An excellent meeting
Two statesmen met in Washington on Tuesday who are looking smaller and
smaller, who are taking smaller and smaller steps.
By Gideon Levy
Haaretz: July 08, 2010*
It really was an excellent meeting: The chance that a binational state will
be established has improved as a result; relations between Israel and the
United States are indeed "marvelous." Israel can continue with the whims of
its occupation. The president of the United States proved Tuesday that
perhaps there has been change, but not as far as we are concerned.
If there remained any vestiges of hope in the Middle East from Barack Obama,
they have dissipated; if some people still expected Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to lead a courageous move, they now know they made a mistake (and
misled others ).
The masked ball is at its peak: Preening each other, Obama and Netanyahu
have proved that even their heavy layer of makeup can no longer hide the
wrinkles. The worn-out, wizened old face of the longest "peace process" in
history has been awarded another surprising and incomprehensible extention.
It's on its way nowhere.
The "warm" and "sympathetic" reception, albeit a little forced, including
the presidential dog, Bo, the meeting of the wives, with the U.S. president
accompanying the Israeli prime minister to the car in an "unprecedented"
way, as the press enthused, cannot obscure reality. The reality is that
Israel has again managed to fool not only America, but even its most
promising president in years.
It was enough to listen to the joint press conference to understand, or
better yet, not understand, where we are headed. Will the freeze continue?
Obama and Netanyahu squirmed, formulated and obfuscated, and no clear answer
was forthcoming. If there was a time when people marveled at Henry
Kissinger's "constructive ambiguity," now we have destructive ambiguity.
Even when it came to the minimum move of a construction freeze, without
which there is no proof of serious intent on Israel's part, the two leaders
threw up a smoke screen. A cowardly yes-and-no by both.
More than anything, the meeting proved that the criminal waste of time will
go on. A year and a half has passed since the two took office, and almost
nothing has changed except lip service to the freeze. A few lifted
roadblocks here, a little less blockade of Gaza there - all relatively
marginal matters, a bogus substitute for a bold jump over the abyss, without
which nothing will move.
When direct talks become a goal, without anyone having a clue what Israel's
position is - a strange negotiation in which everyone knows what the
Palestinians want and no one knows for sure what Israel wants - the wheel
not only does not go forward, it goes backward. There are plenty of excuses
and explanations: Obama has the congressional elections ahead of him, so he
mustn't make Netanyahu angry.
After that, the footfalls of the presidential elections can be heard, and
then he certainly must not anger the Jews. Foreign Minister Avigdor
Lieberman is pressuring Netanyahu now; tomorrow it might be Likud MK Danny
Danon, and after all, you can't expect Netanyahu to commit political
suicide. And there you have it, his term in office is over, with no
achievements. Good for you, Obama; bravo Netanyahu. You managed to make a
mockery of each other, and together, of us all.
Netanyahu will be coming back to Israel over the weekend, adorned with false
accomplishments. The settlers will mark a major achievement. Even if they
don't not admit it - they are never satisfied, after all - they can rejoice
secretly. Their project will continue to prosper. If they have doubled their
numbers since the Oslo Accords, now they can triple them.
And then what? Here then is a question for Obama and Netanyahu: Where to? No
playing for time can blur the question. Where are they headed? What will
improve in another year? What will be more promising in another two years?
The Syrian president is knocking at the door begging for peace with Israel,
and the two leaders are ignoring him. Will he still be knocking in two
years? The Arab League's initiative is still valid; terror has almost
ceased. What will the situation be after they have finished compromising
over the freeze in construction of balconies and ritual baths?
Two statesmen met in Washington on Tuesday who are looking smaller and
smaller, who are taking smaller and smaller steps. They have decided not to
decide, which in itself is a decision. When the chance of a two-state
solution has long since entered injury time, they have decided on more extra
time. Get ready for the binational state, or the next round of bloodletting.
