To be pure, intransigent and useless. (part1)

I do occasionally say a good word for Uri Abneri. Many members
of the lists find it necessary to tell me that Abneri, being a zionist,
and being against ROR, it is not proper to say anything good about him.

Abneri is against the Israeli occupation. He is against the destruction of
Palestinian houses. He is for the dismantling of the Jewish settlements
in the West Bank, and he is against Sharon. Now, if all the Israelis
supported Abneri's position, Sharon and his likes would be toppled from
power.

It is therefore clear that instead of one Abneri, we need thousands of them.
Of course, we would like to have thousands who support ROR. But just now
it is not in the cards. Just now, thousands of Abneris are much better than
a single one. We must therefore applaud Abneri while remembering his
shortcomings. This is truth for ALL THE PEOPLE who are ready to go with
us part of the way.

However, there are some supporters of Palestine who shrink from the
 idea of having anything to do with Abneri and his like. They want to remain
pure, and useless. Similarly, I would applaud Lerner, every time he takes a
step in the correct direction. Recently, in a Canadian program, he tore to
bits the defender of the Israeli position. Lerner did a good job. I applaud
him  for that. A purist would not, and would prefer to be useless than applaud
a zionist.

Many of the refuseniks live in the illusion that true Zionism is against
persecution of the Palestinian population, is against the occupation. They
reproach Sharon of not being a true zionist. I applaud those self-proclaimed
Zionists, who understand nothing at the true face of zionism, but who refuse
to serve in the occupied territories because it is against their principles, be
they zionist or not. I think that the refuseniks are a very promising sign. The
purist notice how tainted the refuseniks are with zionism and do not see in
them a promising sign. By asking not to give too much consideration to the
refuseniks, the purists remain pure, and useless.

The purist would rather see a patient die, rather than stay alive taking an
"incorrect" medicine.

To be pure is to be divisive. Some "pure" members of Awda, have strongly
criticized Dr. Hanan Ashrawi for not being pure. They have misrepresented
her so great contribution to the Palestinian cause. They refuse
to be proud of her. Since being pure is divisive, it harms the struggle of the
Palestinian people.

Friendly,
Clement
-- 

Clement Leibovitz

e-mail: info@cleibovitz.org



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