49 Days to Go - Read the Signs
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 49 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood it remains quite amazing to me that this is the biggest news item coming out of the Middle East when so many other things are going on here that the West seems not to care about at all.
For example, according to a report in Lebanon’s Daily Star, almost 3,000 people have gone missing in Syria since the start of anti-regime protests more than four months ago. This was reported by the Avaaz non-governmental organization in a statement issued Thursday. The quote reads:
“Avaaz has today revealed the identities of 2,918 Syrians who have been arrested by Syrian security forces and whose whereabouts are now unknown,” the organization said in statement received by AFP in Nicosia. It said it was launching a campaign Thursday “to call for the release of the nearly 3,000 Syrians who have forcibly ‘disappeared’ since the peaceful uprising began on March 15th of this year.” The in-depth survey conducted by Avaaz estimates that one person is disappearing every hour. “In the past week alone there have been more than 1,000 arrests and the number of enforced disappearances has been rapidly rising on a daily basis, as the regime steps up its efforts to repress dissent in the build-up to Ramadan,” the statement said. According to the organization’s executive director, Ricken Patel, “hour by hour, peaceful protesters are plucked from crowds by Syria’s infamously brutal security forces, never to be seen again.” Avaaz said 1,634 people have died in the crackdown, 26,000 have been arrested, of whom 12,617 are still in detention."
Don’t you find it amazing in 2011 that international efforts have not been made to stop this action by the Assad government which is designed solely to ensure the continuance in power of the Alawite regime which is known to be both corrupt and brutal?
Or this item from UPI:
"Egypt, struggling to consolidate a revolution that deposed President Hosni Mubarak in February, faces what could be even worse turmoil because the country is running out of food as well as the money to buy it. Food prices are rising over 11 percent per month according to government provided statistics. At the same time, Egypt's annual urban inflation rate is also rising at the rate of 12 percent per month, underlining how key factors that triggered the popular uprising that forced Mubarak from office after 30 years remain in play. A dozen other Arab states were roiled by similar uprisings, some much less intense than Egypt's. But food prices and related economic grievances played a big part in these upheavals, unprecedented in modern Middle Eastern history."
Asia Times Online further noted that “The most populous country in the Arab world shows all the symptoms of national bankruptcy -- the kind that produced hyperinflation in several Latin American countries during the 1970s and 1980s -- with a deadly difference: Egypt imports half its wheat and the collapse of its external credit means starvation."
Finally the Jordan Times today reported the following:
"Upheaval across the Arab world is causing capital flight of up to $500 million a week, Finance Minister Mohammad Abu Hammour said on Thursday at an Arab banking conference in Rome. “There is capital flight. Five hundred million dollars a week are leaving the Arab world. Tourism is falling, foreign direct investment is falling,” Hammour said, pointing to volatility in oil prices as another negative. “Economic development is lagging. We need to guarantee job opportunities. This is a huge challenge... We need five million new jobs every year but we have only been able to generate three million jobs a year,” he said. Abu Hammour called for greater economic integration between Arab countries, greater assistance to small- and medium-sized enterprises and development of the private sector as ways to improve the economic outlook for the region. The minister was taking part in the International Arab Banking Summit organised by the Union of Arab Banks with senior bankers and central bank governors to discuss the implications of political upheaval in the region."
Amazing, is it not, what does and does not capture the headlines and the imaginations of western countries. While the issue I have been dealing with all these past months is certainly a critical one for those of us living here they have to be seen in the context of the region and its overall problems.
The biggest challenge to the world community is for our leaders to be able to see the big picture rather than zeroing in on one small section of the overall problem.
Former US President Harry Truman once said “Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and social injustice.” Those words ring true today as they did then and we need to take notice of the signals before it is too late.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
51 Days to Go – Palestinians Taking to the Streets
By Sherwin Pomerantz
51 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood and it remains essential that the pressure on the representatives to the UN be kept up or even increased.
Palestinian Chairman Abbas is now clearly concerned about the seeming erosion of support that he had thought was “in his pocket.” News reports out of Israel indicate that Abbas has told his people directly to begin street demonstrations in Israel in support of the proposed UN vote. In his words:
"In this coming period, we want mass action, organized and coordinated in every place (in Israel). This is a chance to raise our voices in front of the world and say that we want our rights."
He then went on to say:
"I insist on popular resistance and I insist that it be unarmed popular resistance so that nobody misunderstands us. We are now inspired by the protests of the Arab Spring, all of which cry out 'peaceful', 'peaceful'."
Just what we need in Israel, eh?
Of course, it remains unclear whether he said this for local consumption or whether he really means for the people to take to the streets. But the good news is that he is worried and that means that the support is continuing to erode.
Meanwhile at the UN, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor addressed the issue of the vote on statehood in an address to the Security Council on Tuesday. In that presentation he spoke directly to the Palestinian Observer Mansour and said:
"Permanent Observer Mansour: On behalf of whom will you present a resolution in September? Mr. Abbas or Hamas? Will it be on behalf of both the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terrorist organization, which advances a charter calling for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews? Will it be on behalf of Akram Haniyeh – the PA’s Chief Spokesman— or Ismail Haniyeh – the Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza who said recently “When I say ‘the land of Palestine,’ I am not referring [only] to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem…I refer to Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River, and from Rosh Hanikra to Rafah.”
He then went on to say:
"Whether the Palestinians bring forward a resolution in the General Assembly or by invoking the “Uniting for Peace” resolution it is clear that the Palestinians are not united and are far from united for peace. There is much uncertainty about the future Palestinian government: its acceptance of the Quartet conditions, the peace process, control of its security forces, and many other questions. It will take at least until after the Palestinian elections next year before it is clear what Palestinian unity really means. For Israel, this so-called unity has only brought continued impunity for the terrorists that fire rockets into our cities."
The support for Palestinian statehood at the UN is cracking and we need to understand that not only is the vote itself wrong, we also need to be concerned about the day after the vote should it succeed, and what that will mean for us here in Israel as well.
As such, I continue to urge all of my readers not to let up pressure on the delegates to the UN and, towards that end, some of the questions raised by Ambassador Prosor bear repeating.
As always, the future is in our hands and we need to rise to the challenge. In the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirke Avot) Rabbi Tarfon is given credit for saying “It is not upon you to complete the task, but you are not free to idle from it.” That injunction is no less true today than it was when it was written and we need to hear it.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
51 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood and it remains essential that the pressure on the representatives to the UN be kept up or even increased.
Palestinian Chairman Abbas is now clearly concerned about the seeming erosion of support that he had thought was “in his pocket.” News reports out of Israel indicate that Abbas has told his people directly to begin street demonstrations in Israel in support of the proposed UN vote. In his words:
"In this coming period, we want mass action, organized and coordinated in every place (in Israel). This is a chance to raise our voices in front of the world and say that we want our rights."
He then went on to say:
"I insist on popular resistance and I insist that it be unarmed popular resistance so that nobody misunderstands us. We are now inspired by the protests of the Arab Spring, all of which cry out 'peaceful', 'peaceful'."
Just what we need in Israel, eh?
Of course, it remains unclear whether he said this for local consumption or whether he really means for the people to take to the streets. But the good news is that he is worried and that means that the support is continuing to erode.
Meanwhile at the UN, Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor addressed the issue of the vote on statehood in an address to the Security Council on Tuesday. In that presentation he spoke directly to the Palestinian Observer Mansour and said:
"Permanent Observer Mansour: On behalf of whom will you present a resolution in September? Mr. Abbas or Hamas? Will it be on behalf of both the Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terrorist organization, which advances a charter calling for the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews? Will it be on behalf of Akram Haniyeh – the PA’s Chief Spokesman— or Ismail Haniyeh – the Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza who said recently “When I say ‘the land of Palestine,’ I am not referring [only] to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and Jerusalem…I refer to Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River, and from Rosh Hanikra to Rafah.”
