Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., May 25, 2008 Iyyar 20, 5768 | | Israel Time: 01:44 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Even the trumpets should have been ashamed By Yossi Sarid Tags: Israel, George Bush  The trumpets and applause have fallen silent, the slaps on the back have ceased, and yet the speech continues to resonate. Its echoes traveled this week here and mainly there, in America, from coast to coast. One newspaper reported from the Knesset that there were 14 standing ovations; another documented 18, no less. Elected officials and guests on the balcony were all aflutter; and all this, why? Because the Palestinians vanished into thin air; the ground opened up and swallowed them whole. Finally, the dream is coming true: "Bush's vision," the "road map," a Palestinian state by December - all disappeared without a trace, along with the settlements and roadblocks. Never has Jerusalem been farther from Annapolis; never has the Knesset been farther from reality. Advertisement The Knesset is a blue-and-white submarine, where oxygen is running low and the view of reality is blurring. In another 60 years, the speaker promises, life here will be good; why not stand up and applaud. One can easily imagine the president of the Palestinian Authority sitting in his office, watching the speech on television in disbelief and pondering whether to slit his wrists; what can he possibly do with his shame when he and his moderate positions are mocked. And from this moment on, would Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) be so kind as to wait patiently for the next fruitless round of talks with Syria to be done. Still a crescendo, the excitement in the plenary hall rises: "Masada shall never fall again," which sounds even more impressive in English than in Hebrew. A gifted ghostwriter put words in the speaker's mouth, words whose meaning he does not remotely understand. Yes, Masada will fall again, it is sure to, if we once again back ourselves into a corner of history, into the Masadist stance: a thousand zealots and their families, besieged and desperate, choosing death. On the right-wing side of the moon, the dark side, it will always be possible to locate some moonstruck figure, personally and nationally suicidal, a kind of modern-day incarnation of Masada leader Elazar Ben Yair. And now comes the climax of the festive gathering: Hitler is produced from the machine, what could be more stirring. "Some seem to believe," thus spoke George W. Bush, "that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is - the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." Bush is conjuring up a senator who is dead and long forgotten, but he means another senator, one who is alive and well and may inherit his seat in five months. Perhaps the Knesset members have been too busy to keep track: These words caused an uproar in America because Bush's slander is without foundation. Barack Obama did not really propose unconditional negotiations with terrorists, and we have already seen where Bush himself has led the world without negotiations, only with rash, arrogant force. Not one Knesset member could be spotted staying seated in respectful disagreement with the general hurrah. One can only imagine what people in America think of this behavior: dirty American laundry being washed abroad, and a foreign house of representatives sticking its nose into the soiled linens to sniff them with open delight. That which we hate, we have now done to our friends. Knesset members and cabinet ministers might be interested to learn what happened in America on the very same day as the speech: In a special election in Mississippi, in a distinctly Republican district, a democratic candidate was elected to congress. This is the third defeat in a row suffered by Republican candidates, and some consider it a sign of what will happen in November. Senior Republicans are now warning other candidates from their party to steer clear of the president. Even John McCain, who is running for president, prefers not to be caught in Bush's company. For seven years Bush has stayed away, leaving us and the Palestinians to bleed. Now, suddenly, he pays us two visits in four months. At the end of his reign, limping along, Bush has nowhere to go. No one will hug and kiss him like Shimon Peres, Ehud Olmert and Dalia Itzik. Such a spectacle of fawning can only be held in Israel; even the trumpets should have been ashamed. Soon a new president will be elected; Obama's chances are improving. It will not take him seven years to come. At least we can hope so. When he comes, he will be invited to address the Knesset, and he too will speak compelling words of friendship. Will he correct those he loveth? One can only hope. And do not worry: the Knesset will rise up and cheer - the king is dead, long live the king - and grovel at his feet; for that is the custom in a proud protectorate. