Trillion dollar defence budgets cannot beat terrorism. What could, writes Salah Montasser, is the application of justice "Close Guantanamo prison", an article by Thomas Friedman that appeared this week, linked the violence and slaughter to which hundreds of Iraqis are daily exposed with the pictures and stories circulated by news agencies of what is happening to the 500 or so prisoners detained without trial in Guantanamo prison for years. Friedman described what was happening in Guantanamo as nauseating. The publication of news of what is taking place in that isolated camp cannot, he wrote, do anything but fuel the anger felt by Iraqis, Palestinians and Arabs. The news coming out of Guantanamo provides a tailor-made justification for those who carry out daily bombing operations in Iraq. For millions of Arabs, operations carried out in Iraq are greeted not with revulsion but with a sense of relief. They provide relief for the pent up fury over what is happening in Guantanamo. Friedman is right, though only up to a point. At best he told only a half-truth, for anti-American sentiment did not begin with the occupation of Iraq. The degrading treatment meted out to prisoners in Guantanamo Bay after 11 September may have increased the feelings of hostility, but they have been around for a great many years, ever since the US adopted a policy of blatant bias towards Israel at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people. No one expected that the Palestinians -- a people without an army, planes or tanks -- would enter into a confrontation with a state armed with the very latest equipment and weaponry only to be told that whatever the Palestinians did they were a nation of terrorists. The absolute imbalance of the equation is clear to everyone except those who deliberately choose to look the other way. These latter include Washington's policy- makers, who ask, in astonishment, why it is that they are hated. One should point out, of course, that it is not America that is hated -- huge numbers of Egyptians, and Arabs, remain enamoured of the American way of life and aspire to live in the US. Just look at the thousands of requests for immigration that had to be turned down after 11 September. No one hates America itself. Despite numerous calls for a boycott of US goods Arab markets continue to consume them at a startling rate. Yet this doesn't stop Arabs from feeling hostility towards a country that has shown little but hostility to them when it opted for a total and blind bias towards Israel at the expense of the Palestinian people. I feel no hatred towards America, though that does not mean I can turn a blind eye towards the unjustness of its policies towards the Palestinians. And as a writer I cannot ask my readers to love America. There will always be a market for attacks on America, and it is a market that is growing. In the current situation you are rejected if you talk about America's positive aspects and accepted so long as you attack it and expose its negative points. The US is engaged in a war on terror. Since 11 September attacks it has been saying that terrorism is the number one enemy, that it will not wait until terrorism arrives at its gates but pursue it wherever it may be. The US has taken a number of measures to achieve this end, encouraging its scientists and research centres to create modern weaponry and develop up-to-date strategies. In a recent speech at the Naval Academy President George W Bush talked about destroyers transporting light submarines that can operate in shallow water and surprise the enemy. Such weapons cost billions of dollars and whether they will contribute towards ending terrorism is debateable. The one thing Washington can do to help towards that end would be to tackle the causes of terrorism, and the only weapon that requires is the sword of justice -- true justice applied equally to Palestinians and Israelis. At first glance it may seem that such justice will go against Israel's interests. In the long run, however, it is clear that Washington's unqualified support for Israel actually compromises Israeli security. All parties are seeking security and will continue to do so by acquiring as many weapons as they can until finally it is realised that justice is the only weapon that can ultimately achieve the desired end for all. Israeli and American security cannot be guaranteed by oppressing the Palestinians. Like Thomas Friedman says, close Guantanamo prison and, while you're at it, don't forget to liberate the Palestinian people from the unjust and biased perspectives in which they have been imprisoned.
