In the finest tradition of genuine street theatre and Mapai tactics, Israel has suddenly been pummeled without prior wailing warning sirens into a frenzied, no-holds barred, free-for-all demonic drama on the mundane topic of our very survival.
All communications media have been recruited and put on high alert, in order to work overtime convincing a skeptical and long-suffering Jewish people that a piece of paper is worth more than peace of mind;that land is now considered to be a frivolous commodity --vanity of vanities; that dictators may die but agreements, like diamonds, are forever; that a house can be relocated but good neighbors are better than good fences; and that whatever you learned in kindergarten is no longer viable.
The veil used so beguilingly during the election campaign to deceive with softness, and swindle an innocent wanting-to-believe public, has been lifted and exposed the genuine face openly declaring a total war for peace, and against those who might dare oppose life in Camelot. For those who didn't support Ehud Barak and his team, there is no comfort in the knowledge that they recognized the concealed face and voted for the alternative. For those who supported him, trusted him, and followed him blindly, including many well-meaning folk on the Golan Heights, the feeling of uncertainty and recognition of betrayal is surely an eye-opener.
As in any half-decent marriage, after thirty-two years of hard work, loyalty and commitment one expects to receive tenure. For the residents of the Golan and other concerned citizens, the news of negotiations and talk of returning the Golan Heights is equivalent to waking up one morning to the jarring news that your mate has decided to abandon you for something more alluring, leaving you to fend for yourself and wondering why you wasted your life nurturing a dream, following rainbows. Can it be that all you were taught to believe in, endeavored to achieve and instilled in your children, is no longer logical, reasonable or makes sense?
The Prime Minister/Defense Minister is a man who plays hard and likes to win. His victory in the last election over a charismatic incumbent makes a convincing argument for both his ability and determination. The relentless and aggressive assault on the intelligence of the Israeli public in order to convince, persuade, cajole, reason and win it over to vote yes on the Golan referendum is bound to reach unprecedented proportions.The purpose of the entire exercise may be just to keep the children busy playing war games with each other, while the big guys go about the business of making peace. And indeed we will be busy. Unto exhaustion, we will demonstrate, write articles, stop traffic, yell in the wind, wear t-shirts, print bumper stickers, argue with the neighbors, sign petitions, hang banners from our porches and flags from our cars, and do whatever one does in democracies when one feels strongly about something in order to express one's love for and commitment to our home, our land, our homeland.
For this exhibition of patriotism we will be maligned and abused, arrested and denigrated as obstacles to peace, myopic morons, far-right fringers, uneducable scum and worse. Throughout the entire negotiating period, we will not be given one single clue as to what is really going on there in the secret cigar-smoke filled room at Clinton's Hideaway.
Indeed, at a time that the Syrian Foreign Minister would not agree to shake hands --an ice-breaking device used in the West-- with the highest elected Israeli official invited to the party, the Israelis were already selling suitcases at the Golani Junction. That rejected handshake tells us something about who our negotiating partners are. It is also enlightening regarding the experience and acumen of our own negotiating team. Admittedly, it is also a source of sleepless nights fraught with worry as to the price we will be asked to pay for the controversial signature.
Ehud Barak is now being described by the political commentators as a brilliant statesman who, by his declaration that he would withdraw from Lebanon, brought the Syrians to the negotiating table. He is being touted as a subtle manipulator of the political environment who will bring stability and prosperity to his poor people, Israel. Anyone exposed to any form of Israeli media contact --radio, television, or newspaper--will be staggered by the demagogic manipulation and brain-washing being conducted on a captive audience. At one and the same time, we are being fed the impression that Ehud Barak is a tough and relentless negotiator, while incessantly being warned of the dire consequences should we not agree to "painful territorial concessions." Is Israel giving away too much, too quickly, with too little caution, too little thought, and too much fervor?
The media do not even raise that possibility. Like the Mad Cow Disease that affected European livestock not long ago, we too seem to have caught the fatal virus. We are a people gone mad bent on self-destruction. Perhaps the lack of rain has blocked our senses. The normal explanations simply do not cope with the phenomenon.
What do the Syrians want? I mean what do
they really want? What do they want the most? What do
they want to go home with in their party bag at the end of the
[(Continued on p.8)]
January 2000 - 7 - Outpost