He then went on to say:
"Whether the Palestinians bring forward a resolution in the General Assembly or by invoking the “Uniting for Peace” resolution it is clear that the Palestinians are not united and are far from united for peace. There is much uncertainty about the future Palestinian government: its acceptance of the Quartet conditions, the peace process, control of its security forces, and many other questions. It will take at least until after the Palestinian elections next year before it is clear what Palestinian unity really means. For Israel, this so-called unity has only brought continued impunity for the terrorists that fire rockets into our cities."
The support for Palestinian statehood at the UN is cracking and we need to understand that not only is the vote itself wrong, we also need to be concerned about the day after the vote should it succeed, and what that will mean for us here in Israel as well.
As such, I continue to urge all of my readers not to let up pressure on the delegates to the UN and, towards that end, some of the questions raised by Ambassador Prosor bear repeating.
As always, the future is in our hands and we need to rise to the challenge. In the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirke Avot) Rabbi Tarfon is given credit for saying “It is not upon you to complete the task, but you are not free to idle from it.” That injunction is no less true today than it was when it was written and we need to hear it.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
First Person Story – Two Days with Christians United for Israel
By Sherwin Pomerantz
58 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood but we are making progress. Jordan announced this week that they would vote “no” and some senior Palestinian officials are now seriously questioning the advisability of going in this direction at this time, so the pressure needs to be kept up. But let me share something different with you today.
“For 2,000 years Christians united Jews as they battled anti-Semitism, but for the first time in 2,000 years Jews are uniting Christians in support of Israel.”
The words are those of Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the six year old, 750,000 strong Christian Evangelical grassroots organization dedicated to the support of Israel, and which is now the largest pro-Israel organization in the US. The event was a Night to Honor Israel on July 19th at the Washington Convention Center as part of CUFI’s now annual Washington Summit and I was proud to be there.
For someone like me who grew up in the New York of the 1940s and 1950s when my mother’s words, which still ring in my ears, were always “Don’t get them angry” referring to the Irish Catholics with whom we shared our Bronx neighbourhood, the evening was a revelation. To be in a hall having dinner with 5,000 Israel and US flag-waving, shofar blowing Christians whose single purpose for being there was to show support for Israel, their love for Israel, their solidarity with the Jewish people and who rose as one to sing Hatikvah and Jerusalem of Gold, the only word one can use is “inspiring.” I dare say that every other Israeli in the room, and there were quite a few of us, felt the same.
To be there on the 17th of Tammuz, the day when the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans was significant as well. Of course, respecting the tradition of our people, those of us who requested it were served a kosher meal but not until 9:01 PM when the fast day officially ended. Some of our “Jewish” organizations could learn a lesson or two from CUFI regarding sensitivity to our traditions as well.
There are those who criticize the Evangelicals for having another agenda. The concern is that at the end of days they would like to see all Jews gathered in Israel so that Jesus can arrive on the second coming. But clearly the parade of respected Jewish dignitaries who participated in the two day session was not concerned about this. They included Malcolm Hoenlein, US Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Rabbi Aryeh Shainberg of San Antonio, Elliott Chodoff, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Dennis Prager, John Podhoretz, IDF Res. Col. Ben Tzion Gruber, Amb. Michael Oren, and, via satellite, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
No doubt the position of CUFI vis-à-vis Israel is one not only of support, but also of what would normally be termed “right wing” support. Pastor Hagee in his comments minced no words on this subject when he said:
"America should never pressure Israel to divide Jerusalem. The day our government (i.e. the US) forces Israel to divide Jerusalem, that is the day that God will turn his back on America. The truth is that President Obama is not pro-Israel and he should never pressure Israel to divide Jerusalem. Obama has no authority to tell the Jewish people where they can or cannot build homes. The Jewish people are not occupiers of any part of Israel, it is their land given to them by God Almighty."
Clearly there is little room in this approach for a two-state solution or other frameworks currently under diplomatic consideration. But one does not have to agree with the overall political policy of the group to be grateful for the support of not only the 750,000 members of CUFI but, as well, the 50 million Evangelical Christians who live in the US and reflect similar feelings.
Make no mistake about it. The 5,000 members of CUFI who on July 20th had one-on-one appointments with a total of 432 of the combined 435 members of the US House of Representatives and 100 members of the US Senate for the sole purpose of letting these elected officials know about their constituent’s support for Israel is something for which Israel needs to be eternally grateful. The physical presence of constituents in the Washington offices of Representatives and Senators is, in the American political system, the strongest show of local concern possible. The fact that these are Christians doing the lobbying rather than Jews makes the case that support for Israel is not a Jewish issue but an American issue.
None of us know what will be at the end of days. As Pastor Hagee likes to say, some day he and his rabbi friends will be walking down the streets of Jerusalem and the Messiah will be coming the other way. At that point in time one of them will need to change his theology. Until then it is incumbent on his flock to support Israel.
He and his people believe in the words of the Torah which say “I will bless those that bless you and curse the one that curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3). In these difficult days for Israel when we are becoming more and more isolated by the world community, the support of this population is a welcome respite from the barbs of those that seek our destruction. For that, we owe them thanks and appreciation for their new found commitment to our long term success in this land.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
58 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood but we are making progress. Jordan announced this week that they would vote “no” and some senior Palestinian officials are now seriously questioning the advisability of going in this direction at this time, so the pressure needs to be kept up. But let me share something different with you today.
“For 2,000 years Christians united Jews as they battled anti-Semitism, but for the first time in 2,000 years Jews are uniting Christians in support of Israel.”
The words are those of Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the six year old, 750,000 strong Christian Evangelical grassroots organization dedicated to the support of Israel, and which is now the largest pro-Israel organization in the US. The event was a Night to Honor Israel on July 19th at the Washington Convention Center as part of CUFI’s now annual Washington Summit and I was proud to be there.
For someone like me who grew up in the New York of the 1940s and 1950s when my mother’s words, which still ring in my ears, were always “Don’t get them angry” referring to the Irish Catholics with whom we shared our Bronx neighbourhood, the evening was a revelation. To be in a hall having dinner with 5,000 Israel and US flag-waving, shofar blowing Christians whose single purpose for being there was to show support for Israel, their love for Israel, their solidarity with the Jewish people and who rose as one to sing Hatikvah and Jerusalem of Gold, the only word one can use is “inspiring.” I dare say that every other Israeli in the room, and there were quite a few of us, felt the same.
To be there on the 17th of Tammuz, the day when the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans was significant as well. Of course, respecting the tradition of our people, those of us who requested it were served a kosher meal but not until 9:01 PM when the fast day officially ended. Some of our “Jewish” organizations could learn a lesson or two from CUFI regarding sensitivity to our traditions as well.
There are those who criticize the Evangelicals for having another agenda. The concern is that at the end of days they would like to see all Jews gathered in Israel so that Jesus can arrive on the second coming. But clearly the parade of respected Jewish dignitaries who participated in the two day session was not concerned about this. They included Malcolm Hoenlein, US Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Rabbi Aryeh Shainberg of San Antonio, Elliott Chodoff, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Dennis Prager, John Podhoretz, IDF Res. Col. Ben Tzion Gruber, Amb. Michael Oren, and, via satellite, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
No doubt the position of CUFI vis-à-vis Israel is one not only of support, but also of what would normally be termed “right wing” support. Pastor Hagee in his comments minced no words on this subject when he said:
"America should never pressure Israel to divide Jerusalem. The day our government (i.e. the US) forces Israel to divide Jerusalem, that is the day that God will turn his back on America. The truth is that President Obama is not pro-Israel and he should never pressure Israel to divide Jerusalem. Obama has no authority to tell the Jewish people where they can or cannot build homes. The Jewish people are not occupiers of any part of Israel, it is their land given to them by God Almighty."
