|
the rest of the Bob
Dylan song.....
Well, the chances are against it
and the odds are slim That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him, 'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac. He's the neighborhood bully. He got no allies to really speak of. What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love. He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side. He's the neighborhood bully. Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace, They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease. Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly. To hurt one they would weep. They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep. He's the neighborhood bully. Every empire that's enslaved him is gone, Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon. He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand, In bed with nobody, under no one's command. He's the neighborhood bully. Now his holiest books have been trampled upon, No contract he signed was worth what it was written on. He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth, Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health. He's the neighborhood bully. What's anybody indebted to him for? Nothin', they say. He just likes to cause war. Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed, They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed. He's the neighborhood bully. What has he done to wear so many scars? Does he change the course of rivers? Does he pollute the moon and stars? Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill, Running out the clock, time standing still, Neighborhood bully. |
Copyright © 1983 Special Rider Music |
-----Original Message-----
From: Cordell, Arthur: ECOM
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 4:06 PM
To: 'Keith Hudson'; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: [Futurework] Roadmap will failBob Dylan Sings on the Middle East
Here are the first few verses of Dylan's Neighborhood Bully:
"Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man,
His enemies say he's on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one,
He got no place to escape to, no place to run.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
He's always on trial for just being born.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him.
He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully."-----Original Message-----Bush's Roadmap hasn't a chance. It will inevitably fail. Sharon is already asking for modifications. Even with these, he will not be able to deliver because his cabinet is too divided.
From: Keith Hudson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2003 3:18 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Futurework] Roadmap will fail
I suggested on FW a few days ago that the only possible solution is the imposition of precise boundaries on both parties and the immediate institution of a Palestinian state. Otherwise, the impasse will continue for another generation and will end only in tragedy. Either the Palestinians will swamp Israel with overwhelming numbers, or the Israelis will drive out the Palestinians into Jordan, Lebanon or Syria.
In the diplomatic language of a former Israeli Foreign Minister, Shlomo Ben Ami's words in yesterday's FT are not far off what I've been saying. If you haven't time to read the whole article, then the last paragraph says all.
KH
<<<<
SHARON'S SLOW APPROACH TO PEACE
By Shlomo Ben Ami
The Israeli left has traditionally maintained that only through a settlement with the Palestinians can Israel reach a viable reconciliation with the Arab world. The right conveniently relegates the Palestinian dilemma to the fullness of time. It promises "painful concessions" to the Palestinians, but only after the existential threats emanating from the "rogue" states in the region - Iran, Iraq, Syria - have been neutralised.
The preference that George W. Bush has given to the Iraqi situation, clearly relegating the Palestinian issue to a secondary position, was definitely seen by Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, and his rightwing coalition as a defeat of the Arab thesis and a vindication of their own policies.
The test of US leadership, now that the war in Iraq has ended, Syria has presumably been "disciplined" and a formidable American military machine has been deployed on the Iranian border, lies in whether Mr Bush is willing or able to bring the Israeli right to its moment of truth with regard to the Palestinian problem. In other words, will Mr Bush call Mr Sharon's bluff?
The launching of the road map for an Israeli-Palestinian peace and the sequence of international conferences planned to promote it look indeed like a repetition of the logic of the first Gulf war. Then, the same coalition that made the war came to Madrid, under resolute American leadership, for an international peace conference on the Middle East.
So far, however, Mr Bush, unlike his father, has not distinguished himself as a coalition-builder. He has still to prove that his unilateralism in times of war is not a handicap when it comes to forging an alliance for peace.
But the difference does not lie solely in the poor diplomatic skills of the current US administration. It is a much deeper affair. Then, the State Department - under the leadership of James Baker, an extraordinary arm-twister who was driven by an awareness of the centrality of the Arab-Israeli conflict to Middle Eastern stability - was the real architect of America's foreign policy in the region. Today, not only does Colin Powell, the secretary of state, not enjoy the full trust of the president, but the State Department is also clearly playing a secondary role in defining America's strategic priorities.
The lead is being taken by a faith-driven White House and a hawkish Pentagon - and these do not put the Palestinian situation high on the US agenda.
Moreover, the Bush-Baker team failed to be re-elected because, among other reasons, they refused to be held hostage to domestic constraints when it came to the necessity of confronting Yitzhak Shamir, Israel's then prime minister, on the peace process. Friendly relations with their Arab allies, especially the Saudis, were a more important concern to them.
The lesson that Mr Bush drew from the experience of his father was never to disassociate himself from his electoral base, the powerful pro-Israel Christian bible belt and the Jewish vote, which, for the first time in many years, is now shifting its electoral preferences in favour of a Republican president. Twisting Mr Sharon's arm for the sake of the road map at a time when a pathological and self-defeating escalation in Palestinian suicide terrorism gives him a pretext for dragging his feet is clearly not an advisable policy with presidential elections looming.
Again, unlike the first Bush administration, which had behind it a solid alliance of Arab states in its war against Saddam Hussein, and hence was committed to pursue peace in co-ordination with them, Mr Bush operates against the background of an Arab world in disarray. Important states such as Saudi Arabia and Syria are clearly in a defensive position as exporters of terrorism. Most of the regimes are immersed in their own domestic difficulties, and hardly in a position to exercise much leverage on behalf of the Palestinians.
Does this mean that Mr Bush will abandon the road map and brush aside the Palestinian issue altogether? Not necessarily. He has publicly committed himself to advance his "vision", and he is obliged to his European allies to pursue the process. But he will do it the White House way, not the State Department way. That means working on the road map with Mr Sharon, not against him.
Such an attitude will keep the road map alive as a broad, albeit not strictly binding, framework for peace within which "things" will happen, some confidence-building steps may be taken, international conferences and summit meetings may be held - and perhaps even a semblance of progress created. But all these will certainly fall far short of the resolve, commitment and arm-twisting needed to make this road map a binding platform for peace.
Peace will require that the parties be presented not just with a vague framework but with precise parameters for a final settlement, and that an international mandate with a multinational force is put in place to assist a collapsing Palestinian Authority in its transition to full statehood and in disarming the militias. The mandate should likewise monitor and supervise Israel's compliance with its commitments.
>>>>
Keith Hudson, 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath, England
