[GushShalom] Where are we going?
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Sun Apr 18 02:00:26 IDT 2004
GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - www.gush-shalom.org/
[] Another assassination [translation of Hebrew Gush Shalom press
release]
[] Avnery on Sharon and the most anti-Israeli American president ever
\\// \\// \\//
[] Another assassination [translation of Hebrew Gush Shalom press
release]
Hebrew at request/òáøéú òì ôé á÷ùä
The assassination of Rantisi in Gaza is another act of lethal
provocation. It might impress the 200 000 registered members of the
Likud Party whose votes Sharon needs, but it endangers the Israeli
people to who Sharon leaves a legacy of hatred and bloodshed which
might last many years after his own career comes to an end.
With another prime minister, whithdrawal from the Gaza Strip and
dismantling the settlements in it could have been an enormous
goodwill gesture, opening a new page in the relations between the two
peoples and giving momentum to a renewed peace process.
As enacted by Ariel Sharon, even if he would really go through with
it, which is not at all to be taken for granted, it is just one more
manifestation of the arrogance of power.
Today's unscrupled assassination is but the latest of the daily
killings which accompany the hollow words about withdrawal. And Sharon
also uses naked force on the diplomatic level. The Palestinians are not
addressed, but with ultimatums and dictates. Sharon seems to be doing
everything to convince the Palestinians that they have no options left
other than suicidal forms of revenge, deepening the hatred and thus
making sure that the giving up of territory will not bring about peace,
condemning his people to an existence of suspicion and fear.
***
[] Avnery on Sharon and the most anti-Israeli American president ever
Uri Avnery
17.4.04
Hebrew at request & soon at the site
òáøéú òì ôé á÷ùä àå á÷øåá áàúø
Sharon's Skin and Bush's Spots
Question: Is the "Unilateral Disengagement" plan, which was so
dramatically endorsed this week by President Bush, a bluff?
Answer: Yes and No.
If Ariel Sharon can avoid implementing it, he certainly will. He
will implement it only if he has no alternative. The written plan says
that it will be implemented "by the end of 2005" - and by then the
situation in this country and in the Middle East as a whole may be
changed beyond recognition.
Anyhow, up to now no preparations have begun. There is no answer to
the dozens of questions that must be addressed before a meaningful plan
for implementation can even begin to be formulated. For example: Where
will the settlers go? How much compensation will they get? Who will
control the Gaza strip after the withdrawal? To whom will the houses and
public buildings be turned over? How will the army execute the
evacuation? Where will the evacuated army forces be relocated?
Question: If this is the case, why has Sharon put the plan on the
agenda at this time?
Answer: There are several explanations, all of them valid.
After several years of being accused of "having no plan" and of
being old and tired, Sharon has taken a bold initiative. The country and
the whole world is talking about the "Sharon Plan". The Geneva
initiative, by comparison, has been pushed firmly to one side.
Also, Sharon wants to use the time left, as long as George Bush is
in the White House, in order to get an American endorsement for several
of the ingredients of his real, long-term plan.
Of course, Sharon also wants to put pressure on the new Attorney
General, so that he would not dare to indict him, since this would mean
sabotaging a historic step which will benefit Israel.
As always, all of Sharon's declarations and deeds are designed to
meet the requirements of the moment. That was true when he was a general,
and it remains so now, when he is a politician. He is a "tactical",
rather than a "strategic" leader.
Question: Has Sharon really undergone a profound change? Has the
"Ethiopian changed his skin", to use the expression of Jeremiah (13, 23)?
Has he now turned his back on his lifetime accomplishments?
Answer: The Ethiopian has not changed his skin. An analysis of the
plan, as endorsed by Bush and shown at long last to the Israeli
ministers, reveals that it conforms exactly to the plan that Sharon has
been propounding for decades. He just cut out a piece of it and is
presenting it as an up-to-date plan.
What is his overall plan?
