Daniel, thanks for this long article. I have a bit of comments to some of it.--------

AFTER EVERY single one of the war aims put forward by our government had evaporated, one after the other, another reason was brought up: this war was a part of the "clash of civilizations", the great campaign of the Western world and its lofty values against the barbarian darkness of the Islamic world.

When someone or some people who is/are mute (no much knowledge) have no respect to the masses - they just bombarding them with repetitive formula as though the audience are stupid who have no right whatsoever to view their own opinion. Repeating the same word which has slipped in the eyes of the victim is self insulting.

The highest achievement in life is having knowledge or knowledges that others derived benefits from it.

It happens from time to time in the United States that somebody invents an empty but easily digested slogan, which then dominates the public discourse for some time. It seems that the more stupid the slogan is, the better its chances of becoming the guiding light for academia and the media - until another slogan appears and supersedes it. The latest example is the slogan "Clash of Civilizations", coined by Samuel P. Huntington in 1993 (taking over from the "End of History").

The same as above. There is no refutation, therefore for others it is meaningless computerized burp.

Huntington himself was compelled to admit: "The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do."

It's true as anyone can see it but not entirely. The internet we are using is the western achievemnet, one of so many.

We want to live here in 100 years, in 500 years. Our most basic national interests demand that we extend our hands to the Arab nations that accept us, and act together with them for the rehabilitation of this region. That was true 59 years ago, and that will be true 59 years hence.

And certainly it will be more than just 6 millions, the land is needed. How will they fit the ever increasing population? simple 1400 years ago, simple today and simple still in the future. The jews in the time of the Prophet never walk away from Arabia, they dissolved:

Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (muslim) (3:64) 

Little politicians like Olmert, Peretz and Halutz are unable to think in these terms. They can hardly see as far as the end of their noses. But where are the intellectuals, who should be more far-sighted?

Sharon bolt out from a party he partly responsible in the past and created a new party that became an instant hit, on what promise?

Let see what happen.

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Okay, I'm almost through being a drama queen and I'm going to get back to work here. Heeeeeeeeeeere's URI!!!!!! America's Rottweiler IN HIS latest speech, which infuriated so many people, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad uttered a sentence that deserves attention: "Every new Arab generation hates Israel more than the previous one." Of all that has been said about the Second Lebanon War, these are perhaps the most important words. The main product of this war is hatred. The pictures of death and destruction in Lebanon entered every Arab home, indeed every Muslim home, from Indonesia to Morocco, from Yemen to the Muslim ghettos in London and Berlin. Not for an hour, not for a day, but for 33 successive days - day after day, hour after hour. The mangled bodies of babies, the women weeping over the ruins of their homes, Israeli children writing "greetings" on shells about to be fired at villages, Ehud Olmert blabbering about "the most moral army in the world" while the screen showed a heap of bodies. Israelis ignored these sights, indeed they were scarcely shown on our TV. Of course, we could see them on Aljazeera and some Western channels, but Israelis were much too busy with the damage wrought in our Northern towns. Feelings of pity and empathy for non-Jews have been blunted here a long time ago. But it is a terrible mistake to ignore this result of the war. It is far more important than the stationing of a few thousand European troops along our border, with the kind consent of Hizbullah. It may still be bothering generations of Israelis, when the names Olmert and Halutz have long been forgotten, and when even Nasrallah no longer remember the name Amir Peretz. IN ORDER for the significance of Assad's words to become clear, they have to be viewed in a historical context. The whole Zionist enterprise has been compared to the transplantation of an organ into the body of a human being. The natural immunity system rises up against the foreign implant, the body mobilizes all its power to reject it. The doctors use a heavy dosage of medicines in order to overcome the rejection. That can go on for a long time, sometimes until the eventual death of the body itself, including the transplant. (Of course, this analogy, like any other, should be treated cautiously. An analogy can help in understanding things, but no more than that.) The Zionist movement has planted a foreign body in this country, which was then a part of the Arab-Muslim space. The inhabitants of the country, and the entire Arab region, rejected the Zionist entity. Meanwhile, the Jewish settlement has taken roots and become an authentic new nation rooted in the country. Its defensive power against the rejection has grown. This struggle has been going on for 125 years, becoming more violent from generation to generation. The last war was yet another episode. WHAT IS our historic objective in this confrontation? A fool will say: to stand up to the rejection with a growing dosage of medicaments, provided by America and World Jewry. The greatest fools will add: There is no solution. This situation will last forever. There is nothing to be done about it but to defend ourselves in war after war after war. And the next war is already knocking on the door. The wise will say: our objective is to cause the body to accept the transplant as one of its organs, so that the immune system will no longer treat us as an enemy that must be removed at any price. And if this is the aim, it must become the main axis of our efforts. Meaning: each of our actions must be judged according to a simple criterion: does it serve this aim or obstruct it? According to this criterion, the Second Lebanon War was a disaster. FIFTY NINE years ago, two months before the outbreak of our War of Independence, I published a booklet entitled "War or Peace in the Semitic Region". Its opening words were: "When our Zionist fathers decided to set up a 'safe haven' in Palestine, they had a choice between two ways: "They could appear in West Asia as a European conqueror, who sees himself as a bridge-head of the 'white' race and a master of the 'natives', like the Spanish Conquistadores and the Anglo-Saxon colonists in America. That is what the Crusaders did in Palestine. "The second way was to consider themselves as an Asian nation returning to its home - a nation that sees itself as an heir to the political and cultural heritage of the Semitic race, and which is prepared to join the peoples of the Semitic region in their war of liberation from European exploitation." As is well known, the State of Israel, which was established a few months later, chose the first way. It gave its hand to colonial France, tried to help Britain to return to the Suez Canal and, since 1967, has become the little sister of the United States. That was not inevitable. On the contrary, in the course of years there have been a growing number of indications that the immune system of the Arab-Muslim body is starting to incorporate the transplant - as a human body accepts the organ of a close relative - and is ready to accept us. Such an indication was the visit of Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem. Such was the peace treaty signed with us by King Hussein, a descendent of the Prophet. And, most importantly, the historic decision of Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinian people, to make peace with Israel. But after every huge step forward, there came an Israeli step backward. It is as if the transplant rejects the body's acceptance of it. As if it has become so accustomed to being rejected, that it does all it can to induce the body to reject it even more. It is against this background that one should weigh the words spoken by Assad Jr., a member of the new Arab generation, at the end of the recent war. AFTER EVERY single one of the war aims put forward by our government had evaporated, one after the other, another reason was brought up: this war was a part of the "clash of civilizations", the great campaign of the Western world and its lofty values against the barbarian darkness of the Islamic world. That reminds one, of course, of the words written 110 years ago by the father of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, in the founding document of the Zionist movement: "In Palestine�we shall constitute for Europe a part of the wall against Asia, and serve as the vanguard of civilization against barbarism." Without knowing, Olmert almost repeated this formula in his justification of his war, in order to please President Bush. It happens from time to time in the United States that somebody invents an empty but easily digested slogan, which then dominates the public discourse for some time. It seems that the more stupid the slogan is, the better its chances of becoming the guiding light for academia and the media - until another slogan appears and supersedes it. The latest example is the slogan "Clash of Civilizations", coined by Samuel P. Huntington in 1993 (taking over from the "End of History"). What clash of ideas is there between Muslim Indonesia and Christian Chile? What eternal struggle between Poland and Morocco? What is it that unifies Malaysia and Kosovo, two Muslim nations? Or two Christian nations like Sweden and Ethiopia? In what way are the ideas of the West more sublime than those of the East? The Jews that fled the flames of the auto-da-fe of the Christian Inquisition in Spain were received with open arms by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. The most cultured of European nations democratically elected Adolf Hitler as its leader and perpetrated the Holocaust, without the Pope raising his voice in protest. In what way are the spiritual values of the United States, today's Empire of the West, superior to those of India and China, the rising stars of the East? Huntington himself was compelled to admit: "The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion, but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact, non-Westerners never do." In the West, too, women won the vote only in the 20th century, and slavery was abolished there only in the second half of the 19th. And in the leading nation of the West, fundamentalism is now also raising its head. What interest, for goodness sake, have we in volunteering to be a political and military vanguard of the West in this imagined clash? THE TRUTH is, of course, that this entire story of the clash of civilizations is nothing but an ideological cover for something that has no connection with ideas and values: the determination of the United States to dominate the world's resources, and especially oil. The Second Lebanon War is considered by many as a "War by Proxy". That's to say: Hizbullah is the Dobermann of Iran, we are the Rottweiler of America. Hizbullah gets money, rockets and support from the Islamic Republic, we get money, cluster bombs and support from the United States of America. That is certainly exaggerated. Hizbullah is an authentic Lebanese movement, deeply rooted in the Shiite community. The Israeli government has its own interests (the occupied territories) that do not depend on America. But there is no doubt that there is much truth in the argument that this was also a war by substitutes. The US is fighting against Iran, because Iran has a key role in the region where the most important oil reserves in the world are located. Not only does Iran itself sit on huge oil deposits, but through its revolutionary Islamic ideology it also menaces American control over the near-by oil countries. The declining resource oil becomes more and more essential in the modern economy. He who controls the oil controls the world. The US would viciously attack Iran even it were peopled with pigmies devoted to the religion of the Dalai Lama. There is a shocking similarity between George W. Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, The one has personal conversations with Jesus, the other has a line to Allah. But the name of the game is domination. What interest do we have to get involved in this struggle? What interest do we have in being regarded - accurately - as the servants of the greatest enemy of the Muslim world in general and the Arab world in particular? We want to live here in 100 years, in 500 years. Our most basic national interests demand that we extend our hands to the Arab nations that accept us, and act together with them for the rehabilitation of this region. That was true 59 years ago, and that will be true 59 years hence. Little politicians like Olmert, Peretz and Halutz are unable to think in these terms. They can hardly see as far as the end of their noses. But where are the intellectuals, who should be more far-sighted? Bashar al-Assad may not be one of the world's Great Thinkers. But his remark should certainly give us pause for thought.

Bismillah,

Yes, they should.  (Us being the Israeli Jewish community and maybe the community in the US?)

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Ideally this place should be a democratic federation with a law of return applying to Palestinians as well as Jews. Demographics be damned. What is the point of being jewish if you have to break every jewish law, moral code and spiritual goal to do it?

Bismillah,

Yes.  The means matter very much, especially to Allah.  Thanks for this article.  (I think we need a Uri Averny section under the middle east!)

Salaamu Alaykum

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Ideally this place should be a democratic federation with a law of return applying to Palestinians as well as Jews. Demographics be damned. What is the point of being jewish if you have to break every jewish law, moral code and spiritual goal to do it?

Yeah, nothing further than the truth. In the NT it is called as "lost". The son of Mary said in it: I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

"This is our land" so the claim announced. The question is according to whom or according to what?

"We are jews, better race than you". Again according to whom or according to what?

The sad side is - this what is stated in the Qur'an 1400 years ago. Without DO from religious point of view all this claims are invalid. If they do it properly than there is no much differences with Islam, infact they will be feel at home with Islam.

Daniel Dworsky wrote: With all do respect to history and "claims" Some of these people have no where else to go. All parties should either stay home in safety or come home and be helped to resettle. Those with 58 year old keys to the homes they fled should be compensated. Settlements that were cynically set up in Palestine as a land grabbing ruse should be dismantled. The inhabitants of Itamar and Tapuach should be sedated like rogue polar bears and relocated on fantasy Island with Richardo Montobon and Amir Peretz in his new job. Everyone should get an electric car and a life supply of Prozac.

Bismillah,

Even my father-in-law would love to go home accompanied by his children to live the rest of his long life and die there on his own land, knowing that his children and grandchildren could continue to live on the land that he and they love.

The electric car sounds good, but rather than Prozac, most of them would rather have strong cups of Arabic coffee sipped under their olive trees.

