A Wondrous Miracle
Former Knesset member Uri Avnery (of Gush Shalom) on the Gaza pullout:
…This is the man who decided alone to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle the settlements. The man who is implementing this practically alone. The man who will stand this coming week facing a hurricane that has no equal in the history of Israel.
A believer in God might say: this is a miracle from heaven. Mysterious are the ways of the Almighty. The patron of the settlements, the man who planned most of them, put them where they are and helped them to strike root and expand – he is the man who is now setting the fateful precedent of dismantling settlements in this country.
The dimensions of the “miracle” can be grasped only by posing some hypothetical questions: What would be happening if the Labor Party were in power, if Shimon Peres were in charge, if Ariel Sharon were leading the opposition and commanding the orange-shirts? The very thought is a nightmare.
If this were the only miracle that is happening to us – that would be plenty. But it is accompanied by a second miracle: the Israeli army is conducting the fight against the settlers. That is a miracle so wondrous that it could make the most secular pork-eater run to his rabbi…
Since Yuri is so enthused with what Sharon is doing, I guess that means he supports the total Sharon plan: Israel to unilaterally determmine her own border (probably along the green line), finish building the fence and incorporate the majority of the settlers on the west bank and all the environs of Jerusalem into Israel, and then establish the “death cult rule” – if any member of the religion of the death cult approach the fence, they will find find themselves achieving their 72 virgin status. Charles Krauthammer, the best commentator on the me, writing in the washington post yesterday, added this caveat – israel should return each rocket blast by a six to one ratio, 3 to the origin of the death cult rocket, 3 to a predetermined target. Yes Yuri, Sharon realizes the truth, the death cult will never accept israel, she has no choice but to separate herself from the non partners in peace. and Sharon has begun that process – glad you approve.
when dealing with members of the death cult, these are the operative rules: the dc hates jews and would prefer to see us dead; the dc will never accept israel as a jewish state; the dc interprets every act of human kindess, every concession, every attemp at humanism, as a sign of weakness; the dc is a basic coward, aiming its terror tactics primarily at civilians and then in to a great extent at women and children; the death cult is like tb,, theres no cure, but with the constant application of military action (in place of medicines) you keep it under control. thats the burden we as jews and/or israelis will face – it wasn’t just the 613 commandments, its antisemitism, its the hatred of the intellegencia (noam chomsky, norman finkelstein spring to mind), hatred of the left (saint cindy thinks bush sent troops to iraq to help israel), hatred on college campuses (see columbia, berkley, irvine, sf state, etc.), hatred at the mass media (npr, ny times, etc.). And yet, somehow, we endure, contributing more to human society proportionately than any other group by far, in sceince, music, human relations – the list is endless: makes you wonder if we are the chosen people or something.
hmmm clearly someone didn’t read the whole essay
Uri Avnery writes: … for the first time, settlements in Palestine are being removed.
That`s totally shmontzes. During the War of Independance, hundreds of arab villages were destroyed, sorry: removed, on soil what is now Israel. E.g. Kibutz Kfar-Menachem is built on 3 vanished arab villages.
I just wish I could believe that this will bring peace… but when the Palestinians still march around with PFLP flags showing Israel — not Gaza, or the Shtachim, but the entire country — when they still want to kick the Jews out and take Israel back, how can I see this as anything but a temporary last grasp at straws? Sharon may have learned something, but he’s forgotten something as well. See this.
I’ll eat the socks I wore today if this guy actually believes in G-d. Do atheists like this guy really need to be so obscene when mocking someone else’s deeply held beliefs?
I think what Avneri means is that the fact that the military and the leader of the mainstream right in Israel are carrying out the pull-out signifies an important shift in politics. Government policy now is being made to remove settlements. Of course many of the people who live there were only doing what was asked of them, and the government that allowed it is to blame. Hopefully much more will come. Bilateral negotiations, a withdrawal from the West Bank (compensating Palestinians through land exchanges for the settlements that are to be kept), and eventually negotiations for looser borders, economic union and confederation so that each Palestinian and each Israeli can live wherever they chose within the land (maintaining the law of return for Jews and creating one for Palestinian refugees).
Amen to you comment Issac.
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