APRIL 2004
News in the West
Gilad AtzmonİMarch 2004
"In fact, to be a citizen in a democratic state is a
heavy burden. It is a duty charged with a serious form of
responsibility."
The socialist victory in Spain is significant of a
dramatic change. We had come to expect right wing leaders
to always be the first to benefit from Islamic
terror. Both Bush and Sharon enjoy growing
popularity following attacks against their peoples. The
collapse of Blair's popularity is easily realised in
terms of the lack of Islamic terror in the UK, as the
British are not at all convinced that they are victims of
such terror. Apparently, the devastating formula that
suggests a link between Right wing leaders and Islamic
militants no longer applies. The Spanish people proved
yesterday that a new form of citizenship is taking place,
a citizenship grounded on a deeper realization of the
notion of democracy. In a true democracy the citizens are
sharing responsibility with their elected government. The
Spanish people have realised that they were punished for
their governments' mistakes, in particular the
collaboration with Bush and Blair. The Spanish people who
ousted the ruling Popular Party did it because they
grasped that they were anything but innocent. In fact, to
be a citizen in a democratic state is a heavy burden. It
is a duty charged with a serious form of responsibility.
But then, who is the real winner of
yesterday’s Spanish election? Looking into the
glorious Socialist victory reveals a simple truth: the
real champions are the Islamic fundamentalists, those who
stand behind the devastating and murderous Madrid attack.
For the first time Islamic fundamentalists have proved
that they can dictate a political change in the
West. Now, two and a half years since 9/11, and two
and a half years since the declaration of the 'War
against Terror', it is this unbeatable terror that
unexpectedly transformed the political reality of a major
European state. This must be devastating news for our
leading warmongers: Mr Bush and Mr Blair. Being
pathetically uncreative, they will doubtless impose some
new security measures in the train and underground
stations. But it is not going to help. Nothing of the
sort is going to help. We are simply far too vulnerable.
We are not ready for this war and we are definitely not
ready to die. When you are not ready to die you can never
win, at the most you can try to kill your foe from afar
like a coward, with clever bombs and smart cruise
missiles.
| Guardian Newspaper
: A growing sense of unease about the behaviour
of the Aznar government has begun to emerge. The
German police have accused it of handing them
false information on the bombings, it is
reported. The US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, echoed Mr Annan, saying he thought Sunday's vote was "a protest by the people against the handling of the terrorist event by the sitting govern ment of Spain." The House of Representatives Speaker, Dennis Hastert, accused Spain of caving in to terrorism. "Here's a country who stood against terrorism and had a huge terrorist act within their country and they chose to change their government and to, in a sense, appease terrorists," he said. |
It's rather sad, but it seems as if all that is
left for us is just to wait like sitting ducks for
whoever comes to redeem us from the crimes committed in
our names by our corrupted governments. I assume that
sooner rather than later every Briton and American will
realise the truly devastating meaning of the temporality
of life in the age of right wing idiocy. It is getting
closer and closer. I imagine that most of us sense the
emerging danger. But rather than simply taking a fatalist
viewpoint, I am about to suggest an alternative practical
act. It is quite rational to imply that if we cannot win
this war we might benefit from admitting a defeat. If our
leaders refuse to see that the battle is lost why can't
we celebrate our 'freedom of speech' and raise a shiny
white flag as high as we can. In practical terms the only
thing left for us is to appeal to Al-Qaeda for mercy. We
must stand up and vocally admit that we realise what
their war is all about, that we realise that the measures
of oppression imposed upon more than one billion Muslims
merely exists so we can drive our powerful thirsty
cars. We must acknowledge that we realise that the
Western support of the Israeli government is morally
unacceptable and must be stopped. We must promise that we
will do everything to bring this Bush-Blair hegemony to
an end. We might as well swear to do what ever we can to
indict them as war criminals. We will promise to crack
down on any future expansionist and colonial political
philosophy. If we go that far we might as well come
clean with ourselves and say that our democracy is a
complete farce, and remind ourselves that our 'elected'
leaders went to these wars against our will. Under
the waving shadow of our shiny white flag, we will regret
on behalf of our non-democratic 'elected' leaders for the
suggestion that we (the Westerners) could teach them (the
Arabs) what 'democracy' is all about.
Taking into account the fact that Islam endorses
the concept of reconciliation, and that Islam suggests
that war is the very last resort, I've very good reason
to believe that our genuine appeal will fall on attentive
ears.
Bearing in mind our very limited options, appealing
for mercy is probably the only way to survive this evil
war.
......................................................................................................................
Suggested reading: The White Flag Principle,
How To Lose a War (and Why).
Shimon Tzabar, Four Walls Eight Windows, New York,
2002.