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FROM HERZL TO SHARON - STEALTH DISPOSSESSION
May 10, 2001
"The removal of Arabs bodily from Palestine is part of the Zionist
plan to 'spirit the penniless population across the frontier' by
denying it employment... Both the process of expropriation
and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly
and circumspectly."
Theodor Herzl (in 1895)
Author of the Jewish State
"There are things we will tell the public about, there are things
we will deny and there are things that will remain hidden
forever... In wartime, you don't have to expose everything
to the world, to stand in public and reveal everything, in the
name of that hypocritical and lie-filled concept known as honesty."
Ariel Sharon (in 2001)
Prime Minister of the Jewish State
MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 5/10:
The world of 1895 was a very different one of course from the modern internet age; and yet, so much remains the same under the surface. Some things, especially such colonial things as Theodor Herzl had in mind, could be said and written much more openly then; even while other things had to be kept in the closet and under the proverbial table. Herzl was a complex literary man interacting with a pre-World Wars pre-Holocaust Europe in a time when colonialism, racism, and Euro-White superiority were presumed. Ariel Sharon is more a street fighter, a thug and brute, a narrow self-righteous zealot; yet cunningly he has managed to have a tremendous impact on the evolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for more than a half century now, and tragically more so all the time.
In the span of a century, the Zionist enterprise, as it was known in the beginning, has succeeded in achieving political and military power far beyond expectations. Also during this same period of time the Palestinians have become far more powerless and their predicament far more tragic than was expected.
But that is the snapshot of the historical moment. The Rabin/Barak/Peres wing of the Israeli establishment seems to have understood that a time of maximum power is also a time to secure some kind of settlement with both the Palestinians and the Arab regimes, doing so on Israeli terms more than ever might be possible again. That's what the "Oslo Peace Process", the dalliance with the PLO and Arafat, and the Camp David sequestration, were all about. For they understood that the snapshot in time would pass and that unless Israel could achieve political and psychological legitimacy from the Arab and Muslim worlds then living by the sword could become a permanent reality and a day of reckoning might still lie ahead.
With the collapse of the disingenuous "peace process" and the rise of warrior Sharon and his wing of the Israeli establishment to complete power, that day of reckoning for Israel does probably lie ahead even while for now the suffering of the Palestinians is so maddening and tearful.
SHARON'S DOUBLETHINK
by Uzi Benziman
[Ha/aretz - 6 May 2001]
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon keeps repeating that he has not changed, and
five days ago the familiar voice from the past echoed once again. At a
meeting with the Yesha Council of Settlements and leaders from the Jordan
Valley communities, in the presence of media cameras and recorders, he made
the following statements in reference to Israel's methods of operation
against Palestinian terror:*
"There are things we will tell the public about, there are things we will
deny and there are things that will remain hidden forever." It is
superfluous to add to what has already been written about the political
wisdom of such statements, but we think it is worth expressing an opinion
about the moral worldview behind them.
Sharon is in effect saying that the words he utters are intended to achieve
practical results; they have no intrinsic value. Words are a political or
political - and apparently personal as well - tool, but they lack the
original, specific meaning that people usually attribute to them. According
to this approach, a politician can use words any way he pleases without
considering their accepted meaning.
One can say that black is white or that big is small, because there is an
external, superior purpose to the phrases issuing from a politician's
mouth. Sharon felt no shame in declaring from the outset that he, or his
government, will not hesitate to deceive the public, or the world ("there
are things we will deny").
This attitude comes as no surprise from someone who once said that "in
wartime, you don't have to expose everything to the world, to stand in
public and reveal everything, in the name of that hypocritical and
lie-filled concept known as honesty."
If that is how the prime minister views the role of words and interpersonal
communication, how is it possible to evaluate his statements? If, for
example, he repeats that he has a clear plan of how to restore calm, can
the public see this as a simple promise - i.e. that the prime minister is
about to bring about an end to the Palestinian violence - or does he have a
hidden intent when he says such things? If he announces that he will bring
peace, and that after bringing about calm, he will offer the Palestinians a
wise, achievable diplomatic proposal - is this declaration being made in the
language of an ordinary man or in the doublethink language of George Orwell,
which Sharon sees as being reserved for statesmen?
