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Born in sin By Gideon Levy Tags: israel news, Gideon Levy Click here for more articles by Gideon Levy The Israeli peace camp was born in sin and died because of a lie: It was born as the legitimate son of the sin of occupation, and died the illegitimate son of the lie that "there is no partner" with whom to negotiate on the other side. Between September 1967 and October 2000, it spent 33 years waging the brave and determined struggle of a minority against a majority, "traitors" against "patriots," "defilers of Israel" against "lovers of Israel," David against Goliath. Today, we must painfully admit that it was struggle that did not produce much. The peace camp was born of a small ad - a statement bearing only a dozen mostly unknown signatures - addressed to the general public, and then began to die a pathetic death, which is lamented by no one. Since then, its body has laid in public squares that are void of protesters, in streets empty of struggle and in public discourse free of ideas. On occasion, it lets out a desperate and dying gasp from the direction of a group of determined but marginalized groups, near the separation fence in Na'alin or in Gush Shalom's advertisements in the Friday paper. Advertisement On occasion, it wraps itself in the guise of a mass demonstration, mostly at deceptive memorial rallies for Yitzhak Rabin - also featuring pop stars Aviv Geffen and Ninet - and in public opinion polls in which the majority claims to adopt its positions. But the interim balance sheet of history is clear and razor sharp: The occupation, the settlements, the police thugs and the brutality have been victorious over everything else. Never have so many people said we need to put a stop to things, and never have so few done anything about it. The Israeli occupation enterprise has never been so prosperous, sweeping up in its whirlpool all of Israeli society and a vast army of settlers, secret agents, soldiers, prosecutors, journalists, politicians, judges, doctors, engineers, builders, architects, industrialists, artists, archaeologists and average apathetic citizens. Everyone, absolutely everyone, is implicated. They speak peace, but make war; oppose the settlements, but take part in their construction; say "two states," but vote Likud; close their eyes, hide their faces and wrap themselves in the most dangerous of blankets: blankets of apathy. I am flipping through the yellowing pages of Haaretz from September 1967. The announcement concerning the establishment of the peace camp is hidden between an advertisement for a car that costs 10,849 liras and a guaranteed "original key chain" for anyone who purchases a pack of Diplomat razor blades, just next to the death announcement paid for by a neuro-psychiatric society mourning one of its members. A dozen members of the Matzpen movement, who were outcast, excommunicated and persecuted, placed the ad three months after the end of the Six-Day War. At the peak of the nationalist orgy and the religious celebrations that dominated us then, came the first call: "Leave the occupied territories immediately!" Everything the advertisement predicted about messianic occupation, and the terror and oppression that would be born of it, and the fact that we would become a "nation of murderers and murdered," is a common truth shared by the masses, the mainstream, the warm and fuzzy consensus. Even Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon would concur. But surprisingly and catastrophically, here we are today, as the famous Chaim Nahman Bialik poem goes: The sun is shining, the acacia is blooming and the slaughterer is still slaughtering. At the end of Camp David, when he told us "there's no partner," Ehud Barak propagated an even bigger lie: that we have a peace camp. How pleasant it is to delude ourselves that we have one, and