Gilad Sharon
Photo: Avi Cohen
No shame in being strong
A lesson worth learning: World doesn’t care about anything as long as you’re strong
It’s good to be big and strong. Being a little belligerent doesn’t hurt either.
When we look at what’s going on in the world, regardless of whether the involved parties are right or wrong, we can clearly see that if you’re a Chinese giant, Tibet is of interest only to a handful of Zen fans.
If you’re Spanish, you can be sure that Catalonia and Basque areas are merely tourism destinations for the rest of the world, rather than districts that aspire for independence.
If you’re British, you should know that the question of whether the islands are called “Falklands” or “Malvinas” doesn’t even interest the sheep around there.
If you’re French, you should know that nobody cares about Corsica. Meanwhile, Greenland’s aspiration to disconnect from Denmark makes no difference to anyone. Elsewhere, Syria’s wish to regain the Alexandretta region, which is almost five times the Golan Heights’ size and which was annexed by Turkey in 1939 doesn’t really bother anyone. The same is true for the Kurdish dreams of independence.
And, of course, the same is true of Russia’s interference in the Caucasus.
For us, being strong, determined, and not deponent on anyone when it comes to safeguarding our security is not an option – it’s a must if we wish to survive in this region. We are surrounded by hundreds of millions of people who are only united by their wish to see us out of here; therefore, our only option is to be strong and united.
It won’t help us if the world expresses regret or nods with empathy if, heaven forbid, our neighbors’ wishes will come true. Nobody around here should have any illusions – we will only be getting some sympathy from the world and nothing beyond that.
Time for unity
The time for unity has come. The debate amongst us regarding how much each one of us is willing to renounce for peace is irrelevant at this time. In any case, there’s nobody on the other side who can accept these concessions. The external dangers are much greater than the disagreements amongst us.
Can you imagine Spanish trucks transporting millions to members of ETA, the Basque resistance group? Can anyone imagine the Turks handing over millions to members of the PKK, the Kurdish resistance group?
What in God’s name goes through our leaders’ minds when they send to Gaza trucks carrying NIS 72 million (roughly $20 million) in cash? By the way, I’m not talking about a one-time thing. This happens all the time. Is it because Mahmoud Abbas swore that this money won’t reach the hands of Hamas?
We are handing over money that has no special color or smell; that is, it cannot be traced. There is no doubt that this money will reach the hands of all sorts of terrorists. In practice, we are financing the weapons and ammunition used to fire at us. Does this seem normal to anyone?
Perhaps we can agree that Russia’s Putin will be our prime minister, even for a short while? We can be certain that in that case, cash-filled trucks will not be transporting money to terrorists.
