Success and Failure
By Israel Shamir
(An Interview given to Mr Kostas Karaiskos,
editor of the Greek weekly «Antifonitis» on
Partition, the Rise of Jews in Russia, and the
duty to resist Zionism)
Q: Dear Mr. Shamir, after working for so many
years as a writer and journalist, a day came and
you surprised all people by your daring, heretic
point of view. What had really happened? How can
an established Jewish writer speak openly about
racist Israel, the right of the Palestinians to
resist and return, the American crimes in Iraq
etc?
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A: It is not strange that in the critical moment
I stood by my adoptive country, the Holy Land,
this delightful and charming sister of Hellas,
so similar to Peloponnesus or Crete, the living
temple of God, for it was destroyed before our
eyes by the mad forces of Sharon. It is strange
I kept quiet until recently. But the instinct of
self-preservation makes cowards of us all, and
besides, Man is optimistic by nature. As long as
the child does not cry, we do not pay much
attention to his discomfort. As long as the
native Palestinians were quiet, one thought:
"Well, probably they can manage, and the country
can manage".
But the Intifada was a sign that these extremely
peaceful and patient people are pushed into slow
death, and with them Palestine is going for
good. I felt that every bullet shot by the
Israeli Army kills my brothers, and every
torched olive tree, every razed house, every
demolished Church damage the very fabric of our
existence. It does not make sense to live if our
earth is destroyed, and that is true everywhere.
Just objections or critique were not sufficient
anymore.
If I were younger, maybe I would join the
fighters of Jenin standing fast at assault of
the armoured monsters. But writing is also a
form of warfare. A writer can emulate a fighter
by disregarding mortal danger, by putting his
goal above self-preservation. Later I discovered
that this war of words is good not only for
Palestine, but for my soul as well. Thus, the
struggle for Palestine became a spiritual quest
for me and for many others.
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Q: Your thesis about the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict is that it can be ended only by the
construction of a unified state, with equality
for all its citizens. Do you believe that this
is more realistic than the two states framework?
Which could be the steps for the solution you
propose?
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Judging by your question, there are separate
Israel and Palestine, while Shamir wishes to
unite them. But it is not the case. We have 'one
state' and practically always had it. Palestine
was partitioned for a very short time, from 1948
to 1967, but before and after this break we -
the different communities of Palestine - live
together in one beautiful country between Jordan
River and the Mediterranean Sea. It can't be
divided, for it is too small and people live in
close quarters with each other. Moreover,
without Palestinians, Palestine dies.
Like Cyprus before 1974, we are still one
country, and the idea of partition of Palestine
is as wrong as that of Cyprus partition. Now,
when the communities of Cyprus try to reconcile,
we should not promote partition of Palestine. We
must learn from others' errors: the partition of
Cyprus brought no blessing to the Cypriots, and
we should not try it here. The enormous tragedy
of Greek - Turkish partition and transfers is a
living proof it was a wrong way to solve the
problem.
Whenever I travel in the Eastern Mediterranean,
I deeply regret that there are no Greeks in
Smyrna, no Turks in Thessalonica. In
Constantinople, Hagia Sophia and Hagia Irini
still remember their Orthodox Past, and the
mosques in Rhodes bewail their glory. This
tragedy is still with us, for the Greeks were an
important and leading element in the Ottoman
Empire, this successor of the Byzantines. The
Turks were soldiers and shepherds, the Greeks
represented state and trade. There is a coin
minted in 1455 in Constantinople; its one side
is inscribed with legend 'Mehmet, Sultan of the
Faithful' in Arabic, and the reverse side is
inscribed in Greek, 'Mehmet, the Emperor of the
Orthodox'. The Ottoman Empire was like this
coin, and under the Turkish warriors and Greek
ministers it kept peace and prosperity of the
Mediterranean. The West envied its successes and
undermined it.
From the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 to
Smyrna in 1921, the imperialist West tried to
disintegrate our beautiful Eastern Mediterranean
and eventually they made it. Out of
Greek-Turkish partition, came Mustafa Ataturk,
and his policies (for a while) broke the spirit
of the Turks, turned them into an American tool,
forbade them to worship God and even wear
national dress. Greece was subjugated by the
British forces for many years. Greeks were the
real force in the Empire, while in their
independent state they serve Western tourists.
