Caesar's
Favor
By
Uri Avnery
24 July, 2003
George
Caesar, the Imperator of the new Rome, likes Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).
He has invited him to the White House and showers him with compliments.
As in ancient Rome,
the likes and dislikes of the Emperor shape the policy of the Empire.
All the ministers, eunuchs, officials, proconsuls and local rulers act
accordingly, while mouthing words of flattery and praising the wisdom
of Caesar, irrespective of whether he is really wise, like Julius Caesar,
stupid like Tiberius or downright mad, like Caligula. Caesar is Caesar.
George Bush is a
simple man. His mental world, like a Western, contains Good Guys and
Bad Guys. His impressions are personal and come "from the gut".
They have nothing to do with logic or political analysis. Arafat made
Bush angry, he is a Bad Guy. Abu Mazen is a Good Guy, mainly because
he is not Arafat.
Like King Herod,
who lived in Jerusalem but whose ears picked up the slightest murmur
in Rome, Ariel Sharon listens to every whisper in Washington. In order
to influence Bush, he always has to know exactly which way the wind
is blowing. If Bush likes Abu Mazen, so Sharon, too, likes Abu Mazen.
More than that,
he lays out a blue-and-white carpet for him to walk on. He invites him
to his Jerusalem office, exchanges smiles and handshakes over the emblem
of the State of Israel, publicly orders his people to strengthen Abu
Mazen in every possible way, watching over him like a good father over
a promising son.
But with friends
like this, one has no need of enemies. I would advise Abu Mazen not
to turn his back when Sharon is around. Definitely not.
Because Sharon's
hidden agenda is far removed from his public one. As we have said many
times before: don't listen to what Sharon says but pay attention to
what he does.
From the day Abu
Mazen was appointed Palestinian Prime Minister, Sharon's sole aim has
been to topple him from his rickety chair as quickly and as forcefully
as possible.
It started with
statements from Sharon and his henchmen that made Abu Mazen look like
an Israeli stooge, a sub-contractor for Israeli security. It is continuing
by denying him any political achievement at all, making him look like
a "featherless chicken", as Sharon has called him.
Sharon's many statements
about releasing prisoners as a gesture of generosity have been loaded
with so many "no"s as to become meaningless. No prisoners
with "blood on their hands". No Hamas and Jihad members. No,
no, no, until only 300 remained, including common criminals and prisoners
about to be released anyhow.
At the same time,
Sharon has fulfilled almost none of his obligations under the Road Map.
The removal of some 60 settlers' "outposts" has become a joke.
Only one single inhabited outpost was removed in a dramatic struggle
before the cameras, and two new ones were put up in its place. The freezing
of all the settlements has been "forgotten".
The building of
the "separation wall", whose main aim is the drawing of a
new border deep in Palestinian territory and grabbing as much land as
possible, is going rapidly ahead, contrary to Sharon's obligation not
to do anything that may change the situation on the ground. He is about
to spend almost two billion (billion, not million) dollars on this monstrous
enterprise, while the education and health systems in Israel are collapsing
for lack of funds and single mothers are sitting in protest tents next
to his office.
The withdrawal from
the Palestinian territories is a sham. The Israeli army has left some
areas in the Gaza Strip which it wanted to leave anyway. The central
road has indeed been opened, but not completely, and it can be shut
down again at a moment's notice. The army has also left parts of Bethlehem,
but continues to build walls in other parts of the town. Withdrawals
from all the other Palestinian towns "are not under consideration
for the time being".
All over the West
Bank, the checkpoints continue to make the lives of the population hell.
Every night more people are arrested.
The Chief-of-Staff
boasts that the hudna (cease-fire) constitutes an Israeli victory, thereby
inciting Palestinians to break it. The commander of the Central Sector
accuses the Palestinian security services of not having cooperated in
securing the release of a kidnapped Israeli cabdriver, after refusing
to give them the least scrap of the necessary information
And most importantly,
all Sharon's spokesmen announce day and night that Abu Mazen has failed
in his job. Israel, they say, will not make any gesture towards him
until he begins to disarm Hamas and Jihad--that is to say, initiates
a civil war that will cause Hamas and Jihad to end the hudna and start
a new conflagration. This would allow Sharon to wriggle out of his obligation
to dismantle settlements.
Abu Mazen is also
told that he must replace Arafat, who is vastly more popular than him.
The ongoing imprisonment of Arafat in his wrecked Ramallah compound
is, of course, weakening Abu Mazen and strengthening Arafat.
Putting together
this pattern of behavior, there is only one possible conclusion: while
praising Abu Mazen , Sharon is doing everything possible to bury him.
He is not fighting against Arafat alone, he is also--and primarily--fighting
against Abu Mazen.
Unlikely? Strange?
Not at all. Like Herod in his time, Sharon knows the vital importance
of keeping in Caeasar's favor, so as to be able to manipulate him and
take advantage of him. Arafat does not disturb Sharon in this pursuit.
Bush hates him. But Abu Mazen has turned out to be a dangerous competitor
for Bush's favor. He must be eliminated. And quickly.
But this is a sensitive
job. Care must be taken to avoid suspicion in Washington. Annoying Bush
must be avoided at all costs. Therefore, when Sharon hears dissatisfied
murmurs from the White House, he is quick to make concessions. Not 300
prisoners will be released, but 400, including some Hamas and Jihad
members. They want the removal of another "outpost"? OK, bring
on the TV cameras to witness another dramatic struggle. In any case,
one can rely on the settlement rowdies to come back in the night. The
main thing is to satisfy Caesar and his eunuchs.
Hail Caesar, those
who are about to kill Abu Mazen salute you.
Uri Avnery is an
Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom.