Uri Avnery's opinions are not to be taken lightly. The most outspoken leader of Israel's peace movement, Avnery has in his own life mirrored the country he helped establish. Born in Germany in 1923, Avnery began his political life as a member of the Irgun, then served as an IDF commando in the 1948 war. For forty years the editor and publisher of Israel's now defunct newsweekly, Ha Olam Hazeh, Avnery served three terms in Israel's Knesset. With his wife Rachel, in 1993 he helped found Gush Shalom, one of Israel's most influential peace organizations. We spoke to Avnery two weeks before the withdrawal had formally begun.
TIKKUN: Media accounts of the drama of withdrawal from Gaza make it seem as though we now have a struggle going on between the forces of good, represented by Sharon, and the forces of evil, represented by the settlers.