Saviours of humanity

Well, why not try a little piece in English? Just in case an English-speaking reader drops by, accidentally or not. Besides, most of the piece consists of two quotes. And I just don't feel like translating them...

First, on the United Nations, that organisation that pretends to work for peace, justice and generell well-being of humankind. As soon as there is a war, it usually shows it impotence, irrelevance or worse. In William Blum' s "The Anti-Empire Report" of 18 augustus, I found the thoughts of no less than the former president of the UN General Assembly, Carlos Romulo. Here are his insights:

If there is a problem between a weak nation and another weak nation and the UN
takes action, then the problem disappears. If there is a problem between a
strong nation and a weak nation and the UN takes action, the weak nation
disappears. If ther is a problem between a strong nation and another strong
nation and the UN takes action, then the UN disappears.

Another so-called force for the general good is the media. Here are some interesting guidelines on how to operate as a journalist, editor of reporter when you write on matters in the Middle East. I found the through the mailing list of the Nederlans palestina Komitee, the Dutch Palestine Committee. It can also be found on their websit, as NPK-info, 17 augustus. Scroll down, and you find eleven "Rules opf the Wester Media in dealing with the Middle East" in English). I quote:

Rule 1: In the Middle East, it is always the Arabs that attack first, and
it' s always Israel who defends itself. This is called "retaliation".
Rule 2: The Arabs, whether Palestinians or Lebanese, are not allowed to
kill Israeli's. This is kalled "terrorism".
Rule 3: Israel has the right to kill Arab civilians; thhis is called "selfe
defense", or these days "collateral damage".
(...)
Rule 7: When you say "Hezbollah", always be sure to add "supported by Syria
and Iran".
Rule 8: When you say "Israel" never say "supported by the USA, the UK and
other European countries, for people (God forbid) might believe this is not an
equal conflict.
(...)
Rule 10: Israeli's speak better Engish than Arabs. This is why we let them
Speak out as much as possible, so that they can explain rules 1 through 9. This
is called "neutral journalism.
(...)

Source: http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/assawra/