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With more than a thousand murdered victims, including more than 300 children, already slaughtered, by the precision guided carpet bombing of the Gaza Ghetto, the crime is so monstrous, that being re-active holds only a future of a third generation holocaust for the children of the middle-east.
MAHATMA GHANDI once stated that;
"Palestine
belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any code of conduct. The Mandates have no sanction but that of the last War. Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home. I am not defending the Arab
excesses. I wish they had chosen the way of non-violence in resisting what they rightly regarded as an unwarranted encroachment upon their country. But according to the accepted canons of right and wrong,
nothing can be said against the Arab resistance in the face of overwhelming odds."
Perhaps one of the most appropriate, for remembering this great soul of Ghandi, is the tribute from one of Israel's most intelligent sons,Albert Einstein; "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a
one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood." It is however certain that these generations to come will have lessons to learn from the extraordinary life of Mohandas Gandhi"
.
It is a difficult time to be pro-active or empower a permanent change, to break the vicious cycle of savage butchery, inherited from the Warsaw ghetto and subsequent death in concenration camps of that time. The disease fostered in the ghetto of Warsaw has come to Gaza , this disease will eventually come to every ghetto worldwide if it succeeds here.
It is so difficult forgive especially without a spirituality of forgiveness, in our post-modern world but we must forgive, it is the only solution for the soul sickness, that was brought in this instance from Europe to Palestine after the second world war and has now infected all of the middle-east. We forgive, we do not forget but we must move on, for the future and for our children.
Tony Benn a pro-active English statesman once broke down in tears, as he recalled the late Bobby Sands, the republican MP and Officer Commanding IRA political prisoners H-Blocks, who died while on hunger strike in Long Kesh prison, Belfast, in 1981. "Our revenge, Bobby Sands said, will be the laughter of our children," he said, as tears began to stream down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, but it moves me greatly."
The reason I mention Irish people is that our experience of 30 years of a neo-colonial war, was that ultimately pro-active politics, forgiveness and a committment to help the enemy come to the peace table, was the only alternative, to endless injustice and butchery. It is a hard thing to ask off a people who have suffered so much but we found it to be the only choice for the future of the children. I write this as an Irish person who found it particularly difficuilt to forgive.
I have found that the proposal below, to be what I believe reasonable, from a progressive Jewish politician. For once, just for once, can an American administration, be pro-active too and if it is going to carry out exclusively Israeli policy in the middle-east, at least let it be from a politically progressive Jewish quarter.
Hilary Clinton needs to pay attention to what her husband participated in, when he negotiated successfully with the elected represenatives of Irish Republicans. Like it or not, Hamas is the elected representative of the Palestinian people, elected in a free, fair and democratic election, as Jimmy Carter has testified. Democrats cannot pick or choose, which free and fair elections they respect and still have credibilty on the street. You are either a genuine Democrat or a bully and a thug.
Please support and campaign for this proposal;
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MEMO FOR OBAMA
06/12/08
For: the President-Elect, Mr. Barack Obama.
From: Uri Avnery, Israel.
The following humble suggestions are based on my 70 years of experience as an underground fighter, special forces soldier in the 1948 war, editor-in-chief of a newsmagazine, member of the Knesset and founding member of a peace movement:
-1- As far as Israeli-Arab peace is concerned, you should act from Day One.
-2- Israeli elections are due to take place in February 2009. You can have an indirect but important and constructive impact on the outcome, by announcing your unequivocal determination to achieve Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-all-Arab peace in 2009.
-3- Unfortunately, all your predecessors since 1967 have played a double game. While paying lip service to peace, and sometimes going through the motions of making some effort for peace, they have in practice supported our governments in moving in the very opposite direction. In particular, they have given tacit approval to the building and enlargement of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, each of which is a land mine on the road to peace.
-4- All the settlements are illegal in international law. The distinction sometimes made between "illegal" outposts and the other settlements is a propaganda ploy designed to obscure this simple truth.
-5- All the settlements since 1967 have been built with the express purpose of making a Palestinian state – and hence peace - impossible, by cutting the territory of the prospective State of Palestine into ribbons. Practically all our government departments and the army have openly or secretly helped to build, consolidate and enlarge the settlements – as confirmed by the 2005 report prepared for the government (!) by Lawyer Talia Sasson.
-6- By now, the number of settlers in the West Bank has reached some 250,000 (apart from the 200,000 settlers in the Greater Jerusalem area, whose status is somewhat different.) They are politically isolated, and sometimes detested by the majority of the Israel public, but enjoy significant support in the army and government ministries.
-7- No Israeli government would dare to confront the concentrated political and material might of the settlers. Such a confrontation would need very strong leadership and the unstinting support of the President of the United States to have any chance of success.
-8- Lacking these, all "peace negotiations" are a sham. The Israeli government and its US backers have done everything possible to prevent the negotiations with both the Palestinians and the Syrians from reaching any conclusion, for fear of provoking a confrontation with the settlers and their supporters. The present "Annapolis" negotiations are as hollow as all the preceding ones, each side keeping up the pretense for its own political interests.
