Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Responding to Diana Buttu

Sar-Shalom

Diana Buttu has another screed up today in the New York Times about how the Israel-UAE deal supposedly betrays the Palestinians. I can leave much of Buttu's article to others, but one part has been mentioned numerous times before without sufficient rebuttal (Daniel Pipes provieds one example of rebuttal is here) and is at the root of the narrative of Israeli Goliath wantonly oppressing Palestinian David.
Beginning in 1993 with the signing of the Oslo Accords, the P.L.O. embarked on a process of negotiation with Israel that was supposed to lead — at least as the Palestinians viewed it — to an independent state, kicked off by recognition of Israel.
Buttu is correct that the signing the Oslo Accords in 1993 meant that the P.L.O. embarked on a negotiation process with Israel that kicked off with a recognition of Israel. She might even be correct that rank-and-file Palestinians only sought an independent state for themselves. However, the P.L.O. viewed the Oslo Accords as a means to strength the Palestinian national movement and weaken Israel so as to achieve what decades of conventional warfare and terrorism had been unable to achieve, which is the eradication of Israel. Yasir Arafat's talk to a Muslim audience in South Africa, in which he cited the Treaty of Hudaibiyah as a precedent entering into the Oslo Accords, makes sense once one assumes that motive.

For years, Israelis were in denial that the Palestinians sought Israel's destructions and insisted to themselves that they only wanted a some degree of independence for themselves. However, repeated muggings by reality have forced the overwhelming majority of Israelis to recognize the Palestinians' true objectives. In response, Israelis have decided to stop cooperating in their own destruction and have voted for parties that are reliable to withhold that cooperation. The end of any progress towards a Palestinian state is the result.

For some time, the Arab world was willing to bear any price for ethnic solidarity with the Palestinians, which meant support for any demands their leaders made with no demand for genuine concessions on the Palestinians' part. However, the price of sticking up for Palestine right-or-wrong has risen to include strengthening Iran in its quest for domination of the region. The result is the Gulf states' sacrifice of tribal solidarity that Buttu, and her supporters in the Western left, decry.

24 comments:

  1. Why even respond to Buttu? Just call her a bigot, affiliated with the masters of world terrorism and crimes against humanity, and move on.

    More seriously, the Arab League movement toward Israel speaks more against her than anything else. The PLO may be on its last legs, and perhaps only then can durable peace be had.

    The "denial," if it ever existed, was very short lived. When you're told you will be driven into the sea, you kind of remember. It's always been apparent where the PLO was coming from, that peace would be a first step for them and the others. That has not changed. Therefore, it will take Arabs conceding that will melt denial away. Which is why Trump's accomplishments in the Middle East is actually deserving of a Peace Prize. Facts are facts.

    Another fact, there has been no peace with the PLO, so Israel has not cooperated in its own destruction. Far from it. Israel has shown, finally, to an increasing number of states, that it's time to jettison the PLO narrative, based on lies and violence. Israel has something positive to offer.

    As for Iran, Trump seems to be strangling the regime economically, which is the proper tool to fight its imperialism. Iranians will hopefully take charge of their destiny, rather than the theocrats. Biden will take it backwards and empower the regime. As if this will bring less conflict. It won't. In the end, if Iran's nuclear ambition must be quashed militarily, it's best they are weakened to the extent possible.

    The NYT may love Buttu, which says something by itself, but she is just a loud voice of hate preaching to a choir that knows but one tune.

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    1. Biden is frail and looks as if he could at any moment be knocked over by either a gust of wind or a coherent idea.

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    2. When the NY Times looks as favorably on her submissions as it would on David Duke's, we can ignore her. Until then, we have to provide reasons she should be seen like David Duke.

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    3. We? Please speak for yourself. Your analogy is silly. The NYT will never follow your criteria.

      In fact, doing as suggested, "call her a bigot, affiliated with the masters of world terrorism and crimes against humanity, and move on," is seeing and treating her like Duke. It is a mistake to give her credibility. She is just a loud voice of hate preaching to a choir that knows but one tune, and the NYT hums along. Just ask Tom Cotton.