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Jet error Israeli warplanes come close to shooting down Tony Blair's plane. Rehab (live) Report: Singer Amy Winehouse is to undergo drug rehab in Israel.   1.   Sarid has no shame, his "Peace" process faded away too 10:07  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   2.   Sarid derides Bush & McCain, but what is Obama exactly proposing? 10:14  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   3.   Remember Nikolai Caucesco`s last speech to parliament 10:16  |  Chanalau, Tova 23/05/08   4.   Applause for the Devil 11:30  |  Cornelia 23/05/08   5.   How can an imaginary object "fade away"? 11:31  |  Natallie Durson 23/05/08   6.   Failed politicians should fade away 11:34  |  Ronnie 23/05/08   7.   Natallie Durson, the test of years 11:46  |  Boaz 23/05/08   8.   ANOTHER ROUND OF DISPORA 12:54  |  indrajaya 23/05/08   9.   George Bush isn`t your etrog.... 13:12  |  Ilan 23/05/08   10.   Wonderful prose and a bullseye to boot! 13:34  |  just a jew 23/05/08   11.   Indrajaya admits it! 14:08  |  Jane Ben-Zimra 23/05/08   12.   Cries and Whispers 14:11  |  Ronnie Wolman 23/05/08   13.   Bad luck, Mr. Sarid, more than 1000 Israelis murdered by your 14:30  |  maurice 23/05/08   14.   Blame the Palestinians and Islamists 14:54  |  Shalom Freedman 23/05/08   15.   Bush Haters 15:01  |  Amos 23/05/08   16.   Israel, rejoice ! 15:05  |  Shimon Cleopas 23/05/08   17.   2 Tosefta: Anything is better in 4 more years of Bush even Olmert 15:36  |  Tupac 23/05/08   18.   # 11, JANE BEN-ZIMRA 16:28  |  indrajaya 23/05/08   19.   ANOTHER ROUND OF NUCLEAR CRUSADES IS COMING 17:40  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   20.   From the depths of hell here comes The Chanalau Phenomenon 17:44  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   21.   Jews Like Sarid - They Make Me Ashamed 18:19  |  Tod Zuckerman 23/05/08   22.   ANOTHER ROUND OF NUCLEAR CRUSADES IS COMING 18:29  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   23.   THE RAT IN JAKARTA IS RAISING ITS UGLY HEAD 18:29  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   24.   Tupac you mean to say that nothing Obama-Osama better than Bush? 18:45  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   25.   Tupac just because Bush is an idiot doesn`t mean that another idi 18:47  |  Genuine Tosefta 23/05/08   26.   Rejoice O Israel 18:50  |  Shimon Cleopas 23/05/08   27.   Yossi, no wonder you led Meretz on its way to oblivion 20:25  |  Oren 23/05/08

Read & React Bradley Burston: The Palestinians' time is running out Responses: 393 West backs Lebanese gov't capitulation to Hezbollah Responses: 192 Obama promises 'unshakable commitment' to Israel if elected Responses: 210 Hamas: Olmert too weak to negotiate peace agreement with Syria Responses: 208 McCain rejects pastor's support after 'God sent Hitler' jibe Responses: 110 More Headlines 01:04 Syria sends minister to Iran after shock revelation Israel talks 18:30 Ex-IDF chief: Golan Heights not indispensable 23:57 IDF strikes wound 4 Gaza militants in two incidents 01:06 Israel denies entry to high-profile critic Norman Finkelstein 15:51 UN: No. of roadblocks in W. Bank up 7 percent from last Sept. 20:53 Chelsea axes Grant after losing Champions League final to Red Devils 18:43 MK Sneh to announce split from Labor to form new party 01:16 Israeli warplanes almost shoot down Tony Blair's plane 03:38 Report: Singer Amy Winehouse to undergo drug rehab in Israel 14:56 Tourist in critical condition after jumping from Tiberias hospital 13:22 Teenager stabbed to death at high school in Galilee village 11:18 Egypt police shoot Sudanese migrant at Israel border Previous Editions Select Day 23 may 22 may 21 may 20 may 19 may 18 may 16 may 15 may 14 may 13 may 12 may 11 may

Special Offers Advertisement Dead Sea Products Buy Dead Sea mineral skin care and beauty products. Coupon code Haaretz for 10% off. Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Istudy Learn Hebrew in 3 months The Terraces Your Ultimate Coastal Address On Nitza Boulevard, North Netanya Together Celebrating Israel's 60th The Jewish Agency and You - together making history Pardes Institute Summer Sessions http://www.pardes.org.il/ Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved