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URI
AVNERY Reporting on the conflict in the Middle East ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Uri Avnery created a sensation when he crossed the lines during the battle of Beirut and met Yassir Arafat on July 3, 1982. Several Israeli cabinet ministers called for Avnery's indictment for high treason, while peace activists hailed the meeting as a historical breakthrough. It was the culmination of an effort started by Avnery many years earlier. A former member of the Irgun underground, he joined Ha'aretz newspaper in 1949, quitting a year later to edit the magazine Haolam Hazeh magazine, which proved to be a thorn in the flesh to a number of Israeli governments. Avnery was ambushed and both his hands broken in 1953 and escaped an assassination bid in 1975. He became a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in 1969 at the head of a party that took its name from his magazine. Click here to read Uri Avnery's BEHIND THE WALL columns for 2005 Click here to read Uri Avnery's BEHIND THE WALL columns for 2004 Click here to return to the Columnists' front page Click here to return to Home Page DOWNLOAD THE 2006 COLUMNS HERE: 35. September 30, 2006 Had Hamlet been a reserve soldier in the Israeli army, he might now declare” “Something is rotten in the State of Israel!” And indeed, something is rotten. 34. September 23, 2006 Since the days when Roman Emperors threw Christians to the lions, the relations between the emperors and the heads of the church have undergone many changes. Constantine the Great, who became Emperor in the year 306 – exactly 1700 years ago – encouraged the practice of Christianity in the empire, which included Palestine. Centuries later, the church split into an Eastern (Orthodox) and a Western (Catholic) part. In the West, the Bishop of Rome, who acquired the title of Pope, demanded that the Emperor accept his superiority. 33. September 16, 2006 Guess whose words these are: “Starting this war was a scandal…It was possible to solve the problem of the missiles in South Lebanon by diplomatic means…The offensive of the last two days of the war, in which 33 soldiers were killed after the cease-fire resolution had already been accepted, was a spin of the Prime Minister…The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Chief-of-Staff must resign…” 32. September 9, 2006 In every language there are some words that cannot be properly translated into any other. It seems that they express something intimately connected with the speakers of that language and rooted in their history, traditions and reality. Such words become international expressions, appearing in other languages in their original form. 31. September 6, 2006 I once saw a nice sketch in a political cabaret: on the stage several people were speaking in unconnected sentences, all of which ended with the word 'but'. For example: 'Some of my best friends are Jews, but . . ', 'I have nothing against blacks, but . . .', 'I really detest racism, but . . .' 30. September 2, 2006 Napoleon won the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan. The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second Lebanon War.You didn't know that? Well, during the last few days the Israeli media has paraded a long series of experts, who did not leave any room for doubt: the war has brought us huge achievements, Hizbullah was routed, Olmert is the great victor. 29. July 15 to August 31, 2006 Uri Avnery's expanded columns from July 15 to August 30 - during Israel's war with Lebanon and its immediate aftermath have been compiled into a special 82-page ColdType booklet - 33 Days. 28. July 10, 2006 That's it. Tomorrow the World Cup games come to an end. We can congratulate the new champions and wish them arrivederci or au revoir, as the case may be. Now the public can return to less important matters, such as the daily killing and destruction, the captured soldier, the launching of Qassam rockets and everything else connected with our invasion of Gaza. 27. July 1, 2006 'Israel has declared war on the Palestinian people! The Palestinian people will answer in kind! The Palestinian rebellion will go on! The Palestinian fighters are steadfast in the service of the nation! Down with the Nazi-Zionist occupation! Out with the unclean infidels from the Holy Land! Destroyed Rafah - we shall build you anew! Long live the Palestinian revolution! Long live the State of Palestine!' A Hamas leaflet of last week? Not exactly. With appropriate changes, this leaflet was published on July 2, 1946 - 60 years ago almost to the day Ð - by the Haganah, after 'Black Saturday.' 26. June 24, 2006 If President Bush wanted to deal with Iran by 'bombing them back into the stone age', (as an American general once put it during the Vietnam War), now would be the time. With everybody riveted to the World Cup, who would notice? The Israeli government knows this well. In their fight against the Qassam rockets that are landing in the town of Sderot, the Air Force has been given free rein. Since the beginning of the 2006 World Cup, more than 20 Palestinians, including boys and girls, a pregnant woman, a doctor and several paramedics have been killed. It seems that nobody in the world is paying any attention. Why should they? After all, the World Cup is more important. 