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Last update - 09:44 07/06/2009
Yes, we do drink espresso
By Gideon Levy

Police Maj. Gen. Shlomi Katabi opened his mouth. He is the outgoing commander of the West Bank District Police, an officer nobody had even heard of. Yet upon his retirement, he decided to share what was truly in his heart. Here are some of his pearls of wisdom: "I love the settlers. They are the salt of the earth. The ease with which people denigrate them is just completely disgusting .... They sit in Tel Aviv, park their SUVs on Sheinkin Street, drink espresso with their legs crossed and allow themselves to criticize. Their willingness to contribute to the state is zero."

Of course, we could have simply ignored the senior officer's statements. So what if he said it? We could have even somehow excused the fact that this lover of settlers was tasked with protecting the law in the West Bank from his beloved rioters. But Katabi is the voice of the masses: The settlers are the salt of the earth, Tel Aviv is espresso with its legs crossed. How humbling it is sometimes to hear the truth coming out of the mouths of security officials who leave their posts. It ought to be deeply disconcerting not only due to their statements, but also due to the baseness and shallowness of the speakers, people who beforehand were anonymous to the public.

Let's call a spade a spade: Those whom the officer holds dear to his heart are criminals. The major general befriended them. The settlers' contribution to the state can be summed up as posing an obstacle to peace while flagrantly flouting the law. Some of them are serially violent, others are property thieves who sit on privately-owned and stolen land. There is no difference between the horse farm that belonged to the deceased crime boss Ya'akov Alperon in Ramat Poleg, which was condemned last week, and 60 percent of the homes in the Ofra settlement. In both instances, the criminals trespassed onto private land.
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Katabi likes this. If he had attributed those statements to Alperon, the usurper of other people's private property, he would have been fired immediately. But in his eyes, and in the eyes of many Israelis, the settlers are the salt of the earth. Why? Because they live in mobile homes. And what has the salt of the earth contributed to society besides its criminality? Has a renowned scientist blossomed from the communities across the West Bank? Has one important author? One captain of industry? Nothing. The real Israeli creativity can be found in Tel Aviv and among its natives. Nothing has yet to emerge from Bat Ayin, with the exception of violence. We are thus dealing with crime-ridden neighborhoods.

The line of thinking under which Tel Aviv drinks espresso and so it contributes next to nothing is as twisted as the argument that Tel Aviv is not allowed to voice criticism. If Tel Aviv deserves criticism, it is to be chided for not sufficiently criticizing this criminal enterprise; it does not express enough outrage against it. Tel Aviv should have parked its SUV, sipped its espresso and headed out to protest.

This is not a right, which Katabi hints should have been denied, it's an obligation. The idea that sitting in Yitzhar is a contribution while sitting on Sheinkin Street is harmful is a primitive and dark mode of thinking. Without Tel Aviv, there would be no State of Israel. Without Yitzhar, we would have an even better State of Israel, one immeasurably more prosperous and just.

And those who measure Tel Aviv's contribution by the amount of blood spilled for the cause ought to remember that this city is filled with silent memorials, more than all the settlements put together. From the fighter jets who bombed it before the birth of the state, to the tank shell that struck it in 1967, to the missiles that struck it in 1991, to the horrific wave of suicide bombings in 2002 and 2003, this city paid a heavy price in blood. Perhaps this "contribution" appeals to the hearts of such narrowminded people like Katabi.

