Netanyahu, the Pied Piper of Zion, Leading
Apartheid Israel to the Destruction
By Uri Avnery
Netanyahu: The Pied Piper of Zion
HAMELIN, A small town in Germany (not so far from where I was born), was
infested with rats. In their despair, the burghers called upon a
rat-catcher and promised him a thousand guilders for liberating them from
this plague.
The rat-catcher took his pipe and played such a sweet
melody that all the rats came out of their holes and joined him. He
marched them to the Weser river, where they all drowned.
Once
freed from this plague, the burghers saw no reason to pay. So the piper
took out his pipe again and produced an even sweeter melody. The enchanted
children of the town gathered around him and he marched them straight down
to the river, where they all drowned.
Binyamin Netanyahu is our pied piper. Enchanted
by his melodies, the people of Israel are marching behind him towards the
river.
Those burghers who are
aware of what is happening are looking on. They don't know what to do.
How to save the children?
THE ISRAELI Peace Camp is in despair.
No savior is in sight. Many just sit in front of their TV set and wring
their hands.
Among the rest a debate is going on. Will redemption
come from within Israel or from outside?
The latest contributor to
this debate is Amos Schocken,
the owner of the "Haaretz" newspaper. He
has written one of his rare articles, arguing that only outside forces can
save us now.
Let me first say that I admire
Schocken. "Haaretz" ("The Land") is one of the last bastions of Israeli
democracy. Cursed and detested by the entire rightist majority, it leads
the intellectual battle for democracy and peace, All this while the
written media are in dire financial straits, in Israel and around the
world. From my own experience as a magazine owner and editor – who lost
this battle – I know just how heroic and heartbreaking this job is.
In his article Schocken says that the battle to save Israel from within is
hopeless, and that we must therefore support the pressures coming from
outside: the growing worldwide movement for boycotting Israel politically,
economically and academically.
| Uri Avnery writing on the Israeli Apartheid Wall, protesting the Israeli occupation of Palestine |