This clarification is particularly necessary when one reads the way the
prime minister words his official announcements.
The press announcements released by the Prime Minister's Bureau regularly
focus on the responsibility of Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority
for the terror attacks and the deterioration in security. The listener
draws the conclusion that this is the prime minister's learned perception
about the terrorist organizations and that the frequent reminders regarding
the part played by the Palestinian leadership are meant to prepare the
ground for an operation that will nip the evil in the bud.
Nevertheless, when it becomes clear that Sharon has his own private
dictionary, it raises doubts about the accepted meaning of the accusations
he pins on the PA.
This disease is also spreading into other areas. When Sharon tells the High
Court of Justice that dispatching his son, Omri, to speak to Arafat can
save lives, are we to accept his statement as given, or is it couched in a
code that views honesty as hypocritical? After all, according to Sharon's
perception, his son is his right arm, his long arm meeting with Arafat. If
his mission is to save lives, then why doesn't Sharon carry it out himself?
Just because he announced that he will not hold direct talks with Arafat as
long as the shooting continues?
Why is it that on this issue, of all others, he chooses to keep his word. |
May 2001
FEISAL HUSSEINI - DEAD AT 60 IN KUWAIT (May 31, 2001) Feisal Husseini will be buried tomorrow in Jerusalem with great circumstance.
However whatever else he was, and many think he was a good and committed man, he
was a fairly simple man and he certainly was not a great man.
SHARON SHOULD SURRENDER TO HISTORY (May 25, 2001)
Like many nation states born out
of war, Israel must re-evaluate
its past in order to move forward,
argues Mark Mazower*
THE GAZA GHETTO/PRISON (May 25, 2001) The "Gaza Strip" is a huge ghetto; created of course by the Israelis. In a sense it is also the largest prison in the world as the great majority of those who reside in Gaza are unable to leave and return through any of the handful of Israeli army checkposts which control who comes and goes.
APARTHEID ISRAEL (May 24, 2001) "There is a huge gap between us (Jews) and our
enemies -- not just in ability but in morality, culture,
sanctity of life, and conscience. They are our
neighbors here, but it seems as if at a distance
of a few hundred meters away, there are people
who do not belong to our continent, to our
world, but actually belong to a different galaxy."
WATER WARS (May 24, 2001) In the end its not really the "settlements" that will determine which civilization will prosper in the once Holy Land now so fought over by the descendants of Abraham. Control and use of WATER is even more at the heart of the conflict between the two competing societies.
CONTINUE THE INTIFADA (May 23, 2001) It's a terrible deal for the Palestinians actually -- they expected to give up their very justifiable struggle against the occupier in exchange for another promise to "freeze settlements". Gee...it was just last year that Yasser Arafat was proclaiming ad infinitum that no matter what there would be a Palestinian State by the end of the year!
WHAT THE "MITCHELL COMMISSION REPORT" REALLY SAYS (May 23, 2001) "Here's your lifeline Yasser, Nabil, Jabril, and all you Palestinian VIPs -- and you better grab it because it may be the last one you get".
THE MITCHELL COMMISSION REPORT -- A LONG SORDID HISTORY (May 22, 2001) The big fix is on of course with the "Mitchell Commission Report". Other madmen desperately scampering from one TV studio to the next are "Ambassador" Dennis Ross, now back at the Israeli/Jewish lobby from whence he came, and of course Senator Mitchell, himself retired from the most pro-Israeli political body on the planet ...
ARAFAT AND THE WORLD FORCED TO DANCE TO SHARON'S WAR TUNES (May 21, 2001) The Israelis are pushing their lies, schemes, deceptions, and brutality more than ever these days. It's all designed of course to demoralize and confuse the Palestinians, to twist and torture them into submission.
BREAKING NEWS - RAJOUB HIT (May 20, 2001) Jibril Rajoub is a favorite of the CIA, the headquarters of which he has personally visited numerous times in recent years on his visits to Washington. His force is the main one trained by the CIA in order to keep the Arafat Regime in power ...
