Armanen
April 14th, 2008, 06:10 PM
Subscribe to Print Edition | Tue., April 15, 2008 Nisan 10, 5768 | | Israel
web haaretz.com
02:05 13/04/2008
Palestinians versus Tibetans - a double standard
By Gideon Levy
Tags: Israel
Israelis have no moral right to fight the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The president of the Israeli Friends of the Tibetan People, the psychologist Nahi Alon, who was involved in the murder of two Palestinians in Gaza in 1967 - as was revealed in Haaretz Magazine last weekend - chose to make his private "atonement" by fighting to free Tibet, of all places. He is not alone among Israelis calling to stop the occupation - but not ours. No small number of other Israelis have recently joined the wave of global protest that broke out over the Olympics, set to take place in Beijing this summer. It is easy; it engenders no controversy - who would not be in favor of liberating Tibet? But that is not the fight that Israeli human rights supporters should be waging.
To fight for Tibet, Israel needs no courage, because there is no price to pay. On the contrary, this is part of a fashionable global trend, almost as much as the fight against global warming or the poaching of sea lions.
These fights are just, and must be undertaken. But in Israel they are deluxe fights, which are unthinkable. When one comes to the fight with hands that are collectively, and sometimes individually, so unclean, it is impossible to protest a Chinese occupation.
Citizens of a country that maintains a military subjugation in its backyard that is no less cruel than that of the Chinese, and by some parameters even more so, and against which there is practically no more protest here, have no justification in denouncing another occupation. Citizens of a country that is entirely tainted by the occupation - a national, ongoing project that involves all sectors of the population to some extent, directly or indirectly - cannot wash their hands and fight another occupation, when a half-hour from their homes, horrors no less terrible are taking place for which they have much greater responsibility.
The world has fallen in love with Tibet. How easy it is to do so. The picturesque figure of the Dalai Lama and the non-violent struggle he leads with his scarlet-robed monks is truly captivating. Indeed, the world has smothered the leader with awards and recognition, from the Nobel Peace Prize to an honorary doctorate at Ben-Gurion University.
The Palestinians are not as nice as the Tibetans in the eyes of the world. But the Palestinian people deserve exactly the same rights as the occupied Tibetan people, even if their leaders are less enchanting, they have no scarlet robes and their fight is more violent. There is absolutely no connection between rights and the means of protest, and from that perspective, there is no difference between a Tibetan and a Palestinian - they both deserve the exact same freedom.
Moreover, in the first years of the Israeli occupation, most Palestinians accepted it submissively, with practically no violence. What did they get as a result? Nothing. The world and Israel cloaked themselves in apathy and callousness. Only when planes started being hijacked in the 1970s did the world begin to notice that a Palestinian problem even existed. In contrast, the Tibetan struggle also was tainted with violence in the past, and it is reasonable to assume that violence will increase if the Tibetans do not attain their goal.
There is also no point in asking which occupation is crueler, the Chinese or the Israeli. The competition is harsh and bitter. The Chinese killed and imprisoned more Tibetans, in Lhasa there is less freedom of expression than in Nablus, but in general, the extent of Israeli repression in the territories is much greater today than Chinese repression in Tibet.
Nowhere in the world today is there a region more besieged and confined than Gaza. And what is the result? The world calls to boycott the occupier in the case of China, while absurdly, with regard to the Palestinians, the world is boycotting the occupied entity, or at least its elected leadership, and not the occupier. This, it seems, has no parallel in history.
Internationally speaking, the situation of the Palestinians is ostensibly better, since while all governments recognize Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, no government in the world recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Palestinian territories. Practically speaking, this does not help the Palestinians much: Contemporary bon ton is to support the struggle for Tibet, only Tibet. The Palestinians have not even one Richard Gere to serve as a mouthpiece. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is boycotting the Olympic games but paid an official visit to Israel, where she spoke not one word about the shameful conditions in Gaza under Israeli occupation. Is there any other way to describe this, except a double standard?
In a more just world, no occupation would exist - neither the Chinese nor the Israeli. But until that time, the Israelis have to look inward at their own home and protest what is being done there in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry, before they present themselves with colorful signs outside the Chinese Embassy.
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Security.com
Shin Bet is reaching out to English and Arabic worlds with new web sites.
Obama's blunder
As Penn. primary approaches, Clinton has latched on to 'values' remarks by Obama.
