ONE OF the wisest pronouncements I have heard in my life was that of an Egyptian general, a few days after Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem. We were the first Israelis to come to Cairo, and one of the things we were very curious about was: how did you manage to surprise us at … Read more
OH DEAR, what has happened to the knight on the white horse? This week, many of Barack Obama’s admirers were shocked. Up to now, it had been believed that the huge sums of money flowing into the coffers of his campaign came from anonymous citizens, each sending a check for 100 or 200 dollars. Now, … Read more
EHUD OLMERT’S resignation speech reached us on our way back from a demonstration. We were protesting the death of Ahmad Moussa, aged 10, who was murdered during a demonstration against the Separation Fence at Na’ilin village – the fence that robs the village of most of its land in order to give it to the … Read more
IN ONE of the most beautiful songs in the Bible, the poet vows: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, / Let my right hand forget her cunning. / If I do not remember thee, / Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; / If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy!” … Read more
I SPENT the whole day flipping between the Israeli channels and Aljazeera. It was an eerie experience: in a fraction of a second I could switch between two worlds, but all the channels reported on exactly the same occasion. In one section of the breaking news, the events happened at a distance of a few … Read more
IF YOU want to understand the policy of a country, look at the map – as Napoleon recommended. Anyone who wants to guess whether Israel and/or the United States are going to attack Iran should look at the map of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Through this narrow waterway, only … Read more
IT WAS just a passing conversation, but it has stuck in my memory. It was soon after the Six-Day War. I was coming out of the main hall of the Knesset, after making a speech calling for the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state. Another Knesset member came down the corridor – a nice person, … Read more
WHAT EXCITED the Israelis this week? What glued them to the TV and radio sets? What made them rush to buy newspapers at the kiosks? The drama in the Knesset, when it seemed for a moment that the Members would act against the laws of nature and vote to dismiss themselves? The violations of the … Read more
AND SUDDENLY: quiet. No Qassams. No mortar shells. The tanks are not rolling. The aircraft are not bombing. In Sderot, sighs of relief. Children venture out. Inhabitants who have exiled themselves to other towns return home. And the reaction? An outburst of jubilation? Dancing in the streets? Applause for the Prime Minister and the Minister … Read more
THIS WEEK, the Prime Minister of Canada made a dramatic statement in Parliament: he apologized to the indigenous peoples of his country for the injustices done to them for generations by successive Canadian governments. This way, White Canada tries to make peace with the native nations, whose country their forefathers conquered and whose culture their … Read more