[GushShalom] The Good Boy Scout - Avnery on Sharon-Chirac

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033  www.gush-shalom.org/

The Good Boy Scout - Avnery on Sharon-Chirac

[In the light of recent events Uri Avnery wrote a Part Two to last week's 
column "Marie and the Ghosts" (the links are to Part One)]

English
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/article312.html
Hebrew/òáøéú
http://www.gush-shalom.org/archives/article312_heb.html 


			The Good Boy Scout
Uri Avnery
21.7.04

Hebrew at request &  soon at the site
òáøéú òì ôé á÷ùä àå á÷øåá áàúø
www.gush-shalom.org

     "In a dramatic television broadcast, the Russian president, Vladimir 
Putin, called upon the million Russian emigrants in Israel to return at 
once to their homeland, in view of the growing danger to their security 
there."
     That did not happen, of course. But it is easy to imagine what would 
have been the reaction in Israel if Putin had indeed made such an appeal. 
Or if the president of France, Jacques Chirac, had called upon the French-
speakers in Israel, the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from France 
and North Africa, to move to France, where their life is not threatened 
by suicide bombers.
     The Israeli media would have gone berserk. The Knesset, in an 
emergency session, would have denounced the outrageous anti-Semitic 
outburst of the president of Russia and/or France. The politicians would 
have tried to outdo each other in condemnations of the inadmissible 
interference in the internal affairs of Israel. The Foreign Office would 
have ordered the return of the ambassador in Moscow and/or Paris for 
"consultations".
     What happened was, of course, the reverse. It was the Israeli Prime 
Minister who called on the French Jews to leave their homeland "as soon 
as possible" and come to Israel, in view of the - alleged - anti-Semitic 
wave in France. The French government and media reacted exactly as their 
Israeli counterparts would have done.
     Every tenth Frenchman (and Frenchwoman) is Jewish. 
     "A deplorable misunderstanding," the official French spokesman 
intoned. Meaning, in non-diplomatic language: "Shut up, you bastard!"
     Profound commentators all over the world tried to guess the hidden 
motive of Ariel Sharon. Was this a veiled warning to France not to vote 
in favor of the judgement of the International Court in the UN General 
Assembly? (France voted for it anyhow, compelling all of Europe to follow 
suit.) Was he doing a favor to President Bush, who detests Chirac?
     The truth is much more simple. It is impossible to guess Sharon's 
intention, because he had none. It was an inconsequential speech before 
an inconsequential audience. Sharon wanted to say something that would 
give him five seconds on TV, and he got them. Everybody was satisfied: 
the TV stations, the Prime Minister, his audience and the general public. 
Everybody, that is, except the French.
    In Israeli ears it was an unimportant, routine statement. Israeli 
leaders miss no opportunity to call on every occasion upon Jewish 
communities to drop everything and come to Israel. If there is a sign of 
anti-Semitism anywhere, this is an automatic response.
     If there is a "misunderstanding", it is mutual. It could be called, 
in the vogue phrase, a "clash of civilizations": the French-European and 
the Israeli-Zionist. 
     In the French view, the French Jews are French. The republic is not 
based on religion or ethnic origin. The way the French see it, every 
citizen is a partner in the republic and French culture - whether 
Christian or Jew, Alsacien or Breton, North-African or Corsican. This is 
the basis of the Republique.
     And along comes the Prime Minister of a foreign country and has the 
cheek - not to say chutzpa - to attack the very foundations of the 
republic and sow discord among its citizens. That is the gravest assault 
on France, barring an outright military attack.
     In the Israeli view, it looks quite different. According to official 
doctrine, Israel is "the State of the Jewish People". The "Jewish People" 
consists of all the Jews in the world, irrespective of whether they live 
in Brooklyn, Barcelona or Bratislava.
     Every child here learns that all the Jews in the world will come to 
Israel sooner or later. They will have no choice, since the Goyim 
(Gentiles) hate the Jews, and so the anti-Semites will come to power in 
all countries in due course. Israel exists in order to offer them a haven 
when they are compelled to flee, once the inevitable comes about.
     This explains the ambivalent reaction of the Israeli establishment 
to any anti-Semitic event anywhere. The natural reaction is, of course, 
one of anger and condemnation. But there is also another reaction, a 
hidden one that borders on satisfaction: Here, we told you so. Now it is 
happening. We were right all along. 
     Both reactions lead to the cry: Come, brothers, before it is too 
late! It rather resembles the good boy-scout in the joke, the one who 
helps the old lady to cross the road, whether she wants to or not.
     So Chirac is furious, Sharon is obdurate and repeats his call, and 
in the middle stand the poor French Jews, who just want to be left alone. 
         
      
# Truth against Truth - opposite views on the history of the conflict
  in 101 steps 

Hebrew / òáøéú
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Heb.pdf

English
http://www.gush-shalom.org/Docs/Truth_Eng.pdf


# Boycott List of Settlement Products (newly updated)
  Now also with list of settlements
   
Hebrew / òáøéú
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boycheb.htm

English
http://gush-shalom.org/Boycott/boyceng.htm

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