Mark's Web Site: A quiet place with just a bit of pretension.

I am on the mailing list of a peacemaking team that arrived in Jerusalem about the same time that the fighting between Israel and Hezzbolah broke out. They describe conditions that we would call atrocious, if we knew about them. The sewer system for West Jerusalem, where the Jerusalem Muslims live, is separate from the one used by Jerusalem Jews. And it is deteriorating. The wall that Israel is building for safety actually divides two Palestinian neighborhoods, keeping them separate for the safety of Israel. Crossing through the wall is akin to passing an international border.The discrepancies go on and if you want to learn more you can read the reports here: http://www.forusa.org/programs/ipb/CurrentDelegation.html

The point here is that we seem to allow an ever extensive level of abuse to our fellow human beings in the name of national safety. It is the same argument used throughout the ages to excuse the excessiveness of one group's domination of another. What is the difference between a radical group's policy of suicide bombing based upon religious belief and a state's policy of oppression based on ethnic origin? Is it related to the size of your weapons or the wealth of your friends?

One day we will discover that the war on terror is a war for people's minds and hearts. Why is it that bombing refugees living in an underground parking garage receive food and medical care from Hezzbolah? Where are those governments who would win the hearts of the victims here?

Call me a liberal, please. Tell me I don't understand that in order to fight the oppression of a superior power you must use terrorism. Tell me that in order to fight violent terrorism you must use unrelenting violence. I will tell you that if you want peace, like each side says it does, the first thing you have to do is stop killing.