Nobody can blame the US or its people for the anger they felt and showed after 6,000 Americans and other nationals were killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.
And very few people on this earth have the slightest idea what is on the mind of the US administration and policymakers - a scarey proposition, given what America can do to retaliate for the attacks.
Surprisingly, the number one world power has shown some wisdom, so far.
The US was wise when it did not name Muslim and Arab groups perceived as resistance movements, including Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Lebanese Hizbollah, as targets of its “anti-terrorism war.”
And they did well when they insisted that the Arafat-Peres meeting proceed, over Sharon's objections, and that the Mideast peace process should not be neglected.
Washington was also wise when it approved the FTA agreement with Jordan, thereby reassuring the kingdom that its efforts to achieve regional and international peace and stability were appreciated.
The American policymakers showed further wisdom when they did not block a UN Security Council resolution to lift the five-year-old sanctions on Sudan.
And they will be wise in the eyes of the majority of our planet’s inhabitants if they limit their strike against Afghanistan by supporting the North Alliance forces, and then leaving the Afghan people to determine what type of government will rule them.
This wisdom should extend to helping the Afghans rebuild their country, instead of visiting further suffering on ordinary people who had nothing to do with the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon.
Nevertheless, the US has to prove it is wise enough, and work to uproot the seeds of hatred millions feel towards it due to biased policies and double standards that are evident in Palestine and beyond.
The US has to make clear that the terrorist acts it suffered do not equate with the resistance to Israel's 34-year military occupation of Palestinian land it conquered in 1967.
The Israelis did not show it, but they had their own calculated reasons for welcoming the US “into their world,” as one Israeli official put it, carefully attempting to create a parallel between the airborne terrorist attacks and Palestinian resistance to a brutal occupation.
Israeli premier Ariel Sharon has tried to manipulate American grief by comparing Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to Osama bin Laden, the main suspect behind the hideous attacks.
What remains is that the US should tell the Israelis loud and clear: no more occupation of land that belongs to other people; no more building and expanding settlements on occupied lands; no more gunning down children in the streets of their own towns and villages; no more blockades on the Palestinians that push them deeper into poverty.
These words should be backed up with the threat of cutting off Israel's tools of destruction: the US-made fighter-bombers, tanks and attack helicopters that are now blanketing Palestinian communities with death.
In short, the US should seize the day and open a new chapter in history.
Americans are unquestionably able to bring an end to the Israeli occupation, and in the process improve their standing in the region and the world.
By taking such a step, Americans will be able to rest assured that countless people, who are now seething with anger over lost loved ones, will have no more reasons to hate the US or act against its interests.
When the Palestinian issue is justly resolved, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad will have very few people to applaud a “martyrdom attack” they carry out against Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv or Netanya.
Since the attacks on the US, Bush has said on at least two occasions that the countries of the world should choose what side they're on.
Bush has declared that those who are not with his country are, by default, supporters of terrorism.
But America's leaders have a different and more serious choice confronting them, one with grave implications for the future of the US and the world:
Are Americans on the side of justice, or oppression?
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