how depressing it is to know that we don't. There is no left - just empty words. When the only demonstration in town is over student tuition, when the only discourse in city and village alike concerns the "Big Brother" TV show, and the loudest cries are over "corruption" and Olmert's frequent-flier miles instead of over the jailed Palestinian who is bleeding and beaten, who hasn't had a normal day in his life - then we know for sure that there is no peace camp in Israel in 2008. Maybe there never was? Maybe a camp that is defeated with such intolerable ease just needs to be told there is no partner in order to simply disappear. The moment this camp witnesses terrorism - that means of struggle for all those who seek liberation - it shuts itself down at home, planning the next package tour and watching a reality show, in fear, silence, betrayal and sick apathy, while half an hour away, the cruel occupation lives on. It's much crueler today than it was back then, when a dozen Matzpen members printed that public appeal, a voice crying in the wilderness, the barren desert wilderness of the Israeli left and of Israeli society as a whole. The term "left" and the expression "peace camp" need to be removed from the dictionary of Hebrew terms. We no longer have the right to make use of them. Any use whatsoever. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Disturbing trend Jewish Agency says Anti-Semitic acts in Jan. 2009 triple last year's records. After the war IDF gains in Gaza have softened Israel's stance on Shalit deal.   1.   What melodramatic claptrap 10:18  |  x-ray 21/11/08   2.   Gideon Levy 10:38  |  Chaim 21/11/08   3.   Rest in Peace 10:43  |  Zev 21/11/08   4.   you (the anti-zionists) are the minority (end) 10:58  |  randi 21/11/08   5.   The real claptrap 11:11  |  A.M. 21/11/08   6.   Is the Israeli left only a "figleaf" for the occupation ???? 11:37  |  Swiss (Dino) 21/11/08   7.   Good analysis. Actually Israel behaves like the legions 11:45  |  Andreas 21/11/08   8.   Wakeup calls as opposed to claptrap 11:46  |  sh 21/11/08   9.   Peace camp not determined but definitely marginalized 11:46  |  Joe Sittizen 21/11/08   10.   Kapo Levy,Israelis don`t want your peace of the grave,you concote 12:16  |  Absolute Sweden 21/11/08   11.   AM 12:18  |  x-ray 21/11/08   12.   Israeli Left is a sin in itself and keeps lying that Arbs are goo 12:20  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/11/08   13.   "terrorism - the means of struggle of all who seek liberation" 12:36  |  Freethinker 21/11/08   14.   Left dies because it lies there is Peace partner & none shows up 12:51  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/11/08   15.   Israeli left is a sin in itself and dies because it lies 12:54  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/11/08   16.   Great Left achievements on the way to dismantle Israel 12:58  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/11/08   17.   Disconnected from reality 13:15  |  Sam 21/11/08   18.   Peace talking as a profession 13:25  |  Natallie Durson 21/11/08   19.   THIS IS WHY 13:26  |  indrajaya 21/11/08   20.   Peace as the Ultimate Evil 13:46  |  Mark Lincoln 21/11/08   21.   Actually, things are changing 14:00  |  Luke 21/11/08   22.   Peace talking as in Al Takyia 14:05  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/11/08   23.   Why does Israel refuse to allow Palestine to exist? 14:22  |  POP 21/11/08   24.   Israeli Left lied people died 14:29  |  Genuine Tosefta 21/11/08   25.   Swiss has a point but.... 14:34  |  Slibovitz 21/11/08   26.   You`re a sick man Gideon, a sick man. 14:40  |  SystemF 21/11/08   27.   Where is the partner? Palestinians demand bogus right of return 14:45  |  McQueen 21/11/08   28.   A little completion to my # 6....... 14:53  |  Swiss (Dino) 21/11/08   29.   sh.ielding himself from the truth #8 15:03  |  x-ray 21/11/08   30.   