Salaamu Alaykum

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Uri Avnery 2.9.06            When Napoleon Won at Waterloo NAPOLEON WON the battle of Waterloo. The German Wehrmacht won World War II. The United States won in Vietnam, and the Soviets in Afghanistan. The Zealots won against the Romans, and Ehud Olmert won the Second Lebanon War. You didn't know that? Well, during the last few days the Israeli media has paraded a long series of experts, who did not leave any room for doubt: the war has brought us huge achievements, Hizbullah was routed, Olmert is the great victor. The TV talk-show hosts and anchormen put their microphones at the service of professors, publicity experts, "security personnel" and "strategists" (a title not denoting generals, but advisers of politicians). All of them agreed on the outcome: an honest-to-goodness victory. Yesterday I switched on the TV and saw a person radiating self-assurance and explaining how our victory in Lebanon opens the way for the inevitable war with Iran. The analysis, composed almost entirely of clich�s, was worthy of a high-school pupil. I was shocked to learn that the man was a former chief of the Mossad. Anyway, we won this war and we are going to win the next one. So there is no need at all for a commission of inquiry. What is there to inquire into? All we need is a few committees to clear up the minor slips that occurred here and there. Resignations are absolutely out. Why, what happened? Victors do not resign! Did Napoleon resign after Waterloo? Did Presidents Johnson and Nixon resign after what happened in Vietnam? Did the Zealots resign after the destruction of the Temple? JOKING ASIDE, the parade of Olmert's stooges on TV, on the radio and in the newspapers tells us something. Not about the achievements of Olmert as a statesman and strategist, but about the integrity of the media. When the war broke out, the media people fell into line and and marched in step as a propaganda battalion. All the media, without exception, became organs of the war effort, fawning on Olmert, Peretz and Halutz, waxing enthusiastic at the sight of the devastation in Lebanon and singing the praises of the "steadfastness of the civilian population" in the north of Israel. The public was exposed to an incessant rain of victory reports, going on (literally) from early in the morning to late at night. The government and army spokespersons, together with Olmert's spin team, decided what to publish and when, and, more importantly, what to suppress. That found its expression in the "word laundry". Instead of accurate words came misleading expressions: when heavy battles were raging in Lebanon, the media spoke about "exchanges of fire". The cowardly Hassan Nasrallah was "hiding" in his bunker, while our brave Chief-of- Staff was directing operations from his underground command post (nicknamed "the hole"). The chicken-hearted "terrorists" of Hizbullah were hiding behind women and children and operating from within villages, quite unlike our Ministry of Defense and General Staff which are located in the heart of the most densely populated area in Israel. Our soldiers were not captured in a military action, but "abducted" like the victims of gangsters, while our army "arrests" the leaders of Hamas. Hizbullah, as is well known, is "financed" by Iran and Syria, quite unlike Israel, which "receives generous support" from our great friend and ally, the United States. There was, of course, a difference of night and day between Hizbullah and us. How can one compare? After all, Hizbullah launched rockets at us with the express intent of killing civilians, and did indeed kill some thirty of them. While our military, "the most moral army in the world", took great care not to hurt civilians, and therefore only about 800 Lebanese civilians, half of them children, lost their lives in the bombardments which were all directed at purely military targets. No general could compare with the military correspondents and commentators, who appeared daily on TV, striking impressive military poses, who reported on the fighting and demanded a deeper advance into Lebanon. Only very observant viewers noticed that they did not accompany the fighters at all and did not share the dangers and pains of battle, something that is essential for honest reporting in war. During the entire war I saw only two correspondent's reports that really reflected the spirit of the soldiers - one by Itay Angel and the other by Nahum Barnea. The deaths of soldiers were generally announced only after midnight, when most people were asleep. During the day the media spoke only about soldiers being "hurt". The official pretext was that the army had first to inform the families. That's true - but only for announcing the names of the fallen soldiers. It does not apply at all to the number of the dead. (The public quickly caught on and realized that "hurt" meant "killed'.) OF COURSE, among the almost one thousand people invited to the TV studios during the war to air their views, there were next to no voices criticizing the war itself. Two or three, who were invited for alibi purposes, were shown up as ridiculous weirdos. Two or three Arab citizens were also invited, but the talk-masters fell on them like hounds on their prey. For weeks, the media suppressed the fact that hundreds of thousands of Israelis had abandoned the bombarded North, leaving only the poorest behind. That would have shaken the legend of the "steadfastness of the rear". All the media (except the internet sites) completely suppressed the news about the demonstrations against the war that took place almost daily and that grew rapidly from dozens to hundreds, and from hundreds to thousands. (Channel 1 alone devoted several seconds to the small demonstration of Meretz and Peace Now that took place just before the end of the war. Both had supported the war enthusiastically almost to the finish.) I don't say these things as a professor for communications or a disgruntled politician. I am a media-person from head to foot. Since the age of 17 I have been a working journalist, reporter, columnist and editor, and I know very well how media with integrity should behave. (The only prize I ever got in my own country was awarded by the Journalists' Association for my "life work in journalism".) I do not think, by the way, that the behavior of our media was worse than that of their American colleagues at the start of the Iraq war, or the British media during the ridiculous Falklands/Malvinas war. But the scandals of others are no consolation for our own. Against the background of this pervasive brainwashing, one has to salute the few - who can be counted on the fingers of both hands - who did not join the general chorus and did indeed voice criticism in the written media, as much as they were allowed to. The names are well-known, and I shall not list them here, for fear of overlooking somebody and committing an unforgivable sin. They can hold their head high. The trouble is that their comments appeared only in the op-ed pages, which have a limited impact, and were completely absent from the news pages and news programs, which shape public opinion on a daily basis.    When the media people now passionately debate the need for all kinds of inquiry commissions and examination committees, perhaps they should set a personal example and establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the actions of the media themselves at the time of supreme test. I N GOETHE'S "Faust", the devil presents himself as the "force that always strives for the bad and always produces the good." I do not wish, God forbid, to compare the media to the devil, but the result is the same: by its enthusiastic support for the war, the media deepened the feeling of failure that came afterwards and which may in the end have a beneficial impact. The media called Hizbullah a "terror organization", evoking the image of a small group of "terrorists" with negligible capabilities. When it became clear that this is an efficient and well-trained military force with brave and determined fighters, effective missiles and other weapons, that could hold out against our huge military machine for 33 days without breaking, the disappointment was even more bitter. After the media had glorified our military commanders as supermen and treated every one of their boasts with adulation, almost as if they were divine revelations, the disappointment was even greater when severe failures in strategy, tactics, intelligence and logistics showed up in all levels of the senior command. That contributed to the profound change in public opinion that set in at the end of the war. As elevated as the self-confidence had been, so deep was the sense of failure. The Gods had failed. The intoxication of war was replaced by the hangover of the morning after. And who is that running in front of the mob clamoring for revenge, all the way to the Place de la Guillotine? The media, of course. I don't know of a single talk-show host, anchorman. commentator, reporter or editor, who has confessed his guilt and begged for forgiveness for his part in the brainwashing. Everything that was said, written or photographed has been wiped off the slate. It just never happened. Now, when the damage cannot be repaired anymore, the media are pushing to the head of those who demand the truth and clamor for punishment for all the scandalous decisions that were taken by the government and the general staff: prolonging the war unnecessarily after the first six days, abandoning the rear, neglecting the reserves, not sending the land army into Lebanon on day X and sending them into Lebanon on day Y, not accepting G8's call for a cease-fire, and so on. But, just a moment --- During the last few days, the wheel may be turning again. What? We did not lose the war after all? Wait, wait, we did win? Nasrallah has apologized? (By strict orders from above, the full interview of Nasrallah was not broadcast at all, but the one passage in which he admitted to a mistake was broadcast over and over again.) The sensitive nose of the media people has detected a change of the wind. Some of them have already altered course. If there is a new wave in public opinion, one should ride it, no? WE CALL this the "Altalena Effect". For those who don't know, or who have already forgotten: Altalena was a small ship that arrived off the coast of Israel in the middle of the 1948 war, carrying a group of Irgun men and quantities of weapons, it was not clear for whom. David Ben-Gurion was afraid of a putsch and ordered the shelling of the ship, off the coast of Tel-Aviv. Some of the men were killed, Menachem Begin, who had gone aboard, was pushed into the water and saved. The ship sank, the Irgun was dispersed and its members joined the new Israeli army. 29 years later Begin came to power. All the careerists joined him in haste. And then it appeared, retroactively, that practically everybody had been on board the Altalena. The little ship expanded into a huge aircraft carrier - until the Likud lost power and Altalena shrunk back to the size of a fishing boat. The Second Lebanon War was a mighty Altalena. All the media crowded onto its deck. But the day after the war was over, we learned that this was an optical illusion: absolutely nobody had been there, except Captain Olmert, First Officer Peretz and Helmsman Halutz. However, that can change any minute now, if the trusting public can be convinced that we won the war after all. As has been said before: in Israel nothing changes, except the past.

