"Let Netanyahu win"--An Arab writer agrees
This morning AlQuds alArabi op-ed writer Subhi Hadidi quotes from a piece in Haaretz yesterday by Gideon Levy. Levy wrote:
Benjamin Netanyahu will apparently be Israel's next prime minister. There is, however, something encouraging about that fact. Netanyahu's election will free Israel from the burden of deception: If he can establish a right-wing government, the veil will be lifted and the nation's true face revealed to its citizens and the rest of the world, including Arab countries. Together with the world, we will see which direction we are facing and who we really are. The masquerade that has gone on for several years will finally come to an end.The election of either Livni or Barak would mean continuation of this fraudulent process, but by contrast:
Netanyahu's election is likely to bring the curtain down on the great fraud - the best show in town - the lie of "negotiations" and the injustice of the "peace process." Israel consistently claimed these acts proved the nation was focused on peace and the end of the occupation. All the while, it did everything it could to further entrench the occupation and distance any chance of a potential agreement.
Netanyahu would offer something else. First, he is a faithful representative of an authentic "Israeli" view - an almost complete distrust of Arabs and the chance of reaching peace with them, mixed with condescension and dehumanization. Second, he will finally arouse the world's rage towards us, including that of the new U.S. administration. Sadly, this may be the only chance for the kind of dramatic change that is needed.Hadidi quotes that passage, then recounts some of the history of Netanyahu's political career. But only to make the point that the "authentic Israeli view" that Gideon Levy talks about hasn't changed over the course of recent Israeli history, in fact all that can be expected is more of that characteristic "mix of terror and savagery".
posted by badger at 4:25 PM
5 Comments:
Gideon Levy + Subhi Hadidi got it wrong, because their basic assumption is wrong.
They completely ignore that, since the early 90s (the start of the so-called peace process) we were there before: Netanyahu served as prime minister before, and then we had another right-winger, Ariel Sharon, serving as prime minister. And all the while, NOTHING in the West's attitude towards Israel changed.
Back in the day, Netanyahu worked actively (and successfully) to derail the process - and Washington + Brussels just let him carry on.
When Sharon unilaterally pulled out of the Gaza Strip and locked it up, with the stated goal to foil once-and-for-all any chance of a viable State of Palestine emerging, he was feted in Washington + Brussels as a man of peace (I remember it very well, because I was so stunned about it at the time).
So, don't be fooled, people: Netanyahu will make all the right noises about working tirelessly to achieve peace ... blablabla ... and NOBODY in the U.S. and Europe will be ready to see through his rhetoric.
After all: The peace-process show must go on. It is a multi-million dollar industry that can't be allowed to go bust.
Netanyahu will happily go through the motions. He will meet with Abu Mazen and his team of "serial negotiators" (to quote Mouin Rabbani), knowing full well that that's all it takes to keep the U.S. + the EU happy: Negotiations for the sake of negotiations.
But who knows: Maybe the West will indeed impose sanctions on Israel after February 10 - because the Likud in its charter doesn't recognize the right of Palestine to exist. I doubt it, though. ;-)
Excellent points.
But I don't think Levy is saying the mask will necessarily fall, or immediately, but more that if we have Netanyahu re-enter, stage right, there will be a much better chance that the mask will fall. Because if you're looking for a desirable result, the first thing you have to do is express what that is--in this case the Israeli right taking the mask off the whole fraudulent scheme. Since that isn't part of the conventional discourse on the subject, he highlights the idea in this way.
You could be right, and the process could work through exactly as it has done in the past. On the other hand, it is also possible that there is a learning curve that isn't completely flat.
(Plus, I was unfair to Hadidi who did spend a lot of time on the Bibi's prior role(s) in this--it's not as if he ignored that point).
Where there's life, there's hope.
off topic question:
I have been emailing Michael Ledeen, who proposes that Iran is funding Sunni extremists in Iraq - Ansar al Sunna, to be exact.
any validity to this? or is it complete nonsense?
thanks
dancewater, so far i have not read any evidence of this other than neocon assertions. bernhard @ moon has been on the case, so far zilch.
if you are in contact w/ledeen, ask him to send you some news links.
or you could just ask Dick Cheney. Maybe he's read something about it.
Post a Comment
<< Home