HOW WOULD the US react to a declaration that the Palestinians would not conduct negotiations with an Israeli government that includes semi-fascist parties?
With outrage, of course.
How does the US react to an Israeli statement that Israel will not negotiate with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas?
With full approval, of course.
JUST BEFORE Israel’s 66th Independence Day, the country acquired a new national hero.
If it is true that every nation gets the national heroes it deserves, it was a rather worrying spectacle.
THE VIDEO clip that turned David Adamov from an anonymous soldier into a national figure was taken with a Palestinian camera in Hebron.
YEARS AGO I was invited to a UN conference on the Palestinian refugees in Paris.
I was to open the debate as an Israeli, after the Palestinian representative, Salman Abu Sitta, a refugee from a Bedouin tribe in the Negev, had opened as a Palestinian.
Before the debate I was warned that Abu Sitta was the most extreme of the refugees, a notorious hater of Israel. When my turn came, I said that I had to choose between answering him or reading my prepared text. I decided to read my text and promised to invite him to a private dinner and discuss his points.
When I finished, Abu Sitta reminded me of that promise. We had dinner in a quiet Paris restaurant and I found Abu Sitta a very engaging person. Rachel, my wife, was deeply moved by his account of his flight as a boy during the Naqba, and so was I.
Abu Sitta, by now a very wealthy international contractor, has devoted his life to the plight of the Palestinian refugees and is, perhaps, the world’s foremost expert on the Naqba.
ACCORDING TO press reports, President Barack Obama has decided to let Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas “stew in their own juice.”
That sounds fair.
The United States has tried very hard to make peace between Israel and Palestine. Poor John Kerry has devoted almost all of his considerable energies to getting both sides to meet, to talk, to reach compromises.
DURING HIS short visit to Israel, Pope Francis laid a wreath on the grave of Theodor Herzl.
That was not a usual gesture. Foreign heads of state are obliged to visit Yad Vashem, as did the pope, but not the grave of Herzl. It is not like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris.
So why Herzl’s grave? Obviously, this gesture was intended to emphasize the Zionist character of the state.
Herzl was the founder of modern political Zionism. He is officially called “the Visionary of the State”. His is the only picture decorating the Knesset plenum hall. If we had saints, he would be St. Theodor.
HOW DOES a football club choose its team?
The simple way is the usual one: each side has a manager, who chooses his team. No problem.
Now the Israeli government has hit on a new way: Our manager appoints both our team and the adversary’s team. Simplifies the matter.
I wonder if this method could not be refined. For example: each side’s manager chooses only the team of the other side. Could turn out interesting.
THE EXISTENCE of the army in a truly democratic state represents a paradox.
The army is supposed to obey the elected government. This obedience is unconditional.
But the army (including land, sea and air forces) is the only potent armed force in the country. It can carry out a coup d’etat and grab power at any given moment.
IF THERE is a God, he surely has a sense of humor. The career of Shimon Peres, who is about to finish his term as President of Israel, is clear evidence.
Here is a life-long politician, who has never won an election. Here is the world-renowned Man of Peace, who has started several wars and never done anything for peace. Here is the most popular political figure in Israel who for most of his life was hated and despised.
ONE SIDE’S terrorists are the other side’s freedom fighters. That is not simply a matter of terminology. It is a difference of perception, which has far-reaching practical consequences.
Take prisoners, for example.
For the freedom fighter, achieving the release of imprisoned comrades is a sacred duty, for which he is ready to sacrifice his life. One of the most daring exploits of the Irgun underground (of which I was for a time a very junior member) was to attack in force the British prison in the Crusader’s castle in Acre and release hundreds of prisoners. For our colonial masters, this was considered a dastardly terrorist act.
THE ARAB world is in turmoil. Syria and Iraq are breaking apart, the thousand-year old conflict between Muslim Sunnis and Muslim Shiites is reaching a new climax. A historic drama is unfolding around us.
And what is the reaction of our government?
Binyamin Netanyahu put it succinctly: “We must defend Israel on the Jordan River, before they reach Tel Aviv.”
Simple, concise, idiotic.
BOMBS ARE raining on Gaza and rockets on Southern Israel, people are dying and homes are being destroyed.
Again.
Again without any purpose. Again with the certainty that after it’s all over, everything will essentially be the same as it was before.
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WHAT WOULD history look like if it were written in the style of the "Solid Cliff (a.k.a. Protective Edge) operation?
For example:
Winston Churchill was a scoundrel.[*]
For five years he kept the population of London under the unceasing fire of the German Luftwaffe. He used the inhabitants of London as a human shield in his crazy war. While the civilian population was exposed to the bombs and rockets, without the protection of an "iron dome", he was hiding in his bunker under 10 Downing Street.
oops!
IN THIS war, both sides have the same aim: to put an end to the situation that existed before it started.
Once And For All!
To put an end to the launching of rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip, Once And For All!
To put an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt, Once And For All!
So why don't the two sides come together without foreign interference and agree on tit for tat?
They can't because they don't speak to each other. They can kill each other, but they cannot speak with each other. God forbid.
THIS IS NOT a war on terror. The war itself is an act of terror.
THERE WAS this village in England which took great pride in its archery. In every yard there stood a large target board showing the skills of its owner. On one of these boards every single arrow had hit a bull's eye.
A curious visitor asked the owner: how is this possible? The reply: "Simple. First I shoot the arrows, and then I draw the circles around them."
In this war, our government does the same. We achieve all our goals – but our goals change all the time. In the end, our victory will be complete.
Purim and Genocidal Phantasies
Purim. One of the most popular Jewish holidays among Orthodox, traditional and so-called secular Jewish Israelis alike. The streets are packed with children and adults wearing costumes, make-up and all sorts of masquerading, on their way from one joyous Purim party to the next. Happy days. But behind the carnivalesque masks, ominous demons are lurking.
The Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights is now 47 years old. Two generations of Israelis have grown up, matured and been educated in a country depriving millions of their political rights. In Israel’s political leadership, settlers residing in the Occupied Territories and recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union are over-represented. No wonder, then, that basic notions of democracy have been virtually abandoned.
Finklestein is not an Israeli or a Palestinian but this is a very impotant video:
Norman Finkelstein on Gaza conflict, Hamas goals and Iron Dome myth
