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torsdag 15 januari 2009

A Music School Silenced in Gaza / Alhmbra nyhetsbrev 15 jan 09

I detta brev
* Demonstrera lördagen den 17 januari.
* A Music School Silenced in Gaza, by Nadia Hijab
* A Letter to Noora, by Adrian Grima
* Israel has managed to lose again, by Gilad Atzmon
* Gaza is dying, Avaaz
* Let Gaza live, by Cynthia McKinney
* Ett brev till Alf Svensson, av José Luis Ramírez



















"När [Olmert] märkte att han blivit lurad av stjärntydarna blev han ursinnig, och han lät döda alla gossar i [Gaza] och dess omnejd som var två år eller därunder." Ur en framtida version av Matt. 2:16

PROTESTERA MOT ISRAELS ÖVERGREPP MOT GAZA
DEMONSTRATIONER LÖRDAGEN DEN 17 JANUARI


GÖTEBORG
Demonstration Lördagen 17 januari / Samling Götaplatsen kl. 14.00
Avmarsch till Gustav Adolfs Torg
Arr: Gazakommitten

HELSINGBORG
Samling lördagen den 17 januari kl 14 på Gustav Adolfs torg
för ett demonstrationståg till Stortorget och Terrasstrapporna.
Varje dag en stående manifestation kl 17 på Gustav Adolfs torg.
På Stadsbiblioteket pågår en utställning om Palestina
från och med 13/1 till och med 23/1.

LULEÅ
Demonstration "Stoppa massakern i Gaza".
Lördag 17/1 och 24/1.
Samling kl 12.30 utanför Strand, Storgatan.
Arr: Nätverket Gaza Solidaritet i Luleå

MALMÖ
Demonstration för Gaza / Lördag 17/1
Samling kl 14 Gustav Adolfs torg

STOCKHOLM
Demonstration på lördag 17/1 kl. 13 från Humlegården.

UPPSALA
Samling kl. 12.30 Slottsbacken
Avmarsch kl. 13.00 till Stora torget
- Stoppa folkmordet i Gaza!
- Rädda barnen i Gaza!
- Över 1000 mördade och 4500 sårade!
- Över hälften av dem är barn och kvinnor!
Arr: Palestinska Folkets Föreningen


A Music School Silenced in Gaza



















There was a music school in Gaza. It was just six months old. The 31 children aged
seven to 11 could choose one of five instruments, including the guitar, oud (lute), and
piano. Most of the 19 girls gravitated to the guitar and piano while many of the 12
boys showed a preference for the oud.

The school worked out of rented premises in the Palestinian Red Crescent Society
building just across the street from the Preventive Security Forces compound in Gaza
City. The compound was targeted in the first wave of Israeli bombardments on
December 27, and twice more the next day. The five-story building was vaporized; a
flat gravel surface is all that remains.

Like other buildings in the neighbourhood, the Gaza Music School was shattered;
window frames and doors were blown out, and holes were punched in the walls. The
force of the blast imploded the four ouds, just like it had the compound.

By some miracle, the children had not yet arrived for their lessons and so were spared
the fate of those in other schools in the path of Israeli bombs.
In the midst of all the death and destruction in Gaza, the school's short life rouses
particular emotion. That there was such a school at all is astonishing, not just because
of the 18 month siege that followed the decades of "de-development" of Gaza under
Israeli occupation but also because one might expect it to be contrary to an Islamist
social program.

There is almost no musical education in Gaza. The school project was developed in
response to community demand, particularly from among the 11,600 children who are
members of the Qattan Center for the Child. The Center provides extra-curricular
activities and a library for the children. It is impressive: With its 103,000 books, it is
one of the largest children's libraries in the Arab world.

The children who attended the Center's music workshops and concerts started asking
for more. "They said, 'We want to play instruments too,'" explained Ziad Khalaf, the
Ramallah-based director of the Qattan Foundation, which established the school with
co-funding from the Swedish development organization SIDA.

The school provided a window on another world for the besieged Gazans. "Many
parents sat in on the theory lessons so they could better support their kids'
homework," said Khalaf.

The five music teachers include two Russian women married to Palestinian men.
They refused to leave Gaza when the border was briefly opened to enable foreigners
to flee. For them, Gaza with all its misery and deprivation is still home, just as it is for
the 1.5 million other Palestinians living there.

