August 4,
2001
WILL THE REAL YOSSI BEILIN
PLEASE STAND UP
By Mark A. Bruzonsky*
Not that long ago in years, but
ages ago in political time, I sat with Yossi Beilin in his office in
Jerusalem urging him to start talks with the PLO. It was just a few
years before the Intifada erupted. Some months before I had had a
private dinner with Yasser Arafat, Nabil Sha'ath and a few top PLO
officials; and in retrospect it's obvious now why Beilin was so
interested.
At that time it should be remembered it was actually
illegal for anyone Israeli to meet with anyone representing the PLO, not
to mention Yasser Arafat himself. As we left, I and another person who
was with me and who was Palestinian, Beilin said with emphasis to her,
"Please Muna do not hate me." No response was made, just eye contact.
This of course is the same Yossi Beilin who helped lead
the Palestinians into today's orgastically violent bloodletting by
trying to trick them into what MER has termed an "Apartheid Peace" for
years. The same Yossi Beilin who for years was nicknamed "Peres'
Poodle". The same Yossi Beilin who has publicly said that he never ever
discussed with Yitzhak Rabin where the "Oslo Peace Process" would
eventually lead -- wonder why? The same Yossi Beilin who back in those
days when we had this last meeting and he was Deputy Foreign Minister
was in charge of working closely with the then racist South African
government. And the same Yossi Beilin who this week wrote a crafty plea
in the New York Times, along with Yasir Abed Rabbo (himself a very much
discredited figure as Arafat's "Minister of Culture and Information")
claiming to offer hope for "peace" but actually designed to let Beilin
and his fellow Labor party travelers off the historical hook in view of
what is actually happening and more importantly what is likely now to
come.
The
following was published by MER in March of last year about Yossi
Beilin, when he was at that time the loyal follower of Ehud Barak. And
after you read this I do strongly suggest you go over to your local
video store and rent for the weekend "Lion of the Dessert". The hero
figure is someone you have probably never heard of, Omar Muktar (played
by Anthony Quinn). It takes place in the 1930s in Rome and in Libya.
But it's also about today's Intifada. It's about freedom, about
struggle, about deception, and about tragicly misguided loyalties. And
after watching it you'll understand the headline last year: "Colonel
Yossi".
(Originally published 29 Sept 2000)
LION OF THE DESERT - A MOVIE BY MUSTAPHA
AKKAD
COLONEL YOSSI - MADE IN ISRAEL
By Mark Bruzonsky*
MID-EAST REALITIES
- www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 9/29/00:
The man
in Israel who has been the designated working architect of the "peace
process" with Yasser Arafat and who has done more to try to convince
the Palestinians of Israeli sincerity after so many decades of
deception and bloodletting is Yossi Beilin. In recent days Beilin
has been dispatched to Europe to try to whip up more support for the
Israeli-American "peace plan"; and many billions of ECUs that will be
used to "resettle" the Palestinian refugees and fund the Arafat regime
if Israel has its way. Today, before the start of the Jewish New
Year of Rosh Hashana, Beilin was to meet with the Pope in Rome, not so
much to seek his blessings but rather to enlist his help to get
everyone else to agree to what the Israelis and the Americans are
pushing.
The last
time I met Yossi Beilin in his office in Jerusalem he was Cabinet
Secretary. I had known Beilin personally since my student days
when I first visited Israel as the Representative of the International
Student Movement for the United Nations and Beilin was assistant to
Shimon Peres with a small office in Israeli Labor party headquarters.
This time
Beilin had a much bigger office and a considerable agenda of his
own. He had a book on his desk about the economics of the
European Community, the Intifada was raging, and he wanted to talk
about his "Gaza First" concept which a few years later eventually lead
to Oslo. He wanted to know about Yasser Arafat, whom I had met
personally with a number of times, including a lengthy private dinner
with him and senior PLO persons in Cairo a few years earlier. The
only other person with us was a Palestinian, and as we left Beilin said
to her, "Please don't hate me."
There
haven't been any private meetings with Beilin since. The
following article I wrote about him earlier this year helps explain
why. I did run into Yossi a few years ago during one of his many
visits to Washington and I took the opportunity to recommend to him
that he too watch and ponder LION OF THE DESERT. I don't think he
understood. I don't think he did. And, in his case, I don't
think it would have mattered.
