Odd Oz or Just Plain Hypocritic

Here, in the original Hebrew, is Kalman Liebskind's media column from Maariv on Friday:

האדמו"ר המיוסר של השמאל, עמוס עוז, הפציע השבוע שוב. "המצור על עזה הוא פרי באושים", כתב ב'הארץ'. "הוא נובע מן ההנחה המוטעה שאפשר לנצח את החמאס בכוח או שאפשר לדרוס את הבעיה הפלסטינית במקום לפתור אותה". ההתקפה הבוטה הזו של עוז החזירה אותי אל מאמר חגיגי שפירסם ב- 31 באוגוסט 1993, היום שבו נחשפו הסכמי אוסלו. אז ניסה עוז לשכנע אותנו שהכל יהיה בסדר עם הפלסטינים. "ואם יערימו עלינו?", שאל, "יקבלו מה שניתן להם ויתבעו עוד, באמצעות המשכת האלימות והטרור?". לעוז היה אז פתרון למקרה החרום הבלתי צפוי הזה. "כי אז תוכל ישראל", הציע, "במסגרת ההסדר העומד על הפרק, לסגור על פלשתין ולבטל אותה". אם וועדת החקירה הצפויה תתעניין בסוגיית המצור על עזה, כדאי יהיה להזמין את עוז לעדות. זכות היוצרים על הרעיון הזה של המצור, מסתבר, שייכת לו

Translation summary:

Amos Oz, the Pained Grand Rabbi of the Leftist Camp, complained in Haaretz that the "blockade of Gaza is the rotten fruit resulting from the mistaken assumption that Hamas can be defeated by force or that it is possible to crush the Palestinian problem instead of solving it".

That reminded Liebskind of remarks Oz made on August 31, 1993 when the Oslo Accords were uncovered. Asked if the Arabs would act deceptively, keeping up their demands for more after we give them much and maintain their violence and terror, what should Israel do - he said "at that time Israel could close in on Palestine and cancel it out". [For another version, see here.]

Liebskind suggest that if Israel needs any testimony concerning the idea of a closure, the copyright belongs to Oz.

(And here in the NYT: "...Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip and Monday’s violent interception of civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid there are the rank products of this mantra that what can’t be done by force can be done with even greater force. This view originates in the mistaken assumption that Hamas’s control of Gaza can be ended by force of arms or, in more general terms, that the Palestinian problem can be crushed instead of solved...not by siege, not by bombardment, not by being flattened with tank treads and not by marine commandos. To defeat an idea, you have to offer a better idea, a more attractive and acceptable one..." and see these letters)

But there's this, too:

Amos Oz: Israel is turning into the new South Africa.

Celebrated Israeli author Amos Oz said today on IDF radio that Israel is becoming the new South Africa:

“We are placing ourselves under an international siege, which is more dangerous for us than the siege on Gaza in dangerous to Gaza.

“Israel is turning into South Africa in the Apartheid days – a country which the world’s nation wouldn’t want to buy its goods, wouldn’t want to visit, and that will be thrown out of international organizations. We will become a pariah state that nobody wants anything to do with

Oz said that there was no reason to prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza, and added that Israel is not only losing the media battle, but also the moral battle.

P.S.

There's also this from 2008:

Authors Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua published their views of the fighting in the Gaza Strip in two Italian newspapers Monday.

Oz told Corriere della Sera that "Hamas is responsible" for the outbreak of violence, but "the time has come to seek a cease-fire."

He called for a "complete cease-fire, in which they don't fire at us, in exchange for us easing the blockade of the Gaza Strip."

And see Daled Amos' observations.