-9- The Clinton administration, and even more so the Bush administration, allowed the Israeli government to keep up this pretense. It is therefore imperative to prevent members of these administrations from diverting your Middle Eastern policy into the old channels.
-10- It is important for you to make a complete new start, and to state this publicly. Discredited ideas and failed initiatives – such as the Bush "vision", the Road Map, Annapolis and the like – should by thrown into the junkyard of history.
-11- To make a new start, the aim of American policy should be stated clearly and succinctly. This should be: to achieve a peace based on the Two-State Solution within a defined time-span (say by the end of 2009).
-12- It should be pointed out that this aim is based on a reassessment of the American national interest, in order to extract the poison from American-Arab and American-Muslim relations, strengthen peace-oriented regimes, defeat al-Qaeda-type terrorism, end the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and achieve a viable accommodation with Iran.
-13- The terms of Israeli-Palestinian peace are clear. They have been crystallized in thousands of hours of negotiations, conferences, meetings and conversations. They are:
13.1 A sovereign and viable State of Palestine will be established side by side with the State of Israel.
13.2 The border between the two states will be based on the pre-1967 Armistice Line (the "Green Line"). Insubstantial alterations can be arrived at by mutual agreement on an exchange of territories on a 1:1 basis.
13.3 East Jerusalem, including the Haram-al-Sharif ("Temple Mount") and all Arab neighborhoods will serve as the capital of Palestine. West Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and all Jewish neighborhoods, will serve as the capital of Israel. A joint municipal authority, based on equality, may be established by mutual consent to administer the city as one territorial unit.
13.4 All Israeli settlements – except any which might be joined to Israel in the framework of a mutually agreed exchange of territories - will be evacuated (see 15 below).
13.5 Israel will recognize in principle the right of the refugees to return. A Joint Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, composed of Palestinian, Israeli and international historians, will examine the events of 1948 and 1967 and determine who was responsible for what. Each individual refugee will be given the choice between (1) repatriation to the State of Palestine, (2) remaining where he/she is living now and receiving generous compensation, (3) returning to Israel and being resettled, (4) emigrating to any other country, with generous compensation. The number of refugees who will return to Israeli territory will be fixed by mutual agreement, it being understood that nothing will be done that materially alters the demographic composition of the Israeli population. The large funds needed for the implementation of this solution must be provided by the international community in the interest of world peace. This will save much of the money spent today on military expenditure and direct grants from the US.
13.6 The West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip constitute one national unit. An extraterritorial connection (road, railway, tunnel or bridge) will connect the West Bank with the Gaza Strip.
13.7 Israel and Syria will sign a peace agreement. Israel will withdraw to the pre-1967 line and all settlements on the Golan Heights will be dismantled. Syria will cease all anti-Israeli activities conducted directly or by proxy. The two parties will establish normal relations between them.
13.8 In accordance with the Saudi Peace Initiative, all member states of the Arab League will recognize Israel and establish normal relations with it. Talks about a future Middle Eastern Union, on the model of the EU, possibly to include Turkey and Iran, may be considered.
-14- Palestinian unity is essential for peace. Peace made with only one section of the people is worthless. The US will facilitate Palestinian reconciliation and the unification of Palestinian structures. To this end, the US will end its boycott of Hamas, which won the last elections, start a political dialogue with the movement and encourage Israel to do the same. The US will respect any result of democratic Palestinian elections.
-15- The US will aid the government of Israel in confronting the settlement problem. As from now, settlers will be given one year to leave the occupied territories voluntarily in return for compensation that will allow them to build their homes in Israel proper. After that, all settlements – except those within any areas to be joined to Israel under the peace agreement - will be evacuated.
Uri Avnery's CV
Former Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, "Ha'olam Haze" newsmagazine.
3 Terms as member of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament).
Founding member, Israeli council for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Founding member, "Gush Shalom" (Peace Bloc), Independent Peace Mevement.
Columnist, Ma'ariv Daily.
Underground:
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Member of the Irgun, 1938-1942.
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Army service:
Member of Samson's Foxes, commando unit, 1948
twice wounded in action.
Erich-Maria-Remarque peace prize (Germany) for the year 1995,
awarded 21/6/95.
Honorary citizenship of Abu-Ghosh near Jerusalem, for his part in preventing
the eviction of the village, awarded 12.12.53
Honorary citizenship of Kfar Kassem, Israel,
awarded 31.11.96, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the war crime, for his principal role in exposing it.
Aachen peace prize for "Gush Shalom with Uri Avnery",
awarded 1/9/97.
Kreisky prize for human rights, Vienna, autumn 1997.
Lower Saxony prize for human rights, awarded 11.2.98
Palestinian award for human rights, awarded by "LAW", Palestinian Society for Human Rights
Jerusalem 7.6.98
(Avnery has never received any prize from any official Israeli body.)
Since 1948 has advocated the setting up of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
In 1974, Uri Avnery was the first Israeli to establish contact with PLO leadership.
In 1982 he was the first Israeli ever to meet Yassir Arafat, after crossing the lines in besieged Beirut.
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