25. June 17, 2006 "I collected with my bare hands the body parts of my two little sons. What mother must do that? One shell of the aggressors blew them apart. Within a second, my life was destroyed forever.Ó The woman spoke quietly. Her third son, a boy of about eight, stood at her side and, from time to time, wiped the tears from her cheek. The well turned out woman, her hair collected in a pink kerchief, well dressed, was self-controlled but full of restrained hatred for the ÒaggressorsÓ Ð the Serbs Ð who had caused her tragedy. A big wreath and the photos of the boys at the entrance of the home silently commemorated the 15th anniversary of the disaster Ð the first day of the siege of Sarajevo. 24. June 10, 2006 Nine months before he invaded Lebanon, Ariel Sharon let me in on his grand design for solving all the problems of this region. It was mind-boggling. He did not ask me to keep it secret, just not to attribute it to him directly. I published it accordingly. 23. June 3, 2006 Those who listened to the radio news last Saturday heard a stunning report: that Muhammad Abu-Ter and Uri Avnery had barricaded themselves together in a private home in a-Ram.The very fact that these two – the No. 2 man of Hamas and the notorious Israeli leftist – were together was already shocking enough. But the fact that they had invaded the home of an innocent Palestinian family and barricaded themselves there, like criminals fleeing from the police, was even more staggering. 22. May 27, 2006 Those who listened to the radio news last Saturday heard a stunning report: that Muhammad Abu-Ter and Uri Avnery had barricaded themselves together in a private home in a-Ram.The very fact that these two – the No. 2 man of Hamas and the notorious Israeli leftist – were together was already shocking enough. But the fact that they had invaded the home of an innocent Palestinian family and barricaded themselves there, like criminals fleeing from the police, was even more staggering. 21. May 13, 2006 Prison serves an important function in the annals of every revolutionary movement. It serves as a college for activists, center for the crystallization of ideas, rallying point for leaders, platform for dialogue between the various factions. For the Palestinian liberation movement, prison plays all these roles and many more. During the 39 years of occupation, hundreds of thousands of young Palestinians have passed through Israeli prisons. At any given time, an average of 10 thousand Palestinians are held in prison. This, the liveliest and most active section of the Palestinian people, is in continuous ferment. People from every class, every town and village, every political and military faction are to be found there. 20. May 6, 2006 Shall we start with the good news or the bad news? As confirmed optimists, let’s start with the good news. To paraphrase an old Hebrew saying: Don’t look at the vessel but at what’s not in it. Avigdor Liberman is not in the Israeli government. 19. April 29, 2006 When you see a person walking into a trap, you shout: “Look out!” But when you see a person walking into a trap knowingly, with open eyes, what are you supposed to do? Amir Peretz is about to become Minister of Defense and he knows that it is a trap. So why is he doing it? 18. April 22, 2006 I don’t usually tell these stories, because they might give rise to the suspicion that I am paranoid. For example: 27 years ago, I was invited to give a lecture-tour in 30 American universities, including all the most prestigious ones – Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Berkeley and so on. My host was the Fellowship of Reconciliation, a respected non-Jewish organization, but the lectures themselves were to be held under the auspices of the Jewish Bet-Hillel chaplains. 17. April 15, 2006 Today, Ehud Olmert has become the Prime minister of Israel. No longer just a “Deputy Prime Minister”, but now a real one. One hundred days after Ariel Sharon sank into a coma, the job and the title were taken away from him, as the law demands. Olmert is now the acting prime minister of the transitional government, and in a few weeks hence, with the establishment of the new coalition, he will become the head of a regular government. 16. April 8, 2006 "Advance and be recognized!” the recruit on sentry duty calls out when he hears somebody approaching. “Sergeant Johns!” comes the answer. “Advance and be recognized!” the sentry calls again. “I told you already, I’m Sergeant Johns!” comes the answer. 15. March 31, 2006 The most dramatic and the most boring election campaign in our history has mercifully come to an end. Israel looks in the mirror and asks itself: What the hell has happened. 14. March 25, 2006 This must be about the 15th time that I am writing an article like this one. On the eve of every national election I set out my doubts and hesitations. I do not tell people how to vote. What I am trying to do is help voters (including myself) to organize their thoughts and reach a logical conclusion, each according to his own conscience and understanding. 13. March 18, 2006 The central theme of this article is disgust. Therefore I apologize in advance for the frequent use of this and similar words. In the thesaurus I find quite a number of synonyms: loathing, revulsion, dislike, nausea, distaste, aversion, antipathy, abomination, repulsion, abhorrence, repugnance, odium, detestation, and some more. They are all present in my feelings about the action that took place in Jericho on Tuesday. 