Clearly there is little room in this approach for a two-state solution or other frameworks currently under diplomatic consideration. But one does not have to agree with the overall political policy of the group to be grateful for the support of not only the 750,000 members of CUFI but, as well, the 50 million Evangelical Christians who live in the US and reflect similar feelings.
Make no mistake about it. The 5,000 members of CUFI who on July 20th had one-on-one appointments with a total of 432 of the combined 435 members of the US House of Representatives and 100 members of the US Senate for the sole purpose of letting these elected officials know about their constituent’s support for Israel is something for which Israel needs to be eternally grateful. The physical presence of constituents in the Washington offices of Representatives and Senators is, in the American political system, the strongest show of local concern possible. The fact that these are Christians doing the lobbying rather than Jews makes the case that support for Israel is not a Jewish issue but an American issue.
None of us know what will be at the end of days. As Pastor Hagee likes to say, some day he and his rabbi friends will be walking down the streets of Jerusalem and the Messiah will be coming the other way. At that point in time one of them will need to change his theology. Until then it is incumbent on his flock to support Israel.
He and his people believe in the words of the Torah which say “I will bless those that bless you and curse the one that curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3). In these difficult days for Israel when we are becoming more and more isolated by the world community, the support of this population is a welcome respite from the barbs of those that seek our destruction. For that, we owe them thanks and appreciation for their new found commitment to our long term success in this land.
Monday, July 18, 2011
60 Days to Go
5,000 Christian Evangelicals Can`t Be Wrong
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Just 60 days (i.e. two months) to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. While there seems to be some progress on the diplomatic front the Palestinian Arab leadership continues to be hell bent on getting their resolution through the UN whether or not it will ultimately benefit them.
But even though their intent vis-à-vis Israel may indeed be negative, today I am not depressed. Today and tomorrow I am in Washington DC attending the annual Washington Summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) the evangelical Christian Zionist group whose support for Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people is unequivocal, spirited, vocal and dependable. To walk into a room of 5,000 people who, when the speaker says “The Land of Israel was given to the Jewish people by God Almighty and we will defend their right to this land until our dying day” everyone stands up, cheers, raises their hands and says “Amen” is, in a word, energizing.
Today’s opening plenary session featured, in addition to CUFI Founder Pastor John Hagee of San Antonio, television personality and commentator Rabbi Dennis Prager, Connecticut US Senator Joe Lieberman and CUFI Executive Director David Brog. There is not room to cover all of what was said in the 95 minute opening session, but Dennis Prager’s comments on legitimacy and its connection to refugees bears repeating.
The Arab leadership claims that in 1948 711,000 people were made homeless as a result of the creation of the State of Israel and the subsequent War of Independence. Today those 711,000 individuals have reproduced, with UNRWA’s figures showing the total now to be 4.7 million. And these numbers, of course, are the basis of the Palestinian insistence on the right of return. The anti-Israel forces in the world use these numbers, as well, to prove their claim that Israel is not a legitimate country given this huge refugee problem.
Yet the creation of Pakistan from land taken from India in 1947 created 7 million refugees, composed of Hindus and others. In addition, in 1977 the creation of Bangladesh from what was East Pakistan created yet another 7 million refugees. There are disputes about these numbers as some people claim they are even higher, but everyone agrees on a minimum of 14 million refugees. Yet no one anywhere in the world accuses Pakistan of being an illegitimate country or even seems to be overly concerned with solving that “refugee problem.” But we never hear about this anymore. Only Israel seems to be singled out from among all the nations of the world with refugee problems (and there are many) as, therefore, being illegitimate.
So being in an atmosphere as I was this morning where love for Israel, for the land, and even for Jews as a people, is, quite frankly, energizing and gives one a sense of hope. Here in the US there are millions upon millions of Christian supporters who believe in the bible, who accept that it is God’s word and who, after thousands of years of institutionalized Christian anti-Semitism, a new order had arisen that permits Sen. Lieberman to stand before the crowd and say, to resounding applause, “I am Joseph, your brother.”
It hit me as I was listening to all of this that if we ever get to the point in Jewish existence where our people believe in the bible to the same extent as these Christian Zionists, there is no doubt that the messiah will come. We can argue about whether it is the first time or the second time, but, at this point in time, that is almost simply a small detail.
There are, of course, plenty of people who question the real goals of the Christian Evangelicals. But at this point in history where Israel desperately needs all the friends it can muster, the fact that 5,000 people come to Washington for two days of education followed by one full day where each and every one of them will meet with their congress people to lobby on behalf of Israel is an act of devotion to which thinking people who care about Israel can only say “thank you, thank you very much.”
I was happy today to say thank you to so many people who support us and the only obstacle was to thank them before they thanks me and the significant number of others from Israel who spent the money and made the time to be here. More of us who care need to do this regularly.
5,000 Christian Evangelicals Can`t Be Wrong
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Just 60 days (i.e. two months) to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. While there seems to be some progress on the diplomatic front the Palestinian Arab leadership continues to be hell bent on getting their resolution through the UN whether or not it will ultimately benefit them.
But even though their intent vis-à-vis Israel may indeed be negative, today I am not depressed. Today and tomorrow I am in Washington DC attending the annual Washington Summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) the evangelical Christian Zionist group whose support for Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people is unequivocal, spirited, vocal and dependable. To walk into a room of 5,000 people who, when the speaker says “The Land of Israel was given to the Jewish people by God Almighty and we will defend their right to this land until our dying day” everyone stands up, cheers, raises their hands and says “Amen” is, in a word, energizing.
Today’s opening plenary session featured, in addition to CUFI Founder Pastor John Hagee of San Antonio, television personality and commentator Rabbi Dennis Prager, Connecticut US Senator Joe Lieberman and CUFI Executive Director David Brog. There is not room to cover all of what was said in the 95 minute opening session, but Dennis Prager’s comments on legitimacy and its connection to refugees bears repeating.
The Arab leadership claims that in 1948 711,000 people were made homeless as a result of the creation of the State of Israel and the subsequent War of Independence. Today those 711,000 individuals have reproduced, with UNRWA’s figures showing the total now to be 4.7 million. And these numbers, of course, are the basis of the Palestinian insistence on the right of return. The anti-Israel forces in the world use these numbers, as well, to prove their claim that Israel is not a legitimate country given this huge refugee problem.
Yet the creation of Pakistan from land taken from India in 1947 created 7 million refugees, composed of Hindus and others. In addition, in 1977 the creation of Bangladesh from what was East Pakistan created yet another 7 million refugees. There are disputes about these numbers as some people claim they are even higher, but everyone agrees on a minimum of 14 million refugees. Yet no one anywhere in the world accuses Pakistan of being an illegitimate country or even seems to be overly concerned with solving that “refugee problem.” But we never hear about this anymore. Only Israel seems to be singled out from among all the nations of the world with refugee problems (and there are many) as, therefore, being illegitimate.
So being in an atmosphere as I was this morning where love for Israel, for the land, and even for Jews as a people, is, quite frankly, energizing and gives one a sense of hope. Here in the US there are millions upon millions of Christian supporters who believe in the bible, who accept that it is God’s word and who, after thousands of years of institutionalized Christian anti-Semitism, a new order had arisen that permits Sen. Lieberman to stand before the crowd and say, to resounding applause, “I am Joseph, your brother.”
