I am grateful to Saudi media through which I got the privilege of establishing contacts with so many renowned local and international journalists, who regularly contribute to publications here. One of them, with whom I have frequent communication through e-mail, is the reputed Israeli journalist and founder of “Gush Shalom” — the Peace Movement — Uri Avnery. Without any doubt he has contributed to the Palestinian cause equally or more than any Palestinian leader, risking his own life, on many occasions. I love to read his articles because of his unique way of presenting things and the facts that support his arguments. In an article, sometimes ago, he compared Marwan Barghouti, who is serving a long prison term in an Israeli jail, to Nelson Mandela. In response to this, I wrote in a popular Sri Lankan newspaper, “The Island”, a letter captioned “If Barghouti is Mandela, who is Avnery?” I wrote that he is Mahatma Gandhi! I still remember the response I got from him for this by e-mail: ‘Shukran, Shukran, Shukran'. His article “Goodbye to a war” (SG,10 Nov.) is brilliant, full of facts and a sigh of relief for those who live in the region. Who else can write an authoritative account on a subject like this other than Uri Avnery? He has effectively replaced Robert Fisk, whose articles we failed to read these days. Fisk was another great writer well versed on Arab issues, having spent a good part of his life in the Middle East. We congratulate Uri for his beautiful article, ‘Goodbye to war'. S.H.Moulana, Riyadh
