Interview with Israeli civil rights activist: Israeli 'peace movement' tails Zionists on Gulf War

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'All of these thinas reflect a of these things reflect very deep sentiment not only among th Michel Warschawski is the best known leader of the Israeli state section of the Fourth International, the worldwide revolutionary socialist organization founded by Leon Trotsky. He is also director of The Alternative Information Center in West Jerusalem.

Warschawski spent four months in prison last year after being found guilty of "closing his eyes" to the source of a booklet the Center was typesetting. The source of the booklet, the state prosecution charged, was an organisation banned in Israel, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The Arabic-language pamphlet instructed activists how to confront interrogation and toruture in Israeli custody.

Warschawski was interviewed by Steve Sozby for the Feb. 11 issue of the Englishlanguage Palestinian paper, Al Fajr (published in Jerusalem). Although the interview dates from the beginning of the war, Warschawski's analyses are still timely. Some technical errors have been corrected.

Al Fajr: Perhaps the most tragic effect of the Gulf war has been the Israeli left's unwillingness to speak out, especially considering the situation today in the occupied territories, the curfew now being more than three weeks old. Can you explain that?

Michel Warschawski: I would say something very extreme. Part of the peace movement in Israel, and it's part of a very long history of the Zionist left, is looking at a situation of political polarization in Israel and the lack of national consensus as a disease, as a temporary phenomenon.

Every opportunity to go back to the situation" of national unity, of national consensus, is a permanent expectation of the left.

So every event which can provide reasons for such a turn is welcomed by these people. In fact, for many leaders on the Zionist left, Beverly A. Orr Palestinians will be the biggest losers. What is your scenario for the Palestinians if the regime in Baghdad is destroyed?

Warschawski: A victory for the so-called coalition will be catastrophic, not only at the regional level but also at the international level. It is my way to look at the problem from the global to the local. In that sense, it doesn't matter what happened before the American intervention in the war.

I don't just speak about bombing. I speak about the economic war too, from the moment the United States succeeded in uniting a part of the most important countries in the world and a part of the Arab countries in an attempt to establish its own order in the area What is at stake is very clear: whether the United States of America will be able to affirm itself as the superpower that can decide what should be or shouldn't be everywhere in the world. In that sense, it is going much further than Iraq or the Arab region and Palestine.

Never mind if there will be an international peace conference over a Palestinian state or not. Even with such a possibility— which I doubt now-victory for the coalition means a blank check to the United States and a terrible blow to all peoples around the world.

On the other hand, everything which will be less than a victory, even a compromise, will be perceived in the world, in American public opinion, even by the American leaders, as the setting of a limit to the ability of the United States to decide the fate of the world.

This, in my opinion, is the real issue of the war. From this definition I draw conclusions on "Where do I stand?" and "What do I expect?"

It has nothing to do with my relation to the regime in Iraq and my position toward Kuwait and the price the Palestinians will have to pay.

There is something more global and much more important. A victory for the United States will mean, in my opinion, that over the next 10 to 20 years, humanity will have to pay a tremendous price.

Now, you can ask yourself, isn't it important from the historical point of view whether Saddam was wrong or not to provoke the United States, to allow it the opportunity?