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War: Big Government's Best Friend: The biggest killers on <strong>the</strong> planet<br />

Mumia Abu Jamal - Stateless State<br />

Just days after U.S. made Israeli F-16’s bombed homes and buildings<br />

in Gaza, verbal bombs have been launched at <strong>the</strong> West Bank – Palestine’s<br />

o<strong>the</strong>r half – for daring to go to <strong>the</strong> UN to try to gain a stepping stone to<br />

statehood.<br />

The Palestinian political representatives from <strong>the</strong> West Bank,<br />

including former PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) head,<br />

Mahmoud Abbas, won <strong>the</strong> designation <strong>of</strong> a “non-member state” in <strong>the</strong> UN,<br />

<strong>the</strong> closest thing <strong>the</strong>y’ve come to statehood since <strong>the</strong> Israeli occupation<br />

began in 1967.<br />

The United Nations voted 138 in support, 9 against, and some 40<br />

states abstaining. The US and Israel political and media classes<br />

immediately damned <strong>the</strong> vote, claiming it was an impediment to <strong>the</strong> socalled<br />

‘peace process’.<br />

In fact, it was <strong>the</strong> peace process that was all but dead, moribund after<br />

decades <strong>of</strong> talks that streng<strong>the</strong>ned Israel while leaving Palestinian lands<br />

broken, walled and under a wave <strong>of</strong> repression that barely allows it to<br />

brea<strong>the</strong>.<br />

The UN vote showed how most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> world’s nations couldn’t bring<br />

<strong>the</strong>mselves to vote against Palestinian efforts. Again, only 9 countries, <strong>the</strong><br />

US, Israel, Canada and islands like Micronesia voted against <strong>the</strong><br />

resolution.<br />

Despite <strong>the</strong> US-Israeli downplaying <strong>of</strong> it, this was a political win for<br />

<strong>the</strong> Palestinians –even if <strong>the</strong>ir day to day life couldn’t be more disastrous.<br />

But those are <strong>the</strong> perils <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Occupation, and <strong>the</strong> lebensraum<br />

(German for ‘living room’ – as in land hunger) <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Zionist, settler state.<br />

Over 60 years ago, shortly after Israel’s founding, <strong>the</strong> influential<br />

Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, wrote an editorial outlining why Israel was<br />

supported by <strong>the</strong> US (and o<strong>the</strong>r Western powers). The editorial read:<br />

Therefore, streng<strong>the</strong>ning Israel helps <strong>the</strong> Western powers to<br />

maintain equilibrium and stability in <strong>the</strong> Middle East.

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