Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Israel's White Bird

Israel's White Bird 
 
by Uri Avnery 
Tzipi Livni, as her name indicates, is the white bird of Israeli politics
(Tzipi is short for Tzipora, "bird," and Livni comes from Lavan, "white").
As against the hawk Binyamin Netanyahu, the vulture Ehud Barak, and the
raven Ehud Olmert, she was seen as the immaculate feathered friend.
In public opinion polls, she has enjoyed a remarkable popularity. She
trumps all the other politicians in the governing coalition. While the
rating of the two Ehuds – Olmert and Barak – was going down, hers was on
the way up.
Why? Perhaps it was a case of the wish being the father of the thought. It
is generally accepted that in the present Knesset no coalition could be
set up without Kadima. Therefore, if one wants to throw Olmert out while
avoiding new elections, Olmert's substitute must also come from Kadima.
Livni is the only creditable candidate.
Still there is something odd about Livni's popularity. Up to now, she has
not been faced with a serious test. She has never borne any real executive
responsibility. She has been only a mediocre minister of justice.
Her public image is indeed impressive. She seems to be honest, a rare
attribute for a politician. She looks wise. She looks courageous.
But anyone who studies her record must regretfully come to the opposite
conclusion. Tzipi Livni is far from courageous and far from wise.
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That became clear a year ago, after the Second Lebanon War.
It seemed that public anger over the failed war would topple Olmert. Livni
jumped at the opportunity. In a dramatic move she called for the
resignation of the prime minister and offered herself as his successor. It
was leaked that soon after the beginning of the war, she had already
called for its termination (which did not prevent her from voting for all
of Olmert's moves.)
A courageous act, even if not very wise. Because very soon it became clear
that public anger was subsiding rapidly. The protest movement petered out.
Olmert, with the skin of an elephant and the cunning of a fox, just kept
his head down and survived. He shook off the interim report of the
commission of inquiry (the Winograd Report) as a dog sheds water. The day
after the attempted putsch, Livni found herself alone in a political
vacuum.
What does a courageous politician do in such a situation? Resign, of
course. Join the opposition, exhort, admonish, preach at the gate like the
prophets of yore.
But Livni did not do any of this. She just muttered some noncommittal
words, folded her arms, and remained in the cabinet. Like most of our
politicians, she paraphrases Descartes: "I am a minister – ergo I exist."
As a minister, she continues to bear "collective responsibility" for all
the acts and defaults of a government headed by the very person she
herself has described as incompetent.
So much for courage. As for wisdom: if she was not certain about her
ability to unseat Olmert, why did she start this escapade in the first
place? And if she was not prepared to resign, why did she play at
rebellion?
Olmert could have dismissed her. But he is much too clever. Better to have
her in the tent spitting out, than outside spitting in. Since then he has
lavished her with praise and paid her compliments at every opportunity.
What a successful foreign minister! What a wise diplomat!
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The last few days showed just how successful a foreign minister and how
wise a diplomat Tzipi Livni really is.
It began with her appearance in the Foreign and Security Committee of the
Knesset. In the distant past, that was a closed forum. But nowadays it
resembles a sieve with very large holes indeed. Every word spoken there is
leaked even before the speaker has closed his mouth – mostly by the
assistants of the speakers themselves.
In this forum, Livni said that the Egyptians were cheating on their
commitment to stop the smuggling of arms into the Gaza Strip. She demanded
they mend their ways and put an end to this traffic.
It was not just a verbal complaint. It had practical implications: in the
U.S. Congress, there is an ongoing campaign to punish Egypt by cutting the
huge package of financial aid it gets from the U.S. True, the Israeli
Foreign Office does not associate itself openly with this demand, but
everybody in Washington knows that in matters like this, the U.S. Congress
is not much more than an instrument of Israeli policy. Members of the
Knesset roam the corridors of the Capitol and lobby for the cut. They may
belong to the right-wing opposition, but they are clearly acting as
emissaries of the Foreign Office.
To reinforce this effort, the Israeli government has distributed a video
cassette around Washington showing Egyptian policemen standing passively
by while the smuggling goes on under their very noses.
No wonder that Cairo considered Livni's remarks as another exercise of
blackmail against Egypt: if you don't comply with our demands, we shall
hit you in your most sensitive spot – the pocket.
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It is hard to imagine a more foolish policy. Anyone who knows anything
about Egypt – and there are such people even in the Foreign Office – would
be aware that this is not just about hitting the pocket, but also the
heart. Not just a matter of money, but also of pride.
Every year Egypt gets more American money than any other country on earth
– except Israel, of course. And not for nothing: it started when Egypt
signed the peace agreement with Israel. The enemies of the Egyptian regime
call it a bribe for serving Israeli interests.
No country is more sensitive about its honor than Egypt. Its leaders
regularly remind everybody – and, indeed, its foreign minister reminded
Tzipi Livni this week – that the Egyptian state has existed for 7,000
years, and it is not prepared to be lectured by Israel (which was not even
there 60 years ago.)
Egypt lives in a painful contradiction: it sees itself as the cradle of
human civilization and the center of the Arab world, but it is a very poor
country and needs every dollar it can get. Hosni Mubarak's regime is
