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Volume 1, Issue
8
November, 2003
In this Newsletter:
About The Prism Group
The Prism
Group continues to focus on some key issues and is pleased to
see that its efforts are causing “spectrums of awareness” in
many places. Our reports have been shared with a number of
important government and political leaders around the world and
we continue to receive inquiries and comments.
Freedom of Religion
We begin this
newsletter as the Moslem world enters the holy month of Ramadan,
a month of fasting and prayer. Sadly, this Ramadan seems to be
plagued with increased threats of impending terrorist attacks
and violence, although we at the Prism Group were gratified to
see that despite security concerns, more than 150,000 Moslems
were able to attend prayers on the El-Haram-esh-Sharif/Temple
Mount in Jerusalem.
Nowhere in
the world does the issue of freedom of religion seem to be more
central, than in the Middle East. As the birthplace of three
great religions, one might assume that in this region, at least,
religious freedom would be an understood and accepted concept.
The Prism Group has studied this in the past and continues to
watch this important issue as a measure of how the peoples in
the Middle East live.
In the past, we investigated the plight of Christians in the
holy land, those who live under areas governed by Israel, as
well as those who live under Palestinian Authority control. We
note that a new university has been accredited in the Galilee
area, specifically for Arab Christians. At the same time, the
proposed constitution of the Palestinian Authority still gives
cause for concern. Various parts of the European Union are
calling for Christian values to be included as well. As matters
currently stand, followers of Christianity and Judaism will be
considered as second-class citizens.
As the first Friday of Ramadan passed relatively peacefully, the
Prism Group adds its own hope that peace will prevail. We trust
that members of all religions will be allowed to practice their
faith in security and safety.
Continued Mistreatment of Palestinian
Children
We are delighted to announce that our appeal for more
appropriate education for Palestinian children has been taken up
by others and is beginning to reach those positions to stop the
continuing abuse of Palestinian children. Many of the features
in our
report, (released in July 2003) have started to gain greater
acceptance in various countries, with leaders calling for
education and cultural reforms so that Palestinian children can
be nurtured in an environment that encourages peace and
understanding, not violence and martyrdom.
For example, a group of approximately 170 European
Parliamentarians recently visited Jordan, Israel and the
Palestinian Authority. They reported receiving material on this
very subject, much of which is available to the public at
www.eufunding.org.
Additionally, there have been statements from several European,
Australian and American politicians on this subject, noting how
the abuse of Palestinian children by fundamentalist leadership
is now spreading to other countries. This warning was clearly
issued in the Prism report itself. Most notably, the British
Home Secretary, Mr. David Blunkett, has called for Muslim
children to be given an education that opens them up to the
values of all peoples.
The UK is rightly concerned about extremist propaganda emanating
from its shores. The outlawed Hamas continues to justify and
encourage terror in its Filisteen Amuslima (Muslim
Palestine) magazine and the Muslim Brotherhood spreads its hate
messages in Risalat al-Ikhwan. Both of these are
published and distributed from London throughout Europe and the
Middle East.
US Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld has again stressed that
the war against terror is more than the capture of known
terrorists, but must consider ways to reduce the terrorists
being created by indoctrination in radical schools throughout
the world.
Use of International Funds
Because it is an important issue, and one that is fundamental to
European involvement in the Middle East, and the future of the
Middle East itself, we remind you again of our important
position paper on funding from the European Union. It can be
viewed at:
http://www.theprismgroup.org/euinquiry.htm.
The Prism
Group believes that the money donated to the Palestinians has
not reached the man in the street. Until it does, violence,
poverty and terrorism will remain prevailing influences. While
no one has directly proved that a specific Euro was secretly
marked with invisible dye and then tracked as it was banked in a
private bank account of a Palestinian official or used to pay a
terrorist for a specific incident, clearly money is being
diverted.
The IMF
report referred to in our last newsletter tells of control
weaknesses over the accounts used to channel EU funds. A
specific case in point are the appeals by members of the
Palestinian Parliament as Mohammed Rachid, Chairman Arafat’
private financial advisor, who is currently resident in Cairo
and suspected of mismanaging vast sums.
Given all the
evidence concerning ongoing theft of Palestinian money by their
leadership, the evidence of cheques being written from those
accounts for terrorism, and the fact that so much is poured into
the system while such limited progress is made for the
Palestinian people themselves, the conclusion that international
funds are not always being for the intended purposes seems
obvious. Whether international aid is being used to backfill
‘diverted’ monies or is in fact diverted itself seems, at least
to the Prism Group, to be a pedantic distinction not worthy of
discussion.
The more
important question, however, is how these funds are being used
to improve the lot of the ordinary Palestinian and improve the
hopes for peace in the area.
Borders
Among Nations
Often the key to peace between countries lies in the border
areas, which divide them. As the issue of the security fence
between Israel and the Palestinian heats up in the international
arena, it is interesting to view the way that borders are often
misused by other countries in the region, and how borders are
often respected and protected by others. Of particular interest
was a recent effort by the Jordanian army, which closed the
border with Israel, as it searched and found terrorists
attempting to infiltrate Israel for an attack. This cooperation
signals hope for continued good relations between these
countries.
There are still contradictions in the region. For example, Syria
allowed anti-coalition forces to be bussed to Iraq during the
war to fight against Western forces and is suspected of allowing
Iraqi WMD to be hidden within its borders. Similarly, there is
evidence that Egypt has been reticent to stop Palestinians from
using clandestine tunnels to smuggle drugs, prostitutes and arms
via the tunnels, as well as over land routes in the Sinai
Desert. Egypt has denied Israel's accusations of a tunnel being
sighted coming out in an Egyptian military encampment.
As always, the Prism Group focuses on the people, more than the
powers in the Middle East. We would like to emphasize that the
people who suffer most from the tunnels are the Palestinian
neighbors of home owners who are paid princely sums to allow
tunnels to be dug via their homes. While the home owner who
allows his land to be used for these criminal and terrorist
activities is paid compensation by the criminals, it is the
neighbors that suffer when Israeli forces take military action
to cut off the source of incoming explosives, mortars, guns and
ammunition. And it is the women, who are lured into prostitution
gangs or the children of all sides who become slaves to the drug
barons, who are the real victims of the Egyptian inability to
protect its own border.
The Prism Group Website
As our
resources and reports expand, we have worked hard to keep the
web site up to date with our latest efforts. Share this
newsletter with your friends. Please visit our site and help
direct others to the existing fact sheets, so that our work can
be shared. If you have ideas for fact sheets that you believe we
should investigate and compile, please write to us at:
info@theprismgroup.org.
Our web site
is
www.theprismgroup.org.
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