STOP ISRAEL'S REIGN OF TERROR

“As Michael Ben-Yair, Israel's attorney general between 1993 and 1996, wrote in Haaretz earlier this month: ‘The intifada is the Palestinian people's war of national liberation. We [Israel] enthusiastically chose to become a colonialist society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities... we [Israel] established an apartheid regime.’” (Observer, 3/31/02) In the past several weeks, the Israeli campaign of violence against the Palestinians has escalated far beyond any previous incursion. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the month of March by Israeli soldiers, tanks, snipers, and bombs. The day-to-day existence of Palestinians has become unbearable, as roadblocks, checkpoints, border closures, curfews, and increasing military presence make movement impossible. But Israel has gone even further – demolishing homes, targeting emergency vehicles, creating mass detention centers, and even arbitrarily rounding up Palestinian men between the ages of 15 and 60. Now, as the international community haggles over the details of the Saudi peace plan, their version of peace means appeasing the Israeli government and watching as Palestinians are slaughtered. The current detention of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah and the summary execution of 50 Palestinians in broad daylight belie Israel’s claims that it wants peace. Now, Israel has even closed off Ramallah to all international press, thus making it impossible for people to see what Israel really has to hide: the brutality of its occupation. Come to the next meeting of the International Socialist Organization and talk about how we can fight for genuine liberation for the Palestinian people here in the heart of Israel’s closest and wealthiest ally. “Now we have an Israeli officer - according to the Israeli daily Ma'ariv - advising his men to study the tactics adopted by the Nazis in the Second World War. ‘If our job is to seize a densely packed refugee camp or take over the Nablus casbah, and if this job is given to an (Israeli) officer to carry out without casualties on both sides, he must before all else analyse and bring together the lessons of past battles, even - shocking though this might appear - to analyse how the German army operated in the Warsaw ghetto.’” (Independent, 3/30/02) Also, come to the rally on April 9th at noon on Sproul Plaza to demand an end to the University of California’s connections to Israeli apartheid. For more information, please check out our website www.internationalsocialist.org