It is well known that buyers often experience some level of remorse: "did I buy the right item"; "did I pay too much"; "it is it really what I need" and so on...
But, in Palestine, it's not so much buyer's remorse that is seen but seller's remorse: the remorse expressed by people in power who, while powerful, manage to effectively screw over the Palestinians (ie. sell them out) only to later express some level of remorse or stand in solidarity with the Palestinians. Examples of those with Seller's Remorse include former US President Jimmy Carter who, while in office, turned a blind eye to Israel's colonization of the West Bank (though he demanded a dismantling of the then-outpost "Shilo" he later backpedalled). Twenty-five years later, he correctly labels Israel's actions as apartheid.
Yet, one is left wondering why he didn't act while in office. Another with Seller's Remorse is former British PM Tony Blair who, after screwing up the Middle East for 10 years (support for the invasion of Iraq, turning a blind eye to Israel), Mr. Blair is now fashionably pro-Palestinian as he travels the world trying to collect money for the cash-strapped PA. He went to Jericho on his recent tour of Palestine where he reportedly proclaimed that Israel's "security" restrictions had little to do with security! Hmmm Mr. Blair...wake up and smell the qahwa.
Kofi Annan and Ted Turner are among the latest inductees to the Seller's Remorse club. Both are members of the UN Foundation, headed by Ted Turner. Ted Turner, founder of CNN, can hardly claim to be unbiased. CNN's has unabashedly maintained a pro-Ziofacism stance as expressed in its "Victims of Terror" stories aired for more than 6 years. (Interestingly, not A SINGLE Palestinian was profiled, despite the fact that they are killed at a rate of 6 to 1). Kofi Annan is the same person who (a) repeatedly refused to condemn the killing of Palestinian civilians by Israel; (b) refused to condemn Israel's assassination policy; (c) turned a blind eye to Israel's colonization; (d) backed the Quartet-imposed sanctions when Palestinians dared to exercise democracy and (e) demanded that the occupied provide security to its occupier and oppressor.
Turner and Annan visited a number of sites, including a Palestinian refugee camp. They donned cute UN/Palestine pins and listening as dispossessed school children explained that they could not travel to nearby towns owing to Israel's apartheid (supported by Carter 3 decades ago). When asked the purpose of their visit, Turner and Annan indicated that they wanted to "see if we can help." Mr. Annan, Mr. Turner, you can definitely help: recognize that this is an occupation, not a "conflict" and demand that Israel end its occupation rather than ask the Palestinians to get comfortable with it.
(Apology to Maytha for also ranting...)
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Seller's Remorse
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4 comments:
Add Clinton to that club. He was iniching close to it until his husband officially ran for election. Wehther he joins or not will depend on him becoming the first lady or remain outside Washington.
Well, it's the sad reality that these guys need to turn a blind eye as long as they want to keep their jobs. Now that they're not in their former jobs, it doesn't matter and they have nothing to lose. Everyone knows that. But I want don't know is how these managed to live during their jobs, and go on to live afterwards. Normally, people with a drop of dignity and guilt end up taking a header off a bridge. But who knows, may be they feel they have to make up for lost time, which is not that bad after all.
Is there any such thing as rocketer's remorse?
How about donkey rape remorse?
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