Very saddened to learn this morning that Uri Avnery has died at 94. His weekly column which I read religiously — no, that’s the wrong word, though “irreligiously” won’t do either — as soon as his email appeared in my inbox, & which I often reposted on this blog, was one of the most insightful, intelligent, knowledgeable, and sanest analyses of the Israel/Palestine situation I knew of. He … Read more Uri Avnery (1923-2018)
[PJ: & this applies just as well to the US than to Israel/Gaza] June 9, 2018 IT’S FRIGHTENING. Unprincipled psychologists, in the service of a malignant regime, use sophisticated techniques in order to control the mind of a person from afar. The term “brainwashing” was born in 1950. It is a Chinese word (“xinao”, literally wash brain). Originally it served to describe a technique used – so it was … Read more Uri Avnery: Are You Brainwashed?
May 19, 2018 ON BLOODY MONDAY this week, when the number of Palestinian killed and wounded was rising by the hour, I asked myself: what would I have done if I had been a youngster of 15 in the Gaza Strip? My answer was, without hesitation: I would have stood near the border fence and demonstrated, risking my life and limbs every minute. How am I so sure? Simple: … Read more Uri Avnery: The Day of Shame
April 14, 2018 WRITE DOWN: I, Uri Avnery, soldier number 44410 of the Israel army, hereby dissociate myself from the army sharpshooters who murder unarmed demonstrators along the Gaza Strip, and from their commanders, who give them the orders, up to the commander in chief. We don’t belong to the same army, or to the same state. We hardly belong to the same human race. IS MY government committing … Read more Uri Avnery: Eyeless in Gaza
February 3, 2018 “Not Enough!” MANY YEARS ago, right after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, I was asked to write a book about the events. Rachel took the photos, I wrote the text. The book, which appeared only in Hebrew, was called “Lenin Does Not Live Here Anymore”. When we visited Warsaw, we were astonished by the many places in the city with metal plates announcing “(Name) … Read more Uri Avnery on the Polish Question
YEARS AGO, when I was a member of the Knesset, I decided to stage a demonstration in the plenum hall. I put on a T-shirt with the slogan “Peace is greater than Greater Eretz Israel”. In the middle of the debate I took my jacket off, displaying the slogan. After a few minutes, an usher approached me and said politely: “The Speaker would like to see you in his … Read more Uri Avnery: The Jumping Parliament
January 6, 2018 I AM angry with the Mizrahi elite. Very angry indeed. Mizrah is the Hebrew word for East. Eastern Jews are those who lived for many centuries in the Islamic world. Western Jews are those who lived in Christian Europe. The words are, of course, misnomers. Russian Jews are “Westerners”, Moroccan Jews are “Easterners”. A look at the map shows that Russia is far to the East … Read more Uri Avnery: Why I am Angry
December 23, 2017 ANYONE PROPOSING the death penalty is either a complete fool, an incorrigible cynic or mentally disturbed – or all of these. There is no effective therapy for any of these defects. I wouldn’t even try. A fool would not understand the overwhelming evidence for the conclusion. For a cynic, advocacy of the death penalty is a proven votecatcher. A mentally disturbed person derives pleasure from the … Read more Uri Avnery: Cry, Beloved Country
excepted from From Barak to Trump, this week’s installment of Avnery’s newsletter: Palestinians, and Arabs at large, do have deep feelings and convictions. They are a proud people. They still remember the times when Muslims were incomparably more advanced than the barbarian Europeans. To be treated like dirt by the US president and his Jewish entourage hurts them deeply, and may lead to a disturbance in our region that no … Read more Uri Avnery on Jerusalem & Trump
September 2, 2017 A FEW days ago I found myself in Caesarea, sitting in a restaurant and looking out over the sea. The sunbeams were dancing on the little waves, the mysterious ruins of the ancient town arrayed behind me . It was hot, but not too hot, and I was thinking about the crusaders. Caesarea was built by King Herod some 2000 years ago and named after his … Read more Uri Avnery: Crusaders & Zionists