Logic goes Maklube

The Maklube metaphor is probably the most cited in the history of this conflict but it seems to be eternally fitting. Let´s have a look in today´s news.

Settlers are threatening to burn down Hebron if Jaber road gets reopened - which is a decision that has been confirmed in court if I am not mistaken. The settlers argue that they fear for their safety, because the Palestinians (particularly when driving a vehicle by the sound of it) are so threatening to them. So as a preventative measure they feel the only thing they can do is to try and erase a whole city before they will even know if anyone is going to harm them or not.
"If Ehud Barak gives oder to reopen Jaber road, we will burn down Hebron" - are we facing a collective narcissistic personality disorders here? Or is blackmailing the own government considered to be an appropriate measure if I don´t like the decisions which are being made by the legal system within the democracy I claim to be part of and therefore need to be protected by the armed forces of this system? And will this system resign to being dominated by a minority rather than a majority of its population?

And while these things are going on in Hebron and in Beit Ummar close to Hebron Israeli peace activists get injured and/or arrested because they are trying to help the Palestinian farmers to protect their homes and land (from being taken over by another illegal settlement) by means of a sit-in strike, Ehud Olmert declares the settlement topic should be dropped because the demand to freeze (not to remove) settlement construction is slowing down the peace process...

In Ramallah on the other hand Daniel Baremboim is heavily criticised up to the point where he cancels his visit with the purpose to attend an opera in Arabic, performed by children (members of the Children & Youth Choir of the Barenboim-Said Foundation, the Choir of the Arab Evangelical School in Ramallah and the Youth Orchestra of the Barenboim-Said Foundation and Al Kamandjati) who had been rehearsing for this event for month. The reason for the opposition being that Barenboim and his Palestinian counterparts were normalising the occupation by focussing on cultural exchange and dialogue AND that Barenboim had been referring to Israels offensive in Gaza as an act of self-defense during the height of the operation cast lead. Well, I have read his articles and I read them differently. This is the same Daniel Baremboim by the way who has been scolded badly by prominent members of the Knesset for citing from Israel's declaration of independence in favour of the "Palestinian neighbours" when receiving an award in the Israeli parliament.

I dare say these days the world is as maklube as it gets.


Sources:
Die ZEIT online 13.05.2004,
Ma'an News Agency 18.07.2009,
Ha'aretz 18.07.2009
Ha'aretz 18.07.2009
Guardian 1.01.2009 (Article by Daniel Barenboim)
Guardian 13.12.2008 (Article by Daniel Barenboim)
Guardian 30.01.2008 (Article by Daniel Barenboim)