Amauta

Cuando la izquierda pierde todos los elementos materiales de su firmeza debido, por una parte, a sus errores y, por otra, a las presiones que la rodean, la base de su lucha suele quedarse con nada más que un discurso ético-político como postura asumida por principio. A final de cuentas, ser [...]

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Las heridas psíquicas no tratadas siguen abiertas. Se siguen negando las responsabilidades, la justicia y los derechos básicos a los supervivientes.

Los supervivientes de la masacre de Sabra y Chatila de septiembre de 1982 han compartido gran cantidad de testimonios de horror durante las tres últimas décadas. Otros más salen a la luz sólo a través de testimonios circunstanciales porque los aspirantes a declarantes en un juicio murieron durante la matanza. Otros testigos apenas están empezando a emerger del profundo trauma o del silencio autoimpuesto. Los supervivientes de la masacre del campo de Chatila compartirán este mes algunos testimonios sobre uno de los crímenes más espantosos del siglo XX.

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Here in Bourj el-Barajneh, one of a dozen Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, time seems to have stood still for years. Generation after generation, children grow up in the same desperate reality, punished for crimes they did not commit, injured by a history not of their making. They stand on dirty balconies, cracked beyond repair, watching Beirut and the world go by. Those opposed to the refugee presence fear that incorporating Palestinians into Lebanese society might be the prelude to incorporating them into the country’s political landscape.

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In Lebanon, a sense of urgency always seems to prevail, even when there are no urgent matters to tend to. Jamal’s driving style has probably changed little through the successive Israeli wars and bombardments of Lebanon in past years (the last being the 2006 war, which destroyed much of the country’s infrastructure and killed hundreds of civilians). Although no bombs were falling now, Jamal could feel something in the air. “They are cooking something big,” he said, “but what it is, no one really knows for sure.”

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¿Puede un árbol comenzar una guerra en el Medio Oriente? Casi lo logró ayer. Que una pregunta así pueda ser formulada es símbolo del estado incendiario de la región, de la desconfianza mutua entre árabes e israelíes y de la peligrosa frontera del sur del Líbano

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Resistance is not a band of armed men hell-bent on wreaking havoc. It is not a cell of terrorists scheming ways to detonate buildings.

True resistance is a culture.

It is a collective retort to oppression.

Understanding the real nature of resistance, however, is not easy. No newsbyte could be thorough enough to explain why people, as a people, resist. Even if such an arduous task was possible, the news might not want to convey it, as it would directly clash with mainstream interpretations of violence and non-violent resistance. The Afghanistan story must remain committed to the same language: al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Lebanon must be represented in terms of a menacing Iran-backed Hizbullah. Palestine’s Hamas must be forever shown as a militant group sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state. Any attempt at offering an alternative reading is tantamount to sympathizing with terrorists and justifying violence.

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Cluster bombs are in the news again, thanks to a recent report from Amnesty International.

The human rights agency has confirmed that 35 women and children were killed following the latest US attacks on an alleged al-Qaeda hideout in Yemen. Initially, there were attempts to bury the story, and Yemen officially denied that civilians were killed as a result of the December 17 attack on al-Majala in southern Yemen. However, it has been simply impossible to conceal what is now considered the largest loss of life in one single US attack in the country.

If the civilian casualties were indeed a miscalculation on the part of the US military, there should no longer be any doubt about the fact that cluster munitions are far too dangerous a weapon to be utilized in war. Yet some countries still refuse to ban their production and use.

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Chomsky: “Though the Iranian threat is not military, that does not mean that it might be tolerable to Washington. Iranian deterrent capacity is an illegitimate exercise of sovereignty that interferes with US global designs. Specifically, it threatens US control of Middle East energy resources, a high priority of planners since World War II, which yields “substantial control of the world,” one influential figure advised (A. A. Berle).

But Iran’s threat goes beyond deterrence. It is also seeking to expand its influence. As the Institute study formulates the threat, Iran is “destabilizing” the region. US invasion and military occupation of Iran’s neighbors is “stabilization.” Iran’s efforts to extend its influence in neighboring countries is “destabilization,” hence plainly illegitimate. It should be noted that such revealing usage is routine.”

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The denial of rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is an old subject that often resurfaces as a political ploy to serve immediate interests. This time, however, things seem to be different. Lebanon needs to move forward. Denying 400,000 people living a most wretched existence in scattered refugee camps, surrounding by mass graves, military checkpoints and no political horizon whatsoever is not conducive to the process of political and social progress.

Of course, those who dread the possibility of a modern Lebanon unified by one common identity – one that is not held hostage to sectarian allegiances or tribal affiliations – want Palestinian refugees to remain perpetual victims.

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Fuente: Freitag
Traducción: Àngel Ferrero, Sin Permiso
Entrevista al intelectual norteamericano Noam Chomsky
por David Goessmann / Fabian Scheidler
31 de marzo, 2010
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