As usual we have to construct our understanding of the world.

We have witnessed a massacre in the Palestinian town of Jenin, yet the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) negate such a massacre. In Europe and among Arab countries, there is call for a United Nations (UN) investigation over the massacre of Jenin. President Bush has also supported an independent investigation over what has occurred in Jenin, yet the U.S. is positioning to veto a possible investigation by the United Nations.

I become more incensed about president Bush double talking as all of this devastation and deaths in the Middle East could have been avoided if the U.S. wouldn't have vetoed the UN resolution 1199 of December 14, 2002 for an international monitoring force in the Middle East.

President Bush calls PM Ariel Sharon a man of peace while British parliamentarian Gerald Kaufman calls Sharon a "blustering bully" and "a war criminal."

The United States is decidedly the only country to support the Israeli invasion of the Palestinian territories, while the European Union is decidedly against the human rights violations of the Israeli army in the Palestinian territories. BBC correspondent Jonathan Marcus explains this different perception by writing "Americans tend to see Israel's offensive in terms of the war against terrorism; Europeans tend to see it as part of a struggle for Palestinian self-determination."

Again we are confronted with the question of who is right and who is wrong, and it is up to ourselves to find the answer. However, we must understand that the United States has very often shown contempt for the international consensus of other countries; further, we must understand that in the global fight against terrorism the United States has been applying the Bush's doctrine "with US or against the US" in the absence of any agreed international definition of terrorism, and that is why the United States has been allying itself with countries which are themselves 'terroristic.' The International Criminal Court (ICC) will prosecute individuals who have committed war crimes, genocide, or other crimes against humanity, yet the Bush administration is contemplating the unsigning of the ICC treaty while at the same time waging a legal battle against the ICC.

Self-determination is life itself, therefore, and without hesitation, I fully support the European's perspective of the current conflict in the Middle East.

References

Pertinent article in Ensign

Israeli tanks enter, leave Gaza CNN, April 19, 2002 http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/19/mideast/index.html

Bush defends Israeli troop occupation. Sharon praised while pressure put on Arafat; 'We will hold him to account'; Tensions could to deepen between U.S., Arab world. By David L. Greene, Originally published April 18, 2002 http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-mideast18.story?coll=bal%2Dhome%2Dheadlines

Gli Usa annunciano veto contro inchiesta sulle morti a Jenin Quotidiano, 19 Aprile 2002 http://qn.quotidiano.net/art/2002/04/19/3242855

Note: April 20, 2002. Security Council OKs Jenin Mission By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer, Fri Apr 19, 2002 11:11 PM ET. The council adopted the resolution hours after Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) that it would welcome a U.N. representative "to clarify the facts" of what happened in the Jenin refugee camp... U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, who initially opposed any resolution, said "It's important to get to the bottom of the facts of the situation." http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020420/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_israel_palestinians_129

Security Council Draft Resolution 1199 (December 14, 2001) A draft resolution initiated by Egypt and Tunisia calling on Israel and Palestine to establish a monitoring mechanism to help the parties implement the recommendations of the Mitchell Report. The US vetoed the resolution. http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/palindx2.htm

Bush: Sharon 'man of peace,' IDF meets pullout timetable Aluf Benn, Nathan Guttman and Yossi Verter Ha'aretz Daily April 19, 2002 http://www.iht.com/articles/55247.html

London papers, politicians decry Israeli siege of Jenin By Al Webb, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, April 18, 2002 http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020418-2465798.htm

Israel assesses Jenin action By Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence correspondent, April 19, 2002 http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1939000/1939222.stm

The United States and the International Criminal Court The United States of America was one of only 7 nations (joining China, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Qatar and Israel) to vote against the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998. http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/icc/us.htm