Michael L.
I want to say that we are currently at an impasse in terms of negotiations in the long Arab war against the Jews of the Middle East.Unfortunately, I cannot say that we are currently at an impasse, because the fact is that we have been at an impasse - depending on how one chooses to reckon such things - for almost 80 years since the Peel Commission.
Decade upon decade upon decade, the Jews of the Middle East agree to share the tiny bit of land which is the historical Jewish homeland and decade upon decade upon decade, the Arabs turn us down. Yet the Europeans and American "liberals" still blame the Jews for Arab racism and intransigence.
Palestinian Authority "president" Mahmoud Abbas is in the eleventh year of a four year term, yet it is the democratic leader of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who Barack Obama spits hatred at.
The truth is, this is a sucker's game and the Jews are the suckers.
There could be a two-state solution, with peace and security for both sides, if the Arabs would simply allow it, but they will not. At least part of the reason that they will not - a part that is almost never acknowledged by white westerners who continually put the screws to Israel - is for religious reasons.
According to Islam any bit of land that was at any point part of the Umma must remain within the Umma in perpetuity. The very last thing in this world that they want is Jewish autonomy. That is precisely what they are endeavoring to stamp out. We have no problem with Arab autonomy within 22 Arabs states, nor do we have a problem with Muslim autonomy in the over 50 Muslim countries, but they absolutely refuse to accept a single Jewish state on the very land that Jews come from.
Thus we are at an impasse and we have been, actually, for a very long time. The only question is what to do about it? Shall we continue to beg for negotiations even though decades of experience tells us that not only is the "peace process" not helping, but on the contrary, it is violently counterproductive?
When any Arab-Israel "peace process" fails - which it inevitably must - the Arabs let loose violence against the Jews. When the Arabs let loose violence against the Jews, the Europeans and "liberal" Americans blame the Jews for the violence against us.
That is the pattern that has been set and I am very curious to see whether or not we fall back into that pattern.
My suspicion is that we will and a big part of the reason for that is because the Obama administration demands it. The "peace process" is something akin to crack cocaine for certain types of American presidents and Barack Obama is unquestionably an addict.
Ultimately, of course, what this is all about is putting Israel on trial... for just being born. There will be no peaceful resolution because there can be no peaceful resolution. The reason that there cannot be a peaceful resolution is because the majority Arab population absolutely refuses to allow the tiny Jewish minority to live in peace.
What is being demanded of Israel is, therefore, a ritualized beating.
What we will likely see if Israel gives in to such demands will be a repeat of the last round, which I have permanently emblazoned under the heading non-peace process on the upper right of this blog:
1) The US and the EU demand negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.So, are you guys up for another round of blood?
2) The parties agree to talk and then the PA, the US, and the EU demand various concessions from Israel for the great privilege of sitting down with the PA's foremost undertaker.
3) Israel fails to meet all the concessions, thus causing the PA to flee negotiations, which they never had any intention of concluding to begin with.
4) The PA and the EU and the Obama administration place the blame for failure at Jewish feet.
5) The EU and various European countries announce additional sanctions, thereby essentially joining the anti-Semitic anti-Zionist BDS movement.
6) Arabs seek to murder Jews.
Update:
I want to highlight this comment, in another thread, by "k" who lives in England:
It is difficult to describe the enormity of the impact of Obama's words about Netanyahu, and his proposals to punish Israel at the UN, here in Europe.
In the UK, our parliament has already recognised the State of Palestine. Only about half the House voted, and it is non- binding. It has, therefore, little impact on government policy. The Labour party leader insisted on a three- line whip for the vote. Meaning all his MPs had to vote along party lines, and could not vote freely. Because of that, some chose to abstain. Including some shadow cabinet members. Ed Miliband knew there would be enough MPs from the other parties to get the vote through.
We are looking at a very close election, judging by the polls. With a high probability of some form of coalition - formal or otherwise. We are already seeing Labour ministers jockeying for the leadership position ( in the scenario that they fail to be able to form a government), by announcing how much more support they would want to give the Palestinians. This has been directly affected by what has come from the White House.
If Labour win the election, then it will be very likely that Ed Miliband ( whose political idol is Barack Obama) will eagerly take his cues from the White House.
That might also be true if the Conservatives win. It is less clear.
What Obama has said has reverberated through our political / cultural landscape. When/ if he acts, that will give permission to the very worst feelings, ideas, and beliefs that are in our country. There are many people who have been waiting for this.
This moment is definitely a crux, a turning point of some kind, for both the state of Israel and for world Jewry.
This is, admittedly, a subjective view on the part of myself and many others, but there is a quality about this political moment in Jewish history which is reminiscent of moments in the past that preceded blood.
I do not want to overstate it and I do not think that we are on the verge of some sort-of Jewish catastrophe wherein the Obama administration, in collusion with the EU and the UN and the PA, go about diplomatically and economically destroying Israel's ability to defend itself.
But, anything is possible.
If an Iranian bomb is possible in the near future, then anything is up for grabs.
