On Mon, 17 Sep 2001 05:20:35 GMT, “Rowland Croucher” <> wrote:>*********************************** >

>Dear Friends,

>I’ve had numerous emails from people asking me to help interpret the

>scenes they have watched of Palestinians ‘celebrating’ after the event.

>Yes, there were some gatherings of people, particularly in Nablus, who

>were shown in the very early hours of the horrible attacks in the US on

>the street, dancing and cheering, and passing out chocolate. But, these

>expressions were few and certainly did not represent the feelings or

>mood of the general population. The deep shock and horror of the

>Palestinian people, the real sorrow for all the dead and wounded, was,

>and continues to be, unseen by the world, particularly in the USA. It

>is the story unheard.

>

>Because those few scenes were disturbing, the easy response is to cast

>judgment on the participants, naming those ‘celebrating’ as inhuman,

>despots, or despicable. The more difficult response, though,

>particularly in the midst of grief, is to ask the questions about what

>might drive people, men, women and children, to such actions. One might

>remember that the people who were seen ‘celebrating’ are a people who

>for almost a year have been under a brutal siege, who due to the siege

>have been unable to feed their families and hover on the brink of

>poverty and despair, who have watched their children and their parents

>killed by bullets, tank shells and guided missiles, most of which are

>supplied to the Israeli Occupation Army by the USA. One might remember

>such things as one watches those images. Attempting to understand

>motivations doesn’t discount our feelings of anguish at such scenes, but

>does allow us to keep humanity a bit more in tack in a time of such

>utter brokenness.

>

>But, more importantly to me is what has mostly gone unseen by the

>American public. I have to ask why these scenes of a few Palestinians

>been shown again and again and again, as if they capture the ‘truth’ of

>Palestine. How few cameras have caught the spontaneous sorrow, despair,

>tears and heartache of the vast majority of the Palestinian people. As

>the news unfolded here on Tuesday afternoon about the extent of the

>attacks, people gathered, as people did everywhere, in front of

>television screens to learn as much as possible. My phone rang and rang

>as Palestinians from around the West Bank called to express their horror

>and their condolences.

>

“Israeli Occupation Army”???

Let me see now.

The British Mandate was never called an “Occupation Army”. The Turks who governed the land for over 300 years were never called “Occupation Army” The Syrians in Lebanon are never called an “Occupation Army” except by the Maronite Christians. The British in Northern Ireland are not called an “Occupation Army”

Why the use of highly prejudicial terms such as “Occupation Army”?

The only army in Palestine since the Jews in Roman times has been an “Occupation Army”.

Why is it that a people who regain their land should be called an “Occupation Army”??? The Koran confirms that the Jews belong in their land.

My daughter is in Israel right now. She saw Arafat being interviewed on TV where he expressed his “grief” at the WTC bombing. My daughter said, “it was really funny dad, the Arabs were cheering in the background”.

The Arabs were cheering when the Iraqi scud-missles were flying over-head and landing in Tel-Aviv. They were cheering and handing out sweets when the Sbarro restaurant and the Dolphinarium were bombed.

Why wouldn’t they cheer?

Les Brown

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