And what about Hamas' supposed social rigidity? Some websites did take a strong
line against musical education, complaining that Hamas was allowing music to be
taught under its rule instead of the Sharia. But they were ignored. Khalaf emphasizes
that the Foundation has experienced full support from all authorities and communities
in its different places of operation.

The day after the music school was hit, its coordinator called each of the children and
their parents to make sure they were safe, and also to assure them that the school
would be repaired, restocked, and reopened as soon as possible.
In Ramallah, the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music is planning a
fundraiser soon to help rebuild the school. "Some friends from Amsterdam and
London who saw the damage to Gaza music school on the Foundation's website said
they will be fundraising to help," Khalaf said.

These plans, too, arouse emotion: Palestinians rebuild even as the rubble rises around
them. They have had 60 years to learn how to do so, and show no signs of giving up
their quest for their rights -- not even the right to learn how to play a musical
instrument.
Nadia Hijab
(14/01/2009)

Published by Agence Global and distributed by the Institute for Palestine Studies
The Institute has produced authoritative studies on Palestinian affairs and the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1963. Its
flagship Journal of Palestine Studies is published by the University of California Press.
Email contact palestinestudies@mail.democracyinaction.org




Haaretz reported today that IDF Senior officials "believe that Israel should strive to reach an immediate cease-fire with Hamas, and not expand its offensive against the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza."

This shouldn't take us by great surprise. Though Israel has proved beyond doubt that it is rather capable of conducting large-scale genocide, it also proved that its military forces do not have the answer to Islamic resistance. The Israeli chief military officials admitted as well that "Israel achieved several days ago all that it possibly could in Gaza." The IDF, so it seems, finished its role in Gaza. It turned its neighbourhoods into piles of rubble. Relentlessly, it even murdered the civilian population in broad daylight by means of air raids and attacks from warships. Images of white phosphorus artillery shells bursting over schools and hospitals are now part of our collective memory. Tanks firing into schools loaded with evacuees seeking refuge from the bombing of their buildings is now the image associated with the Hebraic soldier and yet, the Israelis failed to achieve any of their objectives. I must admit that it must take a special talent to be an Israeli general. As much as they are good in committing war crimes, they somehow fail in everything else.

The Israeli politicians initially swore to destroy Hamas, they then lowered their expectations, they promised just to destroy Hamas' rocket launching capabilities, all the while reassuring their excited Israeli voters that this time the Jewish State will fight till the bitter end. Seemingly, their promises fell too short once again.

Hamas is still there; its support within the Palestinian street is stronger than ever. But it is not only the Palestinian street. Hamas' message of defiance is spreading all over the Muslim world and beyond. Last week I was marching in London together with another 100,000 protesters. The support for Hamas was all around. It was on placards, flags, headbands and loudspeakers. Not only is Hamas far from being defeated, its rocket launching capability seems to be unaffected. Day after day Hamas combatants manage to remind Israelis in Ashdod, Ashkelon and Sderot that they actually live on stolen Palestinian land. Give Hamas the necessary time and the ballistic message will be carried to every corner of stolen Palestine.

Israel is desperate for an exit strategy. I learned today that Defence Minister Barak is looking for a week long humanitarian ceasefire. Please do not hold your breath, the notorious mass murderer didn't change his spots all of a sudden. Being a veteran general, Barak realises very well that his soldiers on the ground need a break and they need it now. Being that they are gathered together in a few scattered open areas, they are currently exposed to Hamas' snipers and mortar fire. In the last few days, Israeli forces started to suffer a growing number of causalities. The attempt to step up the battle into Gaza's neighbourhood met with some severe resistance. The Israeli army is stuck once again.

If this is not enough, within a few days Obama is going to reside in the White House and the Israelis are not totally convinced that the new American president will blindly support their murderous strategy. Defence Minister Barak realizes that his window of opportunity might be closing down. He realises that IDF soldiers may have to dig in Gaza city outskirts without achieving any of the war's military objectives. Barak needs a few days of ceasefire to create a new reality on the ground. He obviously prefers to hide behind a humanitarian effort. This is far easier than admitting that once again the IDF was caught unprepared. Olmert aids, however were stupid enough to admit the lie. Apparently one of them slammed Barak earlier on today suggesting that "Hamas sees the scenes and hears the voices, these comments are a shot in the arm for Hamas and its leaders."

