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Editor's
comment: Ted Turner is no longer in control of CNN; it is run by Time Warner, an Israeli patriot organization that has yet to give a fair shake to the Palestinians. Perhaps that is why Ted Turner is sounding off. We thank him for almost telling the truth in his interview with The Guardian, reviewed here it is as reported by Reuters on June 18. Ted Turner Speaks... From Two Who Should Know LONDON - Outspoken U.S. media mogul Ted Turner was quoted Tuesday as saying Israel was engaged in "terrorism" against the Palestinians that could be compared to the suicide bomber attacks on Israelis. "Right now, aren't the Israelis and the Palestinians both terrorizing each other?" the 63-year-old billionaire founder of 24-hour news network CNN said in an interview with the Guardian newspaper. "The rich and the powerful, they don't need to resort to terrorism... The Palestinians are fighting with human suicide bombers - that's all they have. "The Israelis... they've got one of the most powerful military machines in the world. The Palestinians have nothing. So who are the terrorists? I would make the case that both sides are involved in terrorism." Israeli government spokesman Daniel Seaman lashed out at Turner's comments as "stupid." "My only advice to Ted Turner is if people assume you are stupid, it is just best to keep your mouth shut rather than open your mouth and confirm everyone in that view," Seaman was quoted as saying by the Guardian. Turner, now vice chairman of AOL Time Warner Inc, which owns CNN, also acknowledged in the Guardian interview he had used an "unfortunate choice of words" when he said in a speech earlier this year that the hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11 were "brave." Turner said he tended to overuse the word as owner of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. "I chose accidentally to say that they [the hijackers] were brave... I use that word so often, it just pops out," he said. Mr. Turner should know about distortion of the news if anyone does! Ted Turner has reason to be angry, we are glad he has spoken out. ..and Here is a related story by story by Nathalie Laillet, a French citizen in Bethlehem. This is every day life in the occupied territories. Lisa, a French lady in Montreal, translated it into English for We Hold These Truths. We thank both Nathalie and Lisa. Wednesday May 22nd, 2002 Everyday violence: the kind that is not being discussed on your 8 o'clock news. Well, today, I would like to discuss it. Yes, for once, there were no headlines screaming 'Renewed Violence' in your favourite newspaper. And yet, you see and hear this often enough. In fact, the last time you saw it was last Sunday, the day when the FPLP-claimed suicide bombing killed three people on top of the kamikaze in the Netanya Israeli town market. Three Israeli dead, and the newspapers headlines scream 'Renewed Violence'. Today, there were no suicide bombing attacks. According to your newspapers, it's almost like everything is fine around here. Well, you will be surprised to hear that, as of this very hour (14h00, Paris time), there have already been three dead and several arrests in occupied Palestine. Three dead. Same as Netanya on Sunday. But this time, there are no screaming headlines about 'renewed violence' and indeed there is nothing new about it. Violence here happens every day. Yes, I am saying that EVERY DAY sees more dead. And yet, nobody talks about those dead. Why not? Because they are Palestinian, or Arab, or Muslim, perhaps? Three dead today. One at the checkpoint close to Jenin (he was 17 years old) and one in the south of the Gaza Strip. The third one died as he was trying to avoid the Bethlehem checkpoint, the very same checkpoint I talk about so often. He was from Dheisheh. Moussa (which means 'Moses' in Arabic) died this morning. He was about forty years old. The people of Dheisheh say he was on his way to work in Jerusalem; he was going through the check illegally and they shot him. The Israeli official version says that he was a terrorist on his way to bomb Jerusalem. In fact, they found explosives on him, they said. Remember my recent troubles with the Israeli army, when their 'official version' claimed I was the one who had attacked the woman officer with my cassette tape? What's really swell about the Israeli version is that you can recycle it as needed - the other two dead of the day were given the same treatment. Furthermore, once he's dead, the 'terrorist' may have a bit of a problem proving his innocence regarding suicide bombing accusations. It's hard enough to prove when you're still alive… What's neat as neat about this version also, it's the fact that it's the Israeli army who's picking up the body. This way, it's impossible to prove that he did not have explosives on him… Pretty crafty, heh? The Israeli army picks up the body and then keeps it. From the room where I am writing these lines, I overheard a conversation between two adolescents. One of them was talking to the other one about this dead: "He's from Dheisheh? Asks the second teen. And both of them burst out laughing. Why would they be laughing? Because both of them knew perfectly well that the burial would not take place before several days, perhaps even weeks. Just to give you an idea, just before Moussa's death, we were already waiting for another corpse here in Dheisheh: The remains of a 16 year-old boy, killed a week ago at about the same place, with the same Israeli 'official version' as well as the same explanation from the camp inhabitants. Now it's two cadavers that we have to wait for before they can be buried. Both are Muslims. And, according to Islam, the dead have to be buried as quickly as possible… Moussa was killed by gunshot. The other too also, as well as the others who died the day before (yes, there were some), along with the ones killed the day before that (yes, there were some also). All these deaths are violent. Notwithstanding what your favourite newspapers may say, there was no renewed violence in Middle East for the sad reason that violence is never new, the humiliation is a daily event - the violence of every day. This is what I am witnessing. Yesterday I passed this infamous checkpoint, a few meters only from the very spot where Moussa died. The soldiers didn't say anything to me, didn't even ask me to show my papers. But then, they were very busy, these soldiers… About ten men are against the wall, legs apart and hands held above their heads. The soldiers are having fun in their sand-bag encircled casemate. Two of them are mocking the Palestinians and greatly entertaining the rest of the group, Two soldiers are standing behind the Palestinians and, with the butt of their rifles, are prodding them to hold their hands higher or spread their legs even wider… The soldiers are conversing in Hebrew. I do not understand. Unfortunately, I have no need to, their intent is quite clear… I walk past quickly and my anger is rising. I walk towards a cab, my eyes downcast. A single urge is filling my heart, making my hand twitch with longing: to go back to those soldiers and slap them, yes, slap them. To teach them to respect others. Violence is also these men against the wall. And this other one who, ten days ago, was being beaten up with rangers under my eyes at the Qalandia checkpoint, on the way to Ramallah. I was coming back from my French class, where I was commenting on the La Fontaine Fables with one of my students… This is what is happening here every day, far from the media cameras. Yesterday at the Bethlehem checkpoint, there were no media. Nathalie Laillet To e-mail Nathalie use (author@whtt.org)
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