The
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition shares the sentiment of the Palestinian people and the
international community in condemning the assassination of the prominent
Palestinian leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. This
is a criminal action against not only a political leader, but also the entirety
of the Palestinian people and their movement for self-determination and return.
The attack was not just on one man or on one group, but was an attack against
the Palestinian people, just as Israel has terrorized and killed thousands of
Palestinians in an effort to destroy all resistance to the occupation of
Palestine.
We
regard this assassination as an indication that the Sharon government is
preparing an all out assault on the Palestinian people, much in the same context
as the attack on Lebanon in June 1982. At that time, Israel, with the full
backing of the Reagan Administration, invaded Lebanon, occupied Beirut and
heavily bombed Lebanese and Palestinian residential areas for months. The aim
was to destroy the Palestinian national liberation movement and turn Lebanon
into a virtual colony. Israel's occupation of Lebanese land was ended only in
2000.
Now, the
Sharon government is attempting to create desperate conditions and issue what
they hope will be a crushing blow to the Palestinian people. Before and
following the murder of Sheikh Yassin, the Sharon government has announced that
it intends to escalate the killing of Palestinian leaders. Given that these
actions
will
create a firestorm of opposition in the region and within Palestine, it is
inconceivable to consider that the Sharon government could have undertaken this
action unilaterally and without the approval of the Bush administration.
More
than ever before, support for the Palestinian people and their right to return
and self-determination is an imperative. It
is our duty to raise our voices louder and to organize to call into question the
complicity of the United States government in this process.
We must
redouble our effort to stop all forms of assistance to Israel, including
military, economic, political, and diplomatic support. Israel receives $15
million every day from our taxes, and uses U.S.-made weapons in its war on the
Palestinian people. In return, Israel polices the Middle East on behalf of
Corporate America. While millions are out of work and tens of millions have no
health care, billions of dollars are sent every year to Israel to oppress the
Arab people.
As the
U.S. continues its colonial occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, and as it robs
the Haitian people of their
liberty, the State of Israel continues its attempts to subjugate the Palestinian
people by destroying their homes, expropriating their land, assassinating their
leaders, and placing them within the confines of an Apartheid wall and in exile.
* The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and with all those fighting colonial occupation.