Bismillah,

Thanks for posting these, Daniel. 

Salaamu Alaykum

I have been thinking for the past five years or so (since I have come to know Uri Avenry) what could we do or not do with this man?

Gush Shalom, if my life be spared for saying so, is doing far more for the struggle against occupations than all the Muselims of our world put together.

Jinkuye, Daniaal.

Servie�s cryptogram (#23):

Gush Emunim (Avigdor Eskin) est Gush Shalom (Uri Avnery) inversus.  (Israel�s Gush Emunim, or �Block of the Faithful,� as respresented by Avigdor Eskin (and others) is Gush Shalom, or �The Peace Block,� inverted.)

Quote:
This consensus carried away the Meretz party, whose guru Amos Oz is, and Peace Now, in whose mass rallies Amos Oz used to be the main speaker (when they were still able to stage mass rallies).

The hardest thing in life is when doing on the God side without end buckled. If the history can be trusted some of the early Christians used to be fed to the lions, and the famous Rosulallah's companion by the name Bilal was torured to renounce his belief. One of Allah character is Peace.

Quote:
From the beginning of the Jewish Labor Movement in the country, the Left has suffered from an internal contradiction: it was both socialist and nationalist. Of the two components, nationalism was by far the more important.

The labour party was a wrecked by Ehud Barak, and it seem to me look like bread crumb by now. 

Quote:
One of the most important tasks of the Histadrut was to prevent by all means, including violence, the employment of Arabs in Jewish working places. For that, blood was shed.

Racism is the method to protect the self from outsider. Therfore racism is a sign of insecurity by the people who have no confidence, therefore racism is a method adopted by the ill knowledge community.

Quote:
When the guns are roaring and the flag goes up the pole, the "Left-but" stands at attention and salutes.

The "Look at me" is in bussiness.

Thanks bro for the article, God bless the peace makers. I will read the other tomorrow hopefully.

Dear Danny,

Thank you for helping me to perfect my remarkably unremarkable 23^rd cryptogram.  As always, you�re a sport.

Your friend,

Serv    

Your friend,

Serv 

I promise, I thought, you were my friend. If you are then Dany is our uncle.

He is simply . . . . will come back when I find the right word for him.

Unces, no need to do that.

Miss Ophra Haza at times. Wonder if I could access someof her music somehow from somewhere?

It's a pleasure to learn from U2

I suspect that Danny Dworsky and the Rothchilds are conspiring to take over the world.  Although the odds are against him, I hope that Danny wins!  He won�t force us to eat ribah (usury), is probably the better musician, and dares to show his emotions in public.  Also, and to change the subject somewhat, I am at this point far more inclined to salute �Uncle Dan� (those familiar with the rudiments of demonology will appreciate this) than our usual Uncle Samael!

Continuing with demonology and all that, those of you who know and love -well, who at least appreciate- me know that each year, near this time (Halloween, naturally, because I am a non-Muslim Yank, affected by my crypto-Pagan culture), I become, like, totally freaked out about something which gives me the creeps.  This year, I am already starting to feel frightened when I consider those weird, pulsa dinura curses that Agivdor Eskin reportedly invoked upon PM Yitzhak Rabin prior to the latter�s assassination.  That stuff is scary!  On second thought, with potential enemies like that (Eskin) in Israel, I hope that Danny never does rise to world power, conspire to do so though he freely may (or may not)!

Whisper, I, too, miss Ofra Haza.  That Yemeni could sing (the soulful �slave song� comes to mind, which I practically wore out)!  It�s not that Barry Chamish is always the most reliable of Israeli reporters, though he certainly ranks among the more colorful, but have you read his assessment of the, well, dodgy circumstances which (are thought to have) surrounded her death?  The plot, as always with Mr. Chamish, thickens. 

(Danny, but seriously, all the best with your daughter's CD!)

Serv

We can all see, spells do work!

How else would a Norte Americano, an Israeli and an Afghano just turn into a cofirmed if it were not for that Uri Avenry spell?

(No need to mail me a Haloween mask, I already look like a monstro!)

(Uncs, I am going straight to Tower Records, best of luck for Mayaj)

Concerning that black Jellaba and the business cards:  

Naturally, while that tale was being told, I was at least somewhat reminded of me and of that time in Tokyo when I decided to go native by buying an Issey Miyake outfit, light cotton shirt and trousers.  Only later, in the evening, when the otherwise formal and intensely private Japanese actually began to look at me and to break protocol by occasionally pointing in my direction did it occur to me that I might be walking about the Roppongi district in my p.j.'s (pajamas)!

Serv 

___________________________

Uncs, you are uncs just because you always beat me to it. I was going to say Shana Tova to you. Going to London to join a few good friends there this weekend.

Best

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Hi Beautiful people, I hope this interests you. URI On liberman A BLACK FLAG! When the racist Joerg Haider joined the Austrian government, the Israeli government recalled our ambassador from Vienna. Now there is an intention to invite Avigdor Liberman, a racist much worse than Haider, to join the Israeli government itself. The inclusion of Liberman in the government is not just a change in the coalition. It raises a black flag over the State of Israel. The very idea that such a person, which such views, can be a member of the Government of Israel is shocking. It shames everyone who advocates it. Liberman is a threat to the fabric of Israeli society, a threat to a whole sector of citizens, a threat to democracy, a threat to any chance for Israel to achieve peace with its neighbors. The proposed law for the change of the regime, which has been introduced by Liberman in the Knesset, is not just a proposal for another change in the mechanism of government. It is the first step towards the establishment of a dictatorship, which will lead to national disaster. This is a road of no return. A cynical Prime Minister, out to save his skin, together with a gang of corrupt and/or st**id politicians, are helping Liberman to put his foot in the door of Israeli democracy. Anyone who raises his hand in favor of Liberman and his proposals raises his hand against the State of Israel as defined by the Declaration of Independence, a state that was supposed to be democratic, peace- oriented, with equality for all its citizens. Each of them will be remembered forever with shame.                                             GUSH SHALOM 972-3-5221732 - P.O.Box 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - www.gush- shalom.org - [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------ -- ------------------------------------------------------------ -- ------------ Special large ad published in Haaretz October 17, 2006

Salaamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh,

This is to let you know that I've been reading as much as I can, and today I read your last three entries throughly.  Thanks!

