*** The Session Has Begun. Please Submit Your Questions. ***
Answer
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Name
Nabila
- Romania
Profession
Question
What message do you think the Bush Administration gave to Sharon regarding the rights of the Palestinians?
Answer
I think that he sent a tempered or qualified message. First he made clear that the US is Israel’s friend and will continue to support Israel. On the one hand, he stressed that he has seen progress, and that the Palestinians have begum to live up to their side and that there is an expectation that Israel will do the same. It is a two-fold message. The friendship is still there, but that friendship will not come without expectations; that Israel we hope will not continue to have a free ride.
Name
Matthew
- Vatican City State (Holy See)
Profession
Question
Do you think Sharon should be courted by the U.S. as a legitimat ehead of state, given his bloody history of massacres?
Answer
Definitely not. I think it is outrageous that he is received as a head of state when other countries around the world have been talking about his history as a war criminal and the need to bring him to justice. Some examples of that is a documentary that aired in London on BBC focusing on Sharon’s involvement in a massacre in Sabra and Shatilla, Lebanon, in 1982. In Belgium on, June 18th, a court case was initiated on behalf of 28 survivors of the Sabra and Shatilla case leveling a formal accusation against Sharon for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Again I think it is a disgrace that rather than dealing with him in the same way that was dealt with Milosevic we are welcoming him for the second time in the White House.
Name
Sabria
- United States
Profession
Question
Why is it that Sharon has been invited to the White House twice, while Arafat has not?
Answer
I think that the snub to Arafat is just another example of the pro-Israeli bias that exist in the White House and I think it is a message we send that whatever we ask of the two parties our relationship with Israel is always stronger and friendly. And that regardless of Israeli behavior the door of the White House is always open to them. I also think that it is a token that we hold out to the Palestinians that it is something we can give them if they behave themselves or do what they are asked to do. Rather than giving the Palestinians something substantive that addresses their real Political needs we can give them a token visit to the White House.
Name
Mahmoud
- United States
Profession
Question
I know that Muslims protested his visit yesterday and some were even arrested. Do you think that sent a message to President Bush. And if so, what was that message?
Answer
***We have with us today Mehdi Bray, who was arrested yesterday during a protest of the visit of Ariel Sharon.***
See this article for more information
Yes I think it sends a message to the administration. I don’t know how much it
resonates with the Presidents. That does not really matter. What really matter is that we are sending a message to the Muslims that we will no longer tolerate the use of our tax money to support the bombing, apartheid regime, occupation, and harassment of Palestinians. That included one of the architects of that Regime who is a war criminal visiting the White House at the expense of our tax money. We are saying that enough is enough.
Name
Rasheed
-
Profession
Question
Why is this trip of Ariel Sharon so Important compared to any other one?
Answer
I don’t think any of them were important. The first one we protested. The second one we protested. The U.S. has had a long professed history of not allowing war criminals into the U.S. Sharon belongs in the Hague not in the White House and I think that people have a short term memory of the atrocities that he created against the Palestinian in the Sabra and Shatilla camps and we must continue to remind people the Sharon is not a prime minister but a crime minister We must not forget and the world must not forget that Sharon is a War Criminal.
Name
'aishah
-
Profession
Question
Do you think that a White House invitation to Arafat as well would make any difference for Palestinians, seeing what Sharon's U.S. visit appears to have done for Israel?
Answer
I think that Arafat should be invited because currently he represents the Palestinian State and despite whether we agree or disagree with Mr Arafat’s policies there seems to be a united front among Muslims and Palestinians concerning the PLO, via the Intifada. So given this at the Political reality, Arafat should be invited. However, I must be candid and say that I put more faith in the strength of Allah SWT and His people to overcome oppression than I do in a White House visit. Nevertheless, from a tactical viewpoint, Arafat should be invited.
Name
Mazen
- United States
Profession
Question
Do you think that the fact that most major Muslim organizations supported President Bush during the presidential election will have any bearing on Bush's policy on the middle east? Would things have been worse for the Palestinians had Gore been elected?
Answer
I had hoped that it would have affected Bush’s policy on the Middle East. But so far we hadn’t seen much that indicated that it had. I think that what changes we have seen such as the attempt to developing a “smart sanctions” policy on Iraq are more related to U.S. relations with Arab governments and America’s image in the International Community. At the same time I think that the Bush Administration is exhibiting more openness to dealing with Muslim organizations and maybe more willing to include American Muslims in policy discussions. Just this past Monday representatives of the Muslims Public Affairs Council met with Bush’s National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and she indicated that she believes the dialogue between the Bush Administration and American Muslims should continue and that American Muslims should work to educate policy makers about issues related to Islam and Muslims and Foreign Affairs. So our hope is that this dialogue will eventually bear fruit. It’s hard to say if things would have been worst for the Palestinians under the Gore Administration. My sense is that the differences between administrations on this issue are minor and that U.S. policy whether under Clinton, Bush, or Gore remains firmly pro Israeli.
Name
hassan
-
Profession
Question
When I first read the news about what happened yesterday.. I came to the conclusion that we, Muslims, in America have a long way to go to show the truth about Israel and change the mentality of Americans.. So, many of us get depressed and give up early in the way.. and get to the conclusion that this kind of work is useless.. How do you, and MPAC look at this view?
Answer
We definitely have a long way to go and it is easy to get discouraged when you read the mainstream American Media and the things that come out of the U.S. Congress about the Palestinians, but we at MPAC believe that it is our duty as Muslims and as Americans to exert great effort to tell Americans the truth about the situation in Palestine and to push forth policies that promote long term American interests and uphold American values of freedom, democracy, and human rights rather than serving the short term goals of special interest groups. I just returned from spending two weeks in Palestine and while I was there I saw people facing enormous odds; students spending hours walking around checkpoints to get to class; children confronting tanks with stones, but they aren’t giving up and we in America don’t have the luxury of giving up either.
Name
Farida
- France
Profession
Nurse
Question
Do you think that War Crime Tribunal will go after Sharon?
Answer
Actually I don’t. I think the pro Israel bias in the U.S. and the International Community will make that impossible, but I think the value in pushing the issue is in publicizing Sharon’s history of war crimes and using that to raise public awareness about current Israeli policies and aggression.
Name
H
-
Profession
Question
Do you think that the Israeli government and the american government's actions are mainly because of religion..
Answer
In the case of the US, I don’t think that that is the cause. I think it is more related to short-term political interests being tied to the pro-Israeli agenda and pro-Israeli forces in America. In Israel I think it is pure racism that manifests itself along religious lines because Israel identifies itself as a Jewish state. But I think at heart the issue is purely political. It’s about land, control, and sovereignty and not about one religion battling another.
