Hello, this is Blase Bonpane with a comment.

There seems to be a problem with heads of state. In country after country the people are just beautiful and the heads of state are truly repulsive. This is certainly true of the unelected disaster in Washington today. And it is also true in England and Israel.

Nine Israeli women's peace groups have told Palestinians that they support their efforts to indict the  Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, for war crimes.

The letter from the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace in Israel speaks of the suffering of the Palestinians and I quote:

Our hearts ache to recall the terrible massacre that took place in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps 20 years ago, which Israeli leaders allowed to take place.

We condemn the brutal murders of your loved ones and we condemn the leaders who must be held accountable for these war crimes, Ariel Sharon above all.

The letter refers to some 1,700 Palestinians who were slaughtered in the massacre by Lebanese Militiamen allied to the Israelis. Israeli troops surrounded the camps as the killing went on but were told by their commanders not to interfere. Mr. Sharon was Israeli Minister of Defense at the time and was forced to resign after the Israeli Kahan commission condemned him and several senior Israeli officers for not preventing the slaughter. The letter also recalls how Palestinians were forced to flee their homes in 1948.

At the same time Professor Avraham Oz at the University of Haifa expresses an urgent warning signed by a host of Israeli and international academics:

We, members of Israeli academia are horrified by the US buildup of aggression towards Iraq and by the Israeli political leadership's enthusiastic support for it.

We are deeply worried by indications that the "fog of war" could be exploited by the Israeli government to commit further crimes against the Palestinian people, up to full-fledged ethnic cleansing.

The Israeli ruling coalition includes parties that promote "transfer" of the Palestinian
population as a solution to what they call "the demographic problem." Politicians are regularly quoted in the media as suggesting forcible expulsion…Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon described the Palestinians as a "cancerous manifestation" and equated the military actions in the Occupied Territories with "chemotherapy", suggesting that more radical "treatment" may be necessary. Prime Minister Sharon has backed what he calls this "assessment of reality". Escalating racist demagoguery concerning the Palestinian citizens of Israel may indicate the scope of the crimes that are possibly being contemplated.

We call upon the International Community to pay close attention to events that unfold within Israel and in the Occupied Territories, to make it absolutely clear that crimes against humanity will not be tolerated, and to  take concrete measures to prevent such crimes from taking place.

It seems that in the United States and in Israel the population is simply saying to the heads of state:

"We are better than that."

Join us on Sunday, October 6th at 1:00 PM at the Westwood Federal Building for the

NOT IN OUR NAME MARCH AND RALLY.

For a free copy of this commentary call:  323/852-9808…323/852-9808.

This is Blase Bonpane