[Marxism] Uri Avnery: The Great Experiment

[Einde O'Callaghan]

Uri Avnery's Column

The Great Experiment

14-10-2006

IS IT possible to force a whole people to submit to foreign occupation 
by starving it?

That is, certainly, an interesting question. So interesting, indeed, 
that the governments of Israel and the United States, in close 
cooperation with Europe, are now engaged in a rigorous scientific 
experiment in order to obtain a definitive answer.

The laboratory for the experiment is the Gaza Strip, and the guinea pigs 
are the million and a quarter Palestinians living there.

IN ORDER to meet the required scientific standards, it was necessary 
first of all to prepare the laboratory.

That was done in the following way: First, Ariel Sharon uprooted the 
Israeli settlements that were stuck there. After all, you can't conduct 
a proper experiment with pets roaming around the laboratory. It was done 
with "determination and sensitivity", tears flowed like water, the 
soldiers kissed and embraced the evicted settlers, and again it was 
shown that the Israeli army is the most-most in the world.

With the laboratory cleaned, the next phase could begin: all entrances 
and exits were hermetically sealed, in order to eliminate disturbing 
influences from the world outside. That was done without difficulty. 
Successive Israeli governments have prevented the building of a harbor 
in Gaza, and the Israeli navy sees to it that no ship approaches the 
shore. The splendid international airport, built during the Oslo days, 
was bombed and shut down. The entire Strip was closed off by a highly 
effective fence, and only a few crossings remained, all but one 
controlled by the Israeli army.

There remained a sole connection with the outside world: the Rafah 
border crossing to Egypt. It could not just be sealed off, because that 
would have exposed the Egyptian regime as a collaborator with Israel. A 
sophisticated solution was found: to all appearances the Israeli army 
left the crossing and turned it over to an international supervision 
team. Its members are nice guys, full of good intentions, but in 
practice they are totally dependent on the Israeli army, which oversees 
the crossing from a nearby control room. The international supervisors 
live in an Israeli kibbutz and can reach the crossing only with Israeli 
consent.

So everything was ready for the experiment.

For the rest see: 
<http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1160914974/>