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 Posted by Aron on February 17 2006 (Friday) : 05:02 PMI've been busy with a move to a new apartment and a new consulting position, so I haven't had much time to post. Also, reading the news is just too damn depressing. The article below from Doron Rosenbloom sums up the situation right to the point. Rosenbloom usually writes with quite a bit of sarcastic humor. Ominously, now all that is left is the bitter sarcasm, because there really is nothing left to laugh about. A lesson in humility By Doron Rosenblum Many here recently received a large measure of lessons in humility. A leader of imperial power, whose brain never ceased to feverishly invent plots and plans for acquiring even more power, was turned in seconds into a coma-ridden individual. The all-powerful emperor's son was convicted and thrown into jail; "rebels" who were drunk with power, and only yesterday kicked the leader who brought them 40 seats in the Knesset, are now crawling under tables picking up crumbs of power. Even the ghoulish smile of Naomi Blumenthal was erased for a moment showing us that something has changed in Israel after all. It seems that someone up there, whose patience has run out in the face of the ongoing aggregation of hubris, is trying to hint at something to us: not only to politicians as individuals, but also to Israel as a political and military entity. As usual, Israel once again finds itself gaping open-mouthed and helpless in the face of the political developments teetering as usual between the poles of "I'm warning you" and "gevald!" Only yesterday it smashed the PLO and turned up its nose at Abu Mazen, now it has been slapped in the face by Hamas; only the day before yesterday it conducted at will sonic booms over the Assad palace, and now it is wringing its hands over the Iranian-Syrian-Hamasi "existential threat" that embraces it from the northern border, from distant Iran, from Palestine in its ribs, and from Gaza in the south. Only last night Israel threatened the Palestinians with "ruthless disengagement," and now it is hit with a permanent rain of Qassam rockets. An outside observer might think that despite all its efforts, maneuvers and sacrifices in the past five years, the result, by any acceptable military or political parameter, is that Israel was in effect defeated in the intifada. Indeed, any comparison between our current situation and that six years ago should make our leaders especially the security experts and "consciousness searers" among them consider a little humility. After all, even if the terror on our streets has been reduced, it's anyone's guess what the scope of its renewal will be; and as the head of Military Intelligence told us just last week, strategically, Israel is now facing "existential danger." But a foreigner would not understand our "security concept." Israel believes that if any concept fails, it is testimony to just one thing we were not given the opportunity to continue that which led to the failure in the first place. Therefore, the rise of Hamas catapulted Israel to the three reactions that have become its permanent instinctive response: astonishment, threat and anger. The first and immediate emergency step was to writhe over the question: "Why wasn't there an intelligence alert?" (as if we had known in advance we would have known what to do!). The next step was to threaten to renew the lesson with which we have been torturing the Arabs for 100 years: "the assassinations will be renewed" that very same magic remedy that was ceased because of the strengthening of amas as a result of the assassinations. The siege will just be tightened a little more around the Palestinians, which caused extremism in the first place ("We have to make them get skinny, but not die" was how one of the prime minister's advisers put it). And yes, one more little thing, which the political and military reporters noted almost nonchalantly: there will be a third intifada. But don't worry, after the next round of war, we'll make Hamas offer a hudna. Of course, we could have reached one if we spoke with Hamas in the first place, but we won't talk to them right. Get it? Of course, it could all look different if Israel were to rise just another rung on the ladder of evolution, and adopt that peculiar means that the world calls "diplomacy." For us, that has been reduced in the last five years to trips by Dov Weissglas to Condoleezza Rice and the belief that "good atmosphere in the talks" meaning smiles and an absence of shouting and blows during meetings with world leaders despite our insistence on sticking to the status quo represent a political achievement on its own. In the big wide foolish world, they think that war is the continuation of diplomacy in other forms and vice versa; that victory means that you come out of war or a political struggle with your national interests somewhat improved. But for Israel, as in every sphere, there is an upgraded version. It is based entirely on quantity: a diplomatic achievement is measured by the number of national leaders our ministers meet, irrespective of the results of their conversations; a military victory is measured according to the number of victims on the other side compared to our number of victims. That's all. Maybe it sounds simplistic. But it guarantees that when things are down for us, the meter keeps ticking and time keeps working in our favor. At least statistically. < | >
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"Entre los individuos, como entre las naciones, el respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz -- Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace" -Benito Juárez
"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." -Eleanor Roosevelt "Let them call me a rebel and welcome. I feel no concern from it. But should I suffer the misery of devils, were I to make a whore of my soul" -Thomas Paine | |
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A lesson in humility
