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Tue. Apr 30, 2002

QuoteLog, 4/30

QuoteLog, 4/30 – "We all want justice. We all deserve justice. ’No justice, no peace,’ as the slogan goes. But in the Middle East, justice and peace have become mutually exclusive goals. The harder the two sides insist on getting justice, the more difficult it becomes to get peace. So hope for justice—even talk of justice—must be abandoned. There can never be justice for the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, a horror so profound that the world created Israel to give the surviving Jews a homeland. Likewise, there can never be justice for the millions of Palestinians turned into refugees after Israel’s creation in 1948. More recently, there can be no justice for the innocent Palestinians killed in the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank. And there can be no justice for the innocent Israelis killed by a suicide bombing on Passover. There can be no justice. Period. That may be hard to accept, but once you do, then maybe, just maybe, we can make our way to peace."

Jay Bookman, Atlanta Constitution

"Last Wednesday, April 24, an obscure deputy in the Iranian parliament went to the podium at 10:45 in the morning to read a prepared statement. Few in that hall could have known what was coming: a fatwa issued by one of the country’s most prestigious and revered religious leaders, the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri. His message was directed far beyond the boundaries of Iran, to all members of the Shia faith. It was a powerful and politically important message: Suicide terrorism is antithetical to the teachings of Islam, and those who practice it, and kill women, children, and babies, are doomed to eternity in hell. The struggle between the Palestinian people and Israel must be resolved by other means, above all by negotiations. A tumult broke out when the import of the statement became clear, but the parliamentary president permitted the deputy to read the fatwa in its entirety. The proceedings were broadcast live throughout Iran. Therefore, although no Iranian publication and, to my knowledge, no foreign-news service reported the event, the Iranian people were able to hear it in real time. This is an event of enormous importance, for it is the first time that a leading Iranian cleric has condemned suicide terrorism, and it is an explicit attack on the Iranian regime, which has praised the terrorists and called upon Iranians to volunteer for suicide missions."

Michael Ledeen, National Review

"A week ago Norway’s largest trade union, representing some 800,000 workers, declared a consumer boycott of Israel. It urged its members not to A week ago Norway’s largest trade union, representing some 800,000 workers, declared a consumer boycott of Israel. It urged its members not to buy Israeli goods and to reject invitations from any Israeli bodies. Supermarket chains promptly began labeling Israeli produce with special stickers to help the boycott, and truckers refused to transport Israeli goods from the ports. This week, a scheduled concert by a Hasidic band in Oslo was canceled – even though the band members were Swiss Jews, not Israelis [...] Author Yoram Kaniuk, who has been hosted in Oslo several times in recent years, said that when talk turns to politics, ’you discover bottomless hatred. The impression is that suddenly it is permissible to say anything – against Israel and against Jews … Have you ever heard them talk like that about what the Russians are doing in Chechnya, or about the oppression of 40 million Kurds?’ 40 million Kurds?’ "

Yair Ettinger, Ha’aretz

"The Navy yesterday awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a $2.9 billion contract over three years to begin replacing its aging fleet with more flexible high-tech ships that can better evade detection and operate with much smaller crews [...] The winning plan jettisons the traditional battleship shape familiar from old war movies in favor of boxy vessels with sharp edges meant to deflect radar. The ships would have less deck space and offer even less reason to venture there, because the guns would be operated by computer. The ships would be designed to sit low on the water so the waves could help mask their presence. Navy officials wouldn’t say why they chose Northrop over General Dynamics for the contract but said they were particularly fond of the two helicopter pads located on the rear deck. Northrop’s design also includes a ramp to launch 30-foot boats, capable of carrying as many as 20 people, for special operations [...] Under the plan, sailors’ standard of living also would be drastically improved. For example, three-tier bunk beds would be replaced with staterooms shared by as many as three sailors and outfitted with computers and Internet connections. Crew sizes would drop from 300 to 125, then eventually to 95. ’It allows the Navy to free up a lot of resources,’ Korman said."

Renae Merle, Washington Post