I can’t think of a rock song touching on politics that has stood the test of time better than the Who’s “Won’t get fooled again.” It provides Pete Townshend’s remarkably unillusioned view of the radical agitation of the late sixties and early seventies, concluding with the dystopian observation: “Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss.”
Reading this Jerusalem Post story brings “Won’t get fooled again” to mind: “Gandhi leads thousands in Abu Dis peace rally.” The Gandhi of the Jerusalem Post story is the grandson of the “half-naked fakir” on whom Winston Churchill cast a gimlet eye.
Meet Dr. Arun Ghandi:
Gandhi arrived in the area from his home in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday following an invitation from Mohammed Alatar of the US-based grassroots group Palestinians for Peace and Democracy.
Alatar is hoping that Gandhi’s presence will inspire Palestinians to choose the path of non-violent resistance.
However media comments that Gandhi made over the past week have already incited some anger from critics who accused him of speaking against Israeli military operations and the construction of the security fence, but not against the brutality of Palestinian suicide bombings.
Gandhi, however, defends that he supports stopping all forms of violence, including suicide bombings, and that this should be implicit in [the] word “non-violent.”
Gandhi the younger is serving a role similar to the role played by his grandfather in the run-up to World War II. Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn recalls:
In November 1938, Gandhi went so far as to advise the Jews of Europe to offer only nonviolent resistance to Hitler. As he gave this advice, he also advised Britain, France, and America not to declare war upon Germany.
In May 1940 Gandhi the elder expressed great admiration for Hitler. Yesterday Gandhi the younger stood shoulder to shoulder with Yasser Arafat. Meet the new Gandhi, same as the old Gandhi.
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