TRUE MARTYRDOM (May 20, 2001) Mahmoud Ahmed Marmash -- 21 and now departed -- never knew anything other than Israel's brutal military occupation. He never knew anything other than Arab "client regimes" and the Arafat "Authority". He never knew anything other than a savage Israeli army, fueled by an increasingly racist ideology, armed and financed by America.
ISRAEL - APARTHEID IN THE MIDDLE EAST (May 20, 2001) A little trip back in history's lane will result in all kinds of close connections between Israel and South Africa in the days of Apartheid. And during that trip one will discover that Shimon Peres and Yossi Beilin were at the top of the list of those promoting those relations.
THE ARAB AMERICANS and their "CLIENT ORGANIZATIONS" (May 19, 2001) There are many desperate and depressed people out there these days, especially among Palestinians, their friends, and the Jewish left that is mortified to awaken to find itself with Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister, the hoped for salvation of the Oslo "Peace Process" destroyed, and one of their false prophets, Shimon Peres, at Sharon's side.
SUICIDE BOMB, ISRAELI AIR STRIKES CAUSE NEW CARNAGE (May 18, 2001) A suicide bombing followed by
retaliatory Israeli air strikes killed 16 people and injured 200 on Friday
in one of the bloodiest days since a Palestinian uprising erupted nearly
eight months ago.
ISRAEL'S ARMY - A NEW, PERHAPS DANGERSOUS, FREEDOM (May 18, 2001) TRIGGER-HAPPY troops set loose? Questions about the
response of Israeli soldiers facing Palestinian demonstrators
are being asked, and not just by Palestinians. But suspicions
about individual behaviour are less relevant than the clear fact
that the army, given its head by Ariel Sharon, has made a
deliberate decision ...
SEVEN KILLED, OVER 50 INJURED IN SUICIDE BOMB ATTACK (May 18, 2001) A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the Hasharon
shopping mall in the center of the coastal town of Netanya at around 11.30
A.M on Friday morning. Seven people were killed in the blast, one of them
most likely the bomber himself.
ISRAELI ARMY ON THE RAMPAGE (May 17, 2001) The Israelis are more and more specifically targeting children, journalists, and Palestinians at all levels. The goal is to create such fear, such intimidation, such apprehension, that ...
MORE BLOOD AND MEMORIES FLOW ON "DISASTER DAY" (May 16, 2001) Yesterday was the 53rd anniversary of what the Israelis believe was the start of their independence and the Palestinians believe was the start of their ongoing and tortuous "disaster", the "nakba".
"SCHOLARS, INTELLECTUALS, EXPERTS BETRAY THEIR VOCATIONS..." - MER FLASHBACK (May 15, 2001) The recent orgy of 'activism' surrounding the new "Har Homa" settlement has given 'peace groups' and various Arab Americans groups something to do again.
THERE WERE WARNINGS THEN, THERE ARE WARNINGS NOW (May 15, 2001) It's 53 years now since Palestine was fractured, a Jewish State was born, the Palestinian refugee crisis created. There were warnings from both Arab and Jewish leaders what would result if a "Jewish State" were declared when the British withdrew from Palestine in 1948.
NO JUNITY, NO ALLIES, NO FUTURE (May 14, 2001) Let's get right to the bottom line here first. Those American Jews, and whoever else for that matter have been looking to what is called "JUNITY" (that's "Jewish Unity For a Just Peace" so they say) ...
AN AFFRONT TO CIVILISATION (May 13, 2001) I was on my way to Khan Yunis, a desperately poor
Palestinian refugee town in the Gaza Strip, when we
learned it was under heavy bombardment. Please, urged
my Palestinian guides, could I postpone my visit to
the next day?
IN MEMORY OF PROF. CHARLES BLACK (May 12, 2001) "Against hugh odds...they decline to submit, and instead go out
on the streets and pick up stones. They are beaten without let
or mercy. They are imprisoned under obscene conditions, after
kangaroo trials, or no trials at all.
THREATENING WRITERS AND MORE ASSASSINATIONS (May 12, 2001) Of course what the Israelis are doing in so many areas to many classes of people is dastardly and deserves widespread condemnation. The first article details what the Israelis are doing to Palestinian writers who are citizens of Israel; the second to Palestinian activists who are struggling against Israel's occupation.
