From: Wade Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Date: Mon 16 Dec 2002 - 14:08:03 GMT
I mentioned earlier that I was concerned about any and all
radical elements relying upon causes to feed and allow their own
psychosis. This would now seem to be mirrored in this statement
from Arafat- and yes, I know he is constantly under pressure to
wiggle and squirm through opinion.
The memeplexes of tyranny and villiany have always been
parasitic. Religions are massive host farms with an artificial
class system.
Bin Laden enjoys royal status in this symbiocracy. The power
such people have has never been earned, in any real sense, but
supplied by privilege.
In order to counter the memeplexes of islamofascism and royal
privilege, what is needed? Here in the US, somehow we got some
of the people to see all of the time that blood is just red. At
one time, we got some of the people to see all of the time that
religion is not a civil truth, but, like Abe said, the all/all
combo don't happen.
Of course, anyone who thinks their hands are clean has another
form of psychosis, but, I suspect it is important to identify
those leaders who might be operating from (the ultimate form of
selfishness) madness and privilege.
- Wade
*****
Arafat Disavows bin Laden
By IAN FISHER
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/international/middleeast/16MIDE.html?pagewanted=
print&position=top
JERUSALEM, Dec. 15 — Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader,
sought to distance himself unequivocally from Al Qaeda in an
interview published today, warning Osama bin Laden to stop
justifying attacks in the name of Palestinians.
"I'm telling him directly not to hide behind the Palestinian
cause," Mr. Arafat was quoted as saying in The Sunday Times of
London, referring to recent statements by Al Qaeda leaders.
"Why is bin Laden talking about Palestine now?" Mr. Arafat said.
"He never helped us. He was working in another, completely
different area and against our interests."
The comments appeared to be Mr. Arafat's strongest denunciation
yet of Mr. bin Laden, and came as attacks attributed to Al Qaeda
have been increasing and as the Israeli government has expressed
suspicions that the group may be operating in the Gaza Strip.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Palestinian leaders have parried any
attempts to link their fight against Israel with Al Qaeda's
cause, out of worry about losing international support. Israeli
leaders, though, have sought to make the case that the attacks
on Israelis and terror attacks elsewhere in the world are
essentially the same.
Al Qaeda, which has in the past mentioned the Palestinian issue
only glancingly, claimed responsibility for the simultaneous
attacks on Israelis in Kenya last month, in which a bomb at a
hotel killed 10 Kenyans and 3 Israelis, and two missiles
narrowly missed an Israeli charter jet. A statement from a Qaeda
leader on the attacks said, "Liberation of our holy places, led
by Palestine, is our central issue."
In the article, Mr. Arafat is also quoted as dismissing as
"lies" statements by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel that
Al Qaeda is active in Gaza. On Saturday, Israeli officials
repeated the accusation, saying moreover that the arrests in
Jordan of two men in the slaying of an American diplomat there
proved that Al Qaeda had opened up a "second front" in moderate
Arab countries as the United States prepares for possible war
against Iraq. Two men who Jordanian officials say admit to being
Al Qaeda members have been arrested in that killing.
Israeli officials today confirmed their decision that Mr. Arafat
would not be permitted to attend Christmas ceremonies in
Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
Israel's position was announced today at the weekly Israeli
cabinet meeting, in which Israeli leaders also said they would
not pull their troops back from Bethlehem before Christmas even
while allowing tourists to go there for celebrations.
Mr. Arafat, who is in effect confined by Israeli troops inside
his damaged compound in Ramallah, about 12 miles away, had
attended Christmas celebrations for six years before 2001, when
he also was not permitted to attend. The decision today angered
Palestinian leaders.
"This is a continuation of the provocation policy that Sharon
had always used," Yasir Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian information
minister, said today. "I think he wants to please his
extreme-right constituency to show how much he is tough and uses
such methods."
Also today, three Palestinian men were charged with planning to
shoot down an Israeli government helicopter as it landed on the
Parliament building, and to attack Mr. Sharon's home. Officials
said the three men were arrested several weeks ago.
A court also gave long prison terms to four Palestinian men who
were convicted of being members of a terror cell that engineered
eight attacks that killed 35 Israelis. One of the four, Waal
Kassam, 31, was sentenced to 35 life terms; another received 50
years in prison. The attacks included the bombing at Hebrew
University last summer and a suicide bombing at a cafe last
spring.
Copyright The New York Times Company
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