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#11437 - 04/16/02 01:16 PM
The heroes of Jenin
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Tman_dup1
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Registered: 01/04/01
Posts: 611
Loc: London, England
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Immortal heroes of Jenin
Sharon's war is not only failing to bring Israelis security, it is laying
the foundations of a new Palestinian nation and state
Uri Avnery
Tuesday April 16, 2002
The Guardian
In 1897, the day after the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Theodor Herzl,
wrote in his diary: "In Basel I founded the State of the Jews." This week,
Ariel Sharon should note in his diary: "In Jenin I founded the State of the
Palestinians."
Of course, he did not mean to. His intention was to destroy the Palestinian
nation, its institutions and leadership, once and for all, leaving only bits and
pieces, human wreckage that could be disposed of anywhere.
In practice, something quite different happened. Faced with the onslaught of
the biggest military machine in the region and the most modern arms in the
world, submerged in a sea of suffering, surrounded by bodies, the
Palestinian nation straightened its back as never before.
In the small refugee camp near Jenin, a group of Palestinian fighters from
all the organisations gathered for a battle of defence that will be enshrined
forever in the hearts of all Arabs. This is the Palestinian Massada, as an
Israeli officer called it, alluding to the legendary stand of the remnants of
the great Jewish rebellion against Rome in 71 AD.
When the international media cannot be kept out any more and the pictures
of horror are published, two possible versions may emerge: Jenin as a story
of massacre, a second Sabra and Shatila; and Jenin, the Palestinian
Stalingrad, a story of immortal heroism. The second will surely prevail.
Nations are built on myths. I was raised on the myths of Massada and
Tel-Chai. They formed the consciousness of the new Hebrew nation. (At
Tel-Chai, in 1920, a group of Jewish defenders, led by the one-armed hero
Josef Trumpeldor, were killed in an incident with anti-French Syrian
fighters.) The myths of Jenin and Arafat's compound in Ramallah will form
the consciousness of the new Palestinian nation.
A primitive military robot, who sees everything in terms of fire power and
body counts, will not understand this. But Napoleon, a military genius, said
that in war, moral considerations account for three quarters, and the
balance of force for the other quarter.
How does Sharon's war look in this perspective? As for the actual forces, the
balance is clear. A few dozen Israelis killed, many hundreds of Palestinians
dead. No destruction in Israel, horrible destruction in the Palestinian towns.
The aim was, so it was claimed, to "destroy the terror infrastructure". This
definition is by itself nonsensical: the "terror infrastructure" exists in the
souls of millions of Palestinians and tens of millions of Arabs, whose hearts
are bursting with rage. The more fighters and suicide bombers are killed,
the more fighters and suicide bombers are ready to take their place. We saw
the "laboratories of explosives" - sacks of material obtainable in Israeli
shops. The Israeli army is proud of discovering tens of them. There will soon
be hundreds.
When dozens of wounded people lie in the streets and slowly bleed to death
because the army shoots at every moving ambulance, it creates terrible
hatred. When the army secretly buries hundreds of bodies of men, women
and children, it creates terrible hatred. When tanks destroy houses, topple
electricity poles, open water pipes, leave behind thousands of homeless
people and cause children to drink from puddles, it causes terrible hatred.
A Palestinian child, who sees all this with his eyes, becomes the suicide
bomber of tomorrow. Thus Sharon and his chief of staff, Shaul Mofaz, create
the terrorist infrastructure.
In the meantime, they have created the foundations of the Palestinian nation
and the Palestinian state. The people saw their fighters in Jenin and believe
that they are far greater heroes than the Israeli soldiers, protected inside
their tanks. They saw their leader in the historic TV sequence, his face lit by
a single candle in his dark, surrounded office, ready for death at any
moment, and compare him with the hedonistic Israeli ministers, sitting in
their offices far from the battlefront, surrounded by hordes of bodyguards.
Thus national pride is engendered.
No good for Israel will come out of this adventure, as no good came out of any
of Sharon's previous adventures. The concept was stupid, the
implementation cruel, the results will be disastrous. It will not bring peace
and security, solve no problem, but it will isolate Israel and endanger the
Jews throughout the world.
In the end, only one thing will be remembered: our giant military machine
assaulted the small Palestinian people, and the small Palestinian people and
its leader held on. In the eyes of the Palestinians, and not only theirs, it will
look like a tremendous victory, the victory of a modern David against
Goliath.
· Uri Avnery is co-founder of Israel's Gush Shalom (Peace Coalition). Born
in Germany, he emigrated to Palestine in 1933 and joined the Irgun
underground movement. In 1948, he was a member of an Israeli commando
unit and was wounded on the Egyptian front. As a journalist and political
activist, he has long been a campaigner for Palestinian rights and in 1982
crossed the frontline to meet Arafat at the height of the siege of Beirut. A
supporter of the Oslo peace agreement, he is now a columnist for the Israeli
newspaper Ma'ariv, where this article first appeared.
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#11438 - 04/16/02 02:07 PM
Re: The heroes of Jenin
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saltman
Member
Registered: 06/26/01
Posts: 2055
Loc: Miami, FL, USA
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honestly, dont have time to read it now(work) but just becareful where you trod with the title; you know sey mi rate you, but this may get extremely provocative.
Will read and comment later
Peace.
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#11439 - 04/16/02 03:05 PM
Re: The heroes of Jenin
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G.
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Registered: 07/13/01
Posts: 3098
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But Napoleon, a military genius, said
that in war, moral considerations account for three quarters, and the
balance of force for the other quarter.
_________________________
In absence of the gold standard there is no way to protect savings from confiscation thru inflation
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#11440 - 04/16/02 11:54 PM
Re: The heroes of Jenin
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ddread_dup1
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Registered: 02/16/01
Posts: 3609
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Every so often someone steps out of the woodwork and put something forward that reminds me that there are people on both sides of this one sided war. Respect TMan and bigUp to the author.
_________________________
Jah Love
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#11441 - 04/25/02 09:51 AM
Re: The heroes of Jenin
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G.
Member
Registered: 07/13/01
Posts: 3098
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Why Buffalo soldier a flex so?
when he was there the "wipeout" was Goin On for pete's sake
why im neva shuttle ova deh fi stop it
now afta di badies ship off elsewhere for mass dumping and memba seh not even a stray dawg could get in or out for Many Days - meanwhile the severly injured kick dibucket - all di medicine an blanket donated can't help now.
now im tek up di trumpet and blowing di same tune like a good buff sowja
Truss mi this is the pattern u will see for all di refugee camps - wipeout - by any means necessary
The fix is in
while the rest of world gears up for nba playoffs, world cup and a summer of baseball
When will this bucket bottom drop out
Dem sheiks floating somewhere in dem yots nuh care
Mi a tell u mek mi blood run COLD
[This message has been edited by Guidance (edited 04-25-2002).]
_________________________
In absence of the gold standard there is no way to protect savings from confiscation thru inflation
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