It hit me as I was listening to all of this that if we ever get to the point in Jewish existence where our people believe in the bible to the same extent as these Christian Zionists, there is no doubt that the messiah will come. We can argue about whether it is the first time or the second time, but, at this point in time, that is almost simply a small detail.
There are, of course, plenty of people who question the real goals of the Christian Evangelicals. But at this point in history where Israel desperately needs all the friends it can muster, the fact that 5,000 people come to Washington for two days of education followed by one full day where each and every one of them will meet with their congress people to lobby on behalf of Israel is an act of devotion to which thinking people who care about Israel can only say “thank you, thank you very much.”
I was happy today to say thank you to so many people who support us and the only obstacle was to thank them before they thanks me and the significant number of others from Israel who spent the money and made the time to be here. More of us who care need to do this regularly.
Friday, July 15, 2011
63 Days to Go
What is Roger Cohen’s Problem?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 63 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. The Arab League on Thursday voted to support the bid of the Palestinian Arab leadership to go to the UN and will support their efforts to gain this recognition. The US has criticized the position of the Arab League on this issue and Canada this week has made it known that they will also vote “no.” Canada is proving a great friend of Israel this year to be sure.
In light of all of this why was I not surprised to see our dependably critical “friendly” columnist Roger Cohen (the New York Times calls him a “globalist” although not sure what that really means) come out with another one of his op-ed pieces roundly critical of Israel while drawing moral equivalency between us and the Palestinians.
He takes as his theme that this has been a “wasted year” when it comes to Middle East peace efforts. Well, it certainly has not been what one would call a productive year. Nevertheless, Roger Cohen, in his inimitable fashion finds a way to selectively report facts so that the country at fault is always Israel.
Early in his piece he makes the following statement:
"As usual, there’s plenty of blame to spread around. Obama had one of his worst moments last September when he brought the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the White House to announce renewed talks, only for them to unravel as Israel refused to extend a moratorium on settlement expansion. Now, when the United States says to the Palestinians — “Trust us, come to the table, we can deliver” — they scoff."
Wow. How convenient. He says nothing about the fact that for a full ten months prior to the September meeting Israel did, in fact, maintain a moratorium on settlement expansion in an effort to bring the Palestinians to the table. But it was not until the last two weeks of that period that they finally said OK, we’ll come to the table, but you have to extend the moratorium. Why? Where were they for 10 months? Probably biding their time figuring Obama would give them yet another gift from his Palestinian Santa Claus gift sack, and he tried. But rightly so, our government said “been there, done that and no reason to do it again.” Does that make us the bad guys? I don’t think so.
He then goes on to say:
"The Israeli insistence on up-front recognition from the Palestinians of Israel as a “Jewish state” is absurd — a powerful indication of growing Israeli insecurities, isolation and intolerance. There was no such insistence a decade ago."
Cohen conveniently forgets that Israeli insistence on Palestinian recognition of Israel as the legitimate homeland of the Jewish people (i.e. the Jewish state), is nothing more than the mirror image of what Israel and seemingly the rest of world as well accepts as the legitimate claim of the Palestinians of their right to Palestine as their national homeland. And everyone, including Cohen, conveniently forgets that to that Chairman Abbas adds that (a) there will be no Jews allowed to live in the new State of Palestine and (b) if international forces are brought in to control any areas within the new state they cannot contain any Jews. And no one finds that objectionable. Cohen never mentions that at all but heaven forbid if we here were to make a similar claim about non-Jews we would be battered from pillar to post in every paper in the world and would provide Roger Cohen with enough fodder for ten more articles in the first week alone.
He concludes with his key line: “So pushing it (i.e. the Jewish state issue) to the front of the agenda is just Netanyahu’s way of putting delaying tactics ahead of strategic thinking once again.” Well, I have certainly pointed out in many of these blogs that our government may, indeed, lack sufficient strategic thinking to move the process forward. But the Prime Minister’s demand is not a delaying tactic but simply recognition of the purpose for which Israel was established and something that is our right to demand if the other side is doing the same.
63 years ago the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel made our position perfectly clear:
"We…hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish State in the Land of Israel, to be known as the State of Israel."
No lack of clarity there but, contrary to the position of today’s Palestinian Arab leadership vis-à-vis their approach to Jews, our founders continued:
"We appeal, in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months, to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the building up of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions."
While one can argue whether we have fully achieved all that this last paragraph intended, there is no effort being made here to make this country Arab-rein. It is the Arab leadership of the future State of Palestine the desires their new country to be Juden-rein. Sad that Roger Cohen does not understand how totally imbalanced his views are when compared to reality. And yet the New York Times continues to give him this platform. It is testimony to the sad state of American journalism when one of the most prestigious news outlets in America gives such a man their imprimatur.
What is Roger Cohen’s Problem?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 63 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. The Arab League on Thursday voted to support the bid of the Palestinian Arab leadership to go to the UN and will support their efforts to gain this recognition. The US has criticized the position of the Arab League on this issue and Canada this week has made it known that they will also vote “no.” Canada is proving a great friend of Israel this year to be sure.
In light of all of this why was I not surprised to see our dependably critical “friendly” columnist Roger Cohen (the New York Times calls him a “globalist” although not sure what that really means) come out with another one of his op-ed pieces roundly critical of Israel while drawing moral equivalency between us and the Palestinians.
He takes as his theme that this has been a “wasted year” when it comes to Middle East peace efforts. Well, it certainly has not been what one would call a productive year. Nevertheless, Roger Cohen, in his inimitable fashion finds a way to selectively report facts so that the country at fault is always Israel.
Early in his piece he makes the following statement:
"As usual, there’s plenty of blame to spread around. Obama had one of his worst moments last September when he brought the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the White House to announce renewed talks, only for them to unravel as Israel refused to extend a moratorium on settlement expansion. Now, when the United States says to the Palestinians — “Trust us, come to the table, we can deliver” — they scoff."
Wow. How convenient. He says nothing about the fact that for a full ten months prior to the September meeting Israel did, in fact, maintain a moratorium on settlement expansion in an effort to bring the Palestinians to the table. But it was not until the last two weeks of that period that they finally said OK, we’ll come to the table, but you have to extend the moratorium. Why? Where were they for 10 months? Probably biding their time figuring Obama would give them yet another gift from his Palestinian Santa Claus gift sack, and he tried. But rightly so, our government said “been there, done that and no reason to do it again.” Does that make us the bad guys? I don’t think so.
He then goes on to say:
"The Israeli insistence on up-front recognition from the Palestinians of Israel as a “Jewish state” is absurd — a powerful indication of growing Israeli insecurities, isolation and intolerance. There was no such insistence a decade ago."
Cohen conveniently forgets that Israeli insistence on Palestinian recognition of Israel as the legitimate homeland of the Jewish people (i.e. the Jewish state), is nothing more than the mirror image of what Israel and seemingly the rest of world as well accepts as the legitimate claim of the Palestinians of their right to Palestine as their national homeland. And everyone, including Cohen, conveniently forgets that to that Chairman Abbas adds that (a) there will be no Jews allowed to live in the new State of Palestine and (b) if international forces are brought in to control any areas within the new state they cannot contain any Jews. And no one finds that objectionable. Cohen never mentions that at all but heaven forbid if we here were to make a similar claim about non-Jews we would be battered from pillar to post in every paper in the world and would provide Roger Cohen with enough fodder for ten more articles in the first week alone.