COLONEL YOSSI
MiD-EasT RealitieS - www.MiddleEast.Org
Washington - 3/25/2000:
Like in the movie LION OF THE DESERT, those who profess sympathy and
understanding can often cause the most harm. The well-meaning
Lieutenant Colonel who befriends Omar Muhktar, lures him into deceptive
"peace negotiations" in the desert, and then salutes him as his own
involvement leads to Muhktar's being hanged from the gallows, is an
illustrative symbol from the past.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NOTE: For those who don't know,
Omar Muhktar can be said to be the
George Washington of Libya and
was played brilliantly in the movie by
Anthony Quinn. The movie was
produced by Mustapha Akkad, made
famous by his previous movie
"Holloween". It is widely available for
video rental -- "LION OF THE
DESERT" with Anthony Quinn by Mustapha Akkad.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As
befits all militarist authoritarian regimes, the Israelis have their
own good cop. He is Yossi Beilin, the Justice Minister in the Barak
government, former Deputy Foreign Minister and long-time protege of
Shimon Peres. The other day at the U.N. Human Rights Commission, just
in advance of the big push this Sunday to bribe/threaten Hafez el-Assad
into the "Peace Process", Mr. Beilin told everyone how sorry he is for
what has happened to the Palestinians. Trouble is, Mr. Beilin, Mr.
Peres, Mr. Barak, et. al., have been saluting for so long now at the
hangings while often times actually carrying out and covering up the
assassinations and massacres themselves.
WATCH OUT FOR THOSE LIBERAL APPOLOGISTS
Now
there are a few things about the boyish looking soft-spoken Mr. Beilin
which people may not remember. Here's a man who worked closely with
Apartheid South Africa back in those days; then very quickly did an
about take when Apartheid was no more. Here's a man who helped Shimon
Peres coverup everything from the kidnapping of Mordechai Vanunu in the
1980s to the Qana massacre just a few years ago. Here's a man, who
helped bring about the "Oslo Peace Process" yet to this day he insists
he never once discussed with Prime Minister Rabin the end result of
what they were starting and whether or not it would lead to true
Palestinian independence. And worst of all at the moment, here's a man
who while today professing such newly found deep concern for the
Palestinians now champions a novel kind of Middle Eastern "Apartheid"
greatly further restricting the rights and movements of the great
majority of Palestinians in what once was a unified country.
BEILIN DEVIOUSLY IMPLIMENTS BEGIN/SHARON FORMULAS
Beilin's
speech at the U.N. Human Rights forum -- see the BBC News article below
-- is far too little far too late. But that's not the biggest
problem...which is that Beilin's speech is far too devious. Beilin's
policies are actually the implimentation of those originally put
forward by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon. He reformulates them with
soothing rhetoric and professions of sorrow. But in the end the
predicament faced by the Palestinians is much the same if not worse.
Having
failed to impliment the "Mayors plan" and the "Village Leagues"
throughout the 70s and 80s, the Israelis then turned to Arafat and the
largely destroyed PLO in the 1990s to legitimize in another form their
control and oppession. Now Beilin goes before the international
community proclaiming Israeli atonement, when in fact things are
progressively worse for the great majority of Palestinians who now live
under far more restrictions and repression than before. Beilin, like
Rabin, promotes this double occupation approach not out of sincere
concern for the Palestinians but actually in an attempt to cleanse and
justify his Zionist convictions with have left such a long legacy of
killing and dispossession.
WHEN WILL THE "JUSTICE MINISTER" LET MORDECHAI VANUNU
FREE?
When
we hear from Yossi Beilin that Israel will finally agree to U.N.
Security Council Resolutions; that the Israeli army will pull back
completely to the 1967 borders; that the Palestinian people will at
least be treated with full respect, equality, and sovereignty; that the
more than 3 million Palestinian refugees can come as they will to the
Palestinian State; that substantial compensation for lost properties
and personal suffering will finally be offered to the Palestinian
people for what has been done to them; and that the "Justice Minister"
advocates the release of Mordechai Vanunu...
When
we finally hear these things we'll know that Yossi Beilin too has
watched LION OF THE DESERT and had a true epiphany.
ISRAEL REGRETS HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
Israel
says its Arab occupation has gone sour Israel's Justice Minister Yossi
Beilin has expressed regret at his country's record on human rights.
Speaking
in Geneva at one of Israel's biggest critics - the UN Human Rights
Commission - in a rare, conciliatory tone, he admitted that Israel's
occupation of Arab territory had gone sour.
"We
tried to convince ourselves that our occupation was a benevolent one,"
he told the commission. "But we know from history that occupation is
occupation is occupation."
Just
four days before a summit between American President Bill Clinton and
his Syrian counterpart Hafez al-Assad, Mr Beilin said the prospects for
peace this year between Israelis and Arabs were "very significant."
"I
think we are ready. I hope the Arab parties are ready too, and if that
is the case we can make peace during this year and put an end to the
Middle East conflict," he said.
Mr
Beilin said he hoped President Clinton's meeting with the Syrian
president would lead to a resumption of the stalled Israeli-Syrian
peace talks, noting that this could be the last opportunity for
bringing peace between the two countries for a long while.
Referring
to the Palestinians, Mr Beilin said he believed the two sides would be
able to find solutions for outstanding issues such as refugees,
Jerusalem's status, borders and settlements.
