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alternative perspectives on the "war on terrorism"
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Apartheid in action: celebrating Israeli independence day in al-Isawiye
Neve Gordon, Yuri Pines, Catherine Rottenberg, Alternative Information Center, April 19th, 2002
At approximately 8:30 am, the Israeli police and military imposed a curfew on the village, located in north east Jerusalem just a few meters from Hebrew University’s Mount Scopus campus, and adjacent to Jerusalem’s French Hill. The 8000 Palestinians who live in al-Isawiye are Israeli residents; they pay Jerusalem municipality taxes - although they receive almost no services - and hold blue (Israeli) identity cards. Sick people who had left their homes earlier for checkups, children who were coming back from school, university students and others stood for hours waiting to enter the village. The police allowed these resident to enter, but in increments and according to the whim of the checkpoint guard. At around 4:00 in the afternoon the police stopped letting people in and imposed a total closure and curfew on the village. One couple returning from Sharei Tzedek hospital with their baby, who had been hospitalized for 3 days, were refused entry. They waited at the checkpoint until 2:00 am, when finally neighbors took them in. Ta’ayush members demanded that the family be allowed to return home, but were ignored. The alleged reason for the curfew was that a “terrorist was loose in al-Isaw.” However, most of the other Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem were also under curfew that night, suggesting that at least one of the reasons the authorities imposed the curfews was to make sure that Palestinians stayed home while Jews celebrated Independence Day.
[The complete article]
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September 11 and the declaration of a "war on terrorism," has forced Americans to look at the World in a new light. No one can afford any longer to define the limits of their concerns by refusing to look beyond this nation's borders. If the freedom that every American cherishes, is not to become a freedom bound within a fortress, then every American will need to understand and respect the needs and concerns of the rest of the World. To this end, The War in Context invites anyone with interest and an open mind to listen to the critical discourse in which the policies and actions of the Bush administration are now being questioned. This debate, which is engaging inquiring minds inside and outside America, will hopefully inform the development of a sustainable new world order - a world order in which America is as much shaped by the World as is the World shaped by America.
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