It is obvious to those who are not blind that Bush doesn't care for America's long-term interest either!  Some call him st**id, but I think he's pure evil looking for advantage and profit in his own lifetime at anyone's expense.

*** This is funny.  I thought you had blocked the word stupi*d, but it seems that that word isn't allowed on IC anymore.  Hilarious!

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Uri is on the rampage again

Many thanks to Uri and to you as well Daniel for letting us know. I have come to know few things that are not available in the common media.

Thanks Dan for the article. I am living in the snailing world of "Dial Up" now after making a hard decision to drop the broadband which kept me netting.-----

We call this the "small wheel effect". A small wheel with its own drive pushes a larger wheel, which drives an even larger wheel, and so on, until it moves the center of the consensus. What we say today "Peace Now" will say tomorrow, and a large part of the public on the day after.

He says that this is "a people no less tortured than we are." No less than
we? Gaza like Tel-Aviv? Rafah like Kfar-Sava? The effort to create a
symmetry between occupier and occupied, which has become typical for
some of the peaceniks too, testifies to a basic fault. That is true even if
Grossman meant the untold suffering of the Jews throughout the ages -
even that does not justify what we are doing to the Palestinians now.

About the Palestinians, who voted for Hamas in a manifestly democratic
election, Grossman says that they are "hostages to fanatical Islam". He is
certain that they would change completely the moment Olmert "speaks
with them". That is, mildly put, a patronizing attitude. "Why did we not
use all our flexibility, all our Israeli creativity, to extricate our enemy from
the trap in which he ensnared himself?" Meaning: we are the thinking,
creative party, and we must liberate the poor Arabs from their mindless
fanaticism.
Salaams and Bismillah,

During people's excitement here over the Democrats winning the majority of seats for a caucus in the House and the Senate, Beit Hanon was devastated by vicious attacks by Israel's powerful military on a few defenseless homes, which had no chance but to be destroyed along with the frail lives within and near them.

The comments I heard on NPR of a lovely sounding Israeli woman justifying those murders as just retaliation for bombings from near those homes was the most frightening sound I have ever heard.  The sound of smooth talk covering up bloody actions always terrifies me.  But everyone was so busy with the Euphoria of having "won."

These words of Uri's calm my soul from that painful experience.  Every life is precious.  An Arab life has value and the Phalasteenee have not forgotten their slogan of "Phalsteenee are like the stars in the sky" (numerous as), all valuable and yet replenishable and dedicated to the freedom of their land.

Thanks Uri.  Thanks Daniel.

Daniel Dworsky wrote: It's sort of like the McArthy era here in Israel now. I've been slapped with yet another tax audit as well as huge fines for past due parking tickets dug up from almost a decade ago. I'm hearing similar stories from other activists with cancelled credit cards hacked bank accounts and child pornography links sent from fake email address's. I'm on more black lists now than I can count. We have a government run by thugs and supported by riff raff. Regarding the shelling of Beit Hanon. There have been only three incidents of accidental shellings in the entire history of the IDF all three of them have been in the last 18 months.

Bismillah and Salaams,

We're sorry to hear that you are going through so much to be a decent person and do the right things.  May Allah, The Powerful, reward your efforts and guide your thoughts and actions.