Israeli left- garbage 15:07  |  Dolfus 21/11/08   31.   20 Mark Lincoln This isn`t about one man but many .... 15:23  |  Dutch 21/11/08   32.   20 Mark Lincoln This isn`t about one man but many .... 15:24  |  Dutch 21/11/08   33.   The Fate of Israel 15:32  |  Steve 21/11/08   34.   The Fate of Israel 15:33  |  Steve 21/11/08   35.   9 Joe Sittizen, The irony in your statement... 16:00  |  dutch 21/11/08   36.   Peace and a Jewish State 16:07  |  Jane 21/11/08   37.   25 It`s the bogus Jewish Right of Return that`s the problem 16:17  |  dutch 21/11/08   38.   #25 why "bogus" 16:48  |  chris 21/11/08   39.   Hurm 17:08  |  Zach 21/11/08   40.   #24 : Gideon Levy is not sick... 17:43  |  tristan 21/11/08   41.   32 Chris, excellent point.... 17:57  |  Dutch 21/11/08   42.   Funny, how you forget Jews lived in Judea & Samaria BEFORE 67 17:58  |  David 21/11/08   43.   Boo hoo -- Israelis sick of being attacked 18:04  |  SDHD 21/11/08   44.   The "loudest voices" 18:04  |  zaz 21/11/08   45.   right and left 18:08  |  jim 21/11/08   46.   Levy: Left-wing radical anarchists are still alive and well 18:17  |  Bennie 21/11/08   47.   Born in sin and morphing 18:35  |  Edithann 21/11/08   48.   Eighter you know right from wrong or you do not 18:56  |  Kris Lazar 21/11/08   49.   Dutch is what`s bogus 19:02  |  SDHD 21/11/08   50.   David in Boston re: Jews living in Judea/Samaria 19:04  |  SDHD 21/11/08   51.   What a bunch of egotistical garbage! 19:13  |  Polybios 21/11/08   52.   Gideon Levy supports terrorist attacks on Israeli children!!! 19:53  |  arthur 21/11/08   53.   Gideon right on the mark! 21:08  |  Ben Alofs 21/11/08   54.   Sh and NONSENSE 21:18  |  Grisha.Luba 21/11/08   55.   Gideon, the true inspiration, the true left 21:51  |  Leon Rosgarten 21/11/08   56.   Voice of mind and morality 21:52  |  P 21/11/08   57.   LEVY IS RIGHT,ENOUGH OF ISRAELI TERRORISTS 21:57  |  JH 21/11/08   58.   Gideon 22:28  |  Jasper 21/11/08   59.   re 6 cut the BS swiss 22:29  |  alan the real one 21/11/08   60.   re 6 Second thoughts by the big cheese 22:34  |  alan the real one 21/11/08   61.   re 19 Is there a difference between the extrme left and right 22:53  |  alan the real one 21/11/08   62.   Israeli Left Disillusioned 23:36  |  Lee 21/11/08   63.   I agree Ben Alofs... 23:56  |  BBSNews 21/11/08   64.   As much as Gideon and Amira screem.... 23:57  |  Casper 21/11/08   65.   Jasper #58 00:19  |  Polybios 22/11/08   66.   Peace of the grave 00:29  |  Ibrahim Shvonce 22/11/08   67.   Leon Rosgarten stuck in the thinking of the petit-bourgeois 00:45  |  Mao Mao 22/11/08   68.   Gideon Levy, Re Truth and opposition 00:48  |  Dutch 22/11/08   69.   who said that ONLY the left can bring peace? 01:05  |  reuben aaron 22/11/08   70.   Polybios, Re: The old left is dead 01:08  |  Dutch 22/11/08   71.   It`s way past time to bury the fraudulent "peace process". 02:38  |  Chaim 22/11/08   72.   he leaves one thing out 03:56  |  curious george 22/11/08   73.   The Israeli peace camp has successfully influenced to date... 04:16  |  Smadar 22/11/08   74.   #38 Aster descending night upon us you dare preach light? 05:57  |  Y^ou extinguished 22/11/08   75.   BSNews and Israelis not being ready for peace 07:19  |  SDHD 22/11/08   76.   I think there were a few mistakes in the article 07:20  |  Jabadini 22/11/08   77.   The Dictatorship of ani-Religion. 07:25  |  Akram Zekaria 22/11/08   78.   Left wanted to sell out Israel 09:28  |  Harry 22/11/08   79.   Gideon Levy - Boring, Morose, and Shallow 09:45  |  JonathanInTelAviv 22/11/08   80.   # 59 / # 60 alan the real one 10:57  |  Swiss (Dino) 22/11/08   81.   #62 Lee is correct 11:45  |  dovvod 22/11/08   82.   Definition of Left 13:14  |  Mike 22/11/08   83.   forming discussion group 16:03  |  I_michael 22/11/08   84.   Levy lies 16:48  |  Frank 22/11/08   85.   