The 'unimaginable' chaos continues
Dato' Dzulkifli Abd Razak
Article
The New Sunday Times - 08/20/2006
HIJACKING. This was what the recent "foiled terrorist plot" did at London's Heathrow airport.
The "foiled terrorist plot" hijacked the world's attention on the killing of thousands of innocent people in Lebanon and Palestine and the wanton destruction of their homes.
British police sources said attacks were imminent, involving suicide bombers using chemical bombs smuggled on board planes as drinks.
The plot was meant to blow up as many as 10 US-bound airplanes in mid-air, resulting in what was termed as "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
What seems strange is that the killings that had gone on for a month in countries like Lebanon and Palestine have never been described as "unimaginable" on any scale.
"Unimaginable" was also not used to describe the death, destruction and suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan which have been dragging on for years now, where, the total number of deaths has exceeded 10 plane loads.
For that matter, imagine if you will, the impact of sanctions imposed during the time of the Saddam regime in Iraq.
The then US Secretary of State described the sanctions as "a price that was worth it", even though an estimated 500,000 children died as a result of the sanctions.
Indeed, many more had no access to medicines and infant food when humanitarian aid was not allowed in, as in the recent case of Lebanon.
Perhaps one has to look into history for some clues why this is so today.
The seeds of the present conflict were sown in 1947 when the UN formally sanctioned the partition of Palestine, something utterly unimaginable to those who respect the sovereignty of a nation.
At first, 55 per cent of Palestinian land was carved out to accommodate the persecuted refugees from Nazi Germany and other parts of war-torn Europe.
Then it was 76 per cent within just a year. By May 14, 1948, a "new" state in the Middle East was declared.
Since then, the existence of Palestine as a nation slowly faded out of the minds of many people.
At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people were driven out of their homes and became refugees in their own country. Many also fled their country and became refugees in surrounding countries.
The horrifying effects of war on innocents in Lebanon have
largely been ignored in the wake of threats against airplanes.
- AP picture
This happened, no thanks to imperial Britain and its allies who sponsored the creation of the "new" state.
The effects of this are still felt till today, where the exodus in occupied Palestine and Palestinian territory still continues.
"I do not agree that a dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he (sic) may have lain there for a very long time," declared Winston Churchill of the Palestinians as early as 1937, setting the mental state as to what is imaginable and what is not to the imperialist's mind.
He further qualified his statement: "I do not admit for an instant that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia."
And why so? Churchill offered an explanation: "I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place."
Much of the world is ruled by Churchill's "dog in a manger" mentality which, unfortunately, is a double-edged sword.
What is "unimaginable" to some is quite "imaginable" to others, especially if you belong to "a stronger, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race".
The outcomes of such crude utterances by leaders are the many plots and conspiracies we are seeing today.
Some of these are foiled while others have been right on target. Imaginably, Heathrow's is just the latest in the series.
Article
The New Sunday Times - 08/20/2006
HIJACKING. This was what the recent "foiled terrorist plot" did at London's Heathrow airport.
The "foiled terrorist plot" hijacked the world's attention on the killing of thousands of innocent people in Lebanon and Palestine and the wanton destruction of their homes.
British police sources said attacks were imminent, involving suicide bombers using chemical bombs smuggled on board planes as drinks.
The plot was meant to blow up as many as 10 US-bound airplanes in mid-air, resulting in what was termed as "mass murder on an unimaginable scale".
What seems strange is that the killings that had gone on for a month in countries like Lebanon and Palestine have never been described as "unimaginable" on any scale.
"Unimaginable" was also not used to describe the death, destruction and suffering in Iraq and Afghanistan which have been dragging on for years now, where, the total number of deaths has exceeded 10 plane loads.
For that matter, imagine if you will, the impact of sanctions imposed during the time of the Saddam regime in Iraq.
The then US Secretary of State described the sanctions as "a price that was worth it", even though an estimated 500,000 children died as a result of the sanctions.
Indeed, many more had no access to medicines and infant food when humanitarian aid was not allowed in, as in the recent case of Lebanon.
Perhaps one has to look into history for some clues why this is so today.
The seeds of the present conflict were sown in 1947 when the UN formally sanctioned the partition of Palestine, something utterly unimaginable to those who respect the sovereignty of a nation.
At first, 55 per cent of Palestinian land was carved out to accommodate the persecuted refugees from Nazi Germany and other parts of war-torn Europe.
Then it was 76 per cent within just a year. By May 14, 1948, a "new" state in the Middle East was declared.
Since then, the existence of Palestine as a nation slowly faded out of the minds of many people.
At the same time, hundreds of thousands of people were driven out of their homes and became refugees in their own country. Many also fled their country and became refugees in surrounding countries.
The horrifying effects of war on innocents in Lebanon have
largely been ignored in the wake of threats against airplanes.
- AP picture
This happened, no thanks to imperial Britain and its allies who sponsored the creation of the "new" state.
The effects of this are still felt till today, where the exodus in occupied Palestine and Palestinian territory still continues.
"I do not agree that a dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he (sic) may have lain there for a very long time," declared Winston Churchill of the Palestinians as early as 1937, setting the mental state as to what is imaginable and what is not to the imperialist's mind.
He further qualified his statement: "I do not admit for an instant that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia."
And why so? Churchill offered an explanation: "I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place."
Much of the world is ruled by Churchill's "dog in a manger" mentality which, unfortunately, is a double-edged sword.
What is "unimaginable" to some is quite "imaginable" to others, especially if you belong to "a stronger, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race".
The outcomes of such crude utterances by leaders are the many plots and conspiracies we are seeing today.
Some of these are foiled while others have been right on target. Imaginably, Heathrow's is just the latest in the series.