[NuovoLaboratorio] Fwd: [Gush Shalom] Changed date for A-Ram…

>Subject: [Gush Shalom] Changed date for A-Ram demo + Welcome to Geneva
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>Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 21:44:28 +0200

>                \\// //\\ \\// //\\ \\//     

>        AN IMPORTANT STEP

>                           Incident in Lisbon
>                             by Uri Avnery

>     A few days ago I had a collision with Miguel Angel
>Moratinos, the astute Spanish diplomat who for
>several years acted as the emissary of the European
>Union in our region.
>     Together with experts from a dozen countries ñ
>from Brazil to Pakistan - we took part in a
>conference of the Portugese Institute for Strategic
>Studies. In the debate about the Israeli-Palestinian
>conflict, Ahmad Khalidi, the editor of a prestigious
>Palestinian publication and the scion of one of the
>most distinguished families in Jerusalem, also took
>part.
>     In my lecture I criticized the reluctance of Europe
>to exert pressure for peace. I said that this attitude
>was ìscandalousî.  Khalidi, on his part, also harshly
>criticized the Europeans.
>     When it was Moratinoís turn to speak, he reacted
>angrily. How do you have the impertinence to
>complain about Europe? he asked, raising his
>voice. Where is the Israeli peace movement that
>should have changed the political situation in
>Israel? Why is its voice not heard? Do you want
>Europe to do your job for you? And, addressing
>Khalidi: You want Europe to do something for you?
>Than first of all please put an end to terrorism! If you
>are not able to do this, donít blame Europe! Blame
>yourself! If both of you do your part, Europe will do
>its share, too!
>     (By the way, during the official dinner, Moratinos
>recounted that after the failure of the Camp David
>summit, the Europeans talked the Americans into
>setting up a Clinton-Arafat meeting. Arafat was due
>to fly to Washington on January 1, 2001. But Ehud
>Barak opposed it so violently, that the meeting was
>cancelled and the Taba talks took place instead.)
>   
>     Moratinos was quite right in his criticism. We tend
>indeed to blame others for our own failures. We
>cannot demand that foreigners ñ whether
>Europeans or Americans ñ do our job for us. If the
>peace camp does not constitute a political power in
>Israel, we should not blame others. The same goes
>for the Palestinians.
>     After the debate we shook hands. I honestly
>admitted that he was right. Khalidi did the same.
>     But in recent weeks, things have happened on all
>four fronts ñ Israeli, Palestinian, American and
>European ñ which may indicate that matters are
>beginning to move.

>     On the Israeli front, the most high profile event is
>the launching ceremony for the ìGeneva
>Understandingsî that is scheduled for this coming
>Monday. After the young men who refuse army
>service in the occupied areas, the revolt of the
>airforce pilots, the Ayalon-Nusseibeh initiative, the
>declaration of the four former Security Service
>chiefs and the warning of the Chief-of-Staff, the
>Geneva initiative is a further step in the same
>direction.
>     For three years, the extra-establishment peace
>forces stood alone on the battlefield. We protested,
>demonstrated, maintained contact with the
>Palestinians, aroused world opinion. All this time,
>the bigger, establishment-connected peace
>movement remained in a state of collapse and
>uttered hardly a squeak. The brutality of the
>occupation intensified from day to day, Sharon did
>whatever he wanted, the opposition was comatose.
>The slogan was ìThere is no one to talk toî.
>     Now there is an awakening. It seems that the
>public has had enough of the bloody confrontation.
>It understands by now that there is no military
>solution and that the confrontation is destroying our
>economy and increasing poverty. The Geneva
>Initiative has come at exactly the right time to
>express this new mood.
>     Its strongest point is educational. It shows that
>there is indeed  ìsomeone to talk toî and that there
>is a model for peace, with which both sides can live.
>It will make a big contribution to the forming of a
>new national consensus.
>     Its disadvantage is that it has no solid political
>basis. It is boycotting the radical peace forces on
>the left, while being attacked on the right by the
>Labor Party hacks, led by Shimon Peres. The
>political establishment suspects that it will serve as
>an instrument for Yossi Beilin in his efforts to create
>a new political party, after losing his place in Labor.
>      What worries me is that it is not written to
>capture anyoneís imagination. It is a lawyersí
>document, dry and matter-of-fact. That is good and
>that is bad. Its movers declare that it is ìnot a
>marriage agreement, but rather a writ of divorce.î
>Meaning divorce between Israelis and Palestinians.
>That is the very opposite of our own message:
>ìTwo States ñ One Futureî.
>     But all in all, this is a positive initiative, coming at
>the right time and opening the way for more
>initiatives to come. It seems that our ice-age is
>drawing to an end. Even Sharon senses this.
>Suddenly he is eager to meet Abu-Ala, he is talking
>about ìunilateral stepsî. One should not believe a
>word he says, but the fact that he utters such words
>shows that something is indeed changing.

