[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [GushShalom] Avnery on Blair's disappointing visit

[Al Kagan]

As opposed to the mainstream press, here is a little reality about the 
situation in Palestine/Israel.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)" <info at gush-shalom.org>
> Date: December 25, 2004 8:41:12 AM CST
> To: intl at mailman.gush-shalom.org
> Subject: [GushShalom]  Avnery on Blair's disappointing visit
>
> GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033  www.gush-shalom.org/
>
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>
> Uri Avnery
> 25.12.04
>
> 			A Wreath For Blair
>
>      "The curious incident is the barking of the dog," Sherlock Holmes
> remarked.
>      "But the dog did not bark!" exclaimed Dr. Watson.
>      "That is the curious incident!"
>      This week's curious incident concerns the wreath of Tony Blair. 
> The
> wreath that he did not lay on the grave of Yasser Arafat. Elementary,
> dear Watson.
>      Blair did go to the graveside. But he omitted the natural and
> customary thing: laying a wreath. Neither did he bow. He just tilted 
> his
> head a few centimeters and hastened to get away.
>      In my imagination, I can hear the frantic consultations before the
> event.  Blair's advisors are discussing it: To lay a wreath? No, no, 
> that
> will make President Bush angry. To bow? Ariel Sharon won't like it. To
> tilt the head? Alright. That should satisfy the …. Palestinians.
>      But how much? Ten centimeters? Too much. Two? Not enough. Five,
> then? That should do it.
>      I see Blair practicing in front of a mirror. And, indeed, he did 
> it
> exactly as planned. To the millimeter.
>      I had stood at the same place 24 hours earlier, on the 40th day of
> mourning, a day of special significance in Muslim tradition. The 
> leaders
> of the Palestinian authority and foreign representatives, including 
> those
> of the President of Egypt and the King of Jordan, congregated in the 
> hall
> of the Mukata'ah, tens of thousands thronged the courtyard. A group of
> Gush Shalom activists, the sole Israeli delegation present, were seated
> in reserved places. After the speeches, we went to pay our respects at
> the grave, which was piled with wreaths. The Palestinians walked past,
> stood in silence for a few minutes, prayed. Many eyes were moist. This 
> is
> now the central national shrine of the Palestinian people, right after
> the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
>      "Every Palestinian loves Arafat," a young man standing there told
> me, "And each one loves him in his own way."
>       Blair must have thought that he was doing the Palestinians a 
> great
> favor by going to the grave at all. But his behavior, that of a person
> fulfilling an unpleasant duty, was a terrible mistake. In Arab
> civilization, gestures are more important than words. Not laying a 
> wreath
> was an insult to the father of the Palestinian nation. After all,
> compared to Arafat, what is Blair but a political dwarf?
>
>      Why did he come at all?
>      There is much talk of a "window of opportunity" in the Israeli-
> Palestinian conflict. The world's political celebrities - from Blair to
> Italy's ex-fascist foreign minister - are swooping down, like birds of
> prey, to snatch a piece of the peacemaker's glory. It looks rather
> repulsive, and quite ridiculous, too, because there is no window and no
> opportunity, not as long as Sharon is in power.
>      Blair had reasons of his own for the visit. He dragged the UK into
> the Iraq war, in spite of the opposition of a great many of his
> compatriots. As clearly foreseen by many, the war has turned into a
> disaster, which is getting worse by the hour. So why not jump on the
> Palestinian horse in order to divert attention from the Iraqi debacle?
> And, to prove that he is not Bush's Poodle, he wants to show that he 
> can
> develop an independent initiative and drag Bush behind him, for a 
> change.
>      That's how the idea was born: A big international peace conference
> will convene in London, and peace between Israel and Palestine will
> emerge. A dizzying success. Britain restored to her former glory. The
> Nobel Peace Prize for Blair assured.
>      But when he hurried over to Sharon, a cold shower awaited him.
> Sharon is sure of himself, he is much closer to Bush than Blair will 
> ever
> be. When Blair proposed the peace conference, Sharon told him, in so 
> many
> words, "shove it you-know-where."
>      Blair leapt off the horse as quickly as he had mounted it. Peace 
> is
> Out. Must not be mentioned. There will be just a conference, without
> peace. Israel will not even go.
>      So what is it for? To teach the Palestinians how to be deserving 
> of
> peace. How to fight terrorism, how to make democracy, how to institute
> reforms. Britain, which just now is infested with sex and bribery
> scandals, will teach the Palestinians how to behave.
