yeh I know its been over a year now. i get busy...

anyway...

on the death of Arafat--have we learned anything? The news media focuses on the fact that he's dead and that he now has successors. What's missing from the picture? He's being buried in a bombed out compound in a sealed off land, occupied by another State. His work for recognition has brought light to the plight of a people now without any real International recognition. If anything Arafat has served to embarrass the international community by being the patron saint of a lost cause. He was leader of an Occupied people. A proud leader who won recognition and promises and hope for the hopeless, but. . . .anything else?

"We must do something about the Middle East crisis, that's the most important issue facing us" a paraphrase of Tony Blair's recent comments. For how long have we heard this?

But is anyone really serious? More small arms and funds for weapons are sent to the Middle East than any real support for Peace. I fear that in the name of status quo and balance of power the world's leaders are happy to see Israelis and Palestinians suffer for the peace of the rest of the world. It doesn't make sense, but Occupiers and their friends can afford to have a guilty conscience.