<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title></title> </head> <body> <a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1119739475" eudora="autourl">http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/1119739475</a> <a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/">Uri</a><a href="http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/avnery/"> Avnery</a> The Day After 25-6-2005 This week, the country was shocked by a terrifying train accident. A heavy truck was crossing the tracks as a train approached at high speed. The locomotive driver saw the truck but could not stop in time. The truck driver saw the train but couldn't get off the track in time. Result: many killed, many hurt, a scene of destruction. Something similar to this accident is looming now, with the Gush Katif withdrawal getting closer. The settlers' train is rapidly approaching the fateful junction. Only by a miracle can the settlers brake in time. Only by a miracle will the fatal crash be avoided. As things look now, it seems probable that the crash will bring about the greatest change in the history of Israel since the 1967 war. The settlers cannot and do not want to stop. They are lusting for battle. They are sure of their power. Many years of secret cooperation have convinced them that the ruling group of the state, army officers and civil servants, are with them. They treat the opposite camp with contempt. They despise the democratic majority much as the fascist dictators of the 30s despised the "degenerate and rotten" democracies. Even if the settlers wanted to stop their train, like that unfortunate locomotive driver, they would not be able to do so. It is in the nature of fanatical movements that they spawn groups that are more fanatical, which in turn give birth to groups that are even more extreme. They cannot rein in their offspring, and the fringe elements dictate the pace. Somebody will start the violence, somebody will open fire. The thousands of admirers of Yigal Amir, Rabin's assassin, are thirsting for their share of glory. The democratic majority is indeed feeble and piteous. It watches events like the crowd at a football game. The struggle for the future of the state and its inhabitants has become a spectator sport. But that can also change quite suddenly, if things happen that shock the ordinary Israeli out of his lazy equanimity. When the first soldier is killed by a settler, for example. [snip] </body> </html>