THE LILLIPUTIANS ARE NO LONGER TINY
PEOPLE
Tanya Reinhart
Yediot Aharonot, March 19, 2003, translated from Hebrew by Irit
Katriel.
A pointed description of the current situation was provided by Israeli
analyst Ehud Ya'ari last week, when he recalled the story of Gulliver, the
giant whom the tiny people of Lilliput tied up with thin strings until,
contrary to the laws of physics, he could not make use of his unparalleled
force.
The world super power decided that it would suit it now to conquer Iraq, divide
it to cantons, as done in Yugoslavia, and subject it to the rule of drug gangs,
as in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.
And what can the tiny people do when this is what the giant decides? They
demonstrate, first in small groups and then millions all over the world. They
send human shields to Baghdad. This only makes the giant laugh. Ari Fleisher,
the white house spokesman, was quick to clarify that these are Saddam's
hostages and the U.S. will view their deaths as "collateral
damage". And anybody knows that the U.S. is capable of that.
Suddenly the UN rose up. "UM-SHMUM", as it is referred to in Israel,
"half of whose delegates are from illiterate countries", forgot
apparently that its only job is to rubber-stamp U.S. moves. Ari Fleisher
explained that the U.S. involves the UN as long as it is convenient to do so.
When it doesn't have the patience, it uses NATO, like in Kosovo. But nothing
would prevent it from going alone. This week, at the Azores, Bush issued the
"last ultimatum" to the UN.
It appears that all the Lilliputians managed to do so far is to delay the giant
for a few months. But these months were crucial. Today the Lilliputians are no
longer tiny people. It started with thousands of small organizations, scattered
around the globe and communicating over the Internet - organizations which are
connected by a shared sense that if things go on like this, the human race will
destroy itself. From Seattle to Durban, from environmental and social issues to
matters of equal rights, a new force was formed, organized and trained in
non-violent struggle aimed at exercising democracy. This force has managed in
the past months to attract the hearts and minds of the majority of the people
of the world to the only way that offers hope - a way based on basic human
values and the principles of international law. The governments of Europe were
dragged along by their people. As Kissinger explained to CNN on Sunday,
unable to hide his contempt, "Schroeder simply had no choice".
Europe's new force is not in the military, but in democracy. Unlike the U.S.,
Britain and Spain, many European governments are now acting according to the
will of their citizens.
Against this power, the U.S. deploys its military might - the state of the art
in the killing sciences. Everything is ready for war. They have even completed
the transfer of D-9 bulldozers that the U.S. bought from Israel to implement in
Baghdad the lessons of Jenin (1). This week, the Israeli army demonstrated that
these bulldozers are an effective solution also for the problem of human
shields, when one of them crushed to death Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old student
from Olympia, Washington, who tried to delay the demolition of a house in Gaza.
And yet, the U.S. has already lost the battle. So far, U.S. power could count
on on its total control of public consciousness in large parts of the world. In
its past wars, the millions of Lilliputians sat glued to their TV sets and
watched the propaganda broadcasts, identical on all channels. They watched and
believed that the war is for sublime values of peace and justice. Now as well,
obedient spokesmen explain that Saddam is Hitler and the Iraqi children must be
saved from him. But who is listening? Now the truth is exposed - the U.S. is
perceived as a gangster that does whatever he feels like. In the past, the U.S.
committed its crimes to the sounds of cheers of the majority of the Western
society. It has lost this majority. The change that has occurred in the world
can no longer be reversed.
(1) Alex Fishman, Yediot Aharonot, February 28, 2003