Sunday, July 14, 2002

Palestinian Voices: A Deep Despair
President Bush tried to go over the heads of the Palestinian leadership to appeal to Palestinian people to turn away from Yasir Arafat, pledging American help in their quest for nationhood if they installed a more democratic leadership.

Much has been written on Palestinian views about the use of children as suicide bombers, the targeting of civilians in Israel, and terrorism in general — issues that lay behind President Bush's call for replacing Mr. Arafat. For this article, a few ordinary Palestinians were asked at random for their opinions on America's role in the Middle East and the need for reform within the Palestinian leadership. Their answers might surprise, even dismay, the Bush administration.

These are people who feel betrayed by all that has happened in recent years.…
Their remarks signal an underlying anger, anguish and despair, reflecting lives that, even for the middle class, are a daily agony of fear, humiliation, helplessness after two years of escalating violence between their society and Israel's. They no longer have the sense that they have control over their destiny, and most Palestinians have long concluded that only the United States can help them. Yet President Bush's exhortation to them to choose democracy, when they live under siege, has struck many Palestinians as a cruel joke. His overt support for Ariel Sharon struck many as betrayal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/14/weekinreview/14SCHM.html?8hpib

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