knows it. So does Philip Ruddock. The UN is also well aware. Woomera prison is illegal. The million dollar question is, why is it still operating?
Murray Claringbold
Wantirna Vic
Disappointed
I'm very disappointed. I've reached a point in life when I can clearly see that only a truly socialist society will solve the large majority of the world's problems. I want to be part of a socialist movement. And then I read the article about the men's officer at the Tasmanian University Union (TUU) in GLW #466 and I question why I should join the DSP. Why do I think like this? Because I am a middle-class male.
I would really appreciate it if the myth that "men" do not constitute a disadvantaged or "special needs" group was not perpetuated in your paper.
But that is not the point I wish to make. The fact is that "men" as a group do not cause the problems relating to males. These problems are the same ones that socialism hopes to cure by defeating capitalism and ending the class system. That is, if no one is of low socio-economic status the problems will by and large go away.
It is not simply "men" who have most of the wealth and power in this unequal capitalistic society we live in, it is rich men (and rich women too for that matter). I believe seeing "men" as the problem tends to alienate those men who do want to change society for the better. I can almost believe that the "battle of the sexes" is something thought up and cultivated by the rich to divide us, just like racism.
Socialism will only succeed if it involves the majority. That must include the majority of men, of all classes.
Jim Moore
Adelaide [Abridged]
Out of touch
The Liberal and Labor parties have become one in the eyes of many voters. Many of us deplore the government's "blank cheque" commitment to the military support for retributive strikes by the USA in Afghanistan, without proper process of consultation with the Australian people.
The recent and ongoing inhuman treatment of asylum seekers, and the expedient passing of retrospective legislation (courtesy of the Labor Party's collaboration) to make it all legal, is to the minds of everyone I know, deplorable.
This parliament is largely out of touch with matters not defined within the parameters of economic rationalism or racial scapegoating. With the imminent election looming, there has never been a better time to prove that emerging parties can, with the support of the electorate, bring balance back to our parliament. Expect to see major swings away from the old two-party system. The alternative is a massive "donkey" vote or failure to vote altogether.
It's now time to include the leaders of the so-called "minor" parties, senators Bob Brown and Natasha Stott-Despoja and even Pauline Hanson, I suppose, more fairly into the pre-election debates and coverage. While Bob Brown is currently the only Greens senator, the Greens are fielding candidates in every electorate this time and are starting to look like the only alternative for even the most rusted-on Labor voters.
Andy Gough
Lismore NSW