The election that just took place in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip has been hailed as a great democratic achievement and breakthrough for the region. It is actually no more than a thin layer of light shaving foam which will soon be blown away by the strong winds of reality. What explains the widespread readiness of various groups to lapse into hypnosis and euphoria about a non-existent "window of opportunity" for peace? Some parties have sought to assert their consistency by exaggerating this opportunity. Their enthusiasm about new Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas merely justifies their former insistence that the late Yasser Arafat had been the key obstacle to peace. Others are gullible victims of an ongoing propaganda campaign waged by Israel and its allies since the failed Camp David summit in July 2000 that the Israelis have been waiting only for the emergence of a "moderate" partner with whom to rush towards the desired peace. Then there are those who adopt anything that holds promise for the Israeli line and embrace all developments that distract from Israel's actions on the ground. There are people too who believe that any activity — no matter how futile — will save them the embarrassment of cowardly inaction and shameful silence and some servants of power who simply want to jump on the bandwagon in case accidental, effortless progress gives them the chance to gain prestige or profit. A growing group forms the hard core of the international peace process industry — those who have grown accustomed to living as parasites off other people's tragedies, basking in luxury and benefitting personally as they move endlessly from conference to meeting to seminar, shuttling from one capital city hotel to another extruding hand-wringing statements and "initiatives" in their wake. They "exhaust" their precious time supposedly in the service of other people's interests but demonstrate none of the honesty needed to confront the growing crisis caused by Israel's intransigence. These factors and others account for the existence of the large, enthusiastic crowd who hail the new season of political manipulation and self-serving opportunism. A "moderate" is born and a peace settlement is at last knocking on the door. Unemployed Middle East envoys and their travel agents rejoice. It is baffling and unsettling that so many people can so easily succumb to fantasy and deception, but this is the mesmerizing effect of propaganda combined with power. As far as the Bush administration is concerned, it welcomes the engineered Abbas victory and believes, with the same dissociation from reality that drove Washington's plans for Iraq, that Abbas will be ready, willing and able to accomodate the full extent of Sharon's positions and that this could lead to a resolution to the conflict which avoids any need to put pressure on Israel and rids America of a troublesome burden. The Europeans, whose perception of the situation is supposed to be fundamentally different, have now adopted wholesale the anti-Palestinian view of Bush-Sharon: that the problem lies on the Palestinian side and that cosmetic change at the top will somehow magically push change on the ground. Just look at the latest "contribution" to the peace process from the EU. Following an attack by Palestinian fighters on an Israeli army facility in the occupied Gaza Strip on 13 January, which killed several Israeli subcontractors of the occupation forces, the presidency of the EU, currently held by Luxembourg, issued a statement condemning the action as "terrorist" and offering "its sincere condolences to the Israeli government and the families of the victims." By contrast, the EU presidency stayed absolutely silent when on January 4 Israeli occupation forces in Gaza killed seven Palestinian children with a tank shell, literally shredding their bodies to pieces according to eyewitnesses. Nor did the EU find it worthy of comment when the day following the Palestinian election, the Israeli army revealed a plan to demolish an additional 3,000 homes in Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. This activity has previously been condemned by Amnesty International and John Dugard, the UN's Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as a "war crime." And none of the endless stream of EU envoys has found it worthy of comment that Israel's deputy defense minister, Ze'ev Boim, recently threatened to bombard Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip with artillery to punish civilians for harboring resistance fighters. Last year Mr. Boim speculated that violence by Palestinians was caused by a "genetic flaw." Many others are too indifferent to take the mere responsibility of forming a position. They follow the easiest course: why should they be more royalist than the king? But what does this charade offer the Israeli leadership and the Palestinian Authority? It is hard to imagine that the Palestinian leadership is oblivious that the chances of any meaningful movement towards a settlement are nil. They may certainly take great comfort from positive comments on their choice of a likable leader, especially when such praise comes from great statesmen such as President Bush, who instantly opened the doors of the White House to Abbas. But they cannot be so naïve as to expect that Bush will retract his firm assurances to Israel that the facts Israel created in the occupied territories -- the ever-growing settlements -- are there to stay and that in accordance with Israel's desire to maintain Jewish ethnic dominance, Palestinian refugees will