KABISSA-FAHAMU-SANGONET NEWSLETTER

[baptista at pccf.net]

The dot.GOD Registry, Limited

http://www.dot-god.com/

---------- Forwarded message ----------

FOR THE ARROGANCE OF POWER AMERICA NOW PAYS A TERRIBLE PRICE
http://www.transnational.org/forum/power/2001/09.02_USpaysPrice.html
An event of this magnitude was not only unimagined, it was unimaginable. Yet
long before George Bush became president with his forceful in-your-face,
take-it-or-leave-it attitude to the world outside on issues as diverse as
global warming and anti-missile defences, America has been turning in on
itself, to the point of self-destructiveness.

US ATTACK: EUROPE PUTS CONDITIONS ON ITS SUPPORT FOR REPRISALS
http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/sept01/00_15_002.html
European countries are stipulating their support for punishing those
responsible for the Tuesday terrorist attacks in New York and Washington
upon respect for international law and human rights.

US ATTACKS: BUT WHY?
Media Fails To Address Basic Question?
The question dominating the news reporting of Tuesdays attacks on the World
Trade Centre and the Pentagon is "who". Who did it? Who is responsible? Some
strategists and security experts are trying to answer "how"? But the central
question is not being asked anywhere. This question is: WHY?
Further details: http://www.kabissa.org/kfn/newsletter.php?id=2859
Contact: tarajpolzer at hotmail.com

HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS SAY US ATTACKS MAKE CASE FOR INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
A global coalition of human rights groups on Wednesday described the
terrorist attacks in the United States as "crimes against humanity," saying
they proved the need for a strong international justice system.
Further details: http://www.kabissa.org/kfn/newsletter.php?id=2872

USA: JUSTICE, NOT REVENGE, MUST PREVAIL
http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/180A97244A72921780256AC6004D1
340?OpenDocument
Amnesty International today reiterated its deepest sympathy for the victims
of the heinous attacks in the USA and called upon the leaders of governments
and community groups around the world to ensure respect for human rights in
their wake.

UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY POSTPONES SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN
In the aftermath of Tuesday's terrorist attacks against the United States,
the United Nations General Assembly today decided to postpone its upcoming
special session on children.
Further details: http://www.kabissa.org/kfn/newsletter.php?id=2871

U.S., ISRAEL ABANDON ANTI-RACISM TALKS
http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/sept01/00_15_001.html
The United States and Israel, faced with an implacable wall of support for
Palestine, pulled out of the U.N. World Conference Against Racism Monday.

US 'INFLAMED RATHER THAN DEFUSED'
http://www.amnestyusa.org/wcar/updates.html
The US helped inflame rather than defuse the rhetoric around the conference,
reports Gerald Lemelle from Amnesty International.

US DISASTER: BRACING FOR THE BACKLASH
http://allafrica.com/stories/200109140001.html
With the Arab-American Institute in the US recording over 300 voice messages
of verbal abuse or taunting, Arab and North African students are being urged
to stay home and stay safe.

XENOPHOBIC THREATS TARGET ARABS EVERYWHERE
http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/sept01/02_36_009.html
The xenophobic reaction to the terrorist attacks against New York and
Washington Tuesday are threatening communities of Arab immigrants found
throughout the world.

GLOBAL VIEWS: AFTER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
http://www.mediachannel.org/
Globalvision News Network presents worldwide reports and commentary on the
implications of the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. What can we
learn from the voices of the global media?

TERRORISM, TELEVISION AND THE RAGE FOR VENGEANCE
http://www.progress.org/sol83.htm
We stare at TV screens and try to comprehend the suffering in the aftermath
of terrorism. Much of what we see is ghastly and all too real; terrible
anguish and sorrow. At the same time, we're witnessing an onslaught of media
deception.

US ATTACK: WHAT DOES RETALIATION MEAN IN A MEDIA WAR?
http://www.mediachannel.org/
While America has been preparing to fight the last war, a war between
nations, the next war has been violently thrust upon us. It's a war of
symbols, impressions and ideas in which acts of mass murder jocky for mind
share in the global media, and everyone with a television set, the world
over, reacts viscerally.

US ATTACK: WHAT THE MIDDLE EAST PAPERS SAY
http://www.mediachannel.org/
For all their differences, the media in the Middle East - from Iraq to
Israel - seem to be agreed on one thing: whoever was to blame for
yesterday's carnage in the US, the attacks are the result of American
policies.

US ATTACKS: THE MEDIA'S ROLE
The Terror, The Tragedy And The Media. A Special Report.
As the streets south of MediaChannel's Times Square offices are full of dust
and debris, with silence broken by sirens, we present a special edition
focused on the media's response to yesterday's attacks on New York and
Washington, D.C.
Further details: http://www.kabissa.org/kfn/newsletter.php?id=2860
Contact: editor at mediachannel.org

US ATTACK: A BRAVE AND COMPASSIONATE RESPONSE
http://news.gilbert.org/braveandcompassionate
There is an amazing and wonderful thing that happens in the darkest times.
Right now, most of the people of the United States and many throughout the
world are asking themselve the definitive question of all nonprofit work:
How can I make a difference?

"DOES TERRORISM REVEAL OUR OWN BARBARISM?"
By Firoze Manji, Fahamu - Learning For Change
Publication of this weeks newsletter was delayed because of the tragedy
that took place on Tuesday in US. All of us were deeply shocked by the loss
of innocent lives by sickening acts of terrorism. Our thoughts are with the
families and survivors of this tragedy whose pain and grief must be immense.

