Uri Avnery peace activist, journalist, writer. He was a founding member of Gush Shalom (peace bloc), an independent peace movement, a former publisher and editor-in-chief of Haolam Hazeh news magazine. Avnery is also a former member of the Knesset and a founding member of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
Website: http://zope.gush-shalom.org/index_en.html
by Uri Avnery
When you have a conflict between two parties, the way to solve it is clear: you put them in the same room, let them thrash out their differences and emerge with a reasonable solution acceptable to both.
For example, a conflict between a wolf and a lamb. Put them in the same room, let them thrash out their differences and emerge with…
Just a moment. The wolf emerges. Now where's that lamb?
by Uri Avnery
Let me come back to the story about Zhou Enlai, the Chinese Communist leader. When asked what he thought about the French Revolution, he famously answered: “It’s too early to say.” This was considered a typical piece of ancient Chinese wisdom — until somebody pointed out that Zhou did not mean the revolution of 1789, but the events of May 1968, which happened not long before the interview in question.
Even now it may be too early to judge that upheaval, when students tore up the cobblestones of Paris, confronted the brutal police and proclaimed a new era. It was an early forerunner of what is happening today all over the world.
by Uri Avnery
During the Spanish civil war of 1936, a news story reported the deaths of 82 Moroccans, 53 Italians, 48 Russians, 34 Germans, 17 Englishmen, 13 Americans and 8 Frenchmen. Also one Spaniard.
“Serves him right,” people in Madrid commented, “Why did he interfere?” Similar things could now be said about the civil war in Syria.
by Uri Avnery
Last Sunday, on the eve of Israel’s Remembrance Day for the fallen in our wars, I was invited to an event organized by the activist group Combatants for Peace and the Forum of Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Parents. It was a moving experience, filled with moments that spoke not only to the mind, but also – and foremost – to the heart.
by Uri Avnery
“Around us the storm is raging / But our head will not be bowed…” we sang when we were young, before the State of Israel was born. On the eve of Israel’s 65th birthday, this coming Monday, we could sing this rousing song again. And not just out of nostalgia.
by Uri Avnery
It was a day of joy. Joy for the Palestinian people
Joy for all those who hope for peace between Israel and the Arab world. And, in a modest way, for me personally.
The General Assembly of the United Nations, the highest world forum, has voted overwhelmingly for the recognition of the State of Palestine, though in a limited way.
by Uri Avnery
The mantra of this round was Once And For All.
“We must put an end to this (the rockets, Hamas, the Palestinians, the Arabs?) Once and For All!” – this cry from the heart was heard dozens of times daily on TV from the harassed inhabitants of Israel’s battered towns and villages in the South.
It has displaced the slogan which dominated several decades: “Bang And Finish!”
It did not quite work.
by Uri Avnery
How did it start? Stupid question.
Conflagrations along the Gaza Strip don’t start. They are just a continuous chain of events, each claimed to be in “retaliation” for the previous one. Action is followed by reaction, which is followed by retaliation, which is followed by…
by Uri Avnery
Binyamin Netanyahu and his patron, Sheldon Adelson, bet on Mitt Romney, with the State of Israel as their chip.
They lost. For Adelson, the betting tycoon, that doesn’t amount to much. Some you win, some you lose.
For Netanyahu, it’s a different matter altogether.
by Uri Avnery
Once upon a time, President Richard Nixon wanted to appoint a certain lawyer to the US Supreme Court.
“But the man is a complete moron!” one senator exclaimed.
“So what,” answered another, “There are a great many morons in the US, and they have a right to be represented in the court as much as any other sector of society.”
Perhaps the United Morons of America have a right to elect Mitt Romney president. But for the sake of the US and Israel, I hope that this will not happen.
