This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
Maoist Internationalist Movement

Imperialists find excuses for war against Palestine

On January 25th, U.$. President Bush said he was "very disappointed" with Palestinian lackey Yasser Arafat in connection to what Amerikkkans and I$raelis are calling "arms smuggling." Faced with the prospect of having their excuses for warring on the Palestinians gone, the Amerikkkans and I$raeli$ came up with a new excuse they call arms "smuggling."

For months Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had said he would start negotiating with Palestinians after there was 7 days of non- violence between Palestinians and Israel -- and then, he got what he asked for and more. On December 21st, Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced a temporary cessation of hostilities, and of course the PLO did not attack either. Hamas did not attack again till January 9th, and even then the attack was against soldiers occupying Palestine, not civilians.(1)

Previously, U.$. officials all pushed hard for a cease-fire and a resumption of peace negotiations, but then the Palestinian people exposed this façade by implementing a two week cease-fire -- only to have I$rael refuse to return to nogotiations. The issue was never the tit-for-tat violence in the Middle East, because the I$raelis and Amerikkkans were never serious about peace.

MIM struggled mightily to find any justification for calling the import of arms into Palestine "smuggling." For the most part, MIM found no explanation in any Amerikkkan media, despite the universal acceptance of the idea of "smuggling" in international waters. Both Bush and English government leader Tony Blair had referred to Arafat as a head of state. Blair called him "President" of an independent state.(2) MIM could find no explanation for why importing 50 tons of weapons is something to be surprised by in a sovereign country in this day of capitalism and arms trading. Obviously 50 tons of weapons is a drop in the bucket compared with the sales and imports by the imperialist countries. Here is how the Los Angeles Times explained it with quotes from State Department officials: "'Every time we think he's [Arafat--ed.] about to do or say something, we instead see an organized attack by groups he hasn't clamped down on or Palestinian involvement in arms smuggling. And this isn't acceptable,' the official said."(3)

Reading between the lines, MIM would say that what Uncle $am is saying is that it is OK to get weapons and military intelligence from the United $tates or even I$rael, but it is not OK to get them from Iran. That appears to be the real deal, the neo- colonial root of the problem, that Arafat might be wanting other masters besides Amerikkka and I$rael. The bourgeois newspaper in England called "The Independent" had a different explanation: "Such shipments are banned under the 1993 Oslo accords, which prevent the Palestinian Authority from acquiring anything heavier than sub- machine- guns and require its police to confiscate unauthorised weapons held by militias or individuals."(4) MIM was unaware that anyone thought the I$raelis had obeyed the Oslo accords and hence the Palestinians should be held to them. "The Independent" said the above but did not comment on whether I$rael had killed the Oslo accords. Furthermore, since I$rael already severed ties with Arafat on December 13th, 2001,(5) we can see no reason Arafat should still be bound by the accords when I$raelis found the ship on January 4th, 2002.

When the I$raelis found the ship, it was 310 miles from the port city of Eilat. By all standards then, the ship was in international waters, not what I$rael claims as its own waters. The "Independent" said that the arms could then land in Egypt to pass to the Gaza Strip and Palestinian hands. Since the transfer did not happen, we do not know the final destination of the weapons in this world of secret deals and arms trading so well exemplified by President Bush's father's own involvement in cocaine and weapons dealing with Iran known as the "Iran-contra scandal."

On January 4th, the Amerikkkan negotiator for the Middle East declared himself "optimistic" about reaching a peace accord. The "arms smuggling" incident of the same day was the excuse that I$raeli militarists created to get out of one.

Notes:
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/articles/A14892-2001Dec21.html ; although I$rael continued to kill Palestinians throughout the December 21 to January 9th period, Amerikkkan mouthpiece CNN reported the story as a "lull" in violence broken only by Hamas on January 9th. CNN itself reported December 30th that I$raeli$ killed at least 6 Palestinians-- some "lull." 2. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns- worldtrade-arafat- lat.story; England's Foreign Secretary called for a Palestinian state in public in September, 2001, http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp? story=111205

3. "U.S. ponders sanctions on Palestinians," http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la- 000006411jan25.story? coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dworld http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2002/01/25/bush -arafat.htm

4. http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=112866
5. http://www.independent.co.uk/story.jsp?story=109848