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

[Robert Naiman]

Yes, Sarid is sort of in the Feingold band of the Israeli political
spectrum, so this is a good sign, at a time when 86% of the Israeli
public (which might be 95% of Israeli Jews) supposedly support the
army's attacks on Lebanon. Public Security Minister Dichter said
Israel might at some stage have to negotiate over Lebanese prisoners
held in Israel to end the crisis, which is a pretty stunning thing for
the Public Security Minister to say, given that the sudden alleged
impossibility of negotiating over prisoners was used as a key pretext
for launching the military campaign in Lebanon.

On 7/18/06, Stuart Levy <slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu> wrote:
> [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."
>
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-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org