_______________________________________________
Rad-Green mailing list
Rad-Green@lists.econ.utah.edu
***
From: "Sid Shniad" <shniad@gmail.com>
Yediot's legal affairs editor on "the emergence of apartheid and fascism"
in Israel
By Didi Remez
Yediot: June 23, 2010
Yediot's legal affairs editor, Judge (ret.) Boaz Okon, lists a series of
undemocratic events in the Israeli public sphere and urges his readers to
come to contemplate what they mean when seen together:
[Hebrew original here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33395737/Yediot-Jun22-10-Boaz-Okon-on-Xenophobia
Okon
These dots are growing evidence of the lack of the spirit of freedom and the
emergence of apartheid and fascism. If you look at each dot separately you
might miss the bigger picture. Like a child watching a military brigade
march, and after seeing the battalions, the batteries and the companies,
asking: "And when is the brigade finally coming?" the answer is that while
he watched the marching of the battalions, batteries and companies, he was
actually watching the brigade. So is the situation in Israel. You do not
have to ask where the apartheid is. These events, which are accepted with
silence and indifference, together create a picture of a terrible reality.
Just like in a children's connect-the-dots coloring book, where connecting
random dots creates a picture, so in Israel, if you connect a number of
horrifying, multiplying incidents, you begin to see a monster.
Dot number one: a school in Emmanuel segregates students along ethnic lines.
The court, upholding the principle of equality, orders the segregation to be
canceled, but is held in contempt by an entire prejudiced community. They
rely on the old defense plea "tu quique" - "you too" - meaning you too
maintain hidden segregation. That is a pathetic and perverse defense, but it
is disturbing because the number of mizrahi Jews in academe, the legal
institutions and the senior civil service is too low.
Dot number two: MK Hanin Zoabi joined the flotilla to Gaza. As a result,
Knesset members shouted at her "go to Gaza." Zoabi is an Israeli citizen.
Even if her actions are infuriating, you cannot incite against her and call
for her expulsion. In the US, when an elderly journalist suggested the Jews
in Israel go to Poland, the president condemned her and she had to step
down. Our legislators are trying to pass laws to block the funding of bodies
such as the New Israel Fund or B'Tselem, only because they dare tell us the
truth to our faces.
Dot number three: in Hebron there is segregation between Jews and Arabs, and
entire streets are blocked to Arab Palestinians. This decree was passed
after the Jewish Baruch Goldstein's massacre of Arabs. And as if that
weren't bad enough, Israeli Arabs are not allowed to walk around the streets
of Hebron. It turns out that Arab identity in itself constitutes a
provocation and pretext for disturbances by Jews. The situation is
considered normal, and therefore the segregation regime on Highway 443,
which the court canceled on paper, continues to exist in practice.
And another dot: among the senior civil service in Israel, in the courts as
well as in academe, the number of Arabs is minute. And another dot:
punishment of Arabs is harsher than of Jews. And another dot: at the Sheikh
Jarrah demonstrations police are heavy-handed with the demonstrators for
Arab rights and gentle with the demonstrators for Jewish rights. And another
dot: a judge places obstacles on two men who wish to bring their children
born to a surrogate mother to Israel, because of their sexual orientation.
And another dot: violation of suspects' rights is widespread, and more than
once false confessions have been extracted from suspects, usually members of
minorities, foreign workers or Ethiopians. Nobody investigates the police.
The evil spirit, which is quick to convict and loaths differences of opinion
and the presumption of innocence, has become part of the culture.
And this too: foreign workers are forbidden from multiplying here, as if
they were draft animals. And another dot: gag orders are issued routinely
and without justification, and wiretapping orders are issued with a light
hand. There is no reaction to illegal wiretapping by the government. In the
same way a law is passed to establish a biometric database, despite its
violation of privacy, as is the "big brother" law, allowing monitoring of
cellular phone calls, e-mail and Internet. And there are many more points
concerning the cheapening of the democratic process, buying votes and buying
entire parties with offices and benefits.
These dots are growing evidence of the lack of the spirit of freedom and the
emergence of apartheid and fascism. If you look at each dot separately you
might miss the bigger picture. Like a child watching a military brigade
march, and after seeing the battalions, the batteries and the companies,
asking: "And when is the brigade finally coming?" the answer is that while
he watched the marching of the battalions, batteries and companies, he was
actually watching the brigade. So is the situation in Israel. You do not
have to ask where the apartheid is. These events, which are accepted with
silence and indifference, together create a picture of a terrible reality.
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