Sharon’s Speech: Decoded Version

[newyorican]

By: Uri Avnery

He read out the written text of his speech, word for word, without raising his eyes from the page.

It was vital for him to stick to the exact wording, since it was an encoded text. It is impossible to decipher it without breaking the code. And it is impossible to break the code without knowing Ariel Sharon very well indeed.

So it is no surprise that the flood of interpretations in Israel and abroad was ridiculous. The commentators just did not understand what they had heard. That’s why they wrote things like “He did not say anything new”, “He has no plan”, “He is marking time”, “He is old and tired”. And the usual Washington reaction: “A positive step, but…”

Nonsense. In his speech, Sharon outlined a whole, detailed – and extremely dangerous – plan. Those who did not understand – Israelis, Palestinians and foreign diplomats - will be unable to react effectively.

Here is the deciphered text of Sharon’s “Herzliyah speech”:

[arendt]

1. Fess up - you read WRH too.

I find the news articles on that site to be
a different mix than on leftie sites, but they
post a lot of RW anti-Bush junta stuff.

So, I read them with the BS meter turned to
full.

But, I have to confess that it is that site which
made clearest to me the distinction between
Zionist and Jewish. I certainly agree with their
statement: An anti-Semite is anyone who Ariel
Sharon doesn't like.

This article didn't really say much I didn't already
know; but the source is useful when arguing - which
is why I visit the site.

arendt

[newyorican]

3. Actually...

I found this article while looking for this:

http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2003/dec/dec30.pdf

[arendt]

4. OK....

You are much more into the Israeli-Arab fracas
than I am if you were already aware of amin.org.

If I hadn't seen it on WRH, I would continue to
be unaware of it.

Now, I guess I will have to live with having
"outed" myself as a DUer who reads WRH. :-)

arendt

[Saudade]

2. Thanks

This article said a lot that I didn't know.

Avnery sees through Sharon as well as any other writer I've ever read.

[bemildred]

5. Avnery always has useful insights.

He neglects to point out explicitly that the new plan,
by it's very existence, is a tacit admission of the failure
of the old plan. This is a retrenchment for Sharon, who is
politically vulnerable. Having given up a pawn or two in
his failed pursuit of the enemies king, he now hopes to build
a defensive wall protecting his own center, behind which he
can attempt to rebuild his position.

Time is not on his side, however, and the new plan is likely
to prove even more expensive than the old one - although it may
in some degree succeed in protecting his center - and most likely
it will take less time to fail, assuming that Sharon is not
removed first.

[Resistance]

6. as long as Palestinian suffering is prolonged

and Israel continues capturing more land, all is well (for Israeli planners such as Sharon)

[bemildred]

7. I think you are incorrect. All is not well.

[Resistance]

8. What is not going well?

They're building an apartheid wall to capture more land, continuing settlement growth, bulldozing homes, and still killing Palestinians on a daily basis, while the United States prepares a big old $9 billion gift for their brave work. So ... what isn't well?

[bemildred]

11. A few things:

Mr. Sharon's popularity is quite low.

The will of the Palestinian people is not broken, nor
apparently even dented much.

Israel has serious problems with debt.

Mr. Sharon's desired influx of Jewish immigrants has not materialized.
Some of that is due to his own policies, one of the reasons I consider
him stupid. Had he wished to keep immigration high, he would
have done well to minimize violence.

The social fabric of Israel has been eroded.

The economy has also been seriously eroded. There are balance
of payments issues.

The effectiveness of the IDF as a military force has been seriously
eroded, and their are growing signs of disobedience.

Israel's primary patron, Uncle Sugar, is not having a good time in
Iraq, and there is an excellent chance that the long term result of
that will not enhance Israel's security. Wiser heads in the Jewish
community are starting to pick up on that danger.

That's enough for now. I can make the list longer. All of these
things occurred or were made worse on his watch. I have not even
mentioned the so-called demographic problem.

It is a mistake to confuse the suffering of the Palestinian people
with some sort of enhancement of Israel's security or well being. It
is not so. Israel would have been better off to treat them well.

The "Piece Wall" is intended to form a safe enclave behind which
these problems may be addressed. One of the effects of the suicide
bombings was to remove the illusion of safety behind the green line,
much like the effect that 9/11 had in this country. Sharon attempted
to address that through the use of force, operation defensive shield
or something like that, and that failed, expensively. The wall and
"unilateral separation" are a fallback position.

Sharon is a tactical thinker with an abiding faith in the use of
force, and a far as I can tell, few other ideas about how problems
might be solved.

Israel will, most likely, be able to continue to stonewall as long as
Uncle Sugar is willing to continue to pay the price. It won't be
pleasant, it won't be cheap, but nobody is going to compel them to
do differently by force. But then it is a truism that these sorts
of conflicts are tests of will. In any case, unless someone with a
clue is put in charge of the US government soon, time may soon run
out on that too, Uncle Sugar has his own versions of many of the same
problems I pointed out for Israel.

That's enough for now.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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