HASHEMITE COLLUSION AND REPRESSION (May 11, 2001) The Hashemite Regime of King Abdullah the Second is running more and more scared; and for good reason. After all, the collusion of this regime with the Israelis, going way back to the beginning of the conflict...
MAHMOUD DARWISH ON 53RD NAKBA ANNIVERSARY (May 11, 2001) Next Tuesday, 15 May, is the 53rd Anniversary of what the Palestinians call the Nakba, the "Disaster", and what the Israelis call their Independence. In a very unusual move some 250 Arab Professors and Intellectuals have issued a call for their own countries to finally join in a serious way the Palestinian struggle.
FROM HERZL TO SHARON - STEALTH DISPOSSESSION (May 10, 2001) "The removal of Arabs bodily from Palestine is part of the Zionist
plan to 'spirit the penniless population across the frontier' by
denying it employment... Both the process of expropriation
and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly
and circumspectly."
THE POLITICAL PROSTITUTION OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN PALESTINE (May 10, 2001) We're talking here about political prostitution; for it too is an age-old profession and it too leads to many other vices.
THE POPE GOES VISITING (May 9, 2001) With the creation of a "Jewish State" in the Holy Land, in a sense a new era began twisting the modern-day concept of nationality back to one of ethnic and religious identification.
FROM HELL WITH LOVE (May 8, 2001) Ironically, in the early years of this ignoble "Peace Process", Dr. Sarraj himself -- a dignified psychiatrist and recipient of the Physician for Human Rights Award -- was arrested three times, tortured, and threatened with death...not by the Israelis but by the forces of the Arafat "Palestinian Authority".
ISRAELIS SEE THROUGH GLOSS OF LIFE AMID ORANGE GROVES (May 7, 2001) When the real estate sharks of California
began to coax Americans to Los Angeles early in the last century, they stuck
oranges on the trees to make the desert more alluring. The oranges are real
enough in the groves on the hills around Jerusalem, but the hard selling is
just the same.
WE ARE ACCUSED OF TERRORISM (May 7, 2001) The incomparable Nizar Qabbani was buried in Damascus earlier this week. "We Are Accused Of Terrorism" was one of his last poems first published a year ago; key excerpts from that poem follow.
GUNNING DOWN ISRAEL SHAMIR - Part II (May 4, 2001) Previously we outlined how the regimes-sponsored Arab American establishment, using the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) to try to control everyone as usual...
SHARON'S RISE TO THE PINNACLE OF POWER - HELPED BY THE ARABS THEMSELVES (May 3, 2001) Ariel Sharon's becoming Prime Minister of Israel didn't happen overnight. He pursued the job for a very long time and whatever one thinks of his person and policies he carried out a masterful political coup.
GUNNING DOWN ISRAEL SHAMIR (May 3, 2001) The worst thing that happened to the people of the Middle East in recent history was the imposition on them by the Western powers of the "Client Regimes" -- those who read MER regularly know what we are talking about...
ARAB REGIMES COWER AND BEG; ISRAELIS CONTINUE TO KILL AND DESTROY (May 2, 2001) Shimon Peres runs around the world, especially to the gullible American media, and especially to CNN and PBS, with soothing rhetorical jibberish while his Generals further demolish Palestinian homes making fools of those who believed in the "Oslo Peace Process" and its associated "agreements".
FORMER SHIN BET HEAD TALKS SOME SENSE IN PUBLIC....BUT WHY? (May 2, 2001) Motives are of course a very important aspect of life and politics...as is timing. And when it comes to someone who has been head of the Shin Bet, like Ami Ayalon, and who is saying these things now, at this particular crucial and sensitive time, there are good reasons to have many suspicions, and many questions, and many doubts.
EXTINGUISHING THE INTIFADA (May 2, 2001) A major effort is underway to somehow smother and snuff out the Intifada, one way or another. Those heading up the effort, in order of importance, are:
ARAFAT'S FIRST INTERVIEW SINCE THE INTIFADA BEGAN (May 1, 2001) Yasser Arafat often describes his struggle as a "long march" to the
"spires and minarets" of Jerusalem, capital of his Palestinian
state-to-be.
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