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Uri Avnery 25.11.06                 An Evening in Jounieh DURING THE first Lebanon war, I visited Jounieh, a town some 20 km north of Beirut. At the time, it served as a port for the Christian forces. It was an exciting evening. In spite of the war raging in nearby Beirut, Jounieh was full of life. The Christian elite spent the day in the sun-drenched marina, the women lounging in bikinis, the men slugging whisky. The three of us (myself and two young women from my editorial staff - a correspondent and a photographer) were the only Israelis in town, and so we were feted. Everybody invited us onto their yachts, and one rich couple insisted that we come to their home as guests of a family celebration. It was indeed something special. The dozens of family members belonged to the cream of the elite - rich merchants, a well-known painter, several university professors. The drinks flowed like water, the conversation flowed in several languages. Around midnight, everybody was slightly drunk. The men got me into a "political" conversation. They knew that I was an Israeli, but had no idea about my views. "Why don't you go into West Beirut?" one portly gentleman asked me. West Beirut was held by Arafat's PLO forces, who were defending hundreds of thousands of Sunni inhabitants. "Why? What for?" I queried. "What do you mean? To kill them! To kill everybody!" "Everybody? Women and children, too?" "Of course! All of them!" For a moment, I thought that he was joking. But the faces of the men around him told me that he was deadly serious and that everybody agreed with him. At that moment I grasped that this beautiful country, rich in history, blessed with all the pleasure of life, is sick. Very, very sick. The next day I indeed went into West Beirut, but for another purpose altogether. I crossed the lines to meet with Yasser Arafat. (By the way, at the end of the party in Jounieh my hosts gave me a parting present: a big packet of hashish. On the morrow, on my way back to Israel, after Arafat had made our meeting public, I heard over the radio that four ministers were demanding that I should be put on trial for treason. I remembered the hashish and it went sailing out of the car window.) I AM reminded of that conversation in Jounieh every time something happens in Lebanon. This week, for example. Much nonsense is being spoken and written about that country, as if it were a country like any other. George W. Bush talks about "Lebanese democracy" as if there were such a thing, others speak about the "parliamentary majority" and "minority factions"' about the need for "national unity" to uphold "national independence", as if they were talking about the Netherlands or Finland. All these have no connection with Lebanese reality. Geographically, Lebanon is a torn country, and there lies a part of the secret of its beauty. Snow-covered mountain chains, green valleys, picturesque villages, beautiful sea-shore. But Lebanon is also torn socially. The two schisms are inter-connected: in the course of history, persecuted minorities from all over the region sought refuge between its mountains, where they could defend themselves. The result: a large number of big and small communities, ready to spring to arms at any moment. At best, Lebanon is a loose federation of mutually suspicious communities, at worst a battlefield of feuding groups which hate each other's guts. The annals of Lebanon are full of civil wars and horrible massacres. Many times, this or that community called in foreign enemies to assist it against its neighbors. Between the communities, there are no permanent alliances. One day, communities A and B get together to fight community C. The next day, B and C fight against A. Moreover, there are sub-communities, which more than once have been known to make an alliance with an opposing community against their own. Altogether, a fascinating mosaic, but also a very dangerous one - the more so since every community keeps a private army, equipped with the best of weapons. The official Lebanese army, composed of men from all communities, is unable to carry out any meaningful mission. What is a Lebanese "community"? On the face of it, it's all about religion. But not only religion. The community is also an ethnic tribe, with some national attributes. A Jew will easily understand this, since the Jews are also such a community, even if spread around the world. But for an ordinary European or American, it is difficult to understand this structure. It is easier to think about a "Lebanese nation" - a nation that exists only in the imagination or as a vision of the future. The loyalty to the community comes before any other loyalty - and certainly before any loyalty to Lebanon. When the rights of a community or sub-community are menaced, its members rise up as one in order to destroy those who are threatening them. THE MAIN communities are the Christian, the Sunni-Muslim, the Shiite- Muslim and the Druze (who, as far as religion goes, are a kind of extreme Shiites.) The Christians are divided into several sub-communities, the most important of which are the Maronites (named after a saint who lived some 1600 years ago.) The Sunnis were brought to Lebanon by the (Sunni) Ottoman rulers to strengthen their hold, and were mainly settled in the large port cities. The Druze came to find refuge in the mountains. The Shiites, whose importance has risen over the last few decades, were for many centuries a poor and down-trodden community, a doormat for all the others. As in almost all Arab societies, the Hamula (extended family) plays a vital role in all communities. Loyalty to the Hamula precedes even loyalty to the community, according to the ancient Arab saying: "With my cousin against the foreigner, with my brother against my cousin." Almost all Lebanese leaders are chiefs of the great families. TO GIVE some idea of the Lebanese tangle, a few recent examples: in the civil war that broke out in 1975, Pierre Gemayel, the chief of a Maronite family, called upon the Syrians to invade Lebanon in order to help him against his Sunni neighbors, who were about to attack his territory. His grandson by the same name, who was murdered this week, was a member of a coalition whose aim is to liquidate Syrian influence in Lebanon. The Sunnis, who were fighting against the Syrians and the Christians, are now the allies of the Christians against the Syrians. The Gemayel family was the main ally of Ariel Sharon, when he invaded Lebanon in 1982. The common aim was to drive out the (mainly Sunni) Palestinians. For that purpose, Gemayel's men carried out the horrendous massacre of Sabra and Shatila, after the assassination of Bashir Gemayel, the uncle of the man who was murdered this week. The massacre was overseen by Elie Hobeika from the roof of the headquarters of the Israeli general Amos Yaron. Afterwards, Hobeika became a minister under Syrian auspices. Another person responsible for the slaughter was Samir Geagea, the only one who was put on trial in a Lebanese court. He was condemned to several life prison terms and later pardoned. This week he was one of the main speakers at the funeral of Pierre Gemayel the grandson. In 1982, the Shiites welcomed the invading Israeli army with flowers, rice and candy. A few months later they started a guerilla war against them, which lasted for 18 years, in the course of which Hizbullah became a major force in Lebanon. One of the leading Maronites in the fight against the Syrians was General Michel Aoun, who was elected president by the Maronites and later driven out. Now he is an ally of Hizbullah, the main supporter of Syria. All this resembles Italy at the time of the Renaissance or Germany during the 30-Years War. But in Lebanon this is the present and the foreseeable future. In such a reality, using the term "democracy" is, of course, a joke. By agreement, the government of the country is divided between the communities. The president is always a Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni, the speaker of the parliament a Shiite. The same applies to all positions in the country, at all levels: a member of a community cannot aspire to a position suited to his talents if it "belongs" to another community. Almost all citizens vote according to family affiliation. A Druze voter, for example, has no chance of overthrowing Walid Jumblat, whose family has ruled the Druze community for 500 years at least (and whose father was murdered by the Syrians.) He doles out all the jobs "belonging" to his community. The Lebanese parliament is a senate of community chiefs, who divide the spoils between them. The "democratic coalition" which was put in power by the Americans after the murder of the Sunni Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, is a temporary alliance of the Maronite, Sunni and Druze chiefs. The "opposition", which enjoys Syrian patronage, is composed of the Shiites and one Maronite faction. The wheel can turn at a moment's notice, when other alliances are formed. Hizbullah, which appears to Israelis as an extension of Iran and Syria, is first of all a Shiite movement that strives to obtain for its community a larger part of the Lebanese pie, as indeed is its due in accordance with its size. Hassan Nasrallah - who is also the scion of an important family - has his eyes on the government in Beirut, not on the mosques in Jerusalem. WHAT DOES all this say about the present situation? For decades now, Israel has been stirring the Lebanese pot. In the past, it supported the Gemayel family but was bitterly disappointed: the family's "Phalanges" (the name was taken from Fascist Spain, which was greatly admired by grandfather Pierre), were revealed in the 1982 war as a gang of thugs without military value. But the Israeli involvement in Lebanon continues to this day. The aim is to eliminate Hizbullah, remove the Syrians and threaten nearby Damascus. All these tasks are hopeless. Some history: in the 30s, when the Maronites were the leading force in Lebanon, the Maronite Patriarch expressed open sympathy for the Zionist enterprise. At that time, many young people from Tel-Aviv and Haifa studied at the American University of Beirut, and rich Jewish people from Palestine spent their holidays at Lebanese resorts. Once, before the founding of Israel, I crossed the Lebanese border by mistake and a Lebanese Gendarme politely showed me the way back. During the first years of Israel, the Lebanese border was our only peaceful one. Those days there was a saying: "Lebanon will be the second Arab country to make peace with Israel. It will not dare to be the first". Only in 1970, when King Hussein drove the PLO from Jordan into Lebanon, with the active help of Israel, did this border heat up. Now even Fuad Siniora, the prime minister appointed by the Americans, feels compelled to declare that "Lebanon will be the last Arab state to make peace with Israel!" All efforts to remove Syrian influence from Lebanon are bound to fail. In order to understand this, it is enough to look at the map. Historically, Lebanon is a part of the land of Syria ("Sham" in Arabic). The Syrians have never resigned themselves to the fact that the French colonial regime tore Lebanon from their land. The conclusions: First, let's not get stuck in the Lebanese mess again. As experience has shown, we shall always come out the losers. Second, in order to have peace on our northern border, all the potential enemies, and first of all Syria, must be involved.    Meaning: we must give back the Golan Heights. The Bush administration forbids our government to talk with the Syrians. They want to talk with them themselves, when the time comes. Quite possibly, they will then sell them the Golan in return for Syrian help in Iraq. If so, should we not hurry and "sell" them the Golan (which belongs to them anyhow) for a better price for ourselves? Lately, voices have been heard, even of senior army people, that hint at this possibility. It should be said loudly and clearly: Because of a few thousands of settlers and the politicians who do not dare to confront them, we are liable to be dragged into more superfluous wars and to endanger the population of Israel. This is the third conclusion: There is only one way to win a war in Lebanon - and that is to avoid it.

Salaams,

Complexity by definition surely.

It was the best speeach this year for whatever the hidden intention which maybe lurking behind it. To me personaly who is not really in the know of the past history in that local area - I see hope for the hopeless and the despair. I can't see the point of humiliating the Palestinians on end, it is a pointless excercise.