1. Levy - Just As Fellow Kapo Richard Falk - Lies With Such Ease 03:56 | Tod Zuckerman 13/04/08
2. Gideon Levi is like a massiah to me. His writings are holy 04:31 | Yaakov Sullivan 13/04/08
3. Hey Gideon and the Tibetans do not have Oil Filthy Rich Brothers 04:59 | Genuine Tosefta 13/04/08
4. Hey Gideon your facts show that Chinese repression is greater 05:03 | Genuine Tosefta 13/04/08
5. It`s called "Transference" 09:07 | Natallie Durson 13/04/08
6. how would china react to tibetan kassams? 09:20 | don 13/04/08
7. Natalie, did you say 95%? 09:25 | Some Random Guy 13/04/08
8. Does Tibet want to annihilate China? 09:26 | Joseph 13/04/08
9. THE MASK IS OFF 09:28 | AVI 13/04/08
10. THE DIFFERENCE IS.... 09:47 | INCREDULOUS 13/04/08
11. What distortions! 09:51 | S 13/04/08
12. Durson occasional? You`re anti-semitic lies know no humility. 09:54 | Allon 13/04/08
13. Jews are the Tibetans to the `Chinese` Arabs 09:56 | Ben Plonie 13/04/08
14. Gideon Levy`s painful, lacerating truth 10:05 | Clickfool 13/04/08
15. It all boils down to the Israeli appetite for hypocrisy 10:09 | Clickfool 13/04/08
16. #5 Natalie, but how sexual minorities are discriminated in Tibet? 10:20 | Yaakov Sullivan 13/04/08
17. Israel, the time has come to get rid of your "chains"....... 10:24 | Swiss (Dino) 13/04/08
18. #14 I have 2 pictures on my wall JesusChrist and Gideon Levy 10:44 | Yaakov Sullivan 13/04/08
19. No apology to the Chinese from Japan. 10:53 | Maureen Ann 13/04/08
20. Gideon Levy is right 11:01 | Jean-Paul Doguet 13/04/08
21. well written 11:09 | Nick 13/04/08
22. Clickfool loves self hating Jews 11:21 | Truthsayer 13/04/08
23. The Truth Hurts - keep it up! 11:22 | D Hirod 13/04/08
24. gideon KNOWS the palis BETTER than they do themselves?? hahahaha 11:28 | CK Tan 13/04/08
25. Many Israelis are like sheep following the herd.. 11:30 | Dutch 13/04/08
26. Levy`s inversion of the truth 11:34 | Veritas 13/04/08
27. Re Natallie #5... a small but significant correction... 11:36 | Esther 13/04/08
28. Some Random Guy - Since you asked 11:44 | Natallie Durson 13/04/08
29. Levy versus the truth 11:47 | Moshe BenTov 13/04/08
30. Levy and his double standard 11:52 | Dalia 13/04/08
31. Pals versus Tibetans-denial of reality 11:52 | KUTW 13/04/08
32. Direct link 11:53 | Serenity 13/04/08
33. Bravo, Uri Avnery said the same thing 11:58 | Marilyn 13/04/08
34. Mr. Levy, I find your article pretty outrageous 11:59 | KUTW 13/04/08
35. In a world without terrorists 12:02 | KUTW 13/04/08
36. # 5 It is called "distortion of true facts" 12:03 | Yona K 13/04/08
37. fight occupation; don`t compare 12:11 | Rose 13/04/08
38. Jews&Samaritans are aborigines of Judea&Samaria, Tibetans Tibet 12:15 | Haldrik 13/04/08
39. The Jews and N Durston # 5 12:27 | Liora 13/04/08
40. Palestinians versus Tibetans 12:30 | Patel M. 13/04/08
41. Ben you are a hoot 12:36 | Marilyn 13/04/08
42. Thank You Gordon Levy for Exposing Israeli Hypocricy 12:40 | Johan Odin 13/04/08
43. "Israel have no right to fight the occupation of Tibetans" 12:44 | Akram Zekaria 13/04/08
44. About absurd comparisons 12:49 | Zak 13/04/08
45. Mr. Levy, welcome to my Party! 12:50 | Adolf 13/04/08
46. clickfool - and what has UK done for the Tibet cause? 12:52 | CK Tan 13/04/08
47. swiss d`s people - the time has come to get rid of your "chains" 12:55 | CK Tan 13/04/08
48. maureen ann SUPPORTS a CHEAP apology for DECADES of GENOCIDE 12:57 | CK Tan 13/04/08
49. Tibetans vs Israelis 13:00 | KUTW 13/04/08
50. I wish Israel was dealing with the Dalai Lama 13:03 | KUTW 13/04/08
51. #25 dutch DEMENTIA strikes AGAIN - the proof 13:05 | CK Tan 13/04/08
52. Who deserves freedom 13:07 | KUTW 13/04/08
144. Gideon is a man of conscience among ostriches 22:46 | Isaiah 13/04/08
web haaretz.com
02:05 13/04/2008
Palestinians versus Tibetans - a double standard
By Gideon Levy
Tags: Israel
Israelis have no moral right to fight the Chinese occupation of Tibet. The president of the Israeli Friends of the Tibetan People, the psychologist Nahi Alon, who was involved in the murder of two Palestinians in Gaza in 1967 - as was revealed in Haaretz Magazine last weekend - chose to make his private "atonement" by fighting to free Tibet, of all places. He is not alone among Israelis calling to stop the occupation - but not ours. No small number of other Israelis have recently joined the wave of global protest that broke out over the Olympics, set to take place in Beijing this summer. It is easy; it engenders no controversy - who would not be in favor of liberating Tibet? But that is not the fight that Israeli human rights supporters should be waging.