The maximum plan is to turn all of the land between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River into a Jewish State, with no non-
Jewish population. Since such an ethnic cleansing is not feasible for the
time being, he is implementing his minimum plan: to enlarge the borders
of the Jewish State as much as possible, without incorporating a further
large Arab population.
Therefore he wants to get rid of the Gaza Strip with its 1.2
million Palestinian inhabitants. He is prepared to evacuate the 7,000
Jewish settlers who are living there, in return for the consolidation of
the West Bank settlements, where 250,000 Jewish settlers live.
Sharon wants to incorporate in Israel 55% of the West Bank - the
area where most of the settlers are located and the Arab population is
relatively sparse. The plan spells it out: "It is clear that in the Judea
and Samaria region there will remain areas that will be part of the State
of Israel, including civilian localities, security areas and other places
where Israel has additional interests" (Article 1c). [Since the plan has
been leaked only in Hebrew, I have made the translation.] This definition
could include practically anything.
Almost all the Palestinian population in the West Bank, some 2.5
million people, will be crowded into the remaining 45% of the area,
which, together with the Gaza Strip, will constitute about 10% of the
country called Palestine under the British mandate, before 1948. This
area will be a kind of archipelago in the big Israeli sea. Each "island"
will be cut off from the others and surrounded by Israeli areas. The
islands will be artificially connected by new roads, bridges and tunnels,
so as to create the illusion of a "viable, contiguous state", as the
Americans demand. According to the written plan: "Israel will improve the
transportation infrastructure in the Judea and Samaria region, in order
to make possible uninterrupted Palestinian transportation" (4). In
practice, these connections can be cut off within minutes at any time.
Pretexts can always be found easily.
Sharon does not mind if this collection of enclaves is called a
"Palestinian state" according to Bush's "vision".
Question: What is the connection between this and the "Separation
Fence"?
Answer: The path of the fence - both the part that has already been
built and the parts that will be built in the future - reflects this map
well. That is how it was planned from the beginning. "Israel will
continue building the Security Fence, according to the relevant
government decisions" (5c). In his letter to Sharon, Bush said: "a
security rather than a political barrier…temporary rather than
permanent." Meaning, temporary until Sharon or his successors decide
otherwise. Meaning: forever.
Question: Why does the Israeli army support the plan?
Answer: The evacuation of the forces from the Gaza Strip and the
relocation of those in the West Bank will enable the army to save many
resources, manpower as well as money. At present, a whole army division
is guarding the Gaza Strip, and many battalions are guarding the dozens
of isolated settlements in the heart of the West Bank. The plan allows
the army to deploy its forces rationally and to put an end to the present
dispersion of forces that is contrary to all military logic.
Question: Why does Sharon agree to evacuate four settlements in the
north of the West Bank?
Answer: The Americans demand a symbolic gesture, in order to show
that the plan does not apply to the Gaza Strip alone.
Actually, the evacuation of the four small settlements has only
symbolic value. This is a negligible area with a few small and
unimportant settlements. Sharon's settlement and annexation map in any
case provides for the evacuation of dozens of small settlements in the
areas that will be left to the Palestinians.
Question: What will happen in the Gaza Strip if Sharon indeed
evacuates it?
Answer: The disengagement will be deceptive. The direct occupation
will be changed into an indirect one that will be much cheaper and more
efficient.
According to the plan, the Gaza strip will become a giant prison
camp, cut off on all sides. It will have no seaport or airport and be cut
off from its only neighbor, Egypt. There will be no entering the Strip or
leaving it except through Israel. Much as now, Israel will be able to cut
off the supply of food, raw materials, water, fuel, gas and electricity,
as well as the exit of workers and goods. Israel will also be able to
invade the Strip at any time in order to "prevent terrorist actions".
The plan spells it out: "Israel reserves to itself the basic right
of self-defense, including the taking of preventive steps" (3). Not only
did the President agree to this, but in his letter he extended this to
the West Bank, too: "…control of airspace, territorial waters, and land
passages of the West Bank and Gaza will continue." Meaning that according
to the "Bush vision", the Palestinian State in the West Bank also will be
a prison camp, completely cut off from the world. A hopeful vision,
indeed.