I have strong belief that human do change, and human - any human - can change in an instant against all odds for reason or reasons that can confound human minds. Along the walk of my life I have seen this changes few times to different personalities - either in person or in distance.

Maybe it was just a speech to please the US President. Or maybe he was pressured by the invisible stronger arm somewhere. But also maybe it was genuine offer regardless how the speech was structured. I am not good in playing games, infact I have lost few times in the past because I took other people word as they were genuine.

Can a person or group of people be so cruel continously all his/their life? Can they always see the world from one reading glasses that they like - knowingly that there are number of reading glasses available which offer the world view from different angle? Can a person or people rely to the physical strength to prove the right and the wrongs?

Anyone who is willing to spend a bit of his time in silence and think about life will instantly see the meaningless life we have, what is it anyway. Human will become something as to what he created while still living. An arab won't retain his/her arabness in the grave. The whites the blacks and whatever colours tag used can't survive in death. That is the final fate for every human - including the jews who think they are different. In simple word there is nothing to gain once the death come or once the humanness has ceased from functioning.

Isaac newton did not have a gun and and never used one when he introduced his finding, yet he made every toms dicks and harrys walk in obediant to him with no question ask. We can't hate him because we need his formula desperately. Yet here there is/are section of people still struggle to understand such a basic example in conquering and dominating others and the world. Are the jews that claim to be jews themselves are so st**id?

There are more than 100 millions Arabs there in the Middle East so I heard.  Yet these people still as good as backward technologically, they invent nothing significant to be proud of. They have been in few wars and they can't produce even a rifle, yet they have the man power and money to burn. If I were a jew I know exactly what I am going to do.

My friend asked me one day:
If someone say to you that you are poor man will you get angry by it? I said no, of course not.

If someone tells you that you are an ugly man, will you get angry?
I am not ugly so there is no reason to be offended.

If someone say to you that you are an idiot a moron a st**id will it
offend you? I thought that was very offensive.

It is really very hard to explain to people while having the panting breath syndrome. Time to cool down is a must until the breathing is back to normal. Sit back and relax until the mind is seeing something like the still pond in the middle of the forest.

While the mind is relax - rewind the human life back to the first couple  that start the humanity - and see what life is all about.

There are more than this when the person is relax. Zip the lips, close the eyes and seal the ears for few minutes - and take deep breath.

Thanks to Uri for the article, maybe I will give more comment later.

Daniel Dworsky wrote: I meant the settlers but now that I think about it Haldol (Antihallucinogenic) seems more appropriate

Asalaamu alaikum,

Brother Daniel, you are Muslim? It does not matter, but you sound as if your are.

May Allah (swt) keep you and your family safe.

Maryah wrote: Daniel Dworsky wrote: I meant the settlers but now that I think about it Haldol (Antihallucinogenic) seems more appropriate Asalaamu alaikum, Brother Daniel, you are Muslim? It does not matter, but you sound as if your are. May Allah (swt) keep you and your family safe.

Salaams and Bismillah,

Dear Sister Maryah,

I feel as if Daniel is my brother in spirit knowing full well that he is a sincere Jewish man.  Just as I feel about Angela.  They are both wonderful people and I'm glad to have the honor to know them.

Salaams and Bismillah,

Brother Daniel,

This says:  However, the Hope Flowers School received a demolition order for
the school cafeteria from the Israeli army (Case 107/02) on 5th
November, 2003.

So it is now three years after this order was issued.  What's going on?  Please elucidate.  Thanks.