Mr
Beilin is regarded as an architect of the 1993 Oslo Israel-Palestinian
peace accords.
He
is more dovish on peace issues than most of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
Labor Party.
Mr
Beilin explained that Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and
other territories must be understood in the context of the Holocaust.
"In
our own perception we were the victim of a world (in) which there were
still countries ready to destroy us," he said.
"We
saw ourselves as a transparent democracy fighting for its life," he
said. "But the world compared us to the most racist countries."
He
acknowledged that Israel had rejected criticism too often, and that its
foreign ministry had become a department of defence, over-eager to
defend Israel's view of the world than reaching out to others.
His
comments also come at a time when the Pope is visiting the Holy Land
and has made an impassioned plea for a Palestinian homeland. Links to
other Middle East stories are at the foot of the page.
PALESTINIANS TOLD TO END ATTACKS ON ISRAEL
by MARK LAVIE
JERUSALEM
(AP - 8/3/01) -- The official Palestinian news agency called for an end
to armed attacks against Israel in a statement published Friday, an
unprecedented appeal for restraint in the 10 months of Mideast
violence.
The
Wafa news agency, which is controlled by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian
Authority and reflects official Palestinian positions, said
Palestinians could achieve their goals ''only by political means'' and
''not (by attacks) inside Israel, and not using firearms.''
The
statement, printed Friday in the Palestinian newspaper Al-Hayat
al-Jadida, said symbolic acts of resistance, such as throwing rocks and
shoes are ''more effective than mortar shells fired at Israeli
settlements.''
Throughout
the current conflict, the Palestinian leadership has blamed Israel for
the violence. Israel has repeatedly accused Arafat of failing to rein
in militants, including members of the Palestinian security forces.
The
Wafa editorial was the strongest statement to date calling for
Palestinians to refrain from attacking Israel. While the editorial was
presumed to have the approval of the Palestinian leadership, the
statement was not issued in Arafat's name.
It
was not clear whether radical Palestinian groups would heed the
statement, and hours after the editorial was published, violence broke
out.
Palestinians
fired mortar rounds at a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, lightly
injuring a 6-year-old boy, the Israeli army said. Palestinians have
fired hundreds of mortar rounds at Jewish settlements and army posts in
Gaza and at Israeli villages just outside the territory.
In
Tel Aviv, a Palestinian woman tried to carry a bomb into the central
bus station, police said, but security guards challenged her and she
dropped the bag with the bomb. Police arrested the woman, cleared the
area and defused the device.
Also,
Palestinian gunmen shot and killed a Palestinian suspected of
collaborating with Israel in Bethlehem. Abdullah Abu Alhawa, 56, who
was gunned down in a public square, was the fourth suspected
collaborator killed by Palestinians this week.
Palestinian
officials have urged a halt to such killings, and a statement issued
Friday said the Palestinian Authority alone was responsible for dealing
with people ''trying to violate the national interest of the
Palestinian people.'' The statement said officials ''condemn any
attempt by any party to take the law into his own hands.''
Palestinian
security courts this week have sentenced four Palestinians to death for
helping Israel's army carry out deadly attacks on suspected Palestinian
militants.
Sixty
suspected collaborators have been arrested in the West Bank town of
Jenin, Palestinian security officials said.
Arafat
has sought to keep the Palestinians united during the current conflict.
However, if he attempts to crack down on radical groups, such as Hamas
and Islamic Jihad, and prevent them from carrying out attacks, it could
create a backlash against his leadership.
Many
Palestinians have been demanding revenge for Israeli strikes against
suspected Palestinian militants.
An
Israeli helicopter raid on the offices of Hamas in the West Bank town
of Nablus killed eight Palestinians on Tuesday, including a senior
Hamas leader and two young boys. The next day, tens of thousands of
Palestinians marched in a mass funeral and called for militants to
strike at Israel.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Friday reasserted his position that a
full-fledged peace treaty with the Palestinians is not a possibility
now or in the next few years.
Speaking
at a military ceremony, he said that even if the violence ends and
peace negotiations resume, he would seek an interim agreement. ''A
clear-eyed outlook of the continued state of animosity demands a
different approach than the one we have tried so far with the
Palestinians,'' Sharon said.
Israel
and the Palestinians signed their first interim accord in 1993, and
subsequent negotiations were aimed at a comprehensive peace treaty.
Those talks broke down in January. The Palestinians say they will not
sign another interim accord.
The
new U.S. ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, said Arafat's short-term
goals were unclear, and until there is progress toward making peace,
Arafat is not likely to be invited to Washington.
Sharon
has visited the White House twice since President Bush took office in
January.
Kurtzer told the Yediot Ahronot daily,
''I don't think anyone knows the answer to the question, 'who is
Arafat?' I don't know, either.''
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