I am surprised, to say the least, by your posting :"Nobel Prize all about Israel..". Is "trying to effect history" to be equated with making history? Obama tried to "effect history" when he asked Israel to freeze settlement construction. Instead Netanyahu made history by ignoring the US president and proceeding. Had hope been enough to "effect history", its course would have already changed. Millions of people would like nothing better than to raise their children and grandchildren in peace. Instead Palestinians are still living in refugee camps in the Arab world, in exile around the world, and in Gaza some are still living in tents. Peace to them– nothing but a meaningless word.
Your article follows the same rationale promoted by those who focuse on Iran’s "intention" to build a nuclear bomb as opposed to Israel’s existing arsenal. Are intentions more dangerous than facts, and wishful thinking more trustworthy than reality? Reading you, I thought of something Marcuse wrote in his essay on "Repressive Tolerance": "For the facts are never given immediately; they are established, "mediated" by those who made them; the truth "the whole truth" surpasses these facts and requires the rupture with their appearance." ("A Critique of Pure Tolerance " Beacon Press, 1965- p.99). Granted you do not make facts, but the way you mediate them tends to establish a reality of its own, because your voice carries quite a bit of weight. I am one of your readers, but not this time, I’m afraid, as the whole truth isn’t adequately represented.
As the Arabic saying goes: "The mistake of the bright is worth a thousand mistakes". I read you very often, generally agree with you, but this is the first time I am writing "the bright "! Hoping not to write anytime soon.
P.S. [Asked to elaborate on the Arabic saying] If a stupid person makes a mistake, one tends to understand/forgive because one doesn’t expect much from someone stupid. A bright person however has no such excuse, his/her mistake is much worse, the disappointment more acute. Another saying along these lines: "he who has no brain commits no sin."