Daniel Dworsky wrote: Uri Avnery 23.12.06                 Sorry, Wrong Continent A FEW weeks ago, the 15th Asian games, the "Asiad", was held in Qatar. The Israeli media treated the event with a mixture of derision and pity. Some kind of picturesque Asian circus. Our television showed an exotic horseman with a keffiyeh at the opening ceremony, riding his noble Arab steed up a steep staircase to light the Olympic flame. And that was that. One question was not asked at all in any of the media: why are we not there? Does Israel not lie in Asia? That was not even considered. We? In Asia? How come? WHEN I followed the event on Aljazeera television, I suddenly remembered a private anniversary that had slipped my memory. Exactly 60 years ago a small number of young people founded a group that called itself in Hebrew "Young Eretz-Israel" and in Arabic "Young Palestine". With money out of our own pockets (at the time we were all quite poor) we published occasional issues of a periodical we called Bamaavak ("In the struggle"). Bamaavak stirred up a lot of stormy waves, because it voiced infuriatingly heretical opinions. Contrary to the dominant Zionist narrative, it asserted that we, the young generation growing up in the country, constituted a new nation, the Hebrew nation. Unlike the somewhat similar group of "Canaanites", that preceded us, we proclaimed that (a) the new nation is a part of the Jewish people, much as Australia is a part of the Anglo-Saxon people, and (b) that we are a sister-nation to the resurgent Arab nation in the country and throughout the region. And, no less important: that since the new Hebrew nation was born in the country, and the country belongs to Asia, we are an Asian nation, a natural ally to all the Asian and African nations that strive for liberation from colonialism. On Wednesday, March 19, 1947, a few months after the first edition of Bamaavak had appeared, the Hebrew daily Haboker reported: "On the occasion of the opening of the Pan-Asian Conference (in New Delhi), the group Young Eretz Israel has sent a cable to Jawaharlal Nehru reading: 'Please receive the congratulations of the Eretz-Israeli youth for your historic initiative. May the aspirations for freedom of the peoples of New Asia, inspired by your heroic example, become united. Long live the united and arising Young Asia, the vanguard of fraternity and progress'."    A similar news story appeared on the same day on the front page of the Palestine Post (the predecessor of the Jerusalem Post), with the names of the signatories: Uri Avnery, Amos Elon and Ben-Ami Gur. Bamaavak appeared from time to time, whenever we had enough money, up to the outbreak of the 1948 war. In the Hebrew press, more than a hundred reactions were published, almost all of them negative, many of them vituperative. The famous writer Moshe Shamir, then a left-winger, made a neat play on words, calling us Bamat-Avak ("stage of dust"). When the war broke out, this whole chapter was overshadowed and forgotten. But almost all we said 60 years ago remains relevant today. And the most relevant question is: To what continent does the State of Israel actually belong? I BELIEVE that one of the most profound causes for the historic conflict between us and the Arab world in general, and the Palestinian people in particular, is the fact that the Zionist movement declared, from its very first day, that it did not belong to the region in which we live. Perhaps that is one of the reasons for the fact that even after four generations, this wound has not healed. In his book "The Jewish State", the founding document of the Zionist movement, Theodor Herzl famously wrote: "For Europe we shall be (in Palestine) a part of the wall against Asia�the vanguard of culture against barbarism�" This attitude is typical for the whole history of Zionism and the State of Israel up to the present day. Indeed, a few weeks ago the Israeli ambassador to Australia declared that "Asia belongs to the yellow race, while we are Whites and have no slit eyes. " One can perhaps forgive Herzl, a quintessential European, who lived in an era when imperialism dominated European thought. But today, four generations later, those forming public opinion in Israel, people born in the country, continue along the same path. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak declared that Israel is "a villa in the middle of the jungle" (the Arab jungle, of course), and this attitude is shared by practically all our politicians. Tsipi Livni likes to talk about the "dangerous neighborhood" in which we are living, and the chief advisor of Ariel Sharon once said that there will be no peace until "the Palestinians turn into Finns." Our soccer and basketball teams play in the European leagues, the Eurovision song contest is a national event in Israel, 95% of our political activity is focused on Europe and North America. But the phenomenon extends far beyond the political arena - this is a "world view" in the literal sense. In our world, Israel is a part of Europe. In the 50s, when I was the editor of the news magazine Haolam Hazeh, I once published a cartoon that I am still proud of: it showed the map of the Eastern Mediterranean, with an arm projecting from Greece and holding scissors that cut Israel off from Asia. It is a pity that I did not add a second drawing, showing Israel being attached to the shore of France or, preferably, Miami. These days it would be hard to find anybody who would assert that Asia - India, China - is barbarian. But it is easy to find people in Israel, and throughout the West, who believe that the Arab world, and indeed the entire Muslim world, is a "jungle". With such an attitude, one cannot make peace. After all, one does not make peace with poisonous snakes and ravenous leopards. In the Bamaavak days, we coined the slogan "Integration in the Semitic Region". But how can one integrate oneself in a region that is seen as a jungle? A WORLD VIEW is not an academic matter. It has a huge impact on actual life. It influences people when it is conscious, and even more so when it is unconscious. It shapes the practical decisions, without the decision- makers being aware of it. Politicians, too, are only human beings (if that), and their actions are directed by their hidden beliefs. In Israel we are used to consider unquestioned "conceptsias" as the mother of all our mistakes and defeats. But is such an assumption any different from the expression of an unconscious world-view? The world-view influences many aspects of the state. It is the core of the education system, which forms the mind of the next generation. We have perhaps the only education system in the world that does not teach the history of its homeland. In our schools, very little is taught about the past of the country. Instead, what is taught is the history of "the Jewish people". This starts with the ancient Israelite kingdoms before the sixth century BC ("the First Temple"), then the Jewish community in the country before the beginning of the Christian era and for some years after ("the Second Temple"). Then it leaves the country and dwells on the Jewish Diaspora for some thousands of years, until the beginning of the Zionist settlement. For almost 2000 years, the annals of the country disappear from the school. I once talked about this in a speech in the Knesset. I said that an Israeli child born in the country, whether Jewish or Arab, should study the history of the country, including all its periods and peoples: Canaanites, Israelites, Hellenists, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Turks, British, Palestinians, Israelis and more. In addition they could be taught the story of the Jews in the diaspora, too. The Minister of Education responded humorously and insisted on calling me, from then on, "the Mameluke".    LATELY IT has become fashionable for politicians and commentators in Israel to speak about the danger of annihilation that hovers, or so they claim, over Israel. It is hardly believable: the State of Israel is a regional superpower, its economy is robust and developing, its technological level is one of the most advanced in the world, its army is stronger than all the Arab armies combined, it has a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons. Even if the Iranians were to obtain a bomb of their own, they would be mad to use it, for fear of Israeli retaliation. So where does this fear of annihilation come from in the 59th year of the state? A part of it surely emanates from the memory of the Holocaust, which is deeply imprinted in the national mentality. But another part comes from the feeling of not belonging, of temporariness, of the lack of roots. That has, of course, domestic implications, too. Consciousness also affects practical interests. The assertion that we are a European people automatically reinforces the position of our ruling class, which is still overwhelmingly Ashkenazi-European, over and against the majority of the citizens of Israel, who are of Asian-African Jewish and Palestinian-Arab descent. The profound disdain for their culture, which has accompanied the state from its first day, facilitates discrimination against them in many fields. A CHANGE affecting the consciousness of a community is not a short- term proposition. It cannot be achieved by decree. This is a slow and gradual process. But at some stage we shall have to start it, and first of all in the education system. I started my booklet "War or Peace in the Semitic Region", which was published in October 1947, just a few weeks before the outbreak of the 1948 war, with the words:     "When our Zionist fathers decided to set up a 'safe home' in Eretz Israel, they had the choice between two roads: they could appear in West Asia as a European conqueror, who sees himself as a beachhead of the 'white' race and a master of the 'natives'�(or) see themselves as an Asian nation returning to its homeland." When I wrote these words, the rise of Asia was still a dream. World War II had ended just two years before, and the United States looked like an omnipotent superpower. But now a quiet revolution of huge proportions is taking place. The nations of Asia, with China and India in the lead, are becoming economic and political powers. Should we not gradually move toward this camp? That brochure, 60 years ago, ended with the words of a Hebrew song: "We stand and face the rising sun / To the East our homeward path�"

Salaams,

Jazzak Allah Khayr Brother Daniel.  An anti-racist speech like this one needs to be widely read and heard.  With all that he knows, Mr. Averny stilll hopes for a brighter future.  Amazing and Inspiring.

Jazzak Allah Khayr Brother Daniel.  An anti-racist speech like this one needs to be widely read and heard.  With all that he knows, Mr. Averny stilll hopes for a brighter future.  Amazing and Inspiring.

Dokhtar'em, he is the most amazing of all men, women and children (you know, they are the best ones in our world!) I have ever come to know or know of. I have no idea how and from where does he get all that noble energy. Just a gift of nature, perhaps.

It is not in the vested American interests to let the peoples in this area to live in peace or even evolve some decent or noble living systems. Their is good reason for the west to be dead scared of the combined energies and the natural resources of these people who have far more practice of living together than our Masters would have us believe.

This area will never be at peace as long as the Brits and the U S have their fingers in it.

BUT, all of this will change. One day, peace shall rise. I know this since I know the Uris and the Daniels of my world.

but then again......who actually LIKES israel??

http://www.islamquest.net - www.islamquest.net

Daniel Dworsky wrote: The 80 something year old white haired gentlman on ground with his clothes being ripped off by water cannon is Uri Avneri Just got the film today Friday Feb 23, some 300 Israelis joined the weekly protest in Bil'in which non-violently resists already for 2 years the wall construction separating them of more than half of their farmlands. The protesters found the army prepared. For full report & video and photos look at the website http://www.gush-shalom.org - www.gush-shalom.org

Bismillah,

ISA Brother Uri is okay?

sulooni wrote: but then again......who actually LIKES israel?? http://www.islamquest.net - www.islamquest.net

Bismillah,

Did you know that Arabs, Christian and Muslim and Atheist, living in Israel proper, as they call it, consider themselves Israeli?  Maybe they like it.