Twin Towers: A View from Israel
by Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom
More September 11 Victims
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 35,615
children died from conditions of starvation on September 11, 2001
* Where: undeveloped (poor) countries
* Speciality programs: none
* Newspaper articles: none
* Messages from the US president: none
* Solidarity actions: none
* Minutes of silence: none
* Rock Concerts: none
* Organized forums: none
* Messages from the Pope or other Christian leaders: none
* Declarations of the Islamic conference: none
* NATO declarations: none
* European Union
emergency meetings: none
* Alert level: zero
* Military mobilization: none
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In the past month, humankind has awakened to a new fact: there is no safe
place on earth. The Twin Towers are everywhere.
Not only Israel, but the whole world is now full of gibberish about
"fighting terrorism." Politicians and "experts on terrorism" propose to hit,
destroy, annihilate, etc., as well as to allocate more billions to the
"intelligence community." They make brilliant suggestions. But nothing of
this kind will help the threatened nations, just as nothing of this kind has
helped Israel.
There is no patent remedy for terrorism. The only remedy is to remove its
causes. One can kill a million mosquitoes, and millions more will take their
place. In order to get rid of them, one has to dry the swamp that breeds
them. And the swamp is always political.
A person does not wake up one morning and tell himself: Today I shall hijack
a plane and kill myself. Nor does a person wake up one morning and tell
himself: Today I shall blow myself up in a Tel Aviv discotheque. Such a
decision grows in a person's mind through a slow process, taking years. The
background to the decision is ideological‹religious, national or social. No
fighting underground can operate without popular roots and a supportive
environment that is ready to supply new recruits, assistance, hiding places,
money and means of propaganda. An underground organization wants to gain
popularity, not lose it. Therefore, it commits attacks when it thinks that
this is what the surrounding public wants. Terror attacks always testify to
the public mood.
That is true in this case too. The initiators of the attacks decided to
implement their plan after America had provoked immense hatred throughout
the world. Not because of its might, but because of the way it uses its
might. It is hated by the enemies of globalization who blame it for the
terrible gap between rich and poor in the world. It is hated by millions of
Arabs, because of its support for the Israeli occupation, and the suffering
of the Palestinian people. It is hated by multitudes of Muslims, because of
its perceived support for the Jewish domination of Islamic holy shrines in
Jerusalem. And there are many more angry peoples who believe that America
supports their tormentors.
Until September 11, 2001, Americans could entertain the illusion that all
this concerns only others, in faraway places beyond the seas, that it does
not touch their sheltered lives at home. No more.
Now the world's problems concern everyone in the world. Every case of
injustice, every case of oppression. Terrorism, the weapon of the weak, can
easily reach every spot on earth. Every society can easily be targeted, and
the more developed a society is, the more it is in danger. Fewer and fewer
people are needed to inflict pain on more and more people. Soon, one single
person will be enough to carry a suitcase with a tiny atomic bomb, and
destroy a megalopolis of tens of millions.
This is the reality of the 21st century that started in earnest on September
11. It must lead to a global awareness of the sources of all problems and a
global approach to their solutions. Not in the abstract, by fatuous
declarations in the UN, but by an endeavor to resolve conflicts and
establish peace, with the participation of all nations, with the US playing
a central role. And the world must, at long last, treat the festering wound
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is poisoning the whole body of
humanity. One of the wise guys in the Bush administration said only a few
weeks ago: "Let them bleed!" meaning the Palestinians and the Israelis. Now
America is bleeding. He who runs away from the conflict is followed by it,
even into his home. Americans, and Europeans too, should learn this lesson.
The distance from Jerusalem to New York is small, and so is the distance
from New York to Paris, London and Berlin. Not only multinational
corporations embrace the globe, but terror organizations do so, too. In the
same way, the instruments for the solution of conflicts must be global.
Instead of the destroyed New York edifices, the twin towers of Peace and
Justice must be built.
Uri Avnery is an Israeli journalist, peace activist and former three-term
Knesset member. He and his wife, Rachel, and Gush Shalom, have been selected
to receive the Right Livelihood Award --- the alternative Nobel Prize.
Back to Peace Talk Index, Winter, 2001-2002