In the tumult of the last few days, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the "unification" of Jerusalem, one of the articles stated that "even peace-activist Uri Avnery" voted in the Knesset for the unification of the city. That is true. I...
Last week, a not so well-known Palestinian woman received an unusual honor. An article of hers was published on top of the first page of the most respected newspaper on earth: New York Times. The editors defined the writer, Diana Buttu, as: "a lawyer and a former...
The present Israeli government coalition consists of 67 (out of 120) members of the Knesset. Each member wants to be elected again (and again and again). In order to be reelected, he or she must attract the attention of the public. How? The simplest way is to propose...
I have a confession to make: I like Marwan Barghouti. I have visited him at his modest Ramallah home several times. During our conversations, we discussed Israeli-Palestinian peace. Our ideas were the same: to create the State of Palestine next to the State of Israel,...
Cui bono – "who benefits" – is the first question an experienced detective asks when investigating a crime. Since I was a detective myself for a short time in my youth, I know the meaning. Often, the first and obvious suspicion is false. You ask...
So how the hell did it all start? Last week I tried to describe the 1948 war, starting from the shooting at a Jewish bus on the morrow of the UN partition resolution. Some readers dispute the timing. They insist that the war started on May 15, on the morrow of the...
A few days ago I happened upon an excellent British movie, Testament of Youth, based on the memoirs of Vera Brittain. Vera tells her story, the story of a British girl who grew up in a bourgeois family without worries or sorrows, when World War I put an end to that...
If someone had told me 50 years ago that the rulers of Israel, Jordan and Egypt had met in secret to make peace, I would have thought that I was dreaming. If I had been told that the leaders of Egypt and Jordan had offered Israel complete peace in return for leaving...
So how the hell did it all start? Last week I tried to describe the 1948 war, starting from the shooting at a Jewish bus on the morrow of the UN partition resolution. Some readers dispute the timing. They insist that the war started on May 15, on the morrow of the...
The Arab taxi driver who brought me to Ramallah had no trouble with the Israeli border posts. He just evaded them. Saves a lot of trouble. I was invited by Mahmood Abbas, the President of the Palestinian National Authority (as well as of the PLO and the Fatah...
