Swan song

Only one way for Labor Party to die in dignity is to stop Gaza pullout

By B. Michael|Published: 06.25.05 , 09:25

There are many ways a political party can leave this world. It can be dragged away kicking and screaming, or curl up in a corner and slowly fade away; but it can also depart with one last heroic and wondrous act of responsibility and good judgment for the general public’s sake.

If the witheringLabor Party wants to leave with one last hurrah, it must stop the scheduled pullout from Gaza and parts of the West Bank by declaring that it would cease to be a part of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s shameful plan and would only support leaders committed to an all-encompassing peace and extensive withdrawal; therefore, the party should declare its immediate resignation from government and join Uzi Landau (Likud) and the other disengagement opposers in their anti-pullout efforts.

True, it is very tempting to support the disengagement. The heart yearns for the settlers’ downfall, and the stomach is thirsty for even a minor victory over the nationalistic monsters and the mad clericalism. But the mind insists this miniscule victory is nothing more than a huge defeat that will lead to disaster by prolonging and intensifying the occupation, the “settlement enterprise,” the war, the suffering, the bloodshed.

All one has to do in order to establish this claim is observe Sharon’s actions, as well as the mass settlement construction, the increasing maliciousness at IDF roadblocks, the construction of the West Bank security fence, and the humiliating attitude toward the Palestinian Authority.

Sharon’s antics are aimed solely at completely undermining any chance for peace. Even Sharon himself does not hide his intentions anymore.

‘Partial steps lead us nowhere’

Labor Party leaders believed, in their arrogance or naiveté, that they were the ones using Sharon, and not vice versa; that he would do their dirty work for them.

“He will just evacuate the settlements,” they said to each other boastfully. “We’ll do the rest.”

Their wisdom is not unlike that of parents who allow a pedophile to take their children on a camping trip.

“He’ll just take them on a trip,” they whisper to each other. “We’ll take care of the rest.”

What foolish gullibility.

Even a blind man or an imbecile should understand by now that Sharon is not the man who can lead the country toward peace and constructiveness; he can only destroy.

Only a man who is fully committed to peace can take the first step toward achieving it. “Partial” steps, as we have learned time and time again, only inflict devastation.

The pullout’s failure will be attributed to Sharon and to the occupational enterprise, and hopefully this bad man will finally have to depart.

The chances that a realistic leader that would lead Israel in the right direction would replace him are slim, but who knows? Perhaps the collapse of this false illusion will finally awaken those who are currently silent, and they would instill some sort of decent and humane order here.