be banned from returning to their homes. Neither can the Palestinian leadership be naïve enough to think that from these extremist positions any peace agreement can be extracted. They must know that Sharon, whose expansionist positions are enunciated to the global public, will not allow any Palestinian initiative to take off no matter how moderate, and Washington will not pressure Israel to do otherwise. They must know that Sharon will present the new PA leader with impossible demands, which if he ever miraculously manages to meet will be instantly followed by ever more onerous conditions. Above all, the Palestinian Authority leaders must know that any possible agreement on the available Israeli-American terms will endanger their grip on power and therefore, contrary to what many may believe, it is in their keen interest to keep pushing it away. If for PA leaders a bad agreement is hazardous because it exposes them to charges of selling out, so is stagnation, which would indicate inaction and failure. Therefore the ideal situation is a "peace process" which is all process and no peace, all promise but no fulfillment, fueled by aid money from the European Union and the United States. This allows the leaders to buy time and exercise the luxury of authority without any specific responsibility. For this reason, the PA and the Fatah movement that dominates it rallied around Abbas, ganged up to discourage and intimidate any competition, and mobilized all their forces to protect their monopoly. With great political skill they succeeded in winning broad international support for their candidate by demonstrating their preparedness to end the Intifada and rid Israel of its most serious problem: Palestinian resistance to its ongoing aggression and occupation. These leaders seem prepared now, as they were at Oslo in 1993, to say and do whatever it takes to secure their position at the top. Hence the Intifada is a problem not only for Israel but also for the PA. If the ideal situation for the PA is an open-ended peace process, it also needs to be one conducted without the bothersome fact of Palestinian resistance throwing it "off track." What the Israelis and the PA have in common is that they see no urgency for a final settlement. The Israelis want time to complete the colonization of the West Bank, especially the huge tracts recently grabbed through construction of the apartheid wall. Israel wants no discussion of such final status issues as Jerusalem or refugees as long as there exists any slight chance that such issues might not be settled their way. So the convenient alternative for both parties is the status quo accompanied by endless negotiations. The big difference of course is that while Israel is deferring to consolidate its gains, the PA is deferring to satisfy its desire for power. The people are left to fend for themselves. Hasan Abu Nimah is the former permanent representative of Jordan at the United Nations. Ali Abunimah is co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and Electronic Iraq. Protect Babies from Abortion Rock for Life Message to President Bush: Take Action to Protect Babies from Abortion 1/18/2005 9:48:00 AM To: National Desk Contact: Amber Matchen of American Life League, 540-903-9572 or amatchen@all.org; Web: http://www.rockforlife.org WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- At this year's presidential inauguration, American Life League's Rock for Life plans to serve as a silent voice for the millions of preborn babies killed by abortion. "Domestic terrorism continues to claim victims on President Bush's watch, as thousands of babies lose their lives to abortion in this country every day," said Erik Whittington, director of Rock for Life. "We will be along the parade route to encourage the president to use his power over the next four years to help bring an end to the pain and suffering that abortion brings." "For several years, President Bush has issued proclamations for National Sanctity of Human Life Day," said Whittington. "It is time for the president to make a full commitment to the spirit of these proclamations and work tirelessly to bring an end to abortion on demand." Thursday's peaceful presence will be the first of many Rock for Life events over the course of the next week marking the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in this country. Many of the events will focus on getting young people involved and making their voices heard through activism and education. "America's young people really understand the harm that abortion does to babies and women, and are increasingly more pro-life than ever before." Rock for Life youth will gather on the corner of Pennsylvania Ave., NW & 4th St., NW in front of the Canadian Embassy at 8 a.m. on Thursday. The students' peaceful, prayerful presence is aimed at sharing the truth about the tragic effects of abortion. "Our message is that we are tired of the killing of innocent babies and we want President Bush to take a real stand for life," said Whittington. For more information, visit: http://www.rockforlife.org WHAT: Rock for Life peaceful, prayerful presence at the presidential inauguration WHEN: Thursday, Jan. 20 at 8 a.m. WHERE: Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. & 4th St., N.W., in front of the Canadian Embassy, Washington, D.C. -0- /© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ Sunday, January 16, 2005
Peter Paul Rubens Rubens show opens at the Met
January 14, 2005, 6:01 PM EST Perhaps the person most surprised to see an exhibition of Peter Paul Rubens' drawings would have been Rubens himself.