>      Blair also tried to float the balloon of an Israeli-Syrian peace,
> but he gave that up quickly, too. Bush does not want Israeli-Syrian
> peace, and Sharon likes the idea even less. Bush wants to keep open the
> option of attacking Syria, once the Iraqi mess calms down (he still
> entertains that hope). Sharon, for his part, has no interest at all in 
> a
> peace that would entail dismantling settlements and giving back the
> Golan. God forbid!
>      So that leaves only Palestinian. Standing next to the massive 
> Sharon
> and beaming with admiration, Blair declared that there can be no peace
> process until the Palestinians put an end to terrorism. In free
> translation: Until the armed opposition to occupation stops, there can 
> be
> no talk about ending the occupation. Since no Palestinian leadership
> could possibly "liquidate terrorism" without any prospect of ending the
> occupation and achieving peace, this means, simply: No peace process.
>      Until 44 days ago, there was a convenient pretext: Yasser Arafat 
> is
> the obstacle to peace. Now, with Arafat no longer around, Sharon has
> fallen back on the other pretext: First of all, the Palestinians must
> liquidate terrorism. Meaning: when the lamb lies down with the wolf.
> Blair accepted this enthusiastically.
>      With this load he arrived in Ramallah, in order to offer Abu Mazen
> the London No-Peace Conference as a means for the education of the
> Palestinian people. Blair believes, so it seems, that in their 
> desperate
> situation the Palestinians would clutch at a Straw.
>       The anger Blair aroused among the Palestinians was expressed the
> next day by Prime Minister Abu Ala', who attacked the initiative 
> sharply.
> But the Palestinian leadership cannot afford to refuse the invitation 
> to
> the conference, especially if it is backed by Bush. So there will be
> another sterile conference, number 101. (But who is counting?)
>      I hope that Abu Mazen will not lay a wreath in London. Let him
> journey to Churchill's grave and tilt his head, five centimeters 
> exactly.
>
>
> #
> Eyal Dor-Ofer's checkpoint photo gallery at:
> http://www.pbase.com/gallery?gallery_id=2715180
> #
>
> #
> Truth against Truth - reconciliating 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
>
> Russian
> http://www.gush-shalom.org/russian/book_web.pdf
>
> Contacts where to obtain a translation into Spanish, Dutch or German 
> [and
> please tell us about more!] via <info at gush-shalom.org>
> #
>
> #
> 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
> #
>
> #
> Shovrim Shtika - Breaking the Silence
> Now testimonies in English
> http://www.shovrimshtika.org (pdf files)
> http://oznik.com/words/040630.html (directly on your screen)
> #
>
> #
> http://www.americantaskforce.org/Presentation101v5.ppt
>
>  "Palestine-Israel 101"
>  The two state solution explained for Americans
>  (very interesting indeed!)
> #
>
> #
> Billboard for Israeli peace activist speakers abroad
>
> --you would like to make a speaking tour?
> --you need an Israeli speaker for your peace organization?
> --your itinerary is final?
>
> Send your ad and find the right contacts
> http://www.geocities.com/keller_adam/TheOtherIsrael_speakers.html
>
> This could also facilitate joint invitations.
> #
>
> #
> Palestinian olive oil, new harvest - contact Hava Keller
>
> !ùîï æéú àéëåúé
> îéåöø áàæåø çáøåï. äîçéø, ìùðé ìéèø - 50 ù÷ìéí
> (úøåîä ðåñôú úú÷áì ááøëä)
> çååä ÷ìø - 03-5227124
>
> High quality olive oil!
> Produced in the Hebron area. Two liters - 50 Sheqels
> (additional donations appreciated)
> Hava Keller - 03-5227124
> #
>
> #
> Weekly updates from the peacenewsletter The Other Israel 
> (TOI-Billboard):
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>
> To get them by email: write to otherisr at actcom.co.il (Adam & Beate)
> (by registering for the Israeli TOI-Billboard list you will be 
> receiving
> a variety of alerts from  different groups - complementary to the Gush
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> #
>
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> http://www.gush-shalom.org/russian/ (Russian site started with flash
> presentation)
>
> with
> \\photos of recent actions
> \\the weekly Gush Shalom ad
> \\the columns of Uri Avnery
> \\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle
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> \\and a lot more
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Al Kagan
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61820
USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
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