As things stand, IDF soldiers are now stranded in Gaza. Don't misinterpret me, they are still capable of spreading death and inflicting carnage, yet they cannot win this war. The IAF ran out of ˜military" targets a week ago and the artillery is probably facing the same situation. As news floods in it becomes evident that once Israeli soldiers leave their armoured vehicles and Merkava tanks they are subject to the mercy of Hamas. I have read today on Ynet that some IDF soldiers reported that they "don't really see the enemy", "we get hit and we do not know by who and how."

As things stand, Hamas is becoming a symbol of heroic persistence. Its combatants on the ground fight almost with bare hands against America's most lethal technology. Similarly, Hamas'political leadership has managed to set itself as the key to any possible resolution of the current conflict. The hope that Hamas would be toppled or discredited proved to be just another Jewish wet dream. Hamas is now becoming a widely accepted entity by the international community. It is regarded as an elementary ingredient in any possible solution. Israel, on the other hand, is seen for what it is for real, a murderous criminal state involved in genocidal war crimes of the worst order.

However, there is a new reality that we have to bear in mind. The damage Israel is leaving behind in Gaza is horrific. It has flattened neighbourhoods, it has spread white phosphorus in populated areas. As if this is not enough, the many tons of bunker buster bombs which Israel was using day and night have shaken the foundations of every building in Gaza and the question looms large as to whether Gazan houses that are still standing will be safe to live in. EU officials raised the question today wondering who is going to pay for the reconstruction of these eradicated towns, camps and villages.

In an ideal ethical world, Israel would have let the Gazans go back to their land. But ethics and Israel are very much like parallel lines. They somehow never meet. As much as it is clear that Palestinians will come back to their land, it won't be Israel that that will welcome the inevitable returning Palestinians.

Someone will have to rebuild Gaza, and the only name that comes to mind is the democratically elected Hamas. Such a huge project maintained by Hamas will be the right answer to Israel's criminal war and its murderous objectives.

Hej Hesham!

För två år sedan publicerade jag en presentation av Albert Montagu och hans
memorandum översatt till svenska på Folket i Bilds hemsida.
Du får gärna ge en länk till artikeln i ditt nyhetsbrev.
http://web.fib.se/visa_kors_info.asp?DocumentId=91&Avdelning=016&Meny=002

Hälsningar
Henrik Linde

They come out from under the table, gather
a few clothes, a few extra oranges, carry
their boy with the headless bear in his hand, leave
toward the shelter of their hut in the field, are wounded
by the burning fragments of glass
exploded from the dead mosque.
She comes out of the cotton-like smoke, her
husband’s silence echoing behind her veil, covered
in dust turning soft and green, the blood
of her son burns on the cold of the sheet,
with no strength to cry, nor to open his mouth
in the overflowing corridor of the hospital.
Such a waste of time, such a waste of life,
such a waste of pity relentlessly postponed,
from the open skies, from the breadth of the bay
bombs of lead from a long-threaded lottery,
a futile battle where revenge awaits not:
smoke in smoke, stains upon stains.
Antoine Cassar
Translation from the Maltese by the author.

Dear friends,

Spread the word - as the awful Gaza death toll passes 1000, our Ceasefire Now petition is being delivered worldwide through ads, phone calls, and meetings with world leaders. We urgently need to reach 1 million signatures this week, act now and forward this email:

Gaza is dying -- the battle has moved deep into its cities, jam-packed with 1.5 million civilians lacking food, medicine or water. President Bush undermined Thursday's United Nations ceasefire resolution and over 1000 people are now dead. The borders remain closed -- journalists can't get in, and desperate civilians can't get out.

But the global movement to end this war is building -- as we spread the word the petition is at 430,000 signatures and rising, it has been delivered to top leaders at the EU, UN and Arab League, our US members are flooding their representatives with phone calls, and Avaaz members worldwide have donated over $120,000 to an ad campaign in key newspapers.

The pressure is working -- so we're ratcheting it up with hard-hitting US ads pressing Barack Obama personally for an immediate change of tack, face-to-face petition deliveries to European leaders this week to get them to act, and working with Palestinians and Israelis to plan bold actions on the ground. But every one of these actions becomes stronger as more of us join the campaign. We need to reach 1 million signatures this week -- thank you for signing the petition already, let's all of us now take a moment to forward this email to all our friends and family so they can join us and be heard:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace

Voices for a ceasefire are finally being heard in the Israeli cabinet and media, Hamas is signalling it could accept a deal including Turkish forces and EU monitors, but the sides are too far apart to end this themselves.[3] That's why action by world powers is critical to break the deadlock -- and global citizens' voices can make all the difference if we raise an unstoppable voice calling on incoming President Obama, the EU and Arab and Muslim states to guarantee a fair and lasting ceasefire.

