Uri Avnery has become one of my important sources for middle east and Israeli issues. He is a remarkable man. An 85 year old Israeli that fought in the 1948 war and later founded Gush Shalom, an Israeli peace group. He writes long weekly letters which I find profound and enlightening. I have excerpted his most recent letter below, but I strongly recommend that you read it in its entirety.
I just returned from Italy where one of the main sources of news in English is Aljazeera. I was struck at that time by what this image of Israeli power and the helplessness of the Palestinians must have on the hundreds of millions of Arabs that were viewing it. Avnery focus on this issue in his letter and points out that I was viewing the sanitized version:
DAY AFTER DAY, night after night, Aljazeera’s Arabic channel broadcasts the atrocious pictures: heaps of mutilated bodies, tearful relatives looking for their dear ones among the dozens of corpses spread out on the ground, a woman pulling her young daughter from under the rubble, doctors without medicines trying to save the lives of the wounded. (The English-language Aljazeera, unlike its Arab-language sister-station, has undergone an amazing about face, broadcasting only a sanitized picture and freely distributing Israeli government propaganda. It would be interesting to know what happened there.)
Millions are seeing these terrible images, picture after picture, day after day. These images are imprinted on their minds forever: horrible Israel, abominable Israel, inhuman Israel. A whole generation of haters. That is a terrible price, which we will be compelled to pay long after the other results of the war itself have been forgotten in Israel.
Avnery call this "the Election War" and describes in detail the political motivation for the timing and design of the invasion. He provides the kind of detailed historical background and insight that only comes from 65 years of personal involvement in the issues. Again, I encourage everyone to read his whole letter. In addition, you should sign up to get on his mailing list and receive his letters in the future.
Finally, I am sure that some of you share my feeling of helplessness as we view these events on TV from the security of our living rooms. One very small way that I have found to have a bit of influence is to provide financial support to Gush Shalom.