ustxtxb_obs_2002_06_21_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

Texas Observer FEATURES THE RIGHTS OF A RIVER 4 7avas rivers are under slue Ann a\(7ribusiness, industry, and sprawling subdivision builders seeking permits get their claim in first? Those who live or depend on the Guadalupe River are about to find out. by fake Bernstein DEPARTMENTS BOOKS & THE CULTURE POETRY by Shea Herlihy-Abba and Sasha Woldman IN YOUR FACE IN SAN ANTONIO by Jeanne Russell byjames McWilliams ALTERNATIVE FUTURES by Robert Jensen AFTERWORD Writers of America: Unite! by Karen Olsson THE BACK PAGE Million Dollar Monsters Infographic by Kevin Kreneck Cover photo by Jana Birchuin Cover design by Julia Austin 21 22 24 26 30 32 AWARDS nce again, it’s time to recognize the efforts of TO staff and contributors, who recently received awards from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies: Alan Pogue, second place for Photography \(“Your Poem is Happening All Over,” ond place for Music Criticism \(“The Man With the Golden Arm,” Blakeslee, third place, Investigative Reporting \(“The Numbers Game,” Blakeslee was also named a Finalist for the 2001 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists. DIALOGUE EILEEN WELSOME I just read James McWilliams’ review of Treatment in Cincinnati \(“Waste Not,” que freelance reporter” who investigated plutonium injection experiments. That reporter was Eileen Welsome and she was a reporter for the Albuquerque Tribune, not a freelancer. She won a Pulitzer prize for that story. Barbara Ferry Via e-mail NO END IN SIGHT Your simple-minded article “Arming spark outrage against Texas companies who do business with Israel. It sparks outrage, all right, but against the dangerously naive presumptions on which the article is based. There will be no peace in Israel until some compromise on the occupied territories is reached. In the meanwhile, however, terrorist groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who have as their stated goal the elimination of the Jewish state, launch their murdersuicide attacks from these refugee camps. Their vicious assaults, in fact, increase in number and intensity when there is any sign that the two peoples are taking steps towards peace. Do Masri, Kron -ma, and Green suggest that Israel simply withdraw, allowing these groups to organize violence against civilians on an even larger scale? Look, for example, at what happened when the Israeli army unilaterally ended its occupation of Lebanonalthough the United Nations certified the withdrawal as complete, Hezbollah has continued to fire shells at Israeli civilians. Why is it surprising to the representatives of the Institute for Southern Studies that the proposed increase in the military budget of the United States the combined total of the “axis of evil” nations \(populations totaling less than are approximately 3 percent of our gross domestic product, akin to many industrial nations. North Korea, by contrast, spends nearly 25 percent of its GDP on its military. The United States is in a unique position in the world; many revile American power, yet that power is what allows us to help others achieve peace and stability in a way that other nations, good intentions or no, cannot and do not. While it is important to acknowledge inequalities in Israel, why is this country singled out for the “apartheid” label and the call for divestment? There are plenty of Texas companies that profit handsomely from business with Kuwait and other countries in which at least cannot vote, and minorities are denied equal rights.Where is the outcry? While there is considerable room for improvement in Israel as in any democracy, the Arab citizens of Israel enjoy greater rights in that country than they would in most Arab states. And if the Palestinians and their misguided supporters around the world would shift their goal from the destruction of Israel to the creation of a Palestinian state with functioning civic institutions, they, too, could enjoy the freedoms and rights that they lack today. Judith Lipsett San Antonio Understanding what motivates terrorists is key to winning the war against terrorism, and nothing has inspired and driven terrorists more than the Israeli occupation of Palestine. In 1967, in continued on page 29 DIALOGUE 2 EDITORIAL 3 Time to Dump Deru DATELINE TEXAS 8 It’s been nine months since Shadi Khufash was cleared by the FBI and ordered deported. So why is he still doing time in Denton? by Nate Blakeslee POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE 10 OPEN FORUM 11 In Support of a Moratorium by Elliott Naishtat MOLLY IVINS 12 Our Man in Halliburton JIM HIGHTOWER 13 Faking the Fifth ANDREW WHEAT 14 Privatizing Justice LAS AMERICAS 18 Massacres in Mexico by John Ross 2 THE TEXAS OBSERVER 6/21/02