Abject Opportunism and a Total Loss of Political Self-Respect
Instead of a normal response by any self-respecting peace organization, instead of issuing a position paper or clarifying its position in a clear and acceptable manner, Peace Now has opted for something absolutely original. In an email to its membership, Peace Now wrote:
“In the wake of the events, a delegation from PN will be hosted in atzimmer in the north (this week-end), in order to support the residents and to monitor events and to warn against unnecessary escalation.” (July 13, 2006).
A young activist, G.R., took the idea one step further, and suggested that the PN delegation bring greetings (and candy) to the soldiers and delay any politics to a “later stage”. The veteran activist, Yair Inov, burst into the email discussion: “What has happened to us? Are we in competition with the Committee for the Soldiers Wellbeing? Don’t we have a political message?” Some activists supported Inov’s complaint and mocked the idea of a trip to the north. But the PN General Director, Yariv
Oppenheimer summed up the matter: “To all the cynics: The trip to the north is linked to a political message that calls on the government to act with logic, to use its head and not its guts. Only in this way can we say something a bit different in this very complicated reality.”
No statement! No Secretariat! No collective discussion!
Peace Now’s leadership has effectively taken the movement out of the peace camp in the not so distant past by totally swallowing the Sharon-Ulmert-Ramon bait for a unilateralist approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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