This 4th of July, remember the truth about 9/11

As we celebrate the anniversary of American independence, the moment in history that best accounts for our blissful (albeit naive) impression that we live in the land of the free, it is more essential than ever to remember - indeed NEVER FORGET - that the key to regaining our independence is unleashing the TRUTH about 9/11.

With the benefit of hindsight, this article published in The Village Voice shortly after that black Tuesday - the day that Americans were sucked out of their Disney-like vortex, only to find themselves immersed in a bizarre and murderous matrix - raises some serious questions as to who stood to gain the most from the events that have since led our country down a path of endless war.

"Some moments define who you are. This is one of them." In the wake of last week's terrorist attacks, this assertion sounded grandiose, even distasteful, as the advertising slogan urging Jews to attend a pro-Israel rally scheduled for September 23. Last Wednesday, organizers called off the IsraelNOW Solidarity Rally, after months of national mobilizing and a massive PR campaign. The rally had expected to draw some 50,000 participants from all over the country. Billed as a "non-political" expression of UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT for the Jewish state, it was to feature Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon as a speaker. [emphasis mine]

In canceling the rally, officials from United Jewish Communities, the national umbrella organization, said they didn't want to overburden New York police officers after the trauma and exhaustion of the World Trade Center rescue efforts; thousands would have been called to the detail. More important, organizers said that such a display of support for Israel would be inappropriate at a time when America was reeling from last Tuesday's tragedy.

It would also have been redundant. NOW, SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL IN AMERICA IS OFFICIALLY ABSOLUTE, and Palestinians are cast once again as players in a global terrorist conspiracy. [emphasis mine]

* * *

From national networks to small-town newspapers, the view that AMERICA'S TERRIBLE TASTE OF TERRORISM will finally DO AWAY WITH EVEN MODEST CALLS for the restraint of Israel's military attacks on Palestinian towns has become an instant, unshakable axiom.

Such a point of view may have been expected from former Israeli prime ministers Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, WHO ALL BUT GLOATED ABOUT IT on American TV just hours after the twin towers collapsed.

At the same time, an editorial in Thursday's Rocky Mountain News offered new ENTHUSIASM for Israel's assassinations of suspected militants[.] 57 have been hit [!!!] in what Israel calls "pinpoint liquidations" over the last year. "How many Americans today would not be willing to authorize their own government to target suicide assassins before they strike?" the editorial asks and it replies, "The question answers itself."

Apart from the problem of violating international laws against extrajudicial killings [MINOR WRINKLE], the Colorado paper doesn't consider how Americans might feel about the killing of civilian bystanders, a frequent outcome of Israel's attacks and further fuel for Palestinian resentment and resistance, as has been suggested by some of Israel's own military commanders.

All this is old news you say. Indeed. Although, it begs repeating and remembering - over and over and over again. But, what follows is a first:

Phyllis Bennis, a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, sees such editorials as reflecting and consolidating American identification with Israel. "Apart from the strategic component of the U.S.-Israel relationship, there's a cultural and ideological sense that they are like us," she says.

"They are a DEMOCRACY, they wear the SKIMPY CLOTHES TO THE BEACH, and they're WHITE - at least the ones we deal with."

THAT is why the US is supposed to support Israel's murderous rampage against a defenseless people??? Because some Americans and Israelis are white and shameless???

On second thought, that sounds about right - at least the part about shamelessness. The 'white' part gives white people a bad rap and besides, semites are supposed to have olive skin.

In a catastrophe as incomprehensible as Tuesday's, she adds, there's a tendency to regard the perpetrators as people who don't participate in our common humanity.

IF it turns out that those perpetrators were indeed Arabs, "that exacerbates the us/them distinction.

People are not exactly subtle in their understanding of the diversity among Arab or Muslim nationalities and within those various nationalities. The result is a further diminution of legitimacy given to the claim of Palestinian rights."

The Israeli daily Ha'aretz quoted Sharon telling Colin Powell, "Everyone has his own [Osama] bin Laden and [Yasir] Arafat is ours."

* * *

It's a short step to a catch-all defense of any action taken in the name of quashing terrorism.

The syllogism is already impossible to challenge, says Bennis: "If you don't allow us to use F-16s against refugee camps, if you don't let us demolish homes, if you don't permit us to detain people without charges forever, WE WILL HAVE ANOTHER WORLD TRADE CENTER-PENTAGON ATTACK."

Is that a threat Ms. Bennis - or a promise?

Keep that in mind as you celebrate the values this nation USED TO represent this 4th of July. And remember that only the truth about 9/11 will set us free.