The Obama administration wants the Palestinians and Israelis to negotiate for a period of one year, six months of which in the United States and then six months in our region, with any resulting agreement to be implemented over a period of ten years, after which the independent Palestinian state would be established. Many readers must no doubt be aware of the story of the King's donkey, an old fable similar to the myths of the Torah's kingdoms. A king in ancient times wanted to teach his donkey how to talk. If the teacher succeeded he would become the king's first vizier, but if he fails he would be beheaded. Many tried and failed and were thus beheaded, and the people became afraid. Finally, the wisest man in the country came and said to the king that he can teach the donkey to talk, read and write as well. However, he said that the task is extremely difficult, and hence he would need ten years to come to this great achievement. The king accepted the offer, but the people feared for the wise man and asked him why he would undertake this knowing he will inevitably fail. The wise man said: In ten years, the king will die, I will die, or the donkey will die. In ten years we will have died, or gotten so old we will have forgotten our names. Also according to the news, Benjamin Netanyahu wants to hold a bilateral meeting with Mahmoud Abbas every two weeks. But what will Netanyahu tell him in this meeting? Will he recount his experience in terrorism and how he participated in the destruction of civilian aircraft at Beirut airport in 1968? Or about how he planned with Meir Dagan to murder Mahmoud Mabhouh in Dubai a few months ago? Or maybe he will tell him about his wives, ending with Sarah, his third, between this and that? He might also tell him about how he destroyed the peace process in his first term as Prime Minister between 1996 and 1999, or how he turned the Gaza Strip into an open-air Nazi concentration camp. As I said yesterday, on the issue of the peace process, Israel's crimes and the complicity of both the east and the west, I am not practicing journalism, but self-flagellation. I sometimes feel that I have gone mad, or that the world has gone mad. Although the crime is obvious and clear, and the killer is known as much as his victims, we still hear strange things. For instance, the' bald' William Hague, Britain's Foreign Secretary, issued a statement on the 25th of June in which he said, “Today marks the fourth anniversary of the abduction of the Israeli soldier, Staff Sergeant Gilad Shalit. My thoughts are with Gilad's parents today. I sincerely hope they will soon be able to welcome their son home.” I address Hague in my capacity as a British citizen who votes for the Conservative candidate in the district of Chelsea (where I live) and who has been paying the highest tax rate for individuals for a quarter century. I noticed that his friend, who denied having engaged in homosexuality with Hague after they both slept together in the same hotel room, is called Chris Myers; this begs the following question: Is this that reminded Hague of Shalit especially after he appointed his friend as his aide in the ministry? I can say with outmost objectivity that if I wanted, I could curse the Secretary as I am in a democratic country. However, I will not do so out of respect for the readers, but not for him. The thoughts of the Secretary, who failed in leading the Conservative Party, lost the elections, and then returned as a minister, are with the captive Israeli soldier. Generous thoughts, it seems, because on the 25th of August, the British Foreign Office issued another statement to mark Shalit's 24th birthday which said, “The thoughts of many in Britain are with Gilad Shalit and his family as he spends his 24th birthday in captivity. His detention is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The British Government demands his immediate and unconditional release”. Who wrote this statement and the previous one? The Board of Deputies of British Jews, a pro-Israel lobby – i.e. the fifth column? There are ten thousand Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. Why doesn't William Hague issue a statement calling for their release? Does he not notice the racism, if not Nazism, in his stance as he calls for the release of one prisoner and overlooks the ten thousand prisoners on the other side, some of whom having been in prison for ten, twenty years or more? Once again, I wish I wrote in English in an English-language newspaper so I can curse the Secretary as I have the right to do so. However, I write in an Arab newspaper, and our traditions are the only thing we have left. As I write, the Americans are saying that the killing of four Israelis in the West Bank must not impede the negotiations. But why should it? There is a Palestinian killed every day. Since 29/9/2000, five thousand Palestinians were killed, including around one thousand minors who are less than fifteen years old, compared to 500 Israelis killed, including 84 minors. Have the Americans and the British heard of these figures? They are available thanks to B'Tselem, or the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. There are racist extremists in power in Israel, to the extent that Israeli peace seekers have become irritated by them. I will not go back to history or even to a week ago: With the start of the negotiations, we read that Israeli artists refused to perform in a settlement and that Israeli female soldiers protest the mistreatment of Palestinians. It is these people that we can make peace with. [email protected]
