THE 'NEW World Order was sup sosed to solve the 'problem' of the alestinian people - thrown out o their homeland by the Zionist israeli state.
True, there has been two conferences so far, in Madrid and Washington. But they have ended without agreement on a venue for the next round of talks, never mind a l'alestinian homeland.
The US has been able to lean on Shamir to get him totheconference table but Shamir does not intend to the contrary, attacks have been and the occupied terior sae built on the Isracli-occupied West manufacturers wvera.ww new nouses are being Bank to house the massive influx of Jews from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Jews are being forced to go to Israel, though the vast majority do not wish to settle there.
Arabs have been thrown out of their houses in Jerusalem to allow jews to move in. despite protests from Zionist mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kolleck. threatened with deportation. and britain have protested more force fully than usual and even voted to condemn Israel in the UN Security Council.
But no-one should expect them to show thesame willingness to implement this resolution as they did with Resolution 660 (the "legal tig leat for the Gult war).
The intransience of the isradi was shown when Shamir Feb. 1, 1992 No. 15 Minister David Levy Madrid delegation. To back up their position they organised demonstrations in Spain and Israel against any concesShamir's intentions are clearly to drag talks out for as long as possible to allow the maximum colonisation of the occupied territories - though this - and Shamir's survival - could be threatened by the far right Moledet and Tehiya parties, who have now forced a vote of conİsraeli Prime Minister Yitzahk "The US has actually made a profit of $4-5 billion from 'bombing Iraq back into the make meaningful concessions. On Stone Age'. But even this sum pales into insignificance when compared to the money made by the American arms fidence in the Knesset. They objected to any discussion of "Palestinian autonomy", though Shamir had no intention of proposing any such thing. Defence Minister Moshe Arens summed up their position as peace to stack, but not at the costs or our tient to this land! The US interests, but they know that the Isracli region. The Zionists may serve Western interests but also have their own, some times conflicting goals. The Palestinian desperate to gain Washington's backing - have shown nemseyes, or cures willing to make more and more concesPalestinian delegation at Madrid was ex'stability' to that state. at the head of the masses. of the populations. threaten Mubarak. However, clash with immediate Us at the real winners leadership US $60 billion they
Lockerbie
All the evidence linking Syria to the Lockerbie bombing is being ignored in favour of threats against Libya. Assad's military occupation of Lebanon has been accepted as the only way to bring But the Us knows that Assad cannot be relied upon - he cannot distance himself too far from the anti-Zionist and anti-imperialist feelings of the Syrian Similar constraints act upon Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Both Syria and Egypt had large amounts of their external debts written off as a reward for services rendered. This has benefited the ruling classes but region. has had no effect on the living standards Abject poverty In Egypt the mass of the population contnuts to uvemad ject poverty. Any open abandonboth Assad and The various regimes in the Gulf oil states have all benefited. Emir Jaber has his throne back. The governments of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrair and Kuwait have gained access to US military aid. Even the Iranian regime has been granted a certain respectability.
Palestinians have been murdered or thrown out of Kuwait. The arestill denied even the most elementary acmocratic Tones. In saudi Araola women are not even allowed to drive a But the rewards for Assad, jaber, and the Saudis are very smal when we look The United States sive, was able to wage its war and test out all its weapons of mass destruction without Although the war supposedly cost the recuperate this from other Western states - in particular japan and Germany countries nave surrerea ine consequences. This has affected not only the Gulf states but has resulted in black snow in India and Kashmir.
Even the faithful allies of the West -the reactionary oil monarchies - have had to pay a price. Apart from financing Washington's war they are now having to make new, very tavourable contract: with the Western oil companies.
And if they get away with this, they will be in a stronger position to demand the denationalisation of the oil in dustries in the Arab states and Iran.
Despite the apparently decisive military victory for imperialism - and the huge profits made- the Gulf war has not resulted in any 'stability" for the Oil war A new oil war between Saudi Arabia - which has grabbed Kuwait's market share - and the Kuwaitis is likely, once they get production back to normal. Irag. too, will be joining the fray, particularly since it has to pay much of its oil revenues to Kuwait in reparations The national roblems of the Pales and in the eyes of the vast majority of the Arab nation the New World Order remains the 'Old Western Order'.
All the old problems of poverty, starvation, displacement, lack of even the For the moment the main beneficiaries fundamentalists - particularly in Algeria and Palestine - but they also face problems, particularly those groups compromised by their previous reliance on the Saudi regime One year after the Guif war the Middie East remains a region where masDespite the undoubted strengthening presence will be the cause of fu very threaten the whole New World Order. revolutionary struggles which Will
It's a sign of the times we live in when Spare Rib, the monthly women's liberation magazine, publishes an article that argues for constraints on a woman's right to choose. Here LEONORA LLOYD takes up the argument in the article - that aborting fetuses with disabilities equals prejudice against the disabled. Special Feature.