>     On the Palestinian front, too, there is a change.
>Abu-Ala, in close cooperation with Yasser Arafat, is
>working on a new Hudna (truce) with the Palestinian
>factions, this time one that will be linked with a
>Hudna with Israel. All sides will undertake to stop all
>acts of violence, and Sharon will be asked to make
>meaningful concessions.
>     If that succeeds ñ a very big ìifî ñ then conditions
>may be ripe for a deep change in public opinion on
>both sides, which is without doubt a pre-condition
>for any real movement towards peace.

>     On the American front, interesting things are
>happening, too.
>     All the experts predicted that with the approach
>of the elections, Bush would abstain from anything
>liable to arouse the anger of the Jewish and the
>Fundamentalist-Christian lobbies. But lo and
>behold, Washington is giving public, and almost
>official, support to the Nusseibeh-Ayalon and the
>Geneva Initiatives. President Bush expressed
>relatively strong disapproval of Sharonís acts, side
>by side with his routine condemnation of the
>Palestinians. He also deducted a symbolic sum from
>the American loan guaranties given to Israel.
>     That is not much. In fact, it is very little. But we are
>not pampered ñ even small American gestures can
>mean a lot. For Sharon, his American connection is
>the jewel in his crown, more important than
>anything else. The smallest change will set off an
>alarm in his head.

>     Perhaps the most interesting change has taken
>place in Europe, of all places. At the time of the
>incident with Moratinos I did not know ñ nor did he, I
>believe ñ that something was going to happen
>concerning us.
>     Six years ago, Gush Shalom declared a boycott
>of the products of the settlements. We said: ìEvery
>Shekel for the settlements is a Shekel against
>peace.î We composed a list of their products and
>distributed it widely. Tens of thousands of families
>joined the boycott.
>     Our aim was to prevent the transfer of Israeli
>factories to the occupied territories, where the
>government (under both Labor and Likud) gave
>them huge subsidies. We told them: in the end you
>are going to lose, because the Israeli and foreign
>markets will be closed to you.
>     Our initiative has caused, so it seems, the
>Europeans to wake up. Goods ìmade in Israelî are
>exempt from custom duties in Europe, but the trade
>agreement with the European Union expressly
>excludes goods produced beyond the pre-1967
>border, the so-called Green Line. The Israeli
>government ignored this stipulation and broke it
>flagrantly. The European officials saw this, gnashed
>their teeth and closed their eyes, because some
>European governments (including Germany and
>Holland) obstructed any action against Israel.
>    Now this has changed. Lately, the Europeans
>have demanded that every suspect Israeli firm
>deposit the equivalent of the potential customs
>duties until it proves that it is not located beyond the
>Green Line.
>     The exporters complained loudly. This week the
>Israeli government gave in and announced that from
>now on, the actual place of origin will be clearly
>marked on all goods exported to Europe.
>     At long last, a resolute European action.
>Enterprises dependent on exports to Europe will be
>compelled to leave the settlements and return to
>Israel proper. Hallelujah!
>     As Galileo said: And yet it does move.