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    4. I see nothing wrong with taking the NYT, or any other mainstream publication, to task for giving a prominent platform for such dreck. They have a responsibility as respected news providers. They should be exposed and embarrassed when who and what they choose to publish doesn't reach a standard of respectability.
      This is what organizations like CAMERA do, i.e., expose and take to task such publications.

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    5. In other words, we should just call everyone who takes Butti seriously a basket full of deplorables and be done with it.

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    6. If that floats your boat. Once more, you have a penchant to twist words. The comment was how to respond to Buttu, not "everyone who takes her seriously." When they chime in, an appropriate response is called for. What is the matter with you? Can't accept criticism? It's a waste to treat bigots like Buttu as if they are legitimate, especially in the wake of Israel's success and the repudiation of the PLO by the powers that be. She is like a bug in one's soup, yet you seem to act like she is the chef.

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  2. More evidence that responding to Buttu is a waste.

    Weeks after the United Arab Emirates agreed to a peace deal with Israel, the Arab Gulf state of Bahrain has joined the fellow Arab Gulf state in normalize diplomatic relations with the Jewish State, a statement issued by the White House said.

    “This is a historic breakthrough to further peace in the Middle East. Opening direct dialogue and ties between these two dynamic societies and advanced economies will continue the positive transformation of the Middle East and increase stability, security, and prosperity in the region,” the joint statement issued by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump said.


    https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/09/after-uae-bahrain-to-normalize-relations-with-israel/

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  3. WOW!!!!! Noe Bahrain has signed onto the peace deals. If they dont give Trump a Nobel it's all a hoax (Nobel prize that is.)

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  4. Pelosi says that Trump's peace deals are just a distraction.
    Trump is running on accomplishments. The Dems are running on character assassination.
    Still, people have a hard time with their willingness to see.

    I mentioned Obama's contempt for America to a Biden supporter before and he said that he shares that contempt. It's nice when they're that open. :0)

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  5. "Trump is running on accomplishments."

    Yeah, 200K dead and not counting. So much winning...

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  6. Cheer the deaths because it helps your sick priorities.

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  7. Do they have mirrors where you're at?

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  8. Yes they do. But you are the one cheering as people die to comfort your TDS.

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  9. Just to be clear, TDS is when someone takes an unrelated story and makes a comment that shows hate for Trump, and how much he is in his head. Thank you for the example, although there are many kinds of manifestations.

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  10. school,
    You must excuse Randall, he is quite emotional. His comment makes clear he approves of the Democrats' use of defamation and is joining in, in the spirit of camaraderie and solidarity against Trump who "lied about the virus and then did nothing" as one Biden spokesman put it a la Eastern Bloc or PLO, or take your pick, one from column A, two from column B.


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  11. Gad Sa'ad offers a more complete explanation of what ails TDSers without even mentioning the term:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb64nxUCNyE

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  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  13. Such irrational hate is TDS, which has invaded this thread. It is reminiscent of the way people hate Israel. Nothing will appeal to it. If Trump was as bad as they say, the world would already be over. In fact, Trump has been law abiding. The most significant change we have experienced is the resistance. Who boycotted the inauguration again?

    Emotional tirades, symbolism, performance art is predictable. It's fake outrage. Then again, the darker violent forces they enable with TDS, and by kneeling and looking the other way, is not fake. It will eat them in the end, too, even if they get quite emotional in their defense of the cause.

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  14. Good for some laughs, even if it's actually sad.

    https://twitter.com/UEvental/status/1306347215821119489

    https://twitter.com/ScottJW/status/1306639406539964416

    Happy New Year!

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    Replies
    1. That Johnny Carson clip is killer! ROFL

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    2. The Kerry one shows how laughable he is, and others that perpetuated the same farce with that smug certainlty.

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    3. Yes, well, we knew about Kerry, didn't we? And we knew that certain Arab countries have been moving this way for a long time, mostly under the table. At least anyone familiar with the EoZ blog wouldn't have been completely surprised. Arab leaders told Kerry the usual diplomatic nonsense and he swallowed hard, when others knew better how to read and understand Arab leaders. They said what they were expected to say, and Kerry, so stupid, he took their words literally. Couldn't read between the lines. Obviously he has zero musical talent, no ear for poetry. What kind of diplomat is that? And those Israelis and other analysts who knew better were objects of his derision. It shows us again what a bozo he is. Just some rich guy.

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