SE EN ce WORLD a INTERNATIONAL FOCUS Tom Morris Enlightened barbarism Let it not be said the Israeli regime isn’t sensitive to international pressure. Smarting from world criticism over shooting down young Palestinians on the streets of West Bank and Gaza, the regime announced a more “enlightened” policy: Beginning Jan. 19, the army and police would simply beat the protesters with wooden clubs. it would only crush their hands and fingers, break their bones and smash their faces. Police minister Hain Bar-Lev calls it “limited force, reasonable force.” A 20-year old Israeli paratrooper told the media, “We act according to the moral criteria learned in our homes...” And Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir told a visiting U.S. group: “We don’t have a policy of deliberately beating people:” These men are simply liars. Ina short six days since the new “non- beating” policy was put into place, more than 200 Palestinians have been hospital- ized with broken bones, many with mul- tiple fractures, caused by army beatings. . Television footage shows boys, girls, Palestinian youths during recent riots: a tragedy of massive proportions. women and men with severe injuries. Victims describe being hauled from their beds and beaten; of soldiers crushing their hands and fingers so “they won’t throw stones anymore.” Women trying to protect their sons and husbands are beaten to the ground. People are publicly humiliated by ram- paging troops “according to the moral criteria learned in our homes.” It’s a tragedy of massive and growing proportions. Suffering for decades and today, the Palestinian people are electrifying the world with their courage in face of such overwhelming brute force. Simultaneously, the zionist regime is degrading the Israeli state as an illegal and brutal occupier, and by so doing placing its future in jeopardy. ‘Celebrating’ a holocaust To the Australian aboriginal people, the arrival of the first white colonizers 200 years ago marked the end of a way of life that had lasted thousands of years. As in North and South America, the arrival of European colonizers to steal then settle on Native land was accom- panied by brutality, racism and pious rationale. Fhe decimation of tribal society and culture, the degradation of a people is hardly a chapter in human behaviour to be celebrated. That’s what brought 15,000 aboriginal people into the streets of Sydney protest- ing the insult to their heritage repres- ented by the splash and celebrations on Jan. 26. It was a march of anger follow- ing other demonstrations which brought the issue of ongoing racism smack centre into government-sponsored scenes of fireworks, royal speeches, tall ships and endless choruses of Waltzing Matilda. Commenting on the outrage, one abo- riginal leader snapped: “It’s like asking the Jewish people to celebrate the anni- versary of the holocaust.” Fo dramatize what is felt by Native peoples everywhere, aboriginal writer Burnam Burnham raised the flag of his people above the fabled white cliffs of Dover and claimed Britain on behalf of all aboriginals. Selective immigration Fascinating. With all the fuss about “terrorists” entering Canada, we see that Polish hijacker Ryszard Paszkowski who esca- ped from a West German jail managed to enter Canada without a hitch. Better still, he was then recruited by our intelligence services and operated under a fake name until the caper came unravelled. But then, in Ottawa, a Pole isn’t a Palestinian. Hopes rise for settlement in Afghanistan Special to The Tribune A large group of supporters of the Afghan government’s call for national reconciliation were executed by rebel forces Jan. 15 for their refusal to take part in combat operations in the Jadran region. The killings were carried out in front of a crowd of refu- gees, an act of rage by counter-revolu- tionaries for their failure to hold the Gardaiz-Khost road. For nine years, the road was held by the Jadran tribe, whose chief, Mullah Jaladdin Hakani, maintains contacts with the “group of seven” rebel leaders and with western intel- ligence agencies. But the siege was lifted after heavy fighting during which the anti- government mujahaddin lost about 3,000 troops. The military operation to lift the siege was launched by the government following a series of unsuccessful attempts to settle the issue by negotiation. These included a call by the Loyal Jirgah, the national assembly, offering various compromises and guaran- tees of economic and other benefits to the Jadran tribe. After the military operation was begun, many Jadrans and members of other tribes refused to join the rebel side in battle. Mer- cenaries were then sent from Pakistani bases but the Afghan army, supported by Soviet units, succeeded in opening the road and lifting the siege of Khost. The events followed closely on a visit to the country Jan. 4-6 by Soviet Foreign Min- ister Eduard Shevardnadze who, after meet- ing with Afghan leader Najibullah, expres- NAJIBULLAH _ sed full support for the policy of national reconciliation and the steps being taken to bring it about. Hopes for an early political settlement of the external aspects of the Afghan problem were expressed at the Afghan-Pakistani talks by the personal representative of UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar and further talks are planned for this month. Contacts that the USSR has had with other states indicate that there is a basis for the settlement of the Afghan conflict and for an end to outside interference. That settle- ment, the USSR has stated, will make it possible to withdraw Soviet troops within 12 months. In an interview. with the news agency Bakhtar, Shevardnadze explained that the Kabu | press conference last year exposing recruitment of Afghan counter- issue of Soviet troops withdrawal is linked to anend to U.S. aid to the rebels, currently running at $600 million annually. “Under agreed documents, the USSR and the U.S. will guarantee (the non- interference) obligations,” Shevardnadze said. “It must be emphasized that the U.S. must agree to be a guarantor and to stop aid to armed groups conducting hostilities inside Afghanistan. With that obligation in force, the Soviet troop withdrawal will start. “As agreed,” he stated, “‘this is to take place within 60 days after the signing of the arrangements made at the Afghan-Pakistani talks. “Afghan patriots have not spared their own lives in fighting to protect the gains of their April revolution and Soviet interna- tional soldiers have been with them at these most difficult stages. But the new political thinking has been to seek ways to preclude a military sokution: This is how the projected political settlkement and the policy of national reconciliation emerged.” Shevardnadze emphasized: “We shall leave Afghanistan with a clear conscience and with the awareness of a duty done — and when outside interference is no more.” He added that, given a favourable solu- tion, Soviet troops could withdraw ahead of schedule from areas where a ceasefire is in place. _ dependent on guarantees of an end to U.S. aid to rebels. ivi revolutionaries in Iran: negotiated settlement PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 3, 1988 e 9 GEORGI MADEZHDIN TASS PHOTO .