Ariel Sharon’s speech at the “Herzliya Conference”, an annual gathering of Israel’sfinancial, political and academic aristocracy, proved again his wondrous ability toconjure up an imaginary world and divert attention away from the real one. Like everysuccessful con-man, he knows that the audience desperately wants to believe good tidings andwill be happy to ignore bad ones. … Read more
When the fruit sellers at the Tel Aviv market shout “the boss has gone crazy!” they meanthat they are selling their merchandise at ridiculously low prices. In the world’s capitals, a similar cry is now being heard: “The boss has gone crazy!” – butit is not about the price of tomatoes. It refers to the … Read more
My immediate reaction to Marwan Barghouti’s registration as a candidate for the presidencyof the Palestinian Authority was positive. First of all, I am always in favor of the underdog. And who could be more of an underdog than aprisoner? Second, I respect the man. I have met him at planning meetings for joint peace actions. … Read more
“Give me some credit!” the new Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, cried out at the LaborParty convention in February 1965, addressing David Ben-Gurion. From the moment he resigned, Ben-Gurion started to undermine his successor. Eshkol, whountil then had only dealt with finances, looked pale and ineffectual next to his monumentalpredecessor, the Father of the State, … Read more
George W. Bush is a product of the Wild West myth. He sees himself as the fast-drawingsheriff who kills the bad guys and maintains order in town. But in fact he is much more like another stock figure of the Westerns: the top-hattedvendor of the patent medicine which heals everything: tooth-ache and belly-ache, choleraand impotence, … Read more
“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth,Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him.” This biblical injunction (Proverbs 24:17) is oneof the most profound Jewish moral tenets. In this connection, Israel is very far from being a “Jewish State”, as it likes to defineitself. The … Read more
photo gallery A delegation of Gush Shalom, took today (Friday, 12.11.04) part in Yasser Arafat’s funeral atthe Mukata’a in Ramallah. The delegation passed the well-organized Israeli army checkpoint in Beitunia and wasconveyed from there to Ramallah in vans bearing the designation “Official Delegation”. Masses of Palestinians beleaguered the gates of the compound and the Palestinian … Read more
photo gallery A delegation of Gush Shalom, took today (Friday, 12.11.04) part in Yasser Arafat’s funeral atthe Mukata’a in Ramallah. The delegation passed the well-organized Israeli army checkpoint in Beitunia and wasconveyed from there to Ramallah in vans bearing the designation “Official Delegation”. Masses of Palestinians beleaguered the gates of the compound and the Palestinian … Read more
Wherever he may be buried when he passes away, the day will come when his remains will bereinterred by a free Palestinian government in the holy shrines in Jerusalem . Yasser Arafat is one of the generation of great leaders who arose after World War II. The stature of a leader is not simply determined … Read more
I remember standing on the roof of a warehouse near Beirut harbor and observing the armedand uniformed PLO fighters, headed by Yasser Arafat, getting on the ships that took themwestwards. “End of the Arafat era!” rejoiced the newspapers in Israel the next day. “Arafat ispolitically a dead horse!” said the radio commentators. “Thank God we … Read more