The 17th-century artist famed for his portraits never made his numerous drawings public, instead using them as a personal visual archive and starting points for his huge painted canvases. But a new exhibition of Rubens' drawings, many never before seen in the United States, offers viewers a unique look at an amazing talent and his artistic process. "Peter Paul Rubens" opened Friday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and runs through April 3. The show consists of more than 100 drawings taken from collections and museums all over the world. "He's very known for his large canvases filled with voluptuous nudes, but here you see a different Rubens," said Michiel Plomp, one of the show's curators. "Most of his drawings, you never see them, (so) this is a really a once-in-a-lifetime experience." Rubens (1577-1640) was a widely traveled and highly sought-after painter, working as an artist for the courts of nobility and even serving as a diplomat for Archduke Albert and Archduchess Isabella, the rulers of what was then the Southern Netherlands. Drawings were a part of his artistic process from the beginning, the exhibit shows. When he started his arts education as an adolescent, Rubens copied the well-known works of other artists. In Italy, where he lived from 1600-1608, he drew images from the classical sculpture he saw around him, as well as from the works of the greats like Michaelangelo and Titian. So important were his drawings to Rubens, Plomp said, that the artist stipulated in his will that they couldn't be sold unless none of his sons or sons-in-law became artists and would benefit from them. The Met show is organized both chronologically and thematically. It groups Rubens' drawings in different ways -- including the composition sketches, which show his initial visions for his paintings, with pages covered with the same figure in different poses; his portraits, which he never really enjoyed doing but still executed with a certain liveliness and grace, including a portrait of one of his sons as a toddler, and landscape and animal drawings. Even though Rubens considered himself a painter, his drawings are excellent in their detail and meticulousness, Plomp said. "He's among the great draftsmen of the world," Plomp said. "For our aesthetic of the 21st century, we appreciate his drawings better than his paintings ... he would have been shocked." Copyright © 2005, Newsday, Inc. Harry: It's a Mistake Not a Catastrophe
Trampling on History Months of war that ruined centuries of history Cherished monuments defaced and ancient inscribed fragments found in spoil heaps Maev Kennedy Saturday January 15, 2005 The Guardian Iraqi authorities will today take back responsibility for the site of Babylon in a formal handover from the coalition forces. But what they will inherit, say experts, is a catalogue of disasters. According to the report of the British Museum's John Curtis, the site has been severely contaminated and parts have been irreparably damaged. The report details: · damage to the dragons decorating the Ishtar Gate, one of the world's most famous monuments, from attempts to prise out the relief-moulded bricks · broken bricks inscribed with the name of Nebuchadnezzar lying in spoil heaps · the original brick surface of the great processional route through the gate crushed by military vehicles · fuel seeping from tanks into archaeological layers · acres of the site levelled, covered with imported gravel - which Dr Curtis said would be impossible to remove without causing further damage - and sprayed with chemicals which are also seeping into the unexcavated buried deposits · thousands of tonnes of archaeological material used to fill sandbags and mesh crates, and equally damaging, when that practice stopped, thousands more tonnes of material imported from outside the site, contaminating the site for archaeologists forever. Babylon, capital of the Babylonian empire, site of the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was rediscovered by archaeologists in the 19th century, but has inspired legends for thousands of years. It was the capital of two of the most famous kings of all time, Hammurabi, who ruled from 1792 to 1750BC, and introduced the world's first code of law, and Nebuchadnezzar, ruler from 604 to 562BC, who rebuilt and doubled the size of the city and built the hanging gardens. Dr Curtis, head of the Department of the Ancient Near East at the British Museum, has worked as an archaeologist in Iraq for decades, and directed many excavations. He was back in Baghdad in 2003 as soon as the bombs stopped falling, when the British Museum led the international effort to assess the damage and losses from the looted national museum. He returned to Babylon last month at the invitation of the Iraqi authorities, and inspected it with a team of Iraqi archaeologists. However, he was still not able to inspect the entire site, as part of it is still fenced off and mined. He therefore warns - in what one archaeologist who has read the report described as "the killer phrase" - that his report "should not be seen as exhaustive, but is indicative of the types of damage caused". The military camp was established by the American forces in April 2003, and damage was already visible when Dr Curtis first visited part of the site that June. The same contractors, Kellogg, Brown and Root - a subsidiary of the American civil engineering corporation Halliburton, of which the US vice-president, Dick Cheney, is a former chief executive officer - were used to develop and maintain the site throughout, as it grew to a 150-hectare camp, housing 2,000 soldiers. This was officially handed over to Polish forces in September 2003. His 14-page report, which includes maps and was compiled during a site visit in December, lists dozens of examples of visible damage. In a walk through the ancient city he observes damage to: The Ishtar Gate One of the most famous monuments of antiquity. It was excavated in the 19th century by German teams; the upper glazed parts of the gate are in a Berlin museum. However, the monument was so important to the Babylonians that the foundations, deep underground and never visible in antiquity, were also decorated with beautifully modelled dragons and inscriptions. He reports 10 separate areas of damage to the moulded brick reliefs. "It has been suggested that most of the damage [to figures on the gate] was caused ... by a person or