All hail the peacemakers 19
Palestine, Israël : entretien avec Amira Hass, journaliste israélienne (it's in english!)
I watched the video thinking it was talking about archaeology and stealing artifacts. I guess it's talking about stealing money? I'm no power-point wizard but that was a pretty weak presentation for a university level, no?
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Bomb?
I MUST start with a shocking confession: I am not afraid of the Iranian nuclear bomb.
I know that this makes me an abnormal person, almost a freak.
But what can I do? I am unable to work up fear, like a real Israeli. Try as I may, the Iranian bomb does not make me hysterical.
MY FATHER once taught me how to withstand blackmail: imagine that the awful threat of the blackmailer has already come about. Then you can tell him: Go to hell.
I have tried many times to follow this advice and found it sound. So now I apply it to the Iranian bomb: I imagine that the worst has already happened: the awful ayatollahs have got the bombs that can eradicate little Israel in a minute.
So what?
According to foreign experts, Israel has several hundred nuclear bombs (assessments vary between 80-400. If Iran sends its bombs and obliterates most of Israel (myself included), Israeli submarines will obliterate Iran. Whatever I might think about Binyamin Netanyahu, I rely on him and our security chiefs to keep our "second strike" capability intact. Just last week we were informed that Germany had delivered another state-of-the-art submarine to our navy for this purpose.
oops!
MY FIRST reaction after the election was: “Oh, no! Not a National Unity Government, please!
In my first article after the election, I devoted a large part to the danger of a "national unity" government, though at the time the possibility of such a government, based on Likud and the Labor Party, seemed very remote indeed.
But, looking at the figures, I had a gnawing suspicion: this looks like something that will end with a Likud-Labor combination.
Now, suddenly, this possibility has raised its head. Everybody is talking about it.
All my emotions rebel against this possibility. But I owe it to myself and my readers to examine this option dispassionately. Though pure logic is a rare commodity in politics, let's try to exercise it.
IS A "national unity government" good or bad for Israel?
Let's look at the numbers first.
THIS WEEK I won a dubious distinction: a groundbreaking Supreme Court judgment has been named after me.
It is an honor I would have gladly dispensed with.
MY NAME appeared at the head of a list of applicants, associations and individuals, which asked the court to cancel a law enacted by the Knesset.
Israel has no written constitution. This unusual situation arose right from the beginning of the state because David Ben-Gurion, a fierce secularist, could not achieve a compromise with the orthodox parties, which insisted that the Torah already is a constitution.
IT IS a rather disgusting spectacle.
The Israeli Right has won a crushing election victory. (On closer examination, the victory was not quite so crushing. Indeed, there was no victory at all. The crushing victory of Likud was achieved only at the expense of other rightist parties.)
The Rightist bloc together has not advanced at all. To form a majority coalition, it needs the party of Moshe Kahlon, the majority of whose voters are more leftist than rightist. Kahlon could easily have been persuaded to join a leftist coalition, if the leader of the Labor Party, Yitzhak Herzog, had been a more resolute personality.
Be that as it may, Binyamin Netanyahu is now busy trying to construct his government.
That's where the disgust comes in.
THERE ARE two different opinions about Binyamin Netanyahu. It is difficult to believe that they concern the same person.
One is that Netanyahu is a shallow politician, devoid of ideas and convictions, who is led solely by his obsession to remain in power. This Netanyahu has a good voice and a talent for making shallow speeches on television, speeches devoid of any intellectual content – and that's all.
This Netanyahu is highly "pressurable" (a Hebrew word invented almost solely for him), a man who will change his views according to political expediency, disclaiming in the evening what he has said in the morning. None of his words should be trusted. He will lie and cheat anytime to assure his survival.
The other Netanyahu is almost the exact opposite. A principled patriot, a serious thinker, a statesman who sees danger beyond the horizon. This Netanyahu is a gifted orator, able to move the US Congress and the UN plenum, admired by the great mass of Israelis.
So which of these descriptions is true?
Oops!
BINYAMIN NETANYAHU seems to be detested now by everyone. Almost as much as his meddling wife, Sarah'le.
Six weeks ago, Netanyahu was the great victor. Contrary to all opinion polls, he achieved a surprise victory at the last moment, winning 30 seats in the 120-member Knesset, leaving the Labor Party (re-branded "The Zionist Camp") well behind him.
The extra seats did not come from the Left. They came from his nearest competitors, the Rightist parties.
However, it was a great personal triumph. Netanyahu was on top of his world. Sarah'le was radiant. Netanyahu left no doubt that he was now the master, and that he was determined to order things according to his wishes.
A few days ago, Israeli TV Channel 10 broadcast an investigative story about the 2006 Israeli attack on Lebanon, known as "Lebanon War II".
Though not very profound, it provided a good picture of what actually happened. The three main Israeli protagonists talked freely.
The picture was very disturbing, to say the least. One could say that it was alarming.
The main conclusion is that all our leaders at the time behaved with blatant irresponsibility, combined with stupidity.
TO RECAPITULATE: Lebanon II lasted 34 days, from July 7 to August 14, 2006.
It was provoked by a border incident: Hezbollah forces in South Lebanon crossed the border and attacked a routine Israel patrol. The aim was to capture Israeli soldiers in order to effect a prisoner exchange – the only way to get the Israeli government to release Arab prisoners.
[url=https://ricochet.media/en/440/defying-harper-government-canadians-join-n... Harper government, Canadians join new flotilla to Gaza[/url]
Another fleet of boats will challenge the state of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and stranglehold on 1.8 million Palestinians who live there. Well-known personalities, labour leaders and Aboriginal people from Canada are planning to be on board, though full details of their participation are being kept under wraps.
The action defies both the Netanyahu and Harper governments.
Ilan Pappe - Wie ist der Staat Israel entstanden?(it's in English)
THE BATTLE is over. The dust has settled. A new government – partly ridiculous, partly terrifying – has been installed.
It is time to take stock.
The net result is that Israel has given up all pretense of desiring peace and that Israeli democracy has suffered a blow from which it may never recover.
ISRAELI GOVERNMENTS – with the possible exception of Yitzhak Rabin's – have never really desired peace. The peace that is possible.