[Peace-discuss] from Yossi Sarid in Ha'aretz, via John Nichols in The Nation

[Stuart Levy]

[One thing I hadn't been hearing about was internal opposition to
Israel's bombardment of Lebanon -- not only by peace groups, but also
within its own cabinet.  Below are the last few paras of a Nation
article by John Nichols, republished by Commondreams at:

   http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0717-27.htm

Sarid's comments are breathtakingly apt.  The "vain war against the
side that always loses and therefore has nothing more to lose".
Wonder if that would fit on a sign.  We want a world where
everyone has something to lose.  -Stuart]

  [...]
    Both Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Public Security Minister
    Avi Dichter opposed last week's bombings of Hezbollah headquarters
    and other facilities in Beirut, a move by Olmert and his allies that
    dramatically increased tensions and violence.

    In the Israeli Knesset there is a good deal of opposition to the
    current strategy.

    Writing in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, former Israeli Cabinet
    member Yossi Sarid, a well-regarded veteran of the Israeli Defense
    Forces, argues that Israel -- and the United States -- need to
    recognize that they are going about things the wrong way. Instead
    of destroying the economic and physical infrastructure of Lebanon
    and Palestine, Sarid argues that efforts must be made to improve
    economies and opportunities for those who now see violence as the
    only way to demand fairness and opportunity.

    "Iraq is destroyed, Afghanistan is destroyed, the Gaza Strip is
    destroyed and soon Beirut will be destroyed for the umpteenth time,
    and hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested solely in
    the vain war against the side that always loses and therefore has
    nothing more to lose. And hundreds of billions more go down the
    tubes of corruption," wrote Sarid.

    "Maybe the time has come to put the pistol into safety mode for a
    moment, back into the holster, and at high noon declare a worldwide
    Marshall Plan, so that the eternal losers will finally have something
    to lose," Sarid added. "Only then will it be possible to isolate
    the viruses of violence and terrorism, for which quiet is quagmire
    and which in our eyes are themselves quagmire. And once isolated,
    it will be possible to eradicate them one day."