Glenn – No Beauty In The Beast – Israel Without Her Mascara

86GRABBING A WOLF BY THE EARSthe peace process lies in the understanding that people have long memories, and there certainly are a lotof memories for those in the Middle East to consider when everyone gets together to talk about peace.When considering those living in the Occupied Territories, optimists who wait with baited breath overthe possibility of peace should remember that every inch of the territory in which the Palestinians nowexist is a shouting testimony of the 50 years in which they have been shot, blown up, poisoned, andbulldozed out of their homes. Every child who has been maimed by Israeli bullets or bombs is aprosecutorial witness to the nightmare that has been the minute-by-minute oppression of these people.Every picture of a dead relative on the mantle in each home is a roadblock to the roadmap. And if theseitems do not serve as any indicators as to why the peace process cannot take place as long as the presentsituation in Israel exists, then perhaps those who are gambling on this hope should consider the fact thatIsraeli violence against the Palestinians (as well as the deliberate destruction of any infrastructure thatthey manage to achieve) continues unabated while these talks are taking place. With this in mind, it issafe to assume that the most important component of any discussion or negotiation, trust, is absent, andthat therefore the vehicle necessary for bringing an end to hostility is absent any fuel.Bush and Sharon know perfectly well what awaits them by letting go of the wolf’s ears. They realize thatdespite whatever promises are made by their victims to “forgive and forget” that nevertheless memoriesof people being killed by occupying armies (whether in Iraq or in Palestine) will override any sense ofamnesia which their oppressors hoped their victims would develop. After 50 years of systematic brutalityagainst the Palestinians and over 10 years of the same for the Iraqis, to expect that suddenly everyonewould decide to just “get along” is folly. As well, the two leaders can forget about any help from neighboringcountries in that region, as they have witnessed for themselves what has been done to the subjectpeoples of Iraq and Palestine, and who therefore have no reason to trust that there is any genuine desirefor peace and justice on the part of the Americans or the Israelis. It is for these reasons that Bush andSharon, despite their public display of devotion to the peace process, nevertheless have no intention ofletting these people go. Instead, they will draw things out, making demands which are impossible fortheir victims to meet, and will blame the unavoidable violence that takes place upon an unbending,unreasonable mindset that they assert their victims possess. And if the violence is not forthcoming insuch a way as to bolster their position at the appropriate time, they will see to it that something managesto “pop up” through their own channels of influence.One would think that educated men had considered the domino effect of history and the violence that isproduced whenever a people are oppressed before engaging in brutal behavior. There simply are toomany instances throughout history that confirm this tendency for one to assume that it would be anydifferent today. An intelligent person at some point must ask the question “Why do they do it? Theyknow they can’t hold on to the wolf forever, and they must know what awaits them when they let go.”The only answer that suffices in understanding this condition lies in the age-old saying about vice andgreed breaking down the intellect. Whether it is the sudden, short-lived violence perpetrated by a rapistor an assailant upon an individual, or the prolonged, systematic application of violence and oppressionupon a group of people, the root cause of this willingness to inflict the worst upon mankind is derivedfrom the individual’s surrender of his own sense of humanity over to the lower passions of greed andmalice, and the willingness to believe that he can get away with it indefinitely.In the interest of tempering our optimism about the proposed solution for the problems in the MiddleEast, we must remember that history is the best teacher of all, and that she has already spoken about whatis sure to be the present outcome in some varying degree. The wolf will not go away quietly, and there isno reason to suspect that her captor will be able to outrun or outfight her. Therefore, with this image inmind, one should assume that the peoples of the Middle East who are and have been subjected to an