8 - 14 February 2001
Issue No.520
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 8 - 14 February 2001 Issue No.520 |
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Right, and right again
By Abdel-Alim Mohamed *
In the past few decades, the difference between left and right in Israel has dwindled to almost nothing. Prior to the establishment of the Israeli state, the Left had brought together such currents as socialist Zionism and the corrective Zionist movement. Since 1948, however, developments have altered the social base of these trends. The Labour Party stopped catering to the hopes and needs of workers and the masses, and Likud began to mobilise support in these classes. Thereafter, the difference became one of style rather than substance -- and eventually just a question of willingness and ability to deal with the new Palestinian Authority.
After the Oslo Accords, the difference diminished even further as a universal Israeli consensus emerged regarding issues like Jerusalem, the right of return and the sovereignty of the proposed Palestinian state. This painted the Likud into a corner: it was trying to achieve the same objectives as Labour, but through different means. While the Likud bragged about building settlements, for example, the Labour Party built them without publicising the construction work. And with the beginning of the Intifada, Barak willingly allied himself with the right, putting down a civilian uprising by resorting to military force and thus rendering the Labour Party at best left-of-right. At this point, Barak gave up all pretences and emerged as a right-wing hero, reenacting the same rituals of military aggression and cold-blooded murder.
Sharon's rise to power can be seen quite sensibly as a logical consequence of this long-term tendency. It is a dual risk since, by maintaining the generalised Israeli position that deprives the Palestinians of their rights, it also poses serious threats to peace and stability in the entire region.
* This week's soapbox speaker is assistant director of the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
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