This week we are lobbying European and Muslim states for a more effective international initiative to end the violence, protect civilians on all sides and make normal life possible again in Gaza, while reaching out to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who is in the Middle East working for a deal (we met him last year to deliver our food crisis campaign). Meanwhile we're challenging contacts on both sides to think creatively and accept a fair, internationally-overseen agreement.

We've already run member-funded ads in the influential Washington Post and Roll Call, the US Congress newspaper -- on the day of his inauguration this coming Tuesday, we will press Barack Obama to abandon Bush's failed policies and act immediately to end this war, using his own words alongside hard facts to make the case in ads, US media debates and directly lobbying his team.

It's amazing what we can do when hundreds of thousands of us come together arond the world -- and if we raise our efforts to another level this week, we could help to finally end the Gaza horror. Follow the link below to take the first step by signing the petition, then spread the word so others can do the same:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace

With hope and determination,

Paul, Graziela, Alice, Ricken, Luis, Brett, Ben, Iain, Paula, Veronique, Milena and the whole Avaaz team

P.S. For a report on some of Avaaz's other campaigns so far, see: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2

Sources:

1. "White House behind US volte-face on ceasefire call":
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/09/gaza-us-security-council-abstention

"Israeli PM Ehud Olmert claims to be able to order Bush around":
http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/israeli-pm-ehud-olmert-claims-to-be.html

2. Washington Post: Israelis Push to Edge of Gaza City:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011100616.html

3. Haaretz, "Olmert ignoring calls from Barak, Livni for immediate Gaza truce":
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1055214.html

Other Voice - Sderot and Gaza residents calling for a ceasefire:
http://www.othervoice.org/welcome-eng.htm

On Hamas acceptance of a Turkish force, first reported in the Arabic Al-Hayat newspaper, see:
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/10771766.asp?scr=1

"Gaza bloodshed continues despite UN calls for ceasefire", 9 January 2009:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/09/gaza-fighting-un-ceasefire

"Reigniting Violence: How Do Ceasefires End?" (6 January 2009) is a statistical analysis by an MIT professor, based on Israel's own data for rocket fire (which it shows stopped for four months) and on which side struck first. It provides useful factual background for how the Israel-Hamas truce effectively collapsed in November well before it expired (facts poorly reflected in some news reporting):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kanwisher/reigniting-violence-how-d_b_155611.html

International Crisis Group's Ending the War in Gaza report (5 January 2009):
http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5838&l=1

This Rasmussen Reports poll from the US is of interest: Only 31% of Democrats support offensive, most prefer a diplomatic solution:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/americans_closely_divided_over_israel_s_gaza_attacks

"Gaza: outlines of an endgame", Ghassan Khatib (6 January 2009)
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/gaza-outlines-of-an-endgame

Jerusalem Post: "Israel must get out of Gaza now", 8 January 2009: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231167305710&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull

Reuters: "Hamas seeks truce but says lifting siege a must" (5 January 2009) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L5111105.htm

The US Army War College has just released a substantial report supporting the view that Hamas can and must be brought into negotiations and is capable of sustaining a long-term truce, or even peace with Israel. Linked via:
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/node/10703

The inside story of the civil strife between Fatah and Hamas and the Bush administration's involvement in this debacle is best-told in The Gaza Bombshell, an investigative article published in the leading US magazine Vanity Fair in April 2008:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804

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Today I participated in ANSWER's march and rally, "Let Gaza Live" in Washington, D.C. Attendance was excellent despite the weather. Among the many friends in attendance, I met a young man and his daughter who had come all the way from Greensboro, North Carolina to participate. The crowd was one of the most diverse that I have ever seen. I think our message is reaching deep into our country's heartland. Here are my remarks:

Cynthia McKinney
"Let Gaza Live"
Washington, D.C.
January 10, 2009

We don't see the images. They are neatly censored from our view in this country. But everywhere else around the world the carnage that is Gaza is being seen and the people are revolted by what they see.

They see dead babies, decapitated bodies, defenseless relief workers killed. Maimed men, makeshift morgues, mortified mothers.

