Last May, a bill was introduced in the U.S Senate and the House of Representatives requiring the President to periodically transmit to Congress a report on anti-American incitement to violence in the Middle East. This bill was passed in December. I would have decided to ignore this issue, had it not been for the fact that the U.S Supreme Court is looking into cases brought by local groups seeking to provide training in peaceful dispute resolution to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), and had it not been for the motion by a Congressman to collect signatures for a petition demanding the Palestinian National Authority to prevent the incitement to hatred against Jews on the Palestinian television. The freedom of the press and the freedom of expression are fundamentally protected by the American Constitution and its amendments; however, these laws apply to all groups on earth including the Kurds and the Tamil, but not to the Palestinians. I shall write about Stephen Rothman and his concern for the Jews tomorrow, but today, I will begin with the issue of anti-American incitement to violence. In truth, I can sum up this whole issue in two sentences, and say that the U.S policy in the Middle East is in itself anti-American incitement to violence. Of course, the belligerent here is the Bush administration, and not the Obama administration, along with the Congress which has incessantly endorsed wars against Arabs and Muslims, including the war on Iraq which was waged for oil related and Israeli premises. This war has so far consumed the lives of nearly one million Iraqis, according to American and British figures, and five thousand young American men and women. It is now established that the administration had falsified the premises leading up to the war and misled the American people and their elected representatives. Also, we are yet to see the Congress taking steps to try Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their henchmen, as war criminals. The bill against incitement mentions that the freedom of the press and freedom of expression are the foundations of free and prosperous societies worldwide, but that with the freedom of the press and freedom of expression, comes the responsibility to repudiate purveyors of incitement to violence. I don't have any problems with this statement, and I go further and denounce al-Qaeda's incitement to terrorism along with that of all similar terrorist organizations, specifically with regard to its war against ‘Jews and Crusaders'. But I ask here, would the misled Muslims youths have believed al-Qaeda, had it not been for the repercussions of the U.S policies against Arabs and Muslims? Also, how many terrorists were there before, then after Bush's wars? The bill mentions after that the media in the Middle East, and the influence of television, mentioning by name Al-Manar, Al-Aqsa and Al-Zawra. In fact, I do not receive the last two television stations in London; however, Al-Manar is affiliated with Hezbollah, and as far as I know, Al-Manar incites action against Israel and not the United States. However, the American congressmen are yet to realize that their country's interests do not go hand in hand with those of Israel, and may even conflict with them and contradict them, and that the Congress's blind support for Israel is the permanent excuse used by [anti-American] instigators. The U.S Congress must instead serve the interests of the United States without considering those of Israel, in order to dismiss the accusation that the Capitol Hill is Israeli occupied territory, as Pat Buchanan once said. Next, the bill mentions that the United States must urge all governments to oppose transmissions by al-Aqsa TV, al-Manar TV, and al-Rafidayn TV, and I do not know whether the latter station is Al-Zawra, or whether it is another Iraqi station that I cannot receive in London. Once again, I object to inciting hatred against the United States; however, I want to scrutinize the portrayal of these TV channels as outlets owned by groups that the Congress considers as terrorist. I want to say here that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Therefore, while the Congress views Israel as being democratic and Hamas and Hezbollah as being two terrorist organizations, I view Israel as a terrorist state that occupies, murders, destroys and steals the homes of the Palestinians, and Hamas and Hezbollah as two national liberation organizations that are confronting Israel's terrorism. Moreover, the Congress's classification is not gospel, nor is it divine revelation. The bill after that calls on the President to submit a country-by-country list and description of media outlets that engage in anti-American incitement to violence to Congress. I call on Congress to conduct a public opinion survey in the countries it identified as making up the Middle East, with the help of Gallup, Pew or Zogby, to learn about the reasons behind anti-American incitement to violence. I bet that the first and most important reason will be found to be none other than Israel. This is because the blind support for Israel, even when the latter is led by an extremist fascistic government, is in itself enough cause for anti-Americanism, without the need for any media outlets to engage in incitement to violence. In truth, the peoples of the region will never forget that Congress almost unanimously endorsed both the Lebanon 2006 War and the Gaza War last year, even when Israel was killing women and children. In other words, the Congress which is seeking to stop anti-American incitement to violence is itself one of the causes of this incitement. I remember a day when our relations with the United States were good, and a day when we used to identify with its ideals of freedom in the face of European colonialism. But then Israel became part of this relation and managed to ruin it. Since then, Congress has supported Israel against us, to the point that I personally consider the Israeli Knesset to be better than both houses of the U.S Congress, since there are far more moderates in the former than in the latter. In the end, I want to say that incitement will never be eliminated by one, or indeed ten, bills. Rather, it can be only eliminated by removing its very causes. I shall continue tomorrow with congressman Rothman. [email protected]