Barack Obama just gave the Middle East - the world's foremost volatile region - a nice, rough shake.
We will see what falls out.
Mike,
ReplyDeleteCan I refer you to the comment I just made on the ' further response to volleyball 1' thread.
Got to go and do stuff now.
Will come back later to see what everyone is saying.
Israel can take a different tack. Simply agree to anything Arabs demand without even considering it. But make sure that it's announced in the context of "We're doing this because we see the error of our ways and we've completely tossed out our own agenda for that of Obama. He's 100% in the driver's seat now. Whatever he says goes and we have nothing to add further on the matter. Whatever detailed actual plans Obama and the PLO work out are between them."
ReplyDeleteThen go on a media blitz extolling the Greatness of The Obama and his Divine Guidance. All things accrue to Him. But in a very methodical and purposeful way, that is, nothing can happen until Obama himself puts pen to paper and bangs out a detailed detailed absolutely detailed plan in with every detail documented in conjunction with his partners for peace, the PLO and Hamas.
And then close up diplomatic shop and wait for a response. Anything else would be toxic 'unilateral actions' which can't happen.
Here is the US State Dept proposing to cut aid to Israel in what it considers a direct offset to the dollars Israel spends in Yesha.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.algemeiner.com/2015/03/24/the-next-crisis-united-states-might-limit-aid-to-israel-by-amount-it-spends-on-settlements/
Now when you consider that when we add up all the good and services Israel provides to the PLO and Gaza directly is several hundred million dollars, I think the State Dept proposal can work against them. After all in the real non-Obamanomics world, money comes from somewhere. What better place than to take it from the funding pool that today goes to support mass murdering stone age psychopaths. If the State Dept objects then Israel can offset some of the cost by emptying their prisons and shipping all their terrorists, I mean activists, to the US where they can breath the free air of freedom. Maybe even get jobs with the administration and/or CNN.
But in either case, Reducing economic viability in Yesha can only be at the expense of the Arabs. So ok, let's do that.
"A prominent Jewish figure urged the United States on Tuesday to beware of surging anti-Semitism in Europe and warned that seven decades after World War II Jews on the continent are having to look over their shoulders once more.
ReplyDeleteWorld Jewish Congress (WJC) president Ronald Lauder told a congressional committee in Washington that the United States could not sit by quietly, with events such as the recent attack in France underlining the growing threat.
“Once again, like the 1930s, European Jews live in fear,” said Lauder, a billionaire businessman who inherited a fortune from his mother Estee Lauder’s cosmetics empire.
“The United States can and must speak loudly and clearly to condemn this evil for what it is –- the radical Islamic hatred of Jews.”
“To defeat this new flame of radical Islamic terror and survive… the United States must lead,” stressed Lauder, whose mother was Jewish and in whose faith he was raised."
http://www.timesofisrael.com/ron-lauder-anti-semitism-in-europe-akin-to-1930s/
Fat chance of that when the only thing the current admin in the US wants to do is demonize Bibi, Israelis who voted for him, establish a terrorist state on Israel's borders and give the bomb to its worst genocidal enemies. Don't hold yer breath Mr Lauder.
The Obama administration declassified and released a report today, from 1987, detailing the totality of US intelligence on all Israeli nuclear programs up to that point.
ReplyDeleteI think if anyone wants to learn about Iran's nuclear program they should ask the US DoE since it's pretty likely they're sharing information and technology at this point.
I also suspect that the White House will announce by the end of the summer that it's cutting 100% all aid to Israel, lowering if not breaking all diplomatic relations. I also am thinking that when Iran announces they are finally a nuclear state, that Obama will personally sponsor them for a permanent UN Security Council seat. IRGC special forces are already directing US special forces forward air controllers in Iraq so the probability of forming a formal military alliance with Iran is very very high.
"I also suspect that the White House will announce by the end of the summer that it's cutting 100% all aid to Israel, lowering if not breaking all diplomatic relations."
DeleteDoubtful. And it goes against the Obama "death by a thousand cuts," i.e., pretexts for manufactured outrages, strategy.
"The "peace process" is something akin to crack cocaine for certain types of American presidents and Barack Obama is unquestionably an addict. "
ReplyDeleteBe careful about the metaphors you choose. In these troubled times the new totalitarians are out looking for racist code, especially regarding the supreme leader.
Yap.
DeleteThat's a point, isn't it?
Jeff, I agree with you that race is a weapon wielded by politicos to delegitimize and silence their opponents.
DeleteObama administration sycophants have always smeared their critics as racist.
It's a rather shallow tactic, yet it seems to resonate with the base. As someone who lived through the 1960's, I find it quite depressing to see America's first black president & co. using race as a McCarthyist bludgeon.
DeleteLikewise the use of not very well disguised anti-Semitism today on the left.
I came to the conclusion many years ago that being a leftist ain't so great. In many ways it is its own punishment.
ReplyDeleteTrudy
ReplyDeleteRead that Tablet article. It's a really interesting and informative picture of what is happening here in Britain. I can recognise a great deal of what it talks about.
Well worth reading.