the other press Op-Ed Section Editor: Erin Culhane acdonald Stainsby External Coordiantor the time you are reading this, the nited States of America will be raining ath onto the people of Iraq in one of the ossest violations of international law in story, effectively destroying the United ations and creating an unpredictable ture. As well, earlier this week the ganization that (along with the Douglas udents’ Union) put on the successful ti-war conference on our campus—the ternational Solidarity Movement—had 23-year-old activist murdered by Israel hile trying to do non-violent civil dis- edience to stop the demolition of yet ore civilian homes. She was run over by young Israeli army soldier operating a Iidozer in the occupied Gaza Strip. Her me was Rachel Corrie, and she attend- i Evergreen College in Olympia, ashington—just like this one. It’s been ite a week, and it promises to get worse. There are only two nations whose pop- ations are in support of this war without e UN backing. They are the United ates and Israel, both of whose popula- ns are deeply propagated with all man- r of media manipulation about the “evil es” who are up to no good with horri- e weapons. The rest of the world—over 0 countries—have next to no support ra non-UN authorized war. When this opinionsubmit@hotmail.com war started this week, it was the single greatest threat to world peace and stabili- ty since the German army invaded Poland in 1939. The parallels are deeply striking. Just listen to these words: “The Polish State has refused the peace- ful settlement of relations which I desired, and has appealed to arms. Germans in Poland are persecuted with bloody terror and driven from their houses. A series of violations of the frontier, intolerable to a great Power, prove that Poland is no longer willing to respect the frontier of the Reich. In order to put an end to this luna- cy, I have no other choice than to meet force with force from now on...” Those words, are the words of Adolph Hitler of Germany at a time when the world was slipping into a war that would take between 50 and 60 million civilian lives before it was finished. This argument was made on September 1, 1939: that Poland presented a great threat to German citizens and indeed to world peace. That the dictatorship in Poland was torturing people, and that it would never under- stand negotiations, but only force. Such is the language of George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today. And just like Iraq, the Polish government was a brutal, right-wing dictatorship. It he Parallels are too Much to Bear was, just like Saddam Hussein’s govern- ment, infested with torturers and killers. Also, like Saddam Hussein’s, the govern- ment of Poland (despite all the rhetoric of the invading force) was no match for the military might of the Third Reich. The parallels also go much deeper in many other areas. The world order, estab- lished at the end of a world war, was dec- imated by the actions of Germany. But the world took the Nazis at their word, and the world debated how to make a deal with the Germans rather than directly confront them. Just as then, now the US government states they “only want Iraq,” but in reality their goals of world conquest go far deeper. What happened was that diplomacy between states—to avoid war—was gone until after the Nazis were defeated in the rubble of what had been Berlin. We seem to be lurching toward a world where Washington DC also will soon bea battle ground, and the fear that covered DC in the wake of last years’ snipers will seem like a walk in the park. The parallels go yet further. Faced with the death of diplomacy, many good peo- ple looked the other way from the German global conquest plan, and then their neighbours started to disappear. Today, thousands of people who were born in the Middle East languish in unmarked military-style prisons inside the United States itself, without trial and without lawyers, or even a phone call. Many resisted this rape of human rights then, and many resist now. The parallels can be broken. We can change the course of history, but we won't change it by writ- ing letters. We won't by singing songs and attending marches, although our ever- increasing anti-war camp numbers have become the single greatest forces of civil- ian movement in human history. We can say no. We can force the governments of murder and plunder to stop acting in our names. We can get involved, and by acting against this change this dreadful course of history...before it is too late. It’s too late for Rachel Corrie: She died trying to resist those warring forces that murder civilians. Yet, if her death helps save lives, she didn’t die for nothing. Indeed, she died for the most noble cause possible: humanity. You can make a difference. Get involved with . page 5 ©