THIS WEEK I was strolling through the streets of Athens, at the foot of the Acropolis, when my eye was caught by a sign bearing one single word in Greek letters: Sisyphus. It was the name of a taverna.Perhaps the gods wanted to remind me of an article I wrote 14 years ago, entitled “The … Read more
A GERMAN poem tells of the giant’s daughter, who found a peasant plowing his field and brought him home in her handkerchief to show to her father. But the father said gravely: “The peasant is no toy!” and told her to put him gently back where she had found him.The United States reminds me of … Read more
A POLITICAL earthquake is itself a rare event. When two major political earthquakes follow each other in quick succession, this is almost unheard of.One such earthquake was the election of Amir Peretz as leader of the Labor Party. The other is Sharon’s leaving the Likud and forming a new party. Suddenly, the political landscape has … Read more
LIKE A MAIDEN plucking the petals of a daisy and murmuring “he will…he will not…he will…he will not…” many of our Leftists are trying to divine what their present idol is going to do.Will Ariel Sharon remain in the Likud? Will he leave and set up a new party? They fervently hope for the second … Read more
NORTH AFRICAN immigrants on the periphery of French cities are torching them. North African immigrants on the periphery of Israel this week carried out a democratic revolution in our country.In the Labor Party primaries, the members of “Eastern” descent voted massively for Amir Peretz and defeated Shimon Peres, who enjoyed the support of the upper … Read more
“Thus saith the Lord: For three transgressions of the Labor Party, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof…” If the prophet Amos were living today, one of the chapters of his book would probably have begun with these words. But the transgressions of the party since the 1967 Six Day War … Read more
A twenty-minute drive is all that separates the Israeli Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem from that of the Palestinian President in Ramallah. But for all practical purposes, the Muqata’ah in Ramallah might as well be on the moon. The day before yesterday, Ariel Sharon declared for the who-knows-how-many-th time, that he had cancelled his planned … Read more
Lecture in Berlin, 20.10.05Conference on “Raising Children without Violence”–Some years ago I talked with a young Israeli writer. I was struck by the fact that in spite of being very successful and acclaimed by the critics, and that at a relatively early age, she somehow exuded an air of insecurity. When I asked her about … Read more
A few days ago, at a conference in Europe, I met a charming young lady. Intelligent, well educated, versed in several languages, and, well, very attractive. After a few hours of shopping, she was as elegant as a model, dressed in the very latest fashion. She happens to be a Shiite from Baghdad, where she … Read more
He is a familiar hero in literature: the compulsive gambler who hits a lucky streak. With every turn of the roulette wheel, the heap of jetons in front of him grows bigger. He could leave the table, exchange the jetons for money and live on it happily ever after. But he cannot stop. He must … Read more