In a column translated from Hebrew and published by the New York Times, the renowned Israeli author, Meir Shalev, says that Israel, which is celebrating its independence anniversary, is not yet an independent state, due to the fact that it has set a trap for itself: Jewish settlements and the occupation of the Palestinian territories. He assails Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a man who “has no plan,” contrary to what the leader claims on a daily basis. However, he shows the same “disgust” for the Palestinian leadership for repeating the same mistakes.
“Fifty-three years after the Nakba, the "catastrophe," as the Arabs call the establishment of the State of Israel, Yasser Arafat is still repeating the same old Palestinian mistakes. Fifty-three years after Israel's victory in the War of Independence, Ariel Sharon is once again showing us that Israel is not an independent state,” says Shalev in the column published on Monday.
“Of course, it isn't trampled by a foreign ruler. It has a flag and army and national anthem. But Israel is an enslaved state, enslaved to itself: it is fettered by fossilized thought patterns; manacled by ancient, even primitive, concepts; burdened by the worst yoke of all — the one it has imposed on its own neck,” Shalev writes.
He said that the Israelis should be liberated from “the tyranny of the territories and of the settlers.”
“As for this curse called ‘the territories’ or ‘the borders of the Promised Land’ or ‘the tombs of our Patriarchs’ — depending on how you like to wear your straitjacket — I shall simply state that ever since the splendid victory in the Six Day War, the State of Israel has been preoccupied with nothing but the territories — with them, their metastases and their consequences. The entire possible budget — for education, research, road building and desalination projects — has been influenced by them. “Every government coalition has been created for them. Every calorie — both material and spiritual — has been invested in them. Our appearance and our nature grow ugly in their image. Our strength is running out because of them. And worst of all is the prevailing notion that returning the territories is a gift we give to our enemies — the failure to understand that giving them up is in the interest of Israel itself.”
The author of The Loves of Judith, describes Sharon as a limited man, a fossil bereft of vision or inspiration. “And when I hear him say his ‘I have a plan,’ it is hard for me not to remember the words ‘I have a dream,’ which resonated so movingly to me in my youth.”
“When I hear the shooting [in Palestinian town of Beit Jala and Gilo Jewish settlement, just a kilometer away from the writer’s residence], I don't get scared. I don't really want to know what Mr. Sharon's plan is. What is frightening to me is that it seems he doesn't have a dream,” Shalev concludes.
Meir Shalev was born in Nahalal, Israel in 1948. He grew up in an agricultural cooperative in Nahalal, and then moved to Jerusalem, where he lives today. He studied Psychology at the Hebrew University and produced and hosted several radio and television programs. He is a regular columnist in the Israeli press and writes essays and fiction for both children and adults – Albawaba.com
“Fifty-three years after the Nakba, the "catastrophe," as the Arabs call the establishment of the State of Israel, Yasser Arafat is still repeating the same old Palestinian mistakes. Fifty-three years after Israel's victory in the War of Independence, Ariel Sharon is once again showing us that Israel is not an independent state.
“Of course, it isn't trampled by a foreign ruler. It has a flag and army and national anthem. But Israel is an enslaved state, enslaved to itself: it is fettered by fossilized thought patterns; manacled by ancient, even primitive, concepts; burdened by the worst yoke of all — the one it has imposed on its own neck,” Shaval writes.
He said that the Israelis should be liberated from “the tyranny of the territories and of the settlers.”
“As for this curse called ‘the territories’ or ‘the borders of the Promised Land’ or ‘the tombs of our Patriarchs’ — depending on how you like to wear your straitjacket — I shall simply state that ever since the splendid victory in the Six Day War, the State of Israel has been preoccupied with nothing but the territories — with them, their metastases and their consequences. The entire possible budget — for education, research, road building and desalination projects — has been influenced by them. “Every government coalition has been created for them. Every calorie — both material and spiritual — has been invested in them. Our appearance and our nature grow ugly in their image. Our strength is running out because of them. And worst of all is the prevailing notion that returning the territories is a gift we give to our enemies — the failure to understand that giving them up is in the interest of Israel itself.”
The author of The Loves of Judith, describes Sharon as a limited man, a fossil bereft of vision or inspiration. “And when I hear him say his ‘I have a plan,’ it is hard for me not to remember the words "I have a dream," which resonated so movingly to me in my youth.”
“When I hear the shooting, I don't get scared. I don't really want to know what Mr. Sharon's plan is. What is frightening to me is that it seems he doesn't have a dream,” he concluded.
Meir Shalev was born in Nahalal, Israel in 1948. He grew up in an agricultural cooperative in Nahalal, and then moved to Jerusalem, where he lives today. He studied Psychology at the Hebrew University and produced and hosted several radio and television programs. He is a regular columnist in the Israeli press and writes essays and fiction for both children and adults – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