They see exploding white phosphorus shells, cluster bombs, depleted uranium munitions.

They see what is reportedly the world's fourth most powerful military using all of its power against a defenseless people.

In fact, they are witnesses to 15 days of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.

They see Hugo Chavez expel Venezuela's Israeli Ambassador and they see lawmakers in Ecuador condemn Israel's actions, calling for an investigation into Israel's crimes against humanity.

And despite the obvious facts of an Israeli-sponsored terror campaign against Palestinians in Gaza, a piece of territory roughly twice the size of the District of Columbia, they see the U.S. Congress support a resolution totally supporting Israel, even though Israel is in violation of U.S. and international law.

They see Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, swaggering in insult to black America by initially refusing to seat Roland Burris from Illinois in the Senate, yet that same Reid cowers before the pro-Israel lobby, and they wonder why.

And sadly, they see the U.S. President-elect, who roared onto the scene like a lion, remain as quiet as a lamb in the face of the utter inhumanity of Israel's actions, and they wonder why.

And then, they see us. Gathered here in front of the White House, reaffirming our own humanity, and that of millions of people around the world, including in Israel, who disagree with this death and destruction. The tears of the Palestinians roll down our cheeks, even as we bury our own victims of police murder.

A new day is coming in U.S. politics. We will use the power of our vote to change U.S. policy. We will no longer check our values at the door and support politicians and political parties that fail to deliver.

Not one more bomb to Israel.

In defense of humanity, we will not give up and we will win.



Bäste Alf Svensson,

Det är viktigt att vi pensionärer inte diskrimineras i samhället och får spela en värdig roll. Problemet är att man ibland blir så avtrubbad att man inte förstår själv att det är tid att dra sig tillbaka från en post.

Jag har i alla år betraktat dig som en hygglig och klok person. Dina senaste uttalanden får mig att undra om du inte har tappat en skruv på väg till graven, som väntar oss alla (särskilt till ålder komna som dig och mig)..

Först skriver du en artikel med titeln ”Dumhetens apostlar griper in”. Rubriken är du förmodligen oskyldig till. Jag känner igen massmediemanipulationen med rubriker, sedan jag var politiskt förtroendevald och offentlig ansvarig. Men uttrycket ”dumhetens fundamentalister” (som du benämner andra) är ditt eget. Du borde kasta bort ansiktet, inte spegeln, som ett spanskt uttryckssätt säger. Hoppas att jag ”kan (tillräckligt) svenska för att göra mig förstådd”, såsom du önskar i din artikel i SvD.

Att kursavslutningen i kyrkan skulle ha med uppgiften att ”bibringa elever kunskap om den kulturhistoria och den tradition som är deras” verkar minst sagt lite enögt och överdrivet. Du låter som Sverigedemokraterna som tjatar om Sveriges kultur på ett sätt som borde innebära att gå tillbaka till forntidsguden Thor och vikingatiden. Varken dem eller du själv tycks ha förstått att kultur och kulturhistoria är en resa, inte enstaka hållplatser.

Jag uppskattar ditt intresse för att förse ungdomar med kulturens och traditionens språk, i stället för att beröva dem det. Du är välkommen till min klubb. Efter så många år i politiken borde du ha lagt märke till den kulturhistoriska lobotomin som råder i detta land. Vet du varifrån Europas renässans, vår vetenskap, vår medicin, vår teknik, självaste rationalismen, ja t o m namnet Europa kommer? I svenska historieböcker ägnas bara några rader åt en viktig del av vår medeltidshistoria, denna mörka, okunniga tid som omfattar 1000 år. Vi är så stolta över vår europeiska kultur att vi glömmer dess drygt tretusenåriga rötter och att allting kom från en Medelhavskultur som utvecklades i praktiskt kunnande och förmedlades av de arabiserade kulturfolken som bar högkulturen kring Medelhavet mellan 500 och 1200-talet. Vi lever idag i ett samhälle där barn från olika härstamningar i all större utsträckning riskerar att bli helt historielösa, i ännu större grad än din egen generation. Vad har du gjort som partiledare för att förbättra skolplanerna därvidlag, du som är så angelägen om god kulturförståelse?

