Word from a friend

Thu May 9 11:25:56 PDT 2002

My dear Tova,
dear OS-list members:

I was touched by your mail (and by the wise words of your daughter,
Shira). And you may be sure, my friend, that each time I ear of a
massacre caused by a suicide bomber, or by the Israeli troops
following the orders of Sharon - my thoughts and concerns are always
with you, and Avner, and your Palestinian friends and, more largely
with all Palestinians and Israelis - and not only with some of them.

I am sorry that in the middle of your distress, I have added another
distress, even if much less vital than what you all suffer each day.
Anyhow, I will try to clarify my thoughts, but I know that it is not
easy in the middle of the mess that is now the situation in the Middle
East.

But first let me clarify that we in Portugal and myself particularly have also
"bad guys" and we had much worse ones not so long ago. As someone
that fought the Portuguese fascism (before the democratic revolution of 74)
and that has been a member of the the liberation forces of Angola (the
political and not the armed side) against the Portuguese colonialism over
there (and probably I was one of less than 1000 whites, and less than 10
that have been born in Portugal, and not in Angola) I have a personal
experience of danger and distress.

(By the way Portuguese fascist government of the time called the
liberation movements in Africa "terrorists" even if I think that it was
the Portuguese colonial government and Army that were the real
"terrorists". And I think that this is an important point - today we talk
about terrorist groups, like Al Qaeda, but we normally don't talk about
"terrorist States" or "terrorist governments". And we should.

 From my experience of fighting under a fascist/colonialist government, let
me clarify that my question to Harrison's (and yours) friend was a rhetoric
one and that I would not ask you or her - in a public list or in private -
your
comments about Jenin. Nor would I advise you to talk about that over the
phone or over the internet - unless you and your relatives were in a neutral
and safe place... I am convinced that phones and Internet communications
are now under "control" in that part of the world.

Now let me tell you that - even if that is difficult - we have to make a
distinction from the feelings and suffering of each Palestinian and Israeli
and the political, legal and ethical responsibilities of each part involved.

In what concerns the political issue, I thing that you all are victims (like
in the ex-Yugoslavia) of the artificial division made by UN many years
ago, by the fact that UN has been unable to enforce their decision to
create two separated States over there, and, in the last years by
what I think is a criminal (and suicidal) policy of Sharon, and the criminal
help that Bush and the US government are covertly or directly giving to his
policies of Palestinian genocide.

IMHO, after the murder of the last Israeli prime-minister that really cared
for peace (and that has NOT been murdered by Palestinians), and later
Sharon's policy created a situation that has NO HOPE for many years
both to Palestinians and to Israelis. I am sure that many of the Israelis
that claim for peace understand this. And they are not only campaigning
for peace and justice to the "others" but also for their own security in the
long term that is being destroyed by a policy of war.

Second there is a legal issue. Legal issues, as you know very well, change
over time. And after a Spanish judge has been able to open a law suite
against Pinochet, and the genocide of Milosevic is in trial in an
International
court, one has to think that this possibility is now open to other suspects of
criminal action against humanity. There is a small movement in Europe to
try that the International Penal Court accepts a claim against Sharon.

But one can ask, and why not also against Arafat? If it is proved that he has
direct responsibility in ordering terrorist action, of course he will too. The
problem is that this is not easy to prove. The world, and the USA,
particularly,
"discovered" terrorism just recently. And they don't care about the
experiences
of others.

But in Europe we have a long history of terrorism. There is not one month
without a bombing attack in Spain done by the Basque separatists (or in
England by IRA). Would we put under court the prime minister of Spain (or
UK) because they are unable to prevent the terrorist attacks to be organized
in their countries? Would we decide to bomb Madrid (or London) because
their governments are unable to stop terrorism? (On the contrary, the ones
that have been arrested were members of the previouys (socialist) Spanish
government that ordered "terrorist actions" against the terrorists!!!

I am sure that Sharon and Bush are, so much as Arafat, politically responsible
for the Israeli attacks in Palestine and to the suicide bombers in Israel.
I am not
so sure if there is evidence to put anyone of them in court for crimes against
humanity. But I am convinced that it would be good for peace if all of them
begin
to think that they may be arrested and putted into court in any travel to a
foreign
country... And that's all from me in what concerns political and legal
responsibility.
But, of course, for the majority of us, that are far from the conflict,
this is only
a matter of discussion - but I know, from my passed experience, that it is a
matter of life and dead for the ones that live the situation there.

Now in what concerns a more general ethical question: I remember many
articles and even many posts in this list after the 9/11 saying that
the world would never be the same and everything should change.

Until now what we have seen, namely from the US government, is MORE OF
THE SAME but with greater intensity. But in corners that are not so much in
the open air different positions are growing up. Positions that have in common
one characteristic - they ask "What if" questions.

What if...all that we have been doing is wrong? What if we (in the
Occident) are the causes of our own problems? What if this is not
a problem of some distant countries (like Palestine, or Iraq, or
Afghanistan) but a problem of OUR civilization? What if we should be
ALL considered responsible for it - not only if we are doing something
wrong, but even if we are not doing ENOUGH GOOD?

The fact that this position is showing up largely is that I can find signals
of it even in a 14 year old girl... When your daughter asks

" because the only sane position in
this mass, were every one is right and does wrong, in not to be sure that
you know, and to look for what is right"

What I am trying to do, believe me, is only trying "to look for what is right",
knowing that probably I will be, at least partially, wrong, but someone
out there - in this collective intelligence that is growing up - will
eventually
correct me and approach the truth better than I can.

But after I have decided to search for this major "What if" questions, I came
to a major problem that I will only formulate now and will not try to discuss
any further in this moment.

My problem is: I cannot continue any longer saying: "I never discuss religion,
because religion is a matter of faith".

What if the dominant religions of the Occident are part of the problem?
What if they have always been and still are indeed the MAJOR part
of the problem?

Please think seriously about that for a while!

Best wishes to all of you and especially for those in the most affected
countries

Artur

PS: I will be out Portugal during one or two weeks, and without permanent
access to the Internet. I will probably not read and definitively not answer
to any posts before I will be back.

(Sorry if my English is even worse this time than normally... I have no
time for corrections, and I am already thinking in Spanish ;-)

*
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