12. March 11, 2006 In English, a ‘four-letter word’ is a rude expletive. It is a vulgar description of a sexual act or organ, and an educated person will not use it. Now it appears that in the Hebrew language, too, there is a four-letter word, which a decent person will not use, especially not in an election campaign. A (politically) correct person will avoid it at all costs. 11. March 4, 2006 If you want to understand the policy of a country, look at the map!’ advised Napoleon. What he meant was: Regimes come and go, rulers rise and fall, ideologies flourish and wither, but geography stands forever. It’s geography that decides the basic interest of every state. 10. February 25, 2006 A final score of 1:1 may not be the most impressive, but for the youngsters of Bil’in it was a glorious achievement. For them, it was not the result that was important, nor even the match itself (against a team from the nearby town of Betunya). What was important was where it took place: on an improvised football field that was hastily leveled on the land that was stolen from the village by the Separation Wall” 09. February 19, 2006 One of our former Chiefs-of-Staff, the late Rafael (“Raful”) Eytan, who was not the brightest, once asked a foreign guest: “Are you Jewish or Christian?” 08. February 12, 2006 Only an earthquake can still prevent an overwhelming victory for Kadima in the coming elections. But don’t rule it out. In this election campaign, four earthquakes have already struck. First: the Labor Party elected a Morocco-born left-wing leader. Second: Ariel Sharon split the Likud and created the Kadima party. Third: Sharon was felled by a massive stroke and left the political stage. Fourth: Hamas won a decisive victory in the Palestinian elections. 06. January 28, 2006 07. January 28, 2006 If one wants to understand what the Palestinians did on election day, one has to see the film “Paradise Now”, which has been nominated for an Oscar for the best foreign film, after collecting several prestigious international prizes. It explains better than a million words? 06. January 28, 2006 07. January 28, 2006 If one wants to understand what the Palestinians did on election day, one has to see the film “Paradise Now”, which has been nominated for an Oscar for the best foreign film, after collecting several prestigious international prizes. It explains better than a million words? 06. January 28, 2006 If Ariel Sharon had not been in a deep coma, he would have jumped out of his bed for joy. The Hamas victory fulfils his most ardent hopes. For a whole year now, he did everything possible to undermine Mahmoud Abbas. His logic was quite obvious: The Americans wanted him to negotiate with Abbas. Such negotiations would inevitably have lead to a situation that would have compelled him to give up almost all of the West Bank? 05. January 26, 2006 Like two very tired wrestlers who clasp each other, unable to separate, the Israeli and Palestinian societies are glued to each other. The Palestinian elections this week took place in the shadow of the Israeli elections. Who is Ehud Olmert? Has the Labor Party really changed? Will the next Israeli government really be prepared to negotiate? Which Palestinian leadership stands a better chance of liberating us from the occupation? 04. January 17, 2006 It was a colorful day in Bil’in. Political flags of many colors were fluttering in the brisk breeze, the vivid election posters and the colorful graffiti on the walls adding their bit. It was the biggest demonstration in the beleaguered village for a long time. This week, the protest against the Fence was interwoven with Palestinian electioneering. I was happily marching along in the wintry sunshine, holding high the Gush Shalom emblem of the flags of Israel and Palestine side by side. We were approaching the line of armed soldiers that was waiting for us, when I suddenly realized that I was surrounded by the green flags of Hamas. 03. January 17, 2006 Judas Iscariot is headed for a makeover. According to news reports, cardinals close to the new pope recommend a change in the Catholic Church’s attitude towards him: exit the treacherous Jew who turns the messiah over to the cohorts of the evil High Priest - enter the apostle who simply fulfilled his role in the divine design. After all, it was God who decided that his son should die on the cross. 02. January 10, 2006 A political earthquake before an election is an unusual event, but not unknown. A second earthquake in such a period is already rare. But a third earthquake before an election, a short time after the first two – now, that is really scary. Well, it has just happened. The nomination of Amir Peretz as leader of the Labor Party had already changed the political landscape of Israel. That is what pushed Ariel Sharon to create the Kadima party, the “Big Bang” that changed the landscape once again. Now, with the collapse of Sharon, the landscape has changed yet again – and this time beyond recognition. 01. January 7, 2006 From early youth, he was totally convinced that he was the only person in the world who could save the State of Israel. That was an absolute certainty, free of any doubt. He just knew that he must achieve supreme power, in order to fulfill the mission that fate had entrusted him with. Please Note:
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