Ni har drivit på tjafset om det som särskiljer, dvs religion, och blundat för det som historiskt förenar kulturerna. Att påstå att kursavslutningar i kyrkan -- ofta manipulerade av präster från det ena hållet (inga katoliker, inga judar, inga muslimer, inga andra livsåskådningar) -- är det som främjar kulturförståelse verkar oförskämt och kränkande för att komma från en framstående och retorikberömd politisk förtroendevald.

Men min förargade förvåning över dina övertramp stannar inte där. För ett par dagar sedan höll du ett försvarstal i radion för Israels pågående krig i Gaza. Att en framstående politiker, som betecknar sig som kristdemokrat gav uttryck åt dessa åsikter, det var förfärligt. Du menar att det är rätt att ge sig på befolkningen i Gaza och ta död på hundratal oskyldiga barn och civila och hålla dem fängslade i ett landsfängelse, berövade rörelsemöjligheter och normala levnadsvillkor, för att därmed hämnas på att Hamas slagit ihjäl ett tiotal israeler, inte sant? Är detta förenligt med din kristna tro? Är det detta som Jesus Kristus och nya testamentet lärt dig? Fy skäms Alf Svensson. Jag kommer att sedermera kalla dig Alf Skämsson.

Jag trodde att kristet beteende borde eftersträva klokhet och att klokheten innebar förståelse och inte solidaritet med den som begår övervåld. Den moral som du uppvisar borde ligga till grund för uppfattningen att en förälder har rätt att klappa till sitt barn, när det begår oacceptabla handlingar. Du kanske skulle också tycka att de efterlevande till offren för senaste årens begångna vidriga mord (Umeå, Dalarna, Arboga, etc) har rätt att slå ihjäl gärningsmännen. Ja, du kanske – i konsekvensens namn -- skulle börja motionera i riksdagen för återinförande av dödsstraffet, eftersom de människor som begått dessa mord inte borde ha rätt att leva och kosta oss skattepengar. Vi har avskaffad dödsstraffet (t o m i krigstid, jag var själv motionär till detta), men dödsstraff är faktiskt lättare, inte svårare att försvara än det du försvarar i Palestina.

Nåja. Du tycker nog att jag överdriver och att dömda, straffade mördare inte kan fortsätta mörda (vilket är bara en hypotes). Men överdriver inte du när du anser att en regering som besitter makt och avancerade vapen får bära sig åt hur som helst mot en befolkning, därför att en grupp i denna befolkning retar dem med enstaka mord? Låt oss bortse från hela historien om hur det hela började och varför Hamas tog till vapen. Tycker du att det är överensstämmande med folkrätten att bete sig såsom Israels regering gör? Är principen att ge igen och dessutom med råge något som en kristdemokrat kan stå för. Det vore bra att få klarhet om detta inför nästkommande val.

Du har varit i Israel många gånger. Det är kanske vänskapskorruption som får dig att se mellan fingrarna. Om man sedan vet att den nuvarande israeliske regeringschefen startat detta krig som en led i valkampanjen samt att han gjort det innan den utsedda presidenten i USA kunde agera, då är Israels och din cynism ofantliga, käre Skämsson.

Man kan kanske cyniskt säga att det är bra om den israeliska vänstern blir populär genom detta krig, så att Benjamin Netanyahu inte vinner valet, vilket skulle göra situationen ännu värre. Det kanske är sådana undflyende resonemang som hjälper dig att försvara ditt samvete. Att konflikten mellan Israel och Hamas inte är lätt att lösa vet vi. Att Israel med sitt senaste agerande kommer att sitta än mer fast i konflikten, det är något som vem som helst i sina fulla sinnen kan räkna ut. Jag beskyller dig inte för att inte veta hur denna konflikt ska lösas, även om du sitter i utrikesutskottet. I den situation som du befinner dig i vore det dock klokare att hålla käften än att gå ut med senila uttalanden. Tycker du inte det?

Med det ställningstagande som du nu visat och med dina okloka uttalanden på senare tid, vore det önskvärt om du lämnade dina politiska uppdrag och ägnade dig åt bön. Du kanske kan få din Gud att stoppa kriget och få till stånd ett fredsavtal innan någon israelisk terrorist slår ihjäl sin egen president, såsom det blev med Yitzhak Rabin under pågående Osloförhandlingar.

Än en gång: du ska inte tolka mina kommentarer som något agg mot dig. I flera år har jag uppfattat dig som en klok person och känt sympati för dig. Nu har allt krackelerat.

Tillgivne

José Luis Ramírez