He concludes with his key line: “So pushing it (i.e. the Jewish state issue) to the front of the agenda is just Netanyahu’s way of putting delaying tactics ahead of strategic thinking once again.” Well, I have certainly pointed out in many of these blogs that our government may, indeed, lack sufficient strategic thinking to move the process forward. But the Prime Minister’s demand is not a delaying tactic but simply recognition of the purpose for which Israel was established and something that is our right to demand if the other side is doing the same.
63 years ago the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel made our position perfectly clear:
"We…hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish State in the Land of Israel, to be known as the State of Israel."
No lack of clarity there but, contrary to the position of today’s Palestinian Arab leadership vis-à-vis their approach to Jews, our founders continued:
"We appeal, in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months, to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the building up of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions."
While one can argue whether we have fully achieved all that this last paragraph intended, there is no effort being made here to make this country Arab-rein. It is the Arab leadership of the future State of Palestine the desires their new country to be Juden-rein. Sad that Roger Cohen does not understand how totally imbalanced his views are when compared to reality. And yet the New York Times continues to give him this platform. It is testimony to the sad state of American journalism when one of the most prestigious news outlets in America gives such a man their imprimatur.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
65 Days to Go
Is Obama the Worst US President for Israel?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 65 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood former US Ambassador to the UN was in Israel this week and sat for an interview with representatives of the Jerusalem Post.
Regarding the UN vote itself he said: “Don’t pay attention to it as the General Assembly has no authority to authorize the creation of states or ratify their admission to the UN, only the Security Council has that right.”
Legally of course he is correct but even though I personally have a lot of respect for Bolton and his straight-shooting style of talk, on this one I agree with the text but not its import. For sure he is correct when he says that the UN General Assembly is not the body authorized by the UN charter to do this kind of thing. But having said that, and as I point out continually in this blog, the run-up to that event in and of itself will be problematic and deleterious for Israel’s image in the world.
Those who will argue in favor of the resolution will hurl all kinds of anti-Israel epithets as they justify the need to vote “yes.” That dialogue will probably be more harmful to Israel in the long run than the vote itself as those remarks will then be quoted out of context whenever someone needs purported validity to make a negative point about the country. It is not difficult to see Israel-bashers worldwide say, “this must be true because the UN ambassador of country X said so in public.” This is why it is so important not to sit idly by and watch this all happen.
As regards US President Obama, Bolton clearly stated “Barack Obama is the most anti-Israel US president in the history of the State of Israel.” As time goes on it is becoming clearer every day that this is the case. The US has a long Christian-based belief that Israel must be recognized as the homeland of the Jewish people in order to make it possible for the Jews of the world to come here and hasten the second coming of Jesus.
Many people believe, for example, that more than the influence of Harry Truman’s former business partner, Eddie Jacobson, it was this belief in the destiny of the Jewish people to be returned to Israel that encouraged former President Truman to immediately recognize the newly created State of Israel even over the advice of his own Department of State. After Truman, every president, some with greater intensity and some with less, supported the strong relationship between the US and Israel and saw that relationship as beneficial to the US’ interests in the region (even more so after 1967). It is only this current president that sees Israel as a problem to be solved rather than a country with which the US shares mutual interests.
Finally Bolton turned to Israel’s most serious existential problem, Iran. He said, “If Israel is not prepared to engage in a military strike at Iran, get ready for a nuclear Iran because the US will not do anything outside the diplomatic sphere.” To which he later added “Once Iran gets nuclear weapons it does not have to use them to have a problematic effect on the region as a whole. Everything you don’t like about Iran gets worse with a nuclear Iran. “
It is, of course, difficult to argue with his logic. We probably had a chance to do damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2008 when they were smaller and less developed. But today, most people admit that we could not cause sufficient damage to warrant the carnage that we would witness here in the aftermath of such an attack.
But the threat remains and possibility of a nuclear Iran unafraid of western interference is not a comforting thought. It was not an encouraging thing to see in this morning’s papers, for example, pictures of the Israeli military along with senior members of the Ministry of Defense earlier this week taking a tour of sites in the Negev desert where they intend to evacuate Israelis in the event of air strikes in the north and center of the country.
So even those who are not Bolton fans, cannot help by give some thought to his statements and the reality of his presentation.
Renowned military leader and philosopher Karl von Clausewitz once said “If the leader is filled with high ambition, and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.” Let’s hope that Israel is blessed with such leaders, but I have my reservations.
Is Obama the Worst US President for Israel?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 65 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood former US Ambassador to the UN was in Israel this week and sat for an interview with representatives of the Jerusalem Post.
Regarding the UN vote itself he said: “Don’t pay attention to it as the General Assembly has no authority to authorize the creation of states or ratify their admission to the UN, only the Security Council has that right.”
Legally of course he is correct but even though I personally have a lot of respect for Bolton and his straight-shooting style of talk, on this one I agree with the text but not its import. For sure he is correct when he says that the UN General Assembly is not the body authorized by the UN charter to do this kind of thing. But having said that, and as I point out continually in this blog, the run-up to that event in and of itself will be problematic and deleterious for Israel’s image in the world.
Those who will argue in favor of the resolution will hurl all kinds of anti-Israel epithets as they justify the need to vote “yes.” That dialogue will probably be more harmful to Israel in the long run than the vote itself as those remarks will then be quoted out of context whenever someone needs purported validity to make a negative point about the country. It is not difficult to see Israel-bashers worldwide say, “this must be true because the UN ambassador of country X said so in public.” This is why it is so important not to sit idly by and watch this all happen.
As regards US President Obama, Bolton clearly stated “Barack Obama is the most anti-Israel US president in the history of the State of Israel.” As time goes on it is becoming clearer every day that this is the case. The US has a long Christian-based belief that Israel must be recognized as the homeland of the Jewish people in order to make it possible for the Jews of the world to come here and hasten the second coming of Jesus.
Many people believe, for example, that more than the influence of Harry Truman’s former business partner, Eddie Jacobson, it was this belief in the destiny of the Jewish people to be returned to Israel that encouraged former President Truman to immediately recognize the newly created State of Israel even over the advice of his own Department of State. After Truman, every president, some with greater intensity and some with less, supported the strong relationship between the US and Israel and saw that relationship as beneficial to the US’ interests in the region (even more so after 1967). It is only this current president that sees Israel as a problem to be solved rather than a country with which the US shares mutual interests.
Finally Bolton turned to Israel’s most serious existential problem, Iran. He said, “If Israel is not prepared to engage in a military strike at Iran, get ready for a nuclear Iran because the US will not do anything outside the diplomatic sphere.” To which he later added “Once Iran gets nuclear weapons it does not have to use them to have a problematic effect on the region as a whole. Everything you don’t like about Iran gets worse with a nuclear Iran. “
It is, of course, difficult to argue with his logic. We probably had a chance to do damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2008 when they were smaller and less developed. But today, most people admit that we could not cause sufficient damage to warrant the carnage that we would witness here in the aftermath of such an attack.
But the threat remains and possibility of a nuclear Iran unafraid of western interference is not a comforting thought. It was not an encouraging thing to see in this morning’s papers, for example, pictures of the Israeli military along with senior members of the Ministry of Defense earlier this week taking a tour of sites in the Negev desert where they intend to evacuate Israelis in the event of air strikes in the north and center of the country.
So even those who are not Bolton fans, cannot help by give some thought to his statements and the reality of his presentation.
Renowned military leader and philosopher Karl von Clausewitz once said “If the leader is filled with high ambition, and if he pursues his aims with audacity and strength of will, he will reach them in spite of all obstacles.” Let’s hope that Israel is blessed with such leaders, but I have my reservations.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
67 Days to Go
Making our Demands Known
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 67 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood there is a lot of diplomatic action going on in order to avert what could be a difficult “day after” situation.
