ZGram - 1/9/2003 - "Who are the Terrorists?"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

January 9, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Your treat for today:

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http://topica.com/lists/infotimes/read/message.html?mid=3D1711672680
http://www.InformationTimes.com

WHO ARE THE TERRORISTS?
http://www.yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=3D968
Thursday, 2 January 2003

by RAFF ELLIS

(YellowTimes.org) -- Ever wonder how the government goes about
deciding who is a terrorist, or which organizations are terrorist
ones? The State Department, which accepts recommendations from the
Justice Department, designates who the terrorist organizations are.
It uses several laws and rules among which are citations in the
Immigration and Nationality Act, the Foreign Relations Act and the
U.S. Code. It's not easy to follow the trail because the various
pieces of legislation that come into play often refer to each other
with definitions that are, at the very least, often subject to
interpretation. There are currently 35 names on the State
Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations.
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/2002/12389.htm

In order to earn a spot in the terrorist directory, the offending
organization must be foreign (sub-national groups or clandestine
agents); must have engaged in premeditated, politically motivated
violence against noncombatant targets, or retain the capability and
intent to engage in terrorist activity; and finally, its activity
must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security
(national defense, foreign relations, or economic interests) of the
United States.

In the Immigration and Nationality Act, terrorism is defined as any
individual activity, the purpose of which is the opposition to, or
the control or overthrow of, the government of the United States by
force, violence, or other unlawful means. In the Foreign Relations
Authorization Act, terrorism is "premeditated," politically motivated
violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by a sub-national
group or clandestine agents. It further specifically defines the
murder or manslaughter of "internationally protected persons" as a
terrorist act. An internationally protected person includes the usual
heads of state, government officials, etc., but also embraces members
of international entities such as the U.N. and news organizations,
and any attack upon his person, freedom, or dignity is considered a
terrorist act.

The word "terrorist," it seems, has replaced "communist" as the
pejorative nom du jour in these times. Accusations of aiding
terrorists have become epidemic, not only in the U.S. but also
worldwide. Scanning the headlines around the globe, one finds among
those accused, in news stories at least, are foreign journalists, the
government of Pakistan, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, national
passport centers, UNRWA and a variety of Internet websites. But some
obvious candidates have escaped both press notice and the far-flung
net of American justice.

Recently, Israel's Defense Forces (IDF) killed Ian Hook, a British
U.N. official along with two other Palestinian United Nations
workers, in the West Bank. A U.N. resolution condemning this act was
vetoed by the United States. Well, you may ask, isn't this a
violation of our own rules governing terrorist activity? Clearly it
was but not only does our State Department turn a blind eye, it tells
its ambassador to veto the resolution condemning it!

There are many acts, such as the murder of journalists and
photographers, committed by the IDF that would easily qualify it to
be placed on our terrorist list along with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
But that would anger Israel's supporters, most of whom in Congress
can't wait for the signal to give Israel an additional $10 [to $15]
billion or so (also easily construed as giving material aid to a
terrorist organization).

But wait! Are there others, besides our Congress, openly providing
support to foreign terrorist organizations that aren't being
prosecuted? Yes, there are. The Israeli settlers in the Palestinian
Territories have committed many acts of terror against the indigenous
population. These deeds include murder, arson and theft of property
among other acts, all well defined in the U.S. Code.

Has the National Religious Party of Israel, the ultra-nationalist group
representing the settlers in the national unity government, been
designated as a terrorist organization? Of course not.

In addition, those fundamentalist Christians, namely the Robertson-
=46alwell gang, who trumpet their support for the Israeli settlers in
Palestine, are also giving material support to a terrorist
organization. They fund the transportation and maintenance of these
settlers who in turn take land not belonging to them from the
Palestinian people, uproot their orchards, steal their olives and
burn their villages. These supporters are in violation of the laws of
the United States pertaining to giving material support to terrorist
organizations but do not stand a chance of being prosecuted. It's a
lot easier to pick out those people with obvious Middle Eastern
features or names and create cases against them for donating to
suspect charities.

This, in small part, is why people in other countries have greatly
diminished esteem for America. They see many examples of double
standards in the application of laws, dispensing foreign aid, voting
in the U.N. and deciding which countries and organizations will be
classified as terrorist. But our government actually believes that
people are stupid and that good PR will easily overcome bad deeds.

Recently, the administration has commissioned a series of TV ads for
foreign broadcast that are meant to show how good the U.S. has been
to Arabs and Muslims. The commercials show Arab-Americans enthusing
about their freedoms, job opportunities and the respect shown by
American society to Muslims. As a shining example of this exemplary
treatment, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has required males
from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria, over the age of 16, to
voluntarily submit themselves to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service for fingerprinting, photographing and questioning. After
complying, between 500 and 1,000 of these people were thrown in jail
in southern California. In light of this action, the upswing in hate
crimes against Middle Easterners and the preventative detention of
unknown numbers of Arabs from around the country, the advertising
message is laughable at best.

In a blatant attempt to deny people the right of protest, our
minister of justice Ashcroft deflects criticism of his heavy-handed
usurpation of constitutional rights with an accusation of his own; "=85
to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty,
my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists for they erode
our national unity and diminish our resolve," he said in testimony to
the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Silly me, I thought that this country was founded on, and always
fought for, the right of dissent.

I have a message for Washington: The people aren't stupid! Not here
and not in the Middle East! No amount of PR is going to change that.

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[Raff Ellis lives in the United States and is a retired former
strategic planner and computer industry executive. He has had an
abiding and active interest in the Middle East since early adulthood
and has traveled to the region many times over the last 30 years.]