:: Diary of an Aging Protester ::

:: 5.26.2003 ::

A Tale of Two Women
Naomi Klein's report about the difference in US admin and media's reaction to Jessica "I'm Going to be the subject of an ABC Monday Night Made for TV Movie" Lynch and Rachel Corrie in the Guardian makes clear how the press here distorts and emphasizes specific stories in order to placate any possibility of a critique against Israeli control and destruction of the occupied territories and to keep the flags waving since 9/11. The article also shows how gender is used to mastermind certain kinds of hero worship--woman as warrior--over others--woman as peace activist. It's interesting that we can view Jessica's narrative as a new one emerging in the theater of war that has traditionally been assigned to men, yet the woman warrior has become a common trope particularly among computer gamers; thus, Jessica becomes-the Lara Croft of the Iraq War. Yet sadly rampant sexual harrassment and violence against women in the military occurs on a frequent basis and is often silenced and rarely reprimanded.

We're on the Road Map to Nowhere...
Reading articles like Klein's, and seeing the blatant ways that the US media and the admin. condone Israel violence through silence and erasure, makes me think that this 'road map' is just an attempt by Bush to pander to Arab concerns, (because he has to--american lives are at stake in the Middle East and the US), yet his agenda is to get Jewish votes for the upcoming election, esp. if Leiberman is in the running, so eventually he'll end up paying lip service to Palestinians while making Israeli's concerns the main focus. Bush has been playing this same janus-faced card for 2 years now with other issues such as stem cell research. It's all about getting the votes rather than doing anything as sincere as making a stand on an issue. Then again I'm assuming that he can have any kind of opinion that is not informed by Al-Anon ideology.

I know I'm being grossly cynical but the agreement to the road map to peace among Israeli cabinet members was only agreed to with the qualification of looking into 14 areas of concern. This doesn't bode well, folks. I mean, the Israeli cabinet agreed to the road map on their terms (the road map is intended to be non-negotiable) which means it wasn't an agreement, but a begrudgement. Yes, the right wingers are pissed, but I don't see why. Sharon has already indicated that refugees will not be able to return to pre-1948 lands they once possessed, and that settlements will continue to be built that have already been planned...so I'm not really seeing what Israeli right wingers have to sacrifice other than a future where Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank could live with human dignity, self-respect, economic opportunities, and political representation as they do.
:: posted by Doreen on 1:55 PM [+] ::
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