It is becoming more and more evident as the days go on that everyone involved in the process, even the Palestinian Arab leadership, would like to find some way to put something in place that would permit everyone to back off the vote initiative without losing face. Anyone who has spent any time at all in this region knows that, above all, saving face is the most important element of any negotiation.
The demands of the Palestinian Arab leadership remain somewhat unrealistic. They continue to demand that before they will come to the negotiating table Israel must stop building anywhere over the green line including the areas around Jerusalem. This is a particularly unrealistic demand as even their leadership understands that the ring communities around Jerusalem, for example, will remain within Israel under any future peace deal, should it be attainable.
The southern suburb of Gilo is one case in point. Of course building will continue there as even though it is over the green line, the tens of thousands of people who live there within less than a 5-minute drive to the center of Jerusalem will be included in Israel under all circumstances. Other communities are in that category as well.
Having said that there does appear to be some desire on the part of the Palestinians to find a way to come to the table. In recent days the Israeli government has also put some conditions on the table pre-requisite to our returning to negotiations. As of this morning, it now appears that our government is ready to begin negotiations based on the 1967 armistice lines with land swaps if the Quartet (i.e. EU, US, Russian & the UN) is prepared to speak officially about Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people.
My readers will recall that in the past the Palestinian leadership has said that they are prepared to recognize Israel but not to do so as the national homeland of the Jewish people. This, even though the international community and the Israeli government have acceded to the fact that when a Palestinian state is put in place, it will be recognized as the national home of the Palestinian people.
These are important issues which are critical to forward movement and represent verbiage that is used throughout this region. Recognition of Israel as the legitimate national homeland of the Jewish people carries with it the acknowledgement that we have a 3,500 year history in this land, that based on that history we have a legitimate claim to this land as our homeland and that the family of nations recognizes this historical fact. It is because of these reasons that our negotiators have made a point of demanding this language be used in any future negotiation that will lead to the end of the conflict.
I have no way of telling if the Palestinian Arab leadership will accept this or not. But what is equally important is that both our government and the Jewish people worldwide understand and internalize this fact which then enables us to defend our right to be here in the context of human history.
The words of the Declaration of Statehood of Israel in 1948 are clear and still valid:
"(We) hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel to be known as the State of Israel. …Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
All that is desired by those of us living here today is to realize in fact what the declaration stated in principle.
Making our Demands Known
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 67 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood there is a lot of diplomatic action going on in order to avert what could be a difficult “day after” situation.
It is becoming more and more evident as the days go on that everyone involved in the process, even the Palestinian Arab leadership, would like to find some way to put something in place that would permit everyone to back off the vote initiative without losing face. Anyone who has spent any time at all in this region knows that, above all, saving face is the most important element of any negotiation.
The demands of the Palestinian Arab leadership remain somewhat unrealistic. They continue to demand that before they will come to the negotiating table Israel must stop building anywhere over the green line including the areas around Jerusalem. This is a particularly unrealistic demand as even their leadership understands that the ring communities around Jerusalem, for example, will remain within Israel under any future peace deal, should it be attainable.
The southern suburb of Gilo is one case in point. Of course building will continue there as even though it is over the green line, the tens of thousands of people who live there within less than a 5-minute drive to the center of Jerusalem will be included in Israel under all circumstances. Other communities are in that category as well.
Having said that there does appear to be some desire on the part of the Palestinians to find a way to come to the table. In recent days the Israeli government has also put some conditions on the table pre-requisite to our returning to negotiations. As of this morning, it now appears that our government is ready to begin negotiations based on the 1967 armistice lines with land swaps if the Quartet (i.e. EU, US, Russian & the UN) is prepared to speak officially about Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people.
My readers will recall that in the past the Palestinian leadership has said that they are prepared to recognize Israel but not to do so as the national homeland of the Jewish people. This, even though the international community and the Israeli government have acceded to the fact that when a Palestinian state is put in place, it will be recognized as the national home of the Palestinian people.
These are important issues which are critical to forward movement and represent verbiage that is used throughout this region. Recognition of Israel as the legitimate national homeland of the Jewish people carries with it the acknowledgement that we have a 3,500 year history in this land, that based on that history we have a legitimate claim to this land as our homeland and that the family of nations recognizes this historical fact. It is because of these reasons that our negotiators have made a point of demanding this language be used in any future negotiation that will lead to the end of the conflict.
I have no way of telling if the Palestinian Arab leadership will accept this or not. But what is equally important is that both our government and the Jewish people worldwide understand and internalize this fact which then enables us to defend our right to be here in the context of human history.
The words of the Declaration of Statehood of Israel in 1948 are clear and still valid:
"(We) hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel to be known as the State of Israel. …Israel will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."
All that is desired by those of us living here today is to realize in fact what the declaration stated in principle.
Friday, July 8, 2011
70 Days to Go
The Positive Effect of Pressure
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 70 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. This week we have seen the benefit of pressure when it is exerted in the right direction. Some examples follow.
• A rare visit from Prime Minister Netanyahu to Romania elicited a promise from the government there to oppose any unilateral vote for Palestinian statehood at the upcoming meeting of the UN General Assembly. (He did not fare quite as well in neighboring Bulgaria, but we are speaking here about successes.)
• After a great deal of international pressure the Netherlands this week also made known that they would vote against. This is a good indication of the weakening support of moderate European countries for the resolution, something that has surprised the Palestinian leadership.
• The sea flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza has all but disintegrated. Greece, under pressure from Israel, did not permit the boats docked there to leave and even arrested the captain of the US vessel when he tried to leave port after being warned not to do so.
• The alternate air flotilla which was schedule to deliver hundreds of Palestinian supporters to Ben Gurion Airport here beginning last night has also fizzled significantly. It seems that Israeli security authorities released a list to airlines flying to Israel of approximately 350 pro-Palestinian activists who they suspected would be travelling here for protest purposes. Many of those airlines, realizing that the people they were transporting would not be allowed into the country and would need to be returned to their countries of origin at the airlines` expense refused to let many of those people board. In Paris, for example, at DeGaulle Airport, 50 activists approached the Lufthansa terminal and were denied boarding. Similar events took place across Europe.
Clearly, as I have been saying for some weeks, pressure works and keeping quiet achieves nothing. As such, it is now more important than ever that as many people as possible write to the United Nations delegates stationed in New York. The message needs to be that we, private citizens of the world who care about the future of Israel, urge them not to vote for unilateral approval of a Palestinian state should this come to the floor of the UN in September.
We are doing this because we believe that the only path to peace in this region is negotiation between the parties involved and not through unilateral steps taken at the world body or anywhere else for that matter. The delegates need to know that there are thousands of people out there who care, who are concerned, and who want them to vote NO!
Towards that end, once again I am attaching the full list of UN delegates in New York, along with their addresses and, where we were able to find them, fax numbers and e mail addresses as well. The time to act is now. I am convinced that if each mission to the UN is flooded with this type of mail over the next 9 weeks, it will make many of them think again about their decision (should it be in favor of the motion) and probably make a good news story as well, which will help us.
British philosopher John Stuart Mill who died in 1873 is credited with the following insightful statement about inaction: “A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions, but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” Words to the wise to be sure. Please write!
The Positive Effect of Pressure
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 70 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. This week we have seen the benefit of pressure when it is exerted in the right direction. Some examples follow.
• A rare visit from Prime Minister Netanyahu to Romania elicited a promise from the government there to oppose any unilateral vote for Palestinian statehood at the upcoming meeting of the UN General Assembly. (He did not fare quite as well in neighboring Bulgaria, but we are speaking here about successes.)