totally dependent on the United States, but desperately craves the respect
of 70 million Egyptians and hundreds of millions of other Arabs.
That demands subtlety, even finesse. The accumulated experience of
thousands of years has prepared the Egyptian diplomats for such a task.
They never say "no," but "yes, quite, but the moment is not appropriate"
or "good idea, we shall consider it with utmost seriousness." Those who
understand, understand. No wonder that Egyptian diplomats look upon their
unsophisticated Israeli counterparts with thinly veiled contempt.
Tzipi Livni entered this porcelain shop like an elephant.
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Why did she do it? The political correspondents, most of whom are merely
reporters of political gossip, assume that the motive was personal: she
spoke on the eve of Ehud Barak's meeting with Mubarak. Her real aim was to
spoil it for Barak.
Perhaps she saw it as an opportunity to polish her image. For weeks now,
the security establishment has been running a public relations campaign
concerning the arms in the Gaza Strip. Its agents in the media tell us
every day about the quantities of arms and explosives that are flowing
into the Strip from Egypt through the tunnels under the border. The
Egyptians are accused of closing their eyes. Livni wanted to ride this
crest.
Livni's problem is common to all of Israel: the inability and
unwillingness to see the point of view of the other side, especially if
the other side is Arab. (The other side has, of course, a similar problem.)
The Egyptians consider themselves the natural leaders of the Arab world.
President Mubarak and his followers are very sensitive to the accusations
of their enemies – especially the Muslim Brotherhood – that they are
serving the Israeli occupation at a time when Israel is starving the Gaza
population and killing their leaders. Mubarak has no wish to do anything
against Hamas that would seem to confirm these charges.
It is quite possible that the Egyptian authorities would be unable to
prevent the traffic even if they wanted to. Most of the smuggled items are
unobtainable in the besieged Gaza Strip, from milk powder to cigarettes.
The smugglers can do business with the Sinai Bedouins or bribe the
Egyptian policemen – who most certainly do not cherish the idea of
stabbing their Arab brothers in the back while they are fighting against
the Israeli occupation.
The Israeli public lives in a bubble. They cannot imagine that the same
people who they know as "terrorists" are the heroes of the Arab world,
that the detested "murderers" are the holy martyrs of the Arabs, that the
"terrorism" is seen by the Arabs (and not only by them) as a heroic
resistance to a monstrous occupation, that the "smugglers" are seen by the
Arabs the same way as we saw "our fine boys" of the Palmach who smuggled
arms under the noses of the British and risked their lives in order to
break the blockade.
In the eyes of the Egyptians – and, indeed, of all Arabs – the Palestinian
people are defending themselves against a brutal oppressor. The
Palestinian martyrs restore the honor of the entire Arab nation. Even the
Egyptians who support Mubarak and believe that there is no choice but to
cooperate with the Americans and to keep the peace with Israel are torn
between conflicting emotions.
If one does not understand the psychological and political dilemma of the
Egyptian people, one is liable to do foolish things. And nothing could be
more foolish than the Israeli action against those returning from the Hajj
last week.
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The pilgrimage to Mecca is, as everybody knows, one of the five pillars of
Islam. A person starting on this voyage, with all its hardships, is much
respected by all Muslims.
The million and a half inhabitants of the Gaza strip are prevented from
fulfilling this duty, unless they undergo a "security check" by the
Israeli army, often accompanied by harassment and humiliation. On Israel's
demand, the Egyptians have closed the only border station that connects
the Gaza Strip with the outside world: the Rafah crossing.
Two thousand pilgrims from Gaza have broken this blockade and crossed the
Rafah border. It seems that the Egyptians cooperated, either openly or by
closing their eyes. Indeed, how can an Egyptian leader block the path of
devout Muslims on their way to fulfill one of the holiest duties? But the
chiefs of the Israeli security establishment were furious.
The problem became worse when the pilgrims were on their way back from
Mecca. When their ferry reached the Sinai shore, Israel demanded that the
Egyptians block the Rafah crossing and compel the pilgrims to return
through Israeli territory. This would have delivered Hamas members and
other "wanted" people into the hands of the Israeli Security Service.
For the Egyptians, that was an altogether intolerable demand. If they had
acceded to it, they would have looked to the whole Muslim world like
collaborators who had turned over to the Jews pious Muslims returning from
the holy Hajj.
The end was foreseeable: the Egyptians allowed all the pilgrims to return
through Rafah. The Israeli government had scored an own goal.
All this would not have happened if the foreign minister had persuaded her
colleagues to close their eyes and shut up. She didn't. They would not
have listened to her anyhow.
Something tells me that this white bird will not be flying very far.
 
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 by Uri Avnery 
Cazzo Sergio, io ci provo a leggere quello che posti (specialmente di
Avnery), ma siamo su "it"! Per te magari l'inglese è la "seconda" lingua
madre, altri frequentatori non hanno un cazzo da fare tutto il giorno, ma
io ho degli arretrati che copio e non ho il tempo di leggere: posta
qualcosa in italiano:-)
gus
-- 


 Am.
Fatti una paiolata di cazzi tuoi e, soprattutto, fatti inculare da un
monaco sordo col preservativo lubrificato con acido muriatico.


 qualcosa in italiano:-)
tu salva e leggili con calma. Se mi capita qualche articolo in
italiano te lo postero'.
ciao

 tu salva e leggili con calma.
Ehi, camerata, hai un lettore.
E' gus e non sa leggere.
Ma meglio di niente.
Tb
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