To fight for Tibet, Israel needs no courage, because there is no price to pay. On the contrary, this is part of a fashionable global trend, almost as much as the fight against global warming or the poaching of sea lions.
These fights are just, and must be undertaken. But in Israel they are deluxe fights, which are unthinkable. When one comes to the fight with hands that are collectively, and sometimes individually, so unclean, it is impossible to protest a Chinese occupation.
Citizens of a country that maintains a military subjugation in its backyard that is no less cruel than that of the Chinese, and by some parameters even more so, and against which there is practically no more protest here, have no justification in denouncing another occupation. Citizens of a country that is entirely tainted by the occupation - a national, ongoing project that involves all sectors of the population to some extent, directly or indirectly - cannot wash their hands and fight another occupation, when a half-hour from their homes, horrors no less terrible are taking place for which they have much greater responsibility.
The world has fallen in love with Tibet. How easy it is to do so. The picturesque figure of the Dalai Lama and the non-violent struggle he leads with his scarlet-robed monks is truly captivating. Indeed, the world has smothered the leader with awards and recognition, from the Nobel Peace Prize to an honorary doctorate at Ben-Gurion University.
The Palestinians are not as nice as the Tibetans in the eyes of the world. But the Palestinian people deserve exactly the same rights as the occupied Tibetan people, even if their leaders are less enchanting, they have no scarlet robes and their fight is more violent. There is absolutely no connection between rights and the means of protest, and from that perspective, there is no difference between a Tibetan and a Palestinian - they both deserve the exact same freedom.
Moreover, in the first years of the Israeli occupation, most Palestinians accepted it submissively, with practically no violence. What did they get as a result? Nothing. The world and Israel cloaked themselves in apathy and callousness. Only when planes started being hijacked in the 1970s did the world begin to notice that a Palestinian problem even existed. In contrast, the Tibetan struggle also was tainted with violence in the past, and it is reasonable to assume that violence will increase if the Tibetans do not attain their goal.
There is also no point in asking which occupation is crueler, the Chinese or the Israeli. The competition is harsh and bitter. The Chinese killed and imprisoned more Tibetans, in Lhasa there is less freedom of expression than in Nablus, but in general, the extent of Israeli repression in the territories is much greater today than Chinese repression in Tibet.
Nowhere in the world today is there a region more besieged and confined than Gaza. And what is the result? The world calls to boycott the occupier in the case of China, while absurdly, with regard to the Palestinians, the world is boycotting the occupied entity, or at least its elected leadership, and not the occupier. This, it seems, has no parallel in history.
Internationally speaking, the situation of the Palestinians is ostensibly better, since while all governments recognize Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, no government in the world recognizes Israeli sovereignty over the Palestinian territories. Practically speaking, this does not help the Palestinians much: Contemporary bon ton is to support the struggle for Tibet, only Tibet. The Palestinians have not even one Richard Gere to serve as a mouthpiece. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is boycotting the Olympic games but paid an official visit to Israel, where she spoke not one word about the shameful conditions in Gaza under Israeli occupation. Is there any other way to describe this, except a double standard?
In a more just world, no occupation would exist - neither the Chinese nor the Israeli. But until that time, the Israelis have to look inward at their own home and protest what is being done there in front of the Israeli Defense Ministry, before they present themselves with colorful signs outside the Chinese Embassy.
Bookmark to del.icio.us
Digg It!
Security.com
Shin Bet is reaching out to English and Arabic worlds with new web sites.
Obama's blunder
As Penn. primary approaches, Clinton has latched on to 'values' remarks by Obama.
1. Levy - Just As Fellow Kapo Richard Falk - Lies With Such Ease 03:56 | Tod Zuckerman 13/04/08
2. Gideon Levi is like a massiah to me. His writings are holy 04:31 | Yaakov Sullivan 13/04/08
3. Hey Gideon and the Tibetans do not have Oil Filthy Rich Brothers 04:59 | Genuine Tosefta 13/04/08
4. Hey Gideon your facts show that Chinese repression is greater 05:03 | Genuine Tosefta 13/04/08
5. It`s called "Transference" 09:07 | Natallie Durson 13/04/08
6. how would china react to tibetan kassams? 09:20 | don 13/04/08
7. Natalie, did you say 95%? 09:25 | Some Random Guy 13/04/08
8. Does Tibet want to annihilate China? 09:26 | Joseph 13/04/08
9. THE MASK IS OFF 09:28 | AVI 13/04/08
10. THE DIFFERENCE IS.... 09:47 | INCREDULOUS 13/04/08
11. What distortions! 09:51 | S 13/04/08
12. Durson occasional? You`re anti-semitic lies know no humility. 09:54 | Allon 13/04/08
13. Jews are the Tibetans to the `Chinese` Arabs 09:56 | Ben Plonie 13/04/08
14. Gideon Levy`s painful, lacerating truth 10:05 | Clickfool 13/04/08
15. It all boils down to the Israeli appetite for hypocrisy 10:09 | Clickfool 13/04/08
16. #5 Natalie, but how sexual minorities are discriminated in Tibet? 10:20 | Yaakov Sullivan 13/04/08
17. Israel, the time has come to get rid of your "chains"....... 10:24 | Swiss (Dino) 13/04/08
18. #14 I have 2 pictures on my wall JesusChrist and Gideon Levy 10:44 | Yaakov Sullivan 13/04/08
19. No apology to the Chinese from Japan. 10:53 | Maureen Ann 13/04/08
20. Gideon Levy is right 11:01 | Jean-Paul Doguet 13/04/08
21. well written 11:09 | Nick 13/04/08
22. Clickfool loves self hating Jews 11:21 | Truthsayer 13/04/08
23. The Truth Hurts - keep it up! 11:22 | D Hirod 13/04/08
24. gideon KNOWS the palis BETTER than they do themselves?? hahahaha 11:28 | CK Tan 13/04/08
25. Many Israelis are like sheep following the herd.. 11:30 | Dutch 13/04/08
26. Levy`s inversion of the truth 11:34 | Veritas 13/04/08
27. Re Natallie #5... a small but significant correction... 11:36 | Esther 13/04/08
28. Some Random Guy - Since you asked 11:44 | Natallie Durson 13/04/08
29. Levy versus the truth 11:47 | Moshe BenTov 13/04/08
30. Levy and his double standard 11:52 | Dalia 13/04/08
31. Pals versus Tibetans-denial of reality 11:52 | KUTW 13/04/08
32. Direct link 11:53 | Serenity 13/04/08
33. Bravo, Uri Avnery said the same thing 11:58 | Marilyn 13/04/08
34. Mr. Levy, I find your article pretty outrageous 11:59 | KUTW 13/04/08
35. In a world without terrorists 12:02 | KUTW 13/04/08
36. # 5 It is called "distortion of true facts" 12:03 | Yona K 13/04/08
37. fight occupation; don`t compare 12:11 | Rose 13/04/08
38. Jews&Samaritans are aborigines of Judea&Samaria, Tibetans Tibet 12:15 | Haldrik 13/04/08
39. The Jews and N Durston # 5 12:27 | Liora 13/04/08
40. Palestinians versus Tibetans 12:30 | Patel M. 13/04/08
41. Ben you are a hoot 12:36 | Marilyn 13/04/08
42. Thank You Gordon Levy for Exposing Israeli Hypocricy 12:40 | Johan Odin 13/04/08
43. "Israel have no right to fight the occupation of Tibetans" 12:44 | Akram Zekaria 13/04/08
44. About absurd comparisons 12:49 | Zak 13/04/08
45. Mr. Levy, welcome to my Party! 12:50 | Adolf 13/04/08
46. clickfool - and what has UK done for the Tibet cause? 12:52 | CK Tan 13/04/08
47. swiss d`s people - the time has come to get rid of your "chains" 12:55 | CK Tan 13/04/08
48. maureen ann SUPPORTS a CHEAP apology for DECADES of GENOCIDE 12:57 | CK Tan 13/04/08
49. Tibetans vs Israelis 13:00 | KUTW 13/04/08
50. I wish Israel was dealing with the Dalai Lama 13:03 | KUTW 13/04/08
51. #25 dutch DEMENTIA strikes AGAIN - the proof 13:05 | CK Tan 13/04/08
52. Who deserves freedom 13:07 | KUTW 13/04/08
144. Gideon is a man of conscience among ostriches 22:46 | Isaiah 13/04/08