• After a great deal of international pressure the Netherlands this week also made known that they would vote against. This is a good indication of the weakening support of moderate European countries for the resolution, something that has surprised the Palestinian leadership.
• The sea flotilla to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza has all but disintegrated. Greece, under pressure from Israel, did not permit the boats docked there to leave and even arrested the captain of the US vessel when he tried to leave port after being warned not to do so.
• The alternate air flotilla which was schedule to deliver hundreds of Palestinian supporters to Ben Gurion Airport here beginning last night has also fizzled significantly. It seems that Israeli security authorities released a list to airlines flying to Israel of approximately 350 pro-Palestinian activists who they suspected would be travelling here for protest purposes. Many of those airlines, realizing that the people they were transporting would not be allowed into the country and would need to be returned to their countries of origin at the airlines` expense refused to let many of those people board. In Paris, for example, at DeGaulle Airport, 50 activists approached the Lufthansa terminal and were denied boarding. Similar events took place across Europe.
Clearly, as I have been saying for some weeks, pressure works and keeping quiet achieves nothing. As such, it is now more important than ever that as many people as possible write to the United Nations delegates stationed in New York. The message needs to be that we, private citizens of the world who care about the future of Israel, urge them not to vote for unilateral approval of a Palestinian state should this come to the floor of the UN in September.
We are doing this because we believe that the only path to peace in this region is negotiation between the parties involved and not through unilateral steps taken at the world body or anywhere else for that matter. The delegates need to know that there are thousands of people out there who care, who are concerned, and who want them to vote NO!
Towards that end, once again I am attaching the full list of UN delegates in New York, along with their addresses and, where we were able to find them, fax numbers and e mail addresses as well. The time to act is now. I am convinced that if each mission to the UN is flooded with this type of mail over the next 9 weeks, it will make many of them think again about their decision (should it be in favor of the motion) and probably make a good news story as well, which will help us.
British philosopher John Stuart Mill who died in 1873 is credited with the following insightful statement about inaction: “A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions, but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” Words to the wise to be sure. Please write!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
71 Days to Go
The Slippery Slope to a Big Brother Country
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 71 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood Israel continues to make public relations blunders giving our enemies plenty of fodder on which to feed.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote how I thought Israel was making a potentially incredibly huge blunder by opposing the flotilla to Gaza. At the time I suggested boarding the ships, checking their cargo and, if it was full of humanitarian aid as the organizers claimed, that we then escort the ships into the harbor in Gaza, with our flags flying proudly. After all, if the ships were carrying such cargo we really don’t have any objection to it getting into Gaza so why not ensure its arrival?
Well, the naval flotilla has all but disintegrated for the moment, thanks to some Mediterranean area friends. Interestingly enough, a UN report due to be issued today on the May 2010 debacle actually faults Turkey for their role in supporting last year’s flotilla as well as Israel for using excessive force. As a matter of fact the report supports Israel’s right to blockade Gaza. Will wonders ever cease?
Nevertheless, over the next 24 hours we are about to cause yet another international flap. According to press reports approximately 500 (or more) peace activists from around the world, holding valid travel documents permitting their entry into Israel (i.e. either a visa or a passport from a country where a prior-issued entry visa to Israel is not required such as the U.S.) are due to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Their purpose in coming here will be to demonstrate in support of the Palestinian cause and the end of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Seems like the kind of thing that any country claiming to be the only democracy in the region would certainly permit, although not necessarily encourage.
But this is Israel 2011, a country whose democratic base is being questioned at every turn. So our government has decided that these activities should not be permitted to enter the country and as a result has taken the following actions:
• Requested airlines coming to Israel to forward their passenger manifests to Israel 48 hours before arrival so that the authorities here can scan the lists for activists.
• Those people so identified will be questioned when they arrive at the airport and, according to the papers here, will not be permitted to enter Israel and then placed on the next plane back to their point of origin.
• If the authorities here find that there is a plane with an inordinate number of such people on board, that plane will not be allowed to taxi to the terminal but will land on a distant runway and be boarded by security personnel who will then decide who stays and who is turned back. Those permitted to stay will then be bused to the terminal for processing while the others will be summarily deported.
• There will be representatives of the High Court of Justice at the airport to handle any cases where people demand to invoke the processes of the judicial system.
• Between 600-1000 extra security personal have been dispatched to the airport to assist the regular staff there to handle this operation turning the terminal into an armed fortress.
• Additional security staff will be stationed outside the terminal building itself so that if those who do get through the screen then choose to demonstrate, self-immolate or whatever, there will be staff in place to handle that.
In case any of my readers are unaware of the laws of entry into foreign countries, all countries, including the U.S., have a two tier entry system in place. Granting someone a visa to travel simply permits the person to board the plane and travel to the destination country. In the U.S., for example, the visa is issued by the Department of State. Once at passport control at the port of entry the visitor can be denied entry for any number of reasons and, in the U.S. once again, that is the purview of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Similar procedures are in place here as well.
I have no doubt that many of the arrivals here over the next few days will be turned back and I also have no doubt that the foreign press will be present at the airport in significant numbers to interview, film and distribute the footage to their respective news agencies. And then the fun will begin….wait until you see Sunday and Monday’s headlines worldwide!
And what should we have done instead? Simply apply the standard procedures this country always does with people entering the country. For sure we have security processes in place and if there are known terrorists, people who have been previously deported for illegal activity or security threats we send the people back. And those actions, similar to what most democratic countries do around the world, generally do not make headlines. But to give our enemies a public relations field day is, in my opinion, simply bad management on the part of our government. Not the first time to be sure, and, sadly, not the last either.
Martin Luther King Jr is reported to have said “Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives.” The people who are travelling here this week seem to be able to do that much better than those who make decisions for us here. How I wish that were not the case.
The Slippery Slope to a Big Brother Country
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 71 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood Israel continues to make public relations blunders giving our enemies plenty of fodder on which to feed.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote how I thought Israel was making a potentially incredibly huge blunder by opposing the flotilla to Gaza. At the time I suggested boarding the ships, checking their cargo and, if it was full of humanitarian aid as the organizers claimed, that we then escort the ships into the harbor in Gaza, with our flags flying proudly. After all, if the ships were carrying such cargo we really don’t have any objection to it getting into Gaza so why not ensure its arrival?
Well, the naval flotilla has all but disintegrated for the moment, thanks to some Mediterranean area friends. Interestingly enough, a UN report due to be issued today on the May 2010 debacle actually faults Turkey for their role in supporting last year’s flotilla as well as Israel for using excessive force. As a matter of fact the report supports Israel’s right to blockade Gaza. Will wonders ever cease?
Nevertheless, over the next 24 hours we are about to cause yet another international flap. According to press reports approximately 500 (or more) peace activists from around the world, holding valid travel documents permitting their entry into Israel (i.e. either a visa or a passport from a country where a prior-issued entry visa to Israel is not required such as the U.S.) are due to arrive at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. Their purpose in coming here will be to demonstrate in support of the Palestinian cause and the end of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. Seems like the kind of thing that any country claiming to be the only democracy in the region would certainly permit, although not necessarily encourage.
But this is Israel 2011, a country whose democratic base is being questioned at every turn. So our government has decided that these activities should not be permitted to enter the country and as a result has taken the following actions:
• Requested airlines coming to Israel to forward their passenger manifests to Israel 48 hours before arrival so that the authorities here can scan the lists for activists.
• Those people so identified will be questioned when they arrive at the airport and, according to the papers here, will not be permitted to enter Israel and then placed on the next plane back to their point of origin.