The written text of the plan also argues that in the new situation
to be created, no one will be able to hold Israel responsible for the
welfare of the population. After all, the occupation will be terminated.
This means that Israel will be able to choke the Strip, but the
responsibility will fall on others.
Question: If this is so "good for Israel", why does Sharon not
implement the evacuation of the Gaza Strip at once?
Answer: No politician looks for trouble. The evacuation of the Strip
will entail violent clashes with the settlers, not only with the local
ones but also with the West Bank settlers. That's why Sharon prefers to
talk about the withdrawal rather than implement it.
Question: If Sharon thinks that the settlements in the Gaza Strip
are a burden and a stumbling block, why did he put them there in the
first place? Why did he declare, not so long ago, that Netzarim, a
completely isolated settlement in the heart of the Gaza Strip, is as
important as Tel-Aviv?
Answer: That declaration, like all his utterances, served only to
satisfy a momentary need.
The Gaza Strip settlements were put up without much thinking, as a
result of the settlement inertia and a complete contempt for the Arabs.
The people responsible believed that the Strip would never be given back,
and, if the worst comes to the worst, they could keep at least the
settlements.
All in all, the establishment of the Gaza Strip settlements was a
crime that has cost much blood and billions of dollars. The Labor Party
is responsible for this crime as much as Likud. But Israelis are quick to
forget, and nobody will blame Sharon and Peres for the death of the
soldiers and settlers who were killed there - and who are still being
killed - for nothing.
Questions: If the Ethiopian has not changed his skin, has the
leopard changed his spots? Has the American position indeed changed
dramatically this week?
Answer: The change lies mainly in the blatant and unequivocal
support of Bush for Sharon, giving up all pretense of being an honest
broker and mediator. Like Sharon, Bush is now completely ignoring the
Palestinian people and its leadership. This has evoked an outburst of
rage among the Palestinians and all over the Arab world. But as far as
real content is concerned, the change is minimal.
Question: Is the negation of the 'Right of Return" not a big change?
Answer: Not really. In his last speech in office, on January 8,
2001, President Bill Clinton declared: "A solution…for the Palestinian
refugees (will allow) them to return to a Palestinian state…Others who
want to find new homes, whether in their current locations or in third
countries, should be able to do so, consistent with those countries'
sovereign decisions. And that includes Israel." This means that only
Israel alone will decide whether refugees will be allowed to enter its
territory - and that is what Bush said, too. Contrary to the official
translation of his letter into Hebrew, Bush said that the refugees must
be settled in the Palestinian state "rather than in Israel" (the Hebrew
translation said "and not in Israel". A subtle but not unimportant
difference.)
On the eve of Sharon's departure for his meeting with Bush, the
"Geneva Initiative" group published a letter to Sharon, demanding that
the US "recognize that Israel is sovereign to decide on the entrance of
Palestinian refugees into its territory." That, too, means the same.
Question: But has not Bush endorsed now for the first time the
incorporation of the settlement blocks into Israel?
Answer: No. Clinton preceded him in this matter, too. In the same
speech he endorsed the "incorporation into Israel of settlement blocks".
Bush, on his part, wrote in his letter that "In the light of new
realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli
population centers, it is not realistic to expect…a full and complete
return" to the pre-1967 Green Line.
All American plans, going back to the Nixon years, spoke about
"insubstantial changes" in the pre-1967 borders. The famous Security
Council resolution 242 also did not demand that the former border be
reconstituted without any change. Bush's formula continues this line. He
did not spell out the extent of the border changes envisioned.
