Dear Mr. Cohen,
Allow me to disagree with you in your point. Many studies of vulnerability
to disasters, in which Dr. Wisner is a leading pioneer , suggests such
crimes as mass killing practiced by STATES can be described in terms of
"hazards and disasters', the vulnerability of victims, and what they or
others did and did not to counter the threats and harm. That was true in the
case of the Holocaust and is neatly replicated now in the West Bank. The
social hazard imposed by the Israeli government on Palestinian is equivalent
of societal threats such as hurricane or droughts. This disaster occurred
and could only occur when the instruments and agencies of a government
employed against innocent people. What is happening in the West Bank is not
just a massive return to barbarism, but its scope and thoroughness reflect
the full use of the state monopoly of armed force. As a researcher in the
field of Hazards, when I see a State like Israel in all levels of
governmental administration, acts to entrench and expedite the policies of
race-murder to impose 'peaceful' solutions, I cannot simply ignore that and
say "it's politics". I think there are so many lessons here for us to learn
about vulnerability, genocide, and the coping abilities in extremes.
And if you are interested let me refer you to the following classical
references:
Blaikie, P., Cannon, T., Davis, I. and Wisner, B., 1994. At risk, Natural
Hazards, People's Vulnerability, and Disasters. Routledge, New York.
Hewitt, K., 1997. Regions of Risk: a Geographical Introduction to Disasters.
Themes in resource management. (Harlow: Longman).
Regrads,
Tarek
T a r e k R a s h e d
**********************************
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Geography
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA 92120, USA
Phone: 619-594 2598
Fax: 619-594 4938
email: [log in to unmask]
************************************
----- Original Message -----
From: "jccpc" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 7:57 AM
Subject: Re: 'Earthquake' in the West Bank
> Dear Mr. Wisner,
>
> I would appreciate this forum being reserved for natural hazards and
> disaster mitigation, not politics.
>
> Thank you.
>
> James Cohen, PE
> James Cohen Consulting, PC
> Pennington, NJ
> http://expertpages.com/jccpc
>
>
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