Uri Avnery's Column
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Das System
TO A foreigner, like myself, the US election system looks cockeyed.
The president is elected by an “electoral college”, which does not necessarily reflect the will of the people. This system... • 03/11/12
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Drought in Texas
EVERYBODY IN Israel knows this story. When Levy Eshkol was Prime Minister, his assistants rushed up to him in panic: “Levy, there is a drought!”
“In Texas?” Eshkol asked anxiously.
“No, in... • 27/10/12
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The Man with the Uzi
THERE WAS this young Israeli who was captured by cannibals. They put him in the cooking pot and were about to light the fire, when he expressed one last wish: “Please box my ears!”
When the... • 20/10/12
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Filling the Black Hole
SO WE have two election campaigns in the next three months – one in the USA and one in Israel. I don’t know which of them is more important for our lives.
In many respects, the two elections are... • 13/10/12
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Of Bombs and Comics
MY FIRST reaction to Binyamin Netanyahu’s exhibition of comics at the UN General Assembly was shame.
Shame that the supreme elected representative of my country would stoop to such a primitive... • 06/10/12
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The Grand Default
I AM sitting here writing this article 39 years to the minute from that moment when the sirens started screaming, announcing the beginning of the war. • 29/09/12
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A Message from Romnyahu
ONCE UPON a time, President Richard Nixon wanted to appoint a certain lawyer to the US Supreme Court.
“But the man is a complete moron!” one senator exclaimed. • 22/09/12
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Protest in Ramallah
VISITING RAMALLAH after an absence of several months, I was again amazed by the ongoing building activity. Everywhere new high-rise buildings are going up, and many of them are beautiful. (Arabs... • 15/09/12
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The March of Folly
NOTHING COULD be more scary than the thought that this duo – Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak – is in a position to start a war, the dimensions and outcome of which are incalculable. • 07/09/12
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Master of Mischief
AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN has a restless nature. From time to time he has to do something, anything. • 01/09/12
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The Fountainhead
WAS not interested in Paul Ryan, the man about to be nominated by the Republican party for the office of Vice President, until the name Ayn Rand popped up. • 25/08/12
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Mad or Crazy?
BINYAMIN NETANYAHU may be crazy, but he is not mad.
Ehud Barak may be mad, but he is not crazy.
Ergo: Israel will not attack Iran. • 18/08/12
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Bloody Spring
ON A flight to London in 1961, I had a unique experience.
On the way, the plane made a stop in Athens and a group of Arabs joined us. That by itself was an experience. In those days, Israelis... • 11/08/12
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The Greatest Show on Earth
TO SUM up the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in one word: kitsch.
To sum up the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in two words: wonderful kitsch. • 04/08/12
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Talking Zionism
“HE TALKS Zionism,” used to be a very derogatory comment when I was young. It meant that some elderly functionary had come to waste our time with a boring speech consisting largely of empty... • 28/07/12
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Divide et Impera
WHATEVER IS happening to the Israeli social protest movement?
Good question. It is not only being asked abroad, but in Israel, too. • 21/07/12
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Two Faces
TWO FORMER Prime Ministers of Israel are in the news these days. They represent two of the many faces of Israel.
They also raise a universal question: which is preferable - an honest fanatic or a... • 14/07/12
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Poisoning Arafat
FOR ME, there was no surprise. From the very first day, I was convinced that Yasser Arafat had been poisoned by Ariel Sharon. I even wrote about it several times.
It was a simple logical conclusion. • 07/07/12
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Manhunt
“WE SHALL not be a normal people, until we have Jewish whores and Jewish thieves in the Land of Israel,” our national poet, Haim Nahman Bialik, said some 80 years ago. • 16/06/12
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The War of Lies
THIRTY YEARS ago this week, the Israeli army crossed into Lebanon and started the most stupid war in Israel’s history. It lasted for 18 years. About 1500 Israeli soldiers and untold numbers of... • 09/06/12
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The New Protest
RABIN SQUARE in Tel Aviv has seen many demonstrations, but none quite like last Saturday’s. • 18/05/12
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Operetta in 5 Acts
THE MASTER magician has drawn another rabbit from his top hat. A real and very lively rabbit.
He has confounded everybody, including the leaders of all parties, the top political pundits and his... • 12/05/12
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A Putsch Against War
GENERALS AND secret police chiefs get together for an attack on the politicians.
In some countries, they arrest the president, occupy government offices and TV stations and annul the... • 05/05/12
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“Stupid and Mean and Brutal”
“In blood and sweat / A race will arise to us / Proud and generous and brutal…” Thus wrote Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky, the founder of extreme right-wing Zionism, who was also a writer and a poet... • 21/04/12
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