April 19, 2002 – 11:47 am
Today, 19 April 2002, is the 59th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by the Jews in Nazi occupied Poland. If I were to be a Jew today, I would be deeply ashamed of how history has repeated itself on the eve of this anniversary.
The irony is simply too incredible to ignore: A totally isolated and starving civilian population confined in a dreadful ghetto with endless curfews. An oppressed and wronged people with little hope of salvation. An expansionist enemy with an elected sadist at its helm who blames the subjugated victims for their miserable predicament. A desperate uprising that knows it has no chances of military victory, but a resistance movement that is nevertheless determined to die fighting. A long and suffocating military siege, followed by a relentless and indiscriminate onslaught. A bloodbath, heroic martyrdom, a crushed uprising, but the inevitable and unstoppable rebirth of a people. Read More »
December 13, 2001 – 11:49 am
Never did I yearn to have the drawing talent of a satirical cartoonist more than these days as words can hardly do justice to the tragic black comedy the Arab-Israeli conflict has become.
The picture I want to draw today is of a mad circus with Sharon running a bizarre show of trained animals. In this number, Sharon, with his long hovering whip, orders Arafat to run after members of Hamas while sadistically preventing him from doing so by tying his feet together. When Arafat starts to run and falls down, more lashes come his way for failing to obey the orders to chase after Hamas. Of course, the whole spectacle has nothing to do with Hamas. The joke is being played on the ageing and helpless Arafat to humiliate and paralyse him.
Or maybe the setting would be in a bull ring with Sharon, the over-sized matador, teasing Arafat, the obliging bull, with Hamas as the muleta (red cloth). When the bull with the poisoned spears dangling from his spine is dared to aim for the muleta, the matador swiftly pulls it away to the cheers of the intoxicated crowds. The elusive red cloth was never the point, you see. The plan all along was to slowly exhaust the big fat bull until the matador could easily aim for the kill. Read More »
March 30, 2001 – 11:52 am
I was watching an episode of “Diplomatic License” on CNN the other Sunday. It was hosting one of those supposedly fair and evenhanded discussions on the Palestinian Uprising (the “intifadah”).
Of course, each side was represented: on the right corner, you had the two debating champs representing the Israeli point of view, one of whom is the editor of one of the leading “current affairs” magazines in the US, and the other the head of one of the myriad Israeli lobbies. And for the Palestinian side, you had two protagonists (how admirably neutral of CNN): one was a spokesman for an Islamic organization that is as famous in the United States as the author of this article, and another who heads a Jerusalem Studies Centre that must have been established on the day on which “Diplomatic License” was recorded! And so the debate raged on and on.
Richard Roth, the program’s presenter and debate arbitrator par excellence, presided over the proceedings and portrayed an image of utmost impartiality. Equal time was given to each side to air its views, Richard acted graciously, both sides raised their issues, and the program concluded with a quote from Kofi Annan’s speech before the recent Arab Summit in Amman. Kofi Annan, god bless him, was of course a picture of justice and righteousness. His quote had something for both sides – yes, the Arabs had every right to be miffed by the continued occupation of Palestinian territories, but Israelis had a right to worry for their security.
On the other side of the world, on the same day, Slobodan Milosevic was being arrested. Read More »
