Palestinian women speak out to their American sisters on Gulf War

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SOCIALIST ACTION JANUARY 1991 As Palestinian women burdened by the suffering of our people because of the continued state of aggression and occupation of our land by Israel, we appeal to you as women who have still not forgotten the aftermath of the effects of the Vietnam War to raise your voices now against sending your young men to the Gulf.

It was your voices that brought your boys back from Vietnam. But it was already too late, and the harm was already done, and the suffering continues. Let your voices be heard now, before it is too late.

The forceful reaction of your President to the Iragi-Kuwaiti conflict is absolutely alarming—and out of proportion. Was it not only recently that the USA devastated Panama for the sake of one "corrupt" leader? And invaded Grenada to topple a regime not to its liking?

It is such actions, and the double standards with which the USA grants itself the right to deal with issues, that is making it lose its credibility in the whole region and amongst its friends. And it is precisely because of that, our people are enraged and are in support of any action which would challenge the double standards of the USA.

For the last 42 years we have been waiting the implementation of the United Nations resolution regarding the inalienable rights of the Palestinians, and later the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Occupied Territories, but to no avail.

Not only was there no mechanism to enforce the implementation of these resolutions, Israel was being rewarded for its aggression by the continuous moral and financial support of the USA, which enabled it to maintain the Occupied Territories and to establish settlements in these areas against all UN resolutions and against the declared position of the USA.

Even a simple resolution to condemn flagrant violations of human rights would be vetoed by the USA; the latest was after the massacre of Palestinian laborers in Rishon, thus encouraging further suppression and violation of Palestinian human rights. And whenever the possibility of sanctions against Israel would come up, it would be flatly refused.

It is argued that sanctions [against Israel] are impractical and not possible to implement, while anyone who dared to suggest them would be made to feel guilty of being anti-semitic. It's amazing how in less than 24 hours, the USA was able to rally all these forces "to maintain the security of the Gulf." Where was it when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982?

Mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters of these young men already in the Gulf: spare your people and our people the tragedy of another war. Your men can always work and make money to buy the oil they may need. But no oil or money will be able to compensate for the loss of your men in such a futile war.

We sincerely share your anxiety about the safety of Americans and other foreign civilians trapped in the area of conflict; but we would like to remind your President that we Palestinians are and have been hostages in our own land, terrorized and without any protection for more than two decades!

Is the value of human life subject to varying exchange rates? If you divorce politics and national interests from moral and human values, we are all going to pay a high price.

It is your voices that need to challenge the President of the USA, who seems to be relaxed enough to play golf while your boys are burning in the Gulf. It is more honorable to lose face than to lose lives.

Sent from the occupied territories, Aug. 24, 1990 demands. We welcome all who support us but our movement is not for sale."

This bold stance inspired many women and brought thousands of them into the movement. However, when the NOW leadership decided to make electoral politics the centerpiece of its work during 1990, NOW lost much of its ability to inspire confidence in its leadership.

Why? The simple reason is that electoral activity within the framework of the two capitalist political parties—the Democrats and the Republicans—just looks like more of the same "old-boy politics" to most critical-thinking activists in the feminist While many of the Democratic and Republican party candidates are women, both these parties programmatically and in practice-are run in the interests of the ruling rich. And the bosses of this country oppose women's rights because it costs them money. A major source of profit in the capitalist world is the unequal wages, benefits, and job segregation of men and women.

How could the political parties which represent the status quo (that is, the capitalist system) also represent the 50 percent of the population that is super-exploited by that system?

This simple axiom of political life is not understood by the leadership of NOW, but the fact that NOW has initiated a series of FIGHT Pamphlets on Women's Liberation The Fight for Women's Rights Fight for Women Sandy Doyle, Shirley Pasholk,

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