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| September 15, 2006 THE DESTRUCTION OF PALESTINE GOES ON Israel’s folly endangers Jews everywhere Before an Israeli soldier was captured near Gaza, Israel pretended the status quo was livable, even though Gaza was being strangled economically and destroyed by constant Israeli attacks. Then, after the soldier was captured, Israel killed 200 Palestinians in Gaza in just two months. Before the Palestinian elections, Israelis claimed there was no partner for peace. Then, when Hamas came to power in elections that were universally acknowledged to be free and fair, Israel went even farther. It imprisoned 4 Palestinian government ministers, 30 parliamentarians and 24 local officials. It continues to hold them in harsh conditions. Now no one speaks of negotiations or of compromise. Now Israel’s unilateral policy is to annex half of the West Bank while continuing to strangle the remaining Palestinian areas. Israel’s latest war in Palestine and Lebanon is not just criminal and immoral. It is completely suicidal for the future of Jews living both in and outside Israel. By inflicting unlimited suffering and creating new enemies, by refusing to acknowledge the Other, by always opting to use force, destruction and humiliation, Israel’s leaders are continuing their mad flight forward. None of this has happened by chance, for Zionism is a mixture of nationalism, expansionist, colonialism and the denial of the Other. It is aggression based on imperialism and on messianic dreams of creating "the new Jew". It will inevitably provoke more disasters until the majority of Jews realize the perversity of Zionism and the danger it creates for everyone. Twenty-five years ago there was no Hamas and no Hezbollah. In those days Zionism’s main enemies were secular and often Marxist. Israel hammered these "universalist" opponents mercilessly. Indeed, Charles Enderlin has demonstrated that Israel actually helped to create Hamas in order to counterbalance the PLO. One can quite rightly be skeptical about the goals of the religious resistance movements. One can even see in them a certain indifference to human life. But let us not confuse causes and effects. The top priority must be to end the occupation of Palestine, to acknowledge "the Other" and to abandon Israel’s colonialist adventures. We need a radical change in Israel, an authentic compromise such as that which ended Apartheid in South Africa. Without it, Israel’s criminal wars will continue and Israel’s most determined opponents - whatever their ideology - will continue to grow stronger. Adapted from "La destruction de la Palestine continue" by Pierre Stambul, the President of the Union of French Jews for Peace Distributed by PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity) About PAJU The Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) is a human rights organization that explicitly recognizes the right of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples to national existence and to live in security. We condemn all violations of human rights. PAJU was co-founded in Montreal by Bruce Katz, a Jewish Canadian and Rezeq Faraj, a Palestinian Canadian who have been friends for more than 25 years. Our group is comprised of Jews, Palestinians and other Canadians of good conscience who work together to promote peace in the Middle East and to educate the public on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
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