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[Big_Bird]

Tanya Reinhart is a Professor of Linguistics at Tel Aviv University and the author of Israel/Palestine: How to End the War of 1948 and The Roadmap to Nowhere. She can be reached through her website: http://www.tau.ac.il/~reinhart

This is a very interesting interview. I suggest those interested in the Middle East issue follow the link and read the whole of the interview.

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An Interview with Tanya Reinhart

The Roadmap to Nowhere

By ERIC HAZAN

From: http://www.counterpunch.org/hazan10022006.html


Your new book, Roadmap to Nowhere, covers the history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in the last three years, a period dominated by Ariel Sharon's leadership. You argue that during this period it became evident that in Israel, decisions are taken by the military, rather than the political echelons. Can you elaborate?

Israeli military and political systems have always been closely intertwined, with generals moving from the army straight to the government, but the army's political status was further solidified during Sharon's ascendancy. Senior military officers brief the press (they capture at least half of the news space in the Israeli media), and brief and shape the views of foreign diplomats; they go abroad on diplomatic missions, outline political plans for the government, and express their political views on any occasion.

In contrast to the military stability, the Israeli political system is in a gradual process of crumbling. In a World Bank report of April 2005, Israel is found one of the most corrupt and least efficient in the Western world, second only to Italy in the government corruption index, and lowest in the index of political stability. Sharon personally was associated, together with his sons, with severe bribery charges, that have never reached the court. The new party that Sharon founded, Kadima, and which now heads the government, with Olmert as Sharon's successor, is a hierarchical agglomeration of individuals with no party institutions or local branches. Its guidelines, published in November 22 2005, enable its leader to bypass all standard democratic processes and appoint the list of the party's candidates to the parliament without voting or approval of any party body.

The Labor party has not been able to offer an alternative. In the last two Israeli elections, Labor elected dovish candidates for prime ministry--Amram Mitzna in 2003, and Amir Peretz in 2006. Both were initially received with enormous enthusiasm, but were immediately silenced by their party and campaign advisors and by self imposed censorship, aiming to situate themselves "at the center of the political map". Soon, their program became indistinguishable from that of Sharon. Peretz even declared that on "foreign and security" matters he will do exactly as Sharon (but he will also bring a social change). Thus these candidates helped convince the Israeli voters that Sharon's way is the right way. In the last years, there has never been a substantial left-wing opposition to the rule of Sharon and the generals, since after the elections, Labor would always join the government, providing the dovish image that the generals need for international show.

With the collapse of the political system, the army remains the body that shapes and executes Israel's policies. During the recent Israeli attack on Lebanon (not covered in the book), it became common knowledge in Israel that the military is leading the government, with Peretz, now Defense minister, often appearing on tv looking like a puppet operated by the generals surrounding him.

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Other questions put to her are:

Sharon is widely viewed in Israeli and Western discourse as a leader who has undergone a transformation from a philosophy of eternal war to moderation and concession. This is not quite the picture that emerges from your book.

Did the Road Map plan of 2003, with which your book opens, offer any real prospect for peace?

A central event that you cover in the book is the Gaza pullout and the evacuation of the Gaza settlements. But your analysis of what went on behind the scenes of the pullout is quite different than the way it was perceived even in critical circles.

But currently there is no sign of any U.S. pressure on Israel?

What has been the role of the Pro-Israel lobby in shaping U.S. policies?

Despite the grim events described in the book, the overall feeling that comes through is that of hope. Why?

You note that since 2003, a new form of struggle has been formed along the route of the West Bank wall?

[ddeubel]

Thanks for posting that, she knows her stuff.

Not surprising to me and I said so during the recent war, that Israel had become "almost " fully under the sway of military , old time military hawks and was only a semblance of a democracy.

Most people will say this is necessary. I do not. It is precisely ONE of the reasons why no peace settlement has come out or been engaged. The military seeks control, security, security, security, to the detriment of relations and compromise.

They are also those in power who see the Palestinians as "non human" and as only a group to be blockaded and enslaved. Not a roadmap to compromise...



DD

[Big_Bird]

Recommended reading for Junior! Here is a snippet from the introduction of her new book:

Introduction[1]


In the present political atmosphere in the US and Europe, anybody who expresses criticism of Israel�s policies is immediately silenced as an anti-Semite. Part of the reason why the pro-Israel lobbies have been so successful in their use of this accusation is the massive lack of knowledge about what is really happening in Israel-Palestine. Without the facts, the dominant narrative remains that Israel is struggling to defend its very existence. Attention focuses mainly on the horrible, despicable Palestinian terror; hence critics of Israel are often accused of justifying terror. My aim in this book is to provide the facts, as they unfold � openly - in the Israeli media.

This book covers the history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine since 2003; it is framed against my previous book Israel/Palestine,[2] which covers the period between 1999 and 2002. At the opening of Israel/Palestine I wrote: