Amir Peretz, Avodah and New Beginnings
remember, all of these articles are available on the website under the chinuch weekly tab. http://www.habodror.org.uk/chinuch/chinuchweekly.html
In blue - an article from ha'aretz about Peretz. In Purple, some interesting stuff about Peretz. In Red, my final thoughts.
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Extract From Ha'aretz article
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/644918.html
The new Labor Party chairman, Amir Peretz, comes from a different school of thought. He didn't need the second intifada, or even the first one, in order to recognize the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. He spoke to the Palestinians without barriers and face to face already in the 1980s, at a time when the law prohibited contacts with the PLO. Peretz believes that satisfied Palestinians are much better for the Jews than Palestinians who have been screwed - but, as he declared in his victory speech, peace is not an act of kindness toward the neighbours, but a key to the economic prosperity of Israel and to an improvement in the lives of its citizens. If Peretz adheres to his political and moral beliefs, the revolution in the Labor Party will not end with an upgrading of the status of the economy and social issues on its agenda. If he has the strength to confront its power-hungry members, Labor can anticipate a revolution in the political arena as well. It will return to its place at the head of the peace camp, and will no longer be partner to a government that considers the peace process a prize for the Arabs, and to a policy of positing conditions and obstacles on the way to negotiations. For the first time, it is headed by a leader who did not participate in the march of folly of the settlements, neither as an army general nor as a government minister.
Ten years after Rabin's assassination, we have an Israeli political leader who considers the occupation a moral, security and economic burden, a man who is in no need of internal or external pressure to leave the territories. Finally, peace has emerged from the back benches and returned to center stage.
Palestinian neighbours: You have a partner, don't let the fanatics harm him.
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It's not often you read such positive things about an Israeli politician. The last time was when Sharon started to act like a left-winger.
There are a few things about Peretz I would like to highlight:
1. Peretz wasn't an army general.
In the mid 1970s, his leg was crushed in an army training accident and he was offered the task of running a gas station, but refused as he was not prepared to be anyone's boss on the grounds that it would constitute exploitation.
This is a big shift in Israel's psyche. The leaders have always been strong male characters (apart from Golda Meir, who David Ben-Gurion described as the only man in the cabinet). A nation raised on military glory finally chooses a non-military character as the head of the once proud left-wing party. It is creating a media storm with people wondering what the country will look like with a genuine alternative to the likud.
2. Peretz was born in Morocco
Peretz isn't your classic, white political party leader. He comes from a sector of society that has felt under-represented and is often treated like a lower-class. His family made aliyah when he was 4. He lives in Sderot. This may become significant because that is where a lot of the qassam missiles have landed. Peretz used to be on the council there and it could work in his favour to come from a 'frontline' town that is constantly on the news. He is seen more as 'one of the people' and not one of the ashkenaz elite.
3. Peretz was the leader of the Histadrut (Israel's Trade Union)
He is a real lefty. Despite claims that he is corrupt, if we take him at face value you can see why it is exciting when someone says things like this:
"...but it has also caused the concept of peace to become an elitist product which is identified with factory owners and not with factory workers.
I see this as the main problem that needs to concern all those who seek peace in Israel and abroad. The Israel Avodah Party has in fact adopted in recent years a right-wing socio-economic policy which almost doesn't differ from that of Netanyahu and the Likud, and for that reason fell apart in the last elections.
In 1977 Menachem Begin, who then stood at the head of the Likud, created a revolution and removed the Avodah Party from power. Begin's revolution was a social revolution, based on promises of social change and on giving a feeling of belonging to the working class, which felt that the Avodah Party was alienated from them. Begin carried out a social revolution, but used the "train ticket" he received from the people to travel to the occupied Palestinian territories.
I would like to be the Menachem Begin of the Avodah Party, to return to it the social values and the support of the people. If I receive from the people the same "train ticket" that they once gave to Begin, I intend to travel with it towards peace."
Peretz is different. He is talking about things that should get people in Habonim Dror excited. Who knows what will happen in the next few weeks. Peretz has claimed he will withdraw Avodah from the government. This will force early elections and maybe, just maybe, a new kind of Avodah will be in charge. Or, it will spectacularly backfire and Likud will be in charge with even more rightist policies. Or, Sharon will quit Likud and make a party with other people like Peres and Lapid and a new central party will take Israel by storm. Etc. etc.
The point of this is that israel is at a point where things might change. It is often said that because of the conflict with the Palestinians, Israel does not pay enough attention to internal issues. Poverty, equal rights, unemployment...all the stuff that apparently gets pushed to the side when violence is around. But Peretz seems to care. And the political scene looks set to be rocked.
I don't know what is going to happen. But there are so many new possibilities. What do you think?
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