persons trying to remove a decorated brick," he says. The "Warsaw" Gate Two 20-metre long trenches have been dug here. "In the piles of spoil alongside the trenches there are many fragments of brick, some with inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar," the report says. One brick clearly has an inscription which reads: "Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, who provides for Esagila and Ezadila, the el dest son of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, am I." The "Reno" gate At one point, outside the base entrance nicknamed the "Reno Gate", he found a 200-metre stretch of road, lined with the mesh baskets "that have clearly been filled with deposits from the Babylon site, containing sherds, bones, etc." The processional street Two areas of 6th century BC brick pavement, part of the processional street, are exposed in this area. "In both cases the bricks are badly broken. This is thought to be the result of a heavy vehicle or vehicles driving over them. If this is so, it is likely that the bricks still covered by earth are similarly damaged." The Ziggurat Trenches have been dug into the ziggurat, one of the stepped pyramids which were one of the most distinctive Babylonian monuments and gave rise to the legend of the Tower of Babel. "Much pottery and many fragments of brick with cuneiform inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar were observed in the bank of spoil" next to the trench. Other observations include: an old car park vastly expanded to make a helicopter landing zone and parking lot, all flattened and gravelled, old tracks covered in new stones, now deeply rutted from heavy vehicles, large areas scooped out to a depth of two metres to obtain material to fill the sand bags and metal baskets and earth mounded up to protect six fuel depots, which also show evidence of leakage. The most serious damage may be invisible, the contamination and disturbance of areas which have never been excavated, which may mean that many of the secrets of Babylon, including the site of the hanging gardens, may never be resolved. In his conclusions Dr Curtis says: "A full-scale international investigation should be launched into the damage done to the archaeological site of Babylon during its occupation by coalition forces." All mines and ordnance must be cleared, and all disturbed areas investigated and recorded by archaeologists appointed by the Iraqis, he says. Babylon has never been on the Unesco list of world heritage sites. "Now more than ever Babylon needs the care, attention and advice that being a world heritage site would ensure it received," he says. Dr Curtis said it was not possible for him to determine at which time, and by which forces, damage was caused: a separate report has been compiled by Polish archaeologists. A further report is being compiled by the Iraqis on the damage to Saddam Hussein's palace, built in a corner of the site, and which had already been looted before allied forces began camping out in the shell. The site had such symbolic importance to Saddam that he rebuilt many of the walls and gates, using bricks stamped with his name, many of which have been stolen. Dr Curtis, back in his office in the British Museum, refused to say who should pay for the damage, but said: "The Iraqis simply do not have the resources to tackle the scale of this site, an international effort will clearly be needed." Friday, January 14, 2005
Little Footprints In Our Heart Tribute to Jane Gravestone placed at burial site of unidentified baby Special to The Sun  n a warm January afternoon, the sun peeked from behind clouds to set a baby's grave aglow.Almost 18 months since Baby Jane's burial, eight people gathered around a small patch of earth Thursday to remember a baby with no name. A private ceremony was held at Evergreen Cemetery to lay a 400-pound granite gravestone over the unmarked grave. "We thought it was important to complete the burial process," the Rev. Lynwood Walters said after offering a prayer. Inscribed on the marker are two angels and the date when Baby Jane's body was discovered floating in a pond in northwest Alachua County. Excerpts from poems and prayers, including those from a note written by the man who found the dead baby, also are inscribed on the marker. An area has been left blank to one day inscribe her name. "That way it'd be proper to put her real name on there and not her victim's name that the state gave her," said Paul Anderson of Milam Funeral Home. The grave was not marked earlier because it was hoped someone would come forward and identify the baby, Anderson said. On Aug. 20, 2003, Baby Jane's decomposed body was found floating face down in a former catfish pond off a dirt road. Deputies believe she was about 2 weeks old when she died, but she may have been as old as five months. Autopsy results indicated she was 22 inches long and had dark hair. It is believed she was in the pond from 36 to 48 hours before she was found. The cause of death is still unknown. On Jan. 7 the Alachua County Sheriff's Office announced that DNA results identified Baby Jane's race as African-American and Caribbean descent. Detectives combed more than 600 birth records from Alachua and neighboring counties for the months preceding the discovery of Baby Jane's body. After months of interviews, detectives whittled that number down to about 50, but after the discovery of her race, possible identities have been reduced to eight, officials said. The O.T. Davis Monument Co. donated the marker, and Derrick McClain carved the inscription. Davis' daughter, Lorrie Jones, drew the angels inscribed at the top. Pam Gamley, of the Evergreen Cemetery, said, "A lot of people come out and ask, 'Where's the baby's grave?' It's a testament to how people in this community feel about this baby." At the head of Baby Jane's grave is a small statue of an angel with a note signed simply Kathy: "Some people come and go in our life and are quickly forgotten. Some leave tiny footprints in our hearts that will stay forever. I will never forget you." Al Tomes, the man who found Baby Jane's body on his property, held back tears as he stood silently by her grave. "It's strange for a man who never had kids. It hits hard," he said. "Every day I (have) to go by the spot where we found her. Every day I blow her a kiss."
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ove doesn't just hurt in the jagged German romance 