the solution 17:45  |  Ali from Hamas 22/11/08   86.   If Israel rejects Saudi Plan, Levy`s handwriting is on the wall 18:28  |  Ivar 22/11/08   87.   Dutch...don`t you have coffee before you post? 18:30  |  Joe Sittizen 22/11/08   88.   i_michael`s discussion group 20:42  |  Jasper 22/11/08   89.   another leftist jerk 21:13  |  Mark 22/11/08   90.   I_michael 21:37  |  x-ray 22/11/08   91.   Ali #82 The Solution 22:05  |  Jasper 22/11/08   92.   72 Final Solution was result of Mufti`s lobbying with Nazis 22:15  |  Rob 22/11/08   93.   The left is the lie - inapplicable documents, invented 22:23  |  17 22/11/08   94.   swiss..dutch.. durson ..gray..et al..meet ali82 22:57  |  strange 22/11/08   95.   to Jasper #85 23:11  |  Leon Rosgarten 22/11/08   96.   BLESS YOU GIDEON LEVY!! U R A NOBLE MAN. 23:19  |  JACKAL 22/11/08   97.   # 70 to dutch re: left`s role in the market crash 23:31  |  eric 22/11/08   98.   they were NOT "born in sin"; but rather INTO zionism! (2nd try) 23:35  |  eric 22/11/08   99.   This whole Article Based on False Premise 23:47  |  Gary 22/11/08   100.   Haaretz-Hypocrites 00:05  |  Barry 23/11/08   101.   Gideon Levy`s orwellian rantings 00:23  |  Alex 23/11/08   102.   Gideon Levy 00:40  |  Connie 23/11/08   103.   test 00:41  |  17 23/11/08   104.   eric 01:01  |  strange 23/11/08   105.   ISRAELI left failed to convince Arab comrades to try peace option 02:26  |  PETER SM 23/11/08   106.   Hi Gideon, nice to read you 02:50  |  Edith 23/11/08   107.   gray..swiss..dutch.. bbs et al..read ali82 and.. 02:58  |  strange 23/11/08   108.   Born in Sin 05:12  |  Dean Sanduga 23/11/08   109.   Leaders are to blame.. 05:17  |  end the occupatio 23/11/08   110.   Rubbish 05:29  |  J in Oregon 23/11/08   111.   Jasper and Leon, where do I sign up? 05:48  |  BBSNews 23/11/08   112.   I have heard Mt Levy before 06:19  |  Mark Lincoln 23/11/08   113.   BBS You already signed up, you just deny it. 07:02  |  I 23/11/08   114.   # 83 I_michael (2nd try) 10:13  |  Swiss (Dino) 23/11/08   115.   discussion group -- on "hold" 21:15  |  I_michael 23/11/08   116.   # 97 to strange- you just proved the point i made...(2nd try) 22:00  |  eric 23/11/08   117.   Thank you Mr. Levy 05:27  |  Jon Summers 24/11/08

Read & React Livni: Israel should strike Hamas again to halt arms smuggling Responses: 42 Amir Oren: 'Decisive' Gaza offensive merely rehearsal for next crisis versus Iran Responses: 3 Netanyahu: Likud-led government wouldn't build new settlements Responses: 27 Akiva Eldar: Saudi plan offers Israel united front with Arab states against Iran Responses: 3 More Headlines 11:52 Egypt to Hamas: Take Gaza truce before Netanyahu is PM 09:23 Veteran ultra-Orthodox MK Avraham Ravitz dies aged 75 10:36 Netanyahu: Likud-led coalition wouldn't build new settlements 07:33 Survey: Most Israelis want Benjamin Netanyahu to be prime minister 11:24 Iran MPs plan Gaza visit to praise Hamas resistance against 'Zionist offensive' 10:14 Nine held for allegedly attacking Israeli Arabs in Upper Nazareth 10:35 Haaretz probe: Unknown overseas sources paid MK Lieberman NIS 2.5m 09:33 IDF rabbinate publication during Gaza war: We will show no mercy on the cruel 11:55 Sky News joins BBC in refusing to air Gaza fundraiser 10:51 2 hurt, 1 seriously, after light plane crashes near Beit She`an 04:42 EU presses Egypt to take action against Gaza arms smuggling 11:27 Number of laid-off Israelis set new high in December 07:41 U.S. businessman Guma L. Aguiar gives $8m to Nefesh b'Nefesh 07:43 Program launched to bring all Jewish teachers worldwide to Israel 04:43 Court to state: Let foreign media into Gaza when borders open 04:45 Egypt evacuates Rafah area, fearing IAF strike on Gaza Previous Editions Select Day 25 jan 23 jan 22 jan 21 jan 20 jan 19 jan 18 jan 16 jan 15 jan 14 jan 13 jan 12 jan

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