Column: Checkmate?
Let me just pull this dagger out of my heart. Hew, OK, that feels a little better. Too much "unity" for me to take I guess -- as in "unity government."
Ironically, yesterday, when Saddam Hussein sent a message to the Iraqi people from jail that they shouldn't let the elections destroy the "unity" of Iraq, I realized that Sharon had stuck a dagger deep in my heart.
Saddam Hussein's use of the word "unity" woke me up to the doublespeak that I had swallowed and was stuck in my throat as I watched Peres being resurrected from the dustbin of Israeli politics and Pinchas Wallerstein bravely but sadly falling into the clutches of the Israeli media and legal system.
There is no "unity" in the deal between Sharon and Peres. Long gone are the days when the people were split over the policies of the Right and Left. The Left has been rejected by the people only to be resurrected by Sharon. That's "unity"? Whom have they united? It's only slightly less insane then Hussein. When Peres pushed through the deal by threatening elections he wasn't threatening that he would beat Sharon at the polls. That would never happen and everyone knows that. He was threatening Sharon that Sharon would be history because the people have had enough of him and his dictatorial ramming of "disengagement" down their throats, and that only Peres could save him.
The people know that "disengagement" will mean that missiles will start landing in Ashkelon and Ashdod and Be'er Sheva immediately -- only to be followed by greater threats as weapons more advanced and missiles of greater range pour in through Egypt. The people want none of it or the likes of it and voted for Sharon for that reason and trusted him and his reputation. After rejection of the plan by his cabinet and his party, Sharon has found a partner in Peres.
Now Pinchas Wallerstein is being accused of fomenting rebellion. For now the accusations are in the media only but the calls for the attorney general to investigate have been made and the British Mandate Laws are handy and ready to be used. Wallerstein was brave to take a stand and call for civil disobedience but unfortunately the media and the judicial system -- leftist tools -- immediately accuse him of calling for civil war. Interesting how quickly they use the word "war" when speaking about civil disobedience by Jews when they are so reluctant to call the murdering of Jews by Arabs a war -- preferring to call it a "peace process."
I have to stop with this for now. I have to say something positive and I actually do have something positive to say.
History is waiting for Natan Sharansky, an opponent of "disengagement", to step into the fray and vie for leadership of the Jewish State. Pinchas Wallerstein's civil disobedience, once it is labeled by the Israeli and world press as rebellion and made to look like a call to "civil war" may put him in jail, and many others with him, with the ease of the word of a few men in Jerusalem, but it will not pose any serious challenge to Sharon's plan. Their voices will be silenced -- except for the small right wing Jewish media and with some luck, an occasional word of support from American conservative media. What follows the silence will be a demonization of the "settlers" that will so isolate them that all the dangers and madness of the plan itself will become of secondary issue to securing the "rule of law" and the "unity government" and "democracy."
But they can't jail Sharansky. They just can't! And they certainly couldn't silence him if they did. Sharansky is not only respected in the White House he is an important asset for Bush in pushing forward his Wilsonian project of democratizing the Arab world. Sharansky in jail and opposing Sharon would be heard all over the world and Sharon could do nothing about it. Sharansky involved in civil disobedience could not be silenced. He is the leader that needs to step forward now and tell the world the truth about the dangers and antidemocratic injustice of "disengagement." Nobody else can do this and nobody can stop Sharansky from doing it. It is his hour. It's time for him to step up and use his political capital.
Ironically, yesterday, when Saddam Hussein sent a message to the Iraqi people from jail that they shouldn't let the elections destroy the "unity" of Iraq, I realized that Sharon had stuck a dagger deep in my heart.
Saddam Hussein's use of the word "unity" woke me up to the doublespeak that I had swallowed and was stuck in my throat as I watched Peres being resurrected from the dustbin of Israeli politics and Pinchas Wallerstein bravely but sadly falling into the clutches of the Israeli media and legal system.
There is no "unity" in the deal between Sharon and Peres. Long gone are the days when the people were split over the policies of the Right and Left. The Left has been rejected by the people only to be resurrected by Sharon. That's "unity"? Whom have they united? It's only slightly less insane then Hussein. When Peres pushed through the deal by threatening elections he wasn't threatening that he would beat Sharon at the polls. That would never happen and everyone knows that. He was threatening Sharon that Sharon would be history because the people have had enough of him and his dictatorial ramming of "disengagement" down their throats, and that only Peres could save him.
The people know that "disengagement" will mean that missiles will start landing in Ashkelon and Ashdod and Be'er Sheva immediately -- only to be followed by greater threats as weapons more advanced and missiles of greater range pour in through Egypt. The people want none of it or the likes of it and voted for Sharon for that reason and trusted him and his reputation. After rejection of the plan by his cabinet and his party, Sharon has found a partner in Peres.
Now Pinchas Wallerstein is being accused of fomenting rebellion. For now the accusations are in the media only but the calls for the attorney general to investigate have been made and the British Mandate Laws are handy and ready to be used. Wallerstein was brave to take a stand and call for civil disobedience but unfortunately the media and the judicial system -- leftist tools -- immediately accuse him of calling for civil war. Interesting how quickly they use the word "war" when speaking about civil disobedience by Jews when they are so reluctant to call the murdering of Jews by Arabs a war -- preferring to call it a "peace process."
I have to stop with this for now. I have to say something positive and I actually do have something positive to say.
History is waiting for Natan Sharansky, an opponent of "disengagement", to step into the fray and vie for leadership of the Jewish State. Pinchas Wallerstein's civil disobedience, once it is labeled by the Israeli and world press as rebellion and made to look like a call to "civil war" may put him in jail, and many others with him, with the ease of the word of a few men in Jerusalem, but it will not pose any serious challenge to Sharon's plan. Their voices will be silenced -- except for the small right wing Jewish media and with some luck, an occasional word of support from American conservative media. What follows the silence will be a demonization of the "settlers" that will so isolate them that all the dangers and madness of the plan itself will become of secondary issue to securing the "rule of law" and the "unity government" and "democracy."
But they can't jail Sharansky. They just can't! And they certainly couldn't silence him if they did. Sharansky is not only respected in the White House he is an important asset for Bush in pushing forward his Wilsonian project of democratizing the Arab world. Sharansky in jail and opposing Sharon would be heard all over the world and Sharon could do nothing about it. Sharansky involved in civil disobedience could not be silenced. He is the leader that needs to step forward now and tell the world the truth about the dangers and antidemocratic injustice of "disengagement." Nobody else can do this and nobody can stop Sharansky from doing it. It is his hour. It's time for him to step up and use his political capital.
posted by Barry Freedman at 11:21 PM
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