Tel Aviv is the oasis of normalcy in an insane country. Between the espresso and the SUV arise art, culture, finance, science, intellect, media, openness and a healthy (albeit insufficient) introspection of the State of Israel, without which it has no real backbone. May God protect Israel if, heaven forbid, it ever turns into Yitzhar: violent, isolated, conservative, religious and backward. May God protect it if the majority of its police officers think like Katabi. Yes, we sit with out legs crossed on Sheinkin Street, sip espresso, and some of us even park our SUVs on the sidewalk. But at least it's our sidewalk, not a stolen sidewalk that belongs to another nation.
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  1.   Why did Israel give the word "settler" a bad name in the world ?? 10:14  |  Swiss (Dino) 07/06/09
  2.   Yes Levy is right, again! 10:14  |  Matthew 07/06/09
  3.   Gideon 10:38  |  Richard 07/06/09
  4.   Creativity has nothing to do with it. 10:42  |  Eva 07/06/09
  5.   Those whom the officer holds dear to his heart are criminals. 11:15  |  Zev 07/06/09
  6.   I wish I lived in Israel levy.....hehehehe 11:37  |  JfromC 07/06/09
  7.   Moral Rot 11:41  |  Larry Saltzman 07/06/09
  8.   to Matthew #2 11:44  |  zeev 07/06/09
  9.   Settlers 13:15  |  Claire 07/06/09
  10.   Yes we do drink espresso 13:18  |  Michal Lubin 07/06/09
  11.   Settler`s obeying G-D AND HIS WORD ?? 13:55  |  Bill 07/06/09
  12.   Thank you Gideon Levy! 14:13  |  Israelette 07/06/09
  13.   Bill from NZ 15:20  |  hila 07/06/09
  14.   Settlers give all of you a good reason to bigot 15:23  |  Israeli citizen 07/06/09
  15.   An Israeli who tells it like it is! 15:25  |  WHG 07/06/09
  16.   yes we drink Expresso 15:25  |  Huseein 07/06/09
  17.   #6 JfromC 15:59  |  BDS 07/06/09
  18.   thay are an unbearable burden,but this we get in return 16:06  |  auntie seemight 07/06/09
  19.   Not just criminals 16:10  |  Giora Me`ir 07/06/09
  20.   Barriers and Frontiers 16:15  |  Michael 07/06/09
  21.   Thats not the point 16:53  |  David 07/06/09
  22.   zeev 16:56  |  wibism 07/06/09
  23.   Gideon Levy`s hatred will tear israel apart 17:06  |  Avi 07/06/09
  24.   Levy, your Palestinians don`t accept Tel Aviv sidewalk is yours 17:41  |  McQueen 07/06/09
  25.   Palestinian territory? 17:41  |  JoJo 07/06/09
  26.   down with the hill-top thugs! 17:46  |  lynette 07/06/09
  27.   Tel Aviv can move to France, Jewish Patriots will stay!!! 17:57  |  Moshe Burg 07/06/09
  28.   to wibism #19 18:02  |  zeev 07/06/09
  29.   What did Gideon Levy ever contribute to Israeli society? 18:08  |  Moderate 07/06/09
  30.   to Avi #20 18:15  |  zeev 07/06/09
  31.   Dino, Israel Could Give The Word `Squatter" a Bad Name. 18:30  |  Reader 07/06/09
  32.   What has Gideon Levy contributed "Moderate"? 18:44  |  BBSNews 07/06/09
  33.   Last night with my (right winged) friends, we drank herbal tea.. 18:45  |  Smadar 07/06/09
  34.   the image of Israel 18:51  |  Severino Melo 07/06/09
  35.   Tel Aviv = women trafficking and school violence 19:04  |  Yosef Rabin 07/06/09
  36.   #24 19:22  |  Kosmopolitan 07/06/09
  37.   to Moderate anywhere you like 19:26  |  Seawife 07/06/09
  38.   to Smadar #31 19:59  |  zeev 07/06/09
  39.   levy 20:24  |  steven 07/06/09
  40.   to Michal Lubin #10 - 2nd try 20:30  |  zeev 07/06/09
  41.   A serious message to Gideon Levy 20:34  |  Boris 07/06/09
  42.   Not True! 02:17  |  Mark Lincoln 08/06/09
  43.   settlers 02:32  |  john and the truth 08/06/09
  44.   Indeed Seawife, and welcome back 02:40  |  Mark Lincoln 08/06/09
  45.   Bravo Mr. Levy 03:12  |  Jesse 08/06/09
  46.   When Jews accuse other Jews of being anti-semite and Jew haters 03:53  |  justis 08/06/09
  47.   Gideon Would Make a Fine Palestinian Journalist 03:59  |  Meron 08/06/09
  48.   from zeev to Zev #5 - 3rd try 05:09  |  zeev 08/06/09
  49.   to Meron #43 05:12  |  zeev 08/06/09
  50.   well written mr. levy ! 06:13  |  daisy levi 08/06/09
  51.   Gideon contributes less than any Settler to his societ 06:23  |  No Dope 08/06/09
  52.   Hila re. Bill what`s your problem! 06:41  |  Maria 08/06/09
  53.   Nobel Prize, though 07:13  |  usjew 08/06/09
  54.   Remember, anytime you read Gideon Levy, consider the OPPOSITE 07:15  |  Steve Randolph 08/06/09
  55.   settelments 07:46  |  Leo 08/06/09
  56.   Mocha Latte a-la- legs crossed..... 07:52  |  allang 08/06/09
  57.   Levy`s contribution to Israel 07:52  |  Yochanan 08/06/09
  58.   Zeev #40: a fool like you 08:10  |  No Dope 08/06/09
  59.   levy the protector of the ghetto he covets 08:10  |  Connie 08/06/09
  60.   to Zeev #44 08:19  |  Zev 08/06/09
  61.   Is this a contribution? 08:25  |  English Resident 08/06/09
  62.   A shallow article 08:32  |  Occasional reader 08/06/09
  63.   Gideon-did you ask the Palestinians? 08:44  |  Yehuda 08/06/09
  64.   THE BOTTOM LINE: BATTLE OF CULTURES 09:18  |  pk 08/06/09
  65.   Tel Aviv is next 09:24  |  J 08/06/09
  66.   Ask any Pal - Tel Aviv is occupied territory 09:26  |  Yakir 08/06/09
  67.   # 25 JoJo 10:16  |  C2 08/06/09
  68.   Gideon, what`s so good about "K`eeelooo" 10:30  |  Zev Davis 08/06/09
  69.   to No Dope #56 13:21  |  zeev 08/06/09
  70.   Not Really Settlers [1] 13:49  |  ARTH 08/06/09
  71.   to Zev #58 13:50  |  zeev 08/06/09
  72.   Not Really Settlers [2] 13:52  |  ARTH 08/06/09
  73.   60, Gideon, Take my advise on Yehuda 21:00  |  Dutch 08/06/09
  74.   on Yehuda #63, my advice to Gideon - 3rd try 04:27  |  zeev 10/06/09
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