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A professional bastard

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Abu Gosh - the only place where I’m an honorary citizen
Uri Avnery Social activist
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אח"כ קיבלתי כמה פרסים ששכחתי. קיבלתי בקלן פרס על שם אוסייצקי שזה היה לוחם שלום גרמני עם שם רוסי ונרצח נדמה לי. וקיבלתי כל מיני פרסים. במשך הזמן אתה הופך קצת "בְּלַזֵה", קהה, מהפרסים האלה. השבוע קיבלתי עוד פרס: איזושהי עיירה גרמנית שיש בה פסטיבל שנתי למען התקשורת, חופש הדיבור, פתאום מהשמיים מודיעים לי שהם נתנו לי פרס בגלל השפעתי החיובית על דעת הקהל הגרמנית. אני עכשיו לא ממהר לנסוע לחו"ל אז הודיתי להם ואמרתי שלצערי לא אוכל לבוא מטעמים רפואיים. גם לא היה לי בגרמניה אף אחד שיכול היה לקבל את זה במקומי, אז בינתיים לא קיבלתי. הטקס היה. אני אחכה, אולי ישלחו לי בדואר. זה גרמניה. אני קיבלתי פרס באיטליה. באיטליה הייתי בכמה וכמה ועידות שלום שאני חושב שדיברנו עליהם והם נתנו לי פרס במקום שנקרא אמיליו משהו, שכחתי. גם כן טקס יפה. האיטלקים נורא טובים בעשיית טקסים. וכשהייתי שמה ניצלתי כבר את המעמד כדי לבקר בכמה עיירות איטלקיות היסטוריות, באחת מהן קיבלתי התקפה של הקאה נוראה ברחוב, מאוד לא נעים, והמשכנו. בארץ כאמור לא קיבלתי אף פעם פרס חוץ מכמה. קודם כל הפלסטינים. מצד הפלסטינים יש לי שני דברים אני חושב. אחד – ב-1950, מיד אחרי המלחמה, הייתה מזימה לסלק את הכפר אבו גוש. עוד לא היה כביש מס' 1 שיש עכשיו אלא כביש ת"א-ירושלים, יפו-ירושלים עבר במרכז אבו גוש וכל מי שנסע אל ירושלים או מירושלים מוכרח היה לעבור באמצע הכפר. בא השב"כ, הש"ב של אז ואמר "זה לא ייתכן”. ואז הייתה מזימה, היא התגלתה בעוד מועד. ונוצרה חזית מאוד רחבה נגד המזימה הזאת. לא רק השמאל הרגיל, נגיד מפ"ם, "העולם הזה", "המפלגה הקומוניסטית" אלא גם של הימין. מפני שאבו גוש היה קשור בלח"י ועזר לגאולה כהן כשהיא הייתה בכלא, לברוח. כמה אנשים התחפשו, הלבישו את גאולה כהן לבוש ערבי והיא יצאה עם האורחים הערבים. אז גם "תנועת החירות" עם בגין בראש מחו או פרסמו גילויי דעת ובסוף זה בוטל, הגזירה בוטלה. ואז אבו גוש ערך לכל אלה מסיבת תודה גדולה במסעדה שעד היום אני הלקוח הקבוע שלה, "קרוואן", על הכביש הראשי. ויש לי תעודה, איפה היא תלויה? בחדר השני, שאני אזרח כבוד של אבו גוש. זה המקום היחידי בעולם שאני אזרח כבוד שלו.‏

Later, I received a few awards that I forgot about. In Cologne, I received the Ossietzky Prize named for a German peace activist with a Russian name who was murdered, I believe.  I was awarded all kinds of prizes. Over time, you become somewhat blasé about these awards. This week I received another prize: some German town which has an annual festival for the media, freedom of speech, suddenly − out of the blue − informed me that they've given me a prize because of my positive influence on German public opinion. I'm no longer in any hurry to go abroad so I thanked them and said that unfortunately I can't come for medical reasons. I also didn't have anyone in Germany who could accept it for me, so for now, I haven't accepted it. The ceremony has already taken place. I'll wait; maybe they'll send it to me by mail. That is Germany.

I was awarded a prize in Italy. I was in Italy for several peace conferences, which I think we talked about, and they gave me a prize in a place called Emilio something, I forget. There was also a beautiful ceremony there. The Italians are really good at conducting ceremonies. While I was there I took advantage of my status to visit some of the historic Italian towns. In one of them I got a terrible attack of vomiting in the street, very unpleasant, and we continued.

In Israel, like I said, I have never received many awards, only a few. First of all, the Palestinians. From the Palestinians I have two things, I think. One − in 1950, right after the war, there was a conspiracy to erase the village of Abu Ghosh. There was no Road 1 like there is now, but the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem-Jaffa-Jerusalem road passed through the centre of Abu Ghosh and anyone travelling to or from Jerusalem had to go through the middle of the village. Then the Shin Bet came along, the Shin Bet at the time, and said, 'This cannot be'. There was a plot – but it was discovered in time and a very broad front was created against this plot. Not just the usual left, let's say Mapam, HaOlam HaZeh, the Communist Party, but also of the right. Because Abu Ghosh was associated with Lehi and had helped Geula Cohen to escape when she had been in prison when several people dressed up… disguised Geula Cohen in Arab clothes so she could leave the prison with the Arab visitors. Then even the Freedom Movement with Begin at its head protested or published statements, and finally it was cancelled, the decree was cancelled. Then Abu Ghosh held a big thank you party for all of these people at a restaurant where I am still a regular customer – Caravan, on the main road. I have a certificate − where is it hanging? In the other room. I was an honorary citizen of Abu Ghosh. This is the only place in the world where I am a citizen of honour.

Uri Avnery (1923-2018) was an Israeli writer, journalist and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. As a teenager, he joined the Zionist paramilitary group, Irgun. Later, Avnery was elected to the Knesset from 1965 to 1974 and from 1979 to 1981. He was also the editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine, 'HaOlam HaZeh' from 1950 until it closed in 1993. He famously crossed the lines during the Siege of Beirut to meet Yasser Arafat on 3 July 1982, the first time the Palestinian leader ever met with an Israeli. Avnery was the author of several books about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including '1948: A Soldier's Tale, the Bloody Road to Jerusalem' (2008); 'Israel's Vicious Circle' (2008); and 'My Friend, the Enemy' (1986).

Listeners: Anat Saragusti

Anat Saragusti is a film-maker, book editor and a freelance journalist and writer. She was a senior staff member at the weekly news magazine Ha'olam Hazeh, where she was prominent in covering major events in Israel. Uri Avnery was the publisher and chief editor of the Magazine, and Saragusti worked closely with him for over a decade. With the closing of Ha'olam Hazeh in 1993, Anat Saragusti joined the group that established TV Channel 2 News Company and was appointed as its reporter in Gaza. She later became the chief editor of the evening news bulletin. Concurrently, she studied law and gained a Master's degree from Tel Aviv University.

Tags: Ossietzky Prize, Abu Gosh, Geula Cohen

Duration: 5 minutes, 28 seconds

Date story recorded: October 2015

Date story went live: 26 June 2017