Looking back, one understands that the partition
of the Empire was a costly mistake that we all
still pay for. Partition of Cyprus, partition of
Ireland, partition of India - so many partitions
promoted by the imperialist West, and all of
them lead to perdition. It is enough. In my
view, partition of Palestine should be avoided,
while the real problems attended by promoting
equality, democracy, love of our country and its
spirit. Maybe non-partition of Palestine will be
the turning point for mankind.
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Q: Vladimir Guzinski, the Russian media baron,
was arrested in Athens and is expected to be
deported to Russia. Other fabulously rich
members of Jewish community are also prosecuted
(Berezovsky, Khodorkovski) and others continue
to keep good relations with Putin and
authorities (Abramovich, Chubais). You have been
born and you have worked in Russia, you know the
country and its culture. How do you explain the
unrestricted power which was gathered in Jewish
hands after 1989? Do you believe that Putin is
trying to put some limits to their power or he
is just rearranging the scene?
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A: Rise of the Jews in post-Soviet Russia is one
of the most bewildering phenomena. Six out of
seven wealthiest men of Russia are Jews, and
they are influential in media, banking, in
control over natural resources. It is not easy
to explain why a Jewish accountant from
Tashkent, Chernoy, with monthly salary of one
hundred Rouble, became the owner of Russian
aluminium industry.
One explanation lies in the religious sphere.
The Orthodox Christians are ashamed of being
rich. They remember the comparative size of a
needle and a camel. They understand that riches
rarely come to honest men. They are ashamed of
power, for they were told: the last ones here
will be among the first there. This quality of
Orthodox Christianity was partly inherited by
Communism, and that is why Communism was
successful in Russia. (It would succeed in
Greece, too, but England crushed Communists in
post-war Greece).
The unreconstructed Jews and the Calvinists have
no such misgivings. They seek power for the Old
Testament says, “be a master to your brothers,
and they will bow to you”. They believe wealth
is a sign of being blessed. That is why they are
ready to grasp all there is. On a less religious
note, I shall quote Victor Pelevin, a modern
Russian writer:
“In tumultuous times, an unscrupulous and
cunning man manages better than an honest one
for he quickly adapts to the changes. At a
certain level of dishonesty and cunning, the man
foresees the oncoming changes well in advance,
and thus he adapts even faster. The worst rogues
adapt themselves to the changes before these
changes actually occur. These worst rogues are
the engine of change, for they do not foresee
the future, but they form it. These
unscrupulous, shameless, pushy rogues convince
the rest that their forecast is correct, and
thus the change occurs”.
In other words, ‘success’ of a group at the
expense of others is a sign of their lack of
scruples. But in more pragmatic way, the Russian
Jews own their success to their close relations
with the American Jews. When the US Jews entered
the big game of sharing the spoils of Russia,
they needed local allies, and the Russian Jews
were available for this role. Thus, this
prominence of Russian Jews is even worse than it
appears, for the prominent ones are extremely
pro-American and pro-capitalist. They support
Western domination, fight the Russian Orthodox
Church, and promote 'modernity', this poisonous
mix of CNN, MTV and IMF.
They enjoy support of the important American
Jews. Khodorkovsky is defended by such differing
and mutually hostile Jewish players as Richard
Perle and George Soros. The NY Times (July 23,
2003) reported from Moscow: “When key Washington
policy advisor Richard Perle sat down this week
for a meeting with leading Russian political
analysts, he had an unsolicited word of advice:
Lay off Yukos Oil Co., the Russian energy giant
locked in a showdown with criminal prosecutors.”
(Yukos is Khodorkovsky). Charles Grant, a Soros’
man, wrote: “today, in strict utilitarian terms,
Khodorkovsky is a force for good in Russia. He
gives direct and indirect support to a range of
organisations and individuals that are trying to
raise the standards of Russian capitalism, civil
society and democracy. He wants to make Russia
more western, which in my view is exactly what
it needs”.
When Putin moved against Gusinsky, NY Times of
Sulzberger called to ‘defend freedom of
independent press’, another code-word for the
Jewish-owned one, as the NY Times did not defend
Zavtra and other opposition media.
But ordinary Jews, or Russians of Jewish origin
- and there are millions of such people - are a
different story. I meet them, music teachers,
journalists, economists; they are normal people,
and they reject the New World Order and regret
the fall of the Soviet Union. Even oligarchs are
only human: Berezovsky was received in the
Russian Orthodox Church, married a Russian
woman, he supports the national opposition, and
who knows? Maybe he changed his ways. The
Manichaean approach should be rejected – reality
is more complicated than any scheme. |