But we also feel a deep sense of unease that the horrors of war and of state
sponsored terror in the south, and especially in Africa, that claim millions
of lives each year, somehow do not register in the same way. Is the
overwhelming response to the current tragedy, then, an expression of shock
that such an event could take place at the heart of the most powerful state
in the world? Or is it that different values are given to human lives
depending on their geography and closeness to capital?

Terrorism always plays into the hands of the Right. It justifies hysteria,
prejudice, bigotry and even the use of terror against sections of humanity
in the name of vengeance rather than justice. The shock, horror and anger at
the attacks in the US is understandable. There is equal anger and despair
amongst the survivors of massacres in Africa  only they are denied the
voice to make their anguish heard.

What is frightening about the reaction in the USA is that these acts of
terror are being used to justify vengeance against the perceived
perpetrators. It took less than a millisecond to point the finger at Islam.
As we go to press, there is still no clarity about who the perpetrators
were. A climate is growing where very soon anyone who is, or ever has been,
a member of an Islamic organisation will be viewed with suspicion and fear.
Such prejudice will be given a boost if it turns out that Bin Laden or some
other extremist Islamic terrorist group was responsible for the attacks in
the USA. Somehow that is seen as understandable. But why is it anymore
understandable than writing off all whites or Christians as potential
terrorists after the Oklahoma bombing?

The US and NATO have declared the attack on the World Trade Centre and the
Pentagon as acts of war. The response, in their view, should be retaliation,
not bringing the perpetrators to justice. But will bombings or invasions of
Afghanistan or Iraq or Sudan or wherever really diminish the potentials of
further acts of terrorism against the US and its allies? Will taking out
what the US believes to be rogue states really diminish the risks? Or will
they only fuel the already burning fires. Can terrorism be countered by
state-sponsored terror without leading to a vicious spiral?

Outside of the US, few are really surprised that the US has become the
target of terrorist attacks. For many, the real rogue state is the US.
American foreign policy, its collusion with and financing despotic and
totalitarian regimes and dictators, its disregard for international
treaties, and, through the international financial and trade institutions,
its profiteering at the expense of the poor  these are really the real
causes of the latest round of attacks on the US. If America is serious about
declaring war that will minimise the threat of further terrorism, then it is
against these causes that it must act. There are severe consequences of US
retaliation that could lead to general destabilisation, especially in the
Middle East, with implications for north Africa and the horn of Africa. The
impending global recession could have serious implications for developing
economies; and further degeneration of international relations. This could
be an opportunity for the west to begin to attend to the causes of such
acts, but are they likely to take it up?

The last decade has seen the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.
While the average income of the top 20% of the world's population was 30
times that of the bottom 20% in 1960, by 1990 it was 60 times, and by 1997,
74 times that of the lowest fifth. By the late 1990s, 20% of the worlds
population had 86% of the world GDP, while the bottom 20% had 1% The assets
of the top 3 billionaires are more than the combined GNP of all least
developed countries and their 600 million people. Nearly one quarter of the
world's people have an income that is less than $1 a day - a proportion that
is rising. The UN Development Programme calculates each year the human
poverty index based on a series of measures including the prevalence of
illiteracy, life expectancy, degree of malnourishment, and access to health
services and safe water. In 1996 over a billion people fell below this
measure, the position worsening in 30 countries - the worst figures since
UNDP began calculating the index in 1990. Unless concerted action is taken
against the growing impoverishment of the majority, then desperation and
frustration will inevitably result in violent reactions such as US has
witnessed these last couple of days.

Terrorism in all its forms must be opposed. But that applies as much to
state-sponsored terrorism as it does to terrorism of armed groups. Last week
saw the conclusion of the World Conference Against Racism that spawned its
own set of contradictions. Why, for example, should the genocidal terror
carried out by Europe during the Slave Trade during which tens of millions
of African were uprooted or killed be viewed as acceptable just because the
perpetrators declare that the act was legal at the time? The whole
Colonial ravage of Africa was little other than legitimised terrorism. Why
was it so difficult at the World Conference on Racism to declare outrage and
condemnation of these vast acts of terrorism in Africa, but so easy to find
our humanity when the act is carried out in New York and Washington?

Does terrorism have the effect of revealing not only the barbarism of the
perpetrators but also of our own value systems?

US rallies the west for attack on Afghanistan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,551079,00.html
U.S. Bent on Revenge for Terror Attacks
http://news.excite.com/news/r/010913/04/news-attack-dc
FBI Identifies 50-Strong Team of Attackers
http://news.excite.com/news/r/010913/03/news-attack-infiltrators-dc
Reaction from Africa: AllAfrica.com
http://allafrica.com/specials/wtc/index.html
Africa's sorrow over US terror attacks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1539000/1539830.stm
Kenyan bomb survivor advises 'togetherness'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1540000/1540452.stm
Christians and Muslims Clash in Nigeria
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,551103,00.html
Jubilation in Nigeria on US
http://www.africaonline.com/jive/viewThread.jsp?forum=5&thread=8291
US Bombings: Tutu Warns of Spiral in Global Conflict
http://allafrica.com/stories/200109120127.html
They can't see why they are hated
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,551036,00.html
The best defence is justice
http://www.guardian.co.uk/wtccrash/story/0,1300,550464,00.html
OneWorld Special reports: after the US terror
http://www.oneworld.net/specialreports/terrorism/front.shtml
Contact: firoze at fahamu.org