It is worthwhile remembering that the whole idea of "settlement
blocks" was born years ago in the fertile brain of Yossi Beilin and was
included in the "Beilin-Abu-Mazen" agreement. Beilin hoped that by this
means he would disarm the opposition of the settlers, who would sacrifice
the isolated settlements in order to save the major settlement blocks,
where 80% of the settlers live. This hope was proven false, and Beilin's
trick served only to legitimize the idea of the annexation of the blocks.
The settlers did not buy the trick, because they are afraid of the
precedent that would be created by removing even one settlement. They
will try to prevent this by all the means available to them.
Incidentally, in the same statement published by the "Geneva
Initiative" group before Sharon's departure, he was urged to demand from
Bush "the annexation of central settlement blocks like Gush Etzion,
Ma'aleh Adumim and Giv'at Ze'ev, into sovereign Israel."
There is, of course, a difference: Beilin and Clinton proposed
"territorial swaps", either on a 1:1 or a less equal ratio. But it is
clear that the Palestinians were asked to give up their most fertile
lands in return for stretches of the Negev desert.
Question: If so, where is the "dramatic change"?
Answer: The drama is in the notes rather than in the melody. Clinton
knew how to pour honey on his proposals, which were clearly pro-Israeli.
Bush repeats these positions in a much more strident, rough and arrogant
tone. He speaks about the Palestinians in the style of a military
governor, just like Sharon.
Question: If so, what will be the outcome?
Answer: As far as the Americans are concerned, the Muslim-Arab rage
against them will become even stronger, thereby increasing the motivation
to hurt the Americans in Iraq and everywhere.
So why did he do it?
It will be remembered that Henry Kissinger said that Israel has no
foreign, but only domestic policy. That is true for the United States,
too. In this matter, Bush is acting solely for his re-election. He needs
the votes of the Jews and the evangelical Christian, who support the
Israeli right-wing. He also needs the Jewish donations.
It is said that Bush is the most pro-Israeli American president
there ever was. I think that the opposite is true. I believe that he is
the most anti-Israeli American president there ever was, because the
Sharon-Bush plan is blocking the way to Israeli-Palestinian peace, our
only hope for a normal life.
--
Ongoing struggle
#Against the Wall (contact addresses)
#Refusniks (prisoner addresses & links to constantly updated sites)
#Vanunu to be released April 21
[ links to the latest re the Donate Now "Instead of Flowers"
campaign / worldwide vigils etc. especially important for
those who don't have the Paypal option ]
New: Contact re activities in Israel <legalese at netvision.net.il >
#Against the Wall
ðåëçåú éåîéåîéú áëôøéí îàéîéí ò"é äçåîä ìúàí òí
àééáé 064-604172 isichel at netvision.net.il
àøé÷ 050-607034 info at rhr.israel.net
Day to day presence at villages threatened by route of wall.
Contact: Ivy Sichel 064-604172 isichel at netvision.net.il who set's up a
list for people who can come at short notice, or: Arik Asherman 050-
607034 info at rhr.israel.net
#Refusniks
Constantly-updated refusniks lists:
English - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/english/prison/
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/prison/
English - http://www.newprofile.org/default.asp?language=en
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.newprofile.org/
For the latest news about the five:
http://www.refuz.org.il/News.html
NB:
Letters of support to
Noam Bahat / Haggai Mattar / Matan Kaminer
AGAF BET
Ma’asiyaho Prison
P.O.B 13
Ramla
Israel
Adam Maor / Shimri Tzameret:
Hermon Prison
P.O.B 4011
KFAR M’RAR
Israel
#Vanunu to be released April 21
Instead of sending flowers
Wordlwide campaign WELCOME VANUNU by donating a few dollars
(N.B.: online but ALSO otherwise) as a welcome gesture:
<http://www.vanunu.org/>
List of international vigils on day of Vanunu release (April 21):
http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/
http://www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk/
Online petition for the unconditional release of Vanunu
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/freemordechaivanunu/
For details about Free Vanunu vigils and activities in Israel,
Call: 02-6254530 or 051-368236
or email: legalese at netvision.net.il
--
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