• If the authorities here find that there is a plane with an inordinate number of such people on board, that plane will not be allowed to taxi to the terminal but will land on a distant runway and be boarded by security personnel who will then decide who stays and who is turned back. Those permitted to stay will then be bused to the terminal for processing while the others will be summarily deported.
• There will be representatives of the High Court of Justice at the airport to handle any cases where people demand to invoke the processes of the judicial system.
• Between 600-1000 extra security personal have been dispatched to the airport to assist the regular staff there to handle this operation turning the terminal into an armed fortress.
• Additional security staff will be stationed outside the terminal building itself so that if those who do get through the screen then choose to demonstrate, self-immolate or whatever, there will be staff in place to handle that.
In case any of my readers are unaware of the laws of entry into foreign countries, all countries, including the U.S., have a two tier entry system in place. Granting someone a visa to travel simply permits the person to board the plane and travel to the destination country. In the U.S., for example, the visa is issued by the Department of State. Once at passport control at the port of entry the visitor can be denied entry for any number of reasons and, in the U.S. once again, that is the purview of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Similar procedures are in place here as well.
I have no doubt that many of the arrivals here over the next few days will be turned back and I also have no doubt that the foreign press will be present at the airport in significant numbers to interview, film and distribute the footage to their respective news agencies. And then the fun will begin….wait until you see Sunday and Monday’s headlines worldwide!
And what should we have done instead? Simply apply the standard procedures this country always does with people entering the country. For sure we have security processes in place and if there are known terrorists, people who have been previously deported for illegal activity or security threats we send the people back. And those actions, similar to what most democratic countries do around the world, generally do not make headlines. But to give our enemies a public relations field day is, in my opinion, simply bad management on the part of our government. Not the first time to be sure, and, sadly, not the last either.
Martin Luther King Jr is reported to have said “Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives.” The people who are travelling here this week seem to be able to do that much better than those who make decisions for us here. How I wish that were not the case.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
73 Days to Go
Israel’s Challenge: Qualified Leadership
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 73 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. The Palestinian Arab leadership has another week to decide whether to file the application or not and there are indications now that the leadership is wavering vis-à-vis its decision to proceed or abandon the effort.
Yesterday the Dutch leadership made it known that they are not prepared to support such a unilateral move on the part of the Palestinian Arabs and it would appear that the much sought after European support for the initiative is anything but assured. So time will tell how serious September 14th really is right now.
But while the government’s attention here has been turned almost exclusively to the potential events in September and the current activity to prevent a new flotilla to break the blockade of Gaza, the other problems in the region remain in place. For example the future political leadership of Egypt and how it will view its relationship with Israel remains an unknown. We know that there are voices within the country actively pushing for a diminution of that relationship and overnight there was yet a third sabotaging of the Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai which supplies natural gas to both Israel and Jordan. So the signs are worrisome.
In addition, Syria remains in the throes of civil unrest with hundreds of deaths already reported and no end to the chaos in sight. It is almost impossible to predict what will happen there and, regardless of the outcome, its ultimate effect on Israel.
Finally, the Iranian nuclear issue which our current Prime Minister has said time and time again is the most serious problem we as a country face, seems to be no closer to positive resolution today that it was when he was elected two years ago. The Iranians continue to move forward with the nuclear weapons initiative, despite their remonstrations to the contrary, and their continued bashing of everything American and Israeli.
While the government here seems to be handling the diplomatic aspects of scuttling the flotilla quite well and has made some inroads on the Palestinian statehood issue as well, people here still have the feeling that we simply don’t have the best people in place heading various ministries of the government. Because of coalition politics individuals end up in jobs for which they are neither properly prepared nor intellectually competent to handle. Our ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Industry, Trade & Labor are three that stand out. The first has become persona-non-grata in most world capitols, the second was pushed into the position with no prior experience in economics and the third spent all of his professional life in the agricultural sphere far away from dealing with the issues of economic development attendant to his new position. Couldn’t we have done better?
We are fortunate in this country to have some of the brightest people heading up significant commercial enterprises, universities and think tanks, whose expertise is acknowledged in world forums. Yet these people seemingly are rarely if ever tapped for government service or, in some cases, when asked, are not prepared to expose themselves to the vagaries of a government run under the challenges of coalition politics. After all, wouldn’t the CEO of the largest manufacturer in the world of generic pharmaceuticals be a good Minister of Industry, Trade & Labor? Wouldn’t a former Ambassador to the US who also did a productive stint as the president of one of the country’s largest universities make a good candidate for Minister of Foreign Affairs? And don’t you think the head of one of Israel’s major investment houses who has years of financial management experience, degrees from the world’s best universities and a track record of financial success would make a good prospect for Minister of Finance?
Well, if this country is going to get past middle age successfully, at some point the Prime Minister and his top advisors will have to look beyond the governing coalition to the people here who really know how to manage and have the professional experience to qualify them for their positions, regardless of their politics. Until that happens we will continue to muddle along, selecting our ministers on the basis of their political strength rather than their professional capabilities.
Former US President Theodore Roosevelt once said “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them when they do it.” Now there’s a lesson our leadership needs to internalize!
Israel’s Challenge: Qualified Leadership
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 73 days to go before the scheduled opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the possible vote on Palestinian statehood. The Palestinian Arab leadership has another week to decide whether to file the application or not and there are indications now that the leadership is wavering vis-à-vis its decision to proceed or abandon the effort.
Yesterday the Dutch leadership made it known that they are not prepared to support such a unilateral move on the part of the Palestinian Arabs and it would appear that the much sought after European support for the initiative is anything but assured. So time will tell how serious September 14th really is right now.
But while the government’s attention here has been turned almost exclusively to the potential events in September and the current activity to prevent a new flotilla to break the blockade of Gaza, the other problems in the region remain in place. For example the future political leadership of Egypt and how it will view its relationship with Israel remains an unknown. We know that there are voices within the country actively pushing for a diminution of that relationship and overnight there was yet a third sabotaging of the Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai which supplies natural gas to both Israel and Jordan. So the signs are worrisome.
In addition, Syria remains in the throes of civil unrest with hundreds of deaths already reported and no end to the chaos in sight. It is almost impossible to predict what will happen there and, regardless of the outcome, its ultimate effect on Israel.
Finally, the Iranian nuclear issue which our current Prime Minister has said time and time again is the most serious problem we as a country face, seems to be no closer to positive resolution today that it was when he was elected two years ago. The Iranians continue to move forward with the nuclear weapons initiative, despite their remonstrations to the contrary, and their continued bashing of everything American and Israeli.
While the government here seems to be handling the diplomatic aspects of scuttling the flotilla quite well and has made some inroads on the Palestinian statehood issue as well, people here still have the feeling that we simply don’t have the best people in place heading various ministries of the government. Because of coalition politics individuals end up in jobs for which they are neither properly prepared nor intellectually competent to handle. Our ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Industry, Trade & Labor are three that stand out. The first has become persona-non-grata in most world capitols, the second was pushed into the position with no prior experience in economics and the third spent all of his professional life in the agricultural sphere far away from dealing with the issues of economic development attendant to his new position. Couldn’t we have done better?
We are fortunate in this country to have some of the brightest people heading up significant commercial enterprises, universities and think tanks, whose expertise is acknowledged in world forums. Yet these people seemingly are rarely if ever tapped for government service or, in some cases, when asked, are not prepared to expose themselves to the vagaries of a government run under the challenges of coalition politics. After all, wouldn’t the CEO of the largest manufacturer in the world of generic pharmaceuticals be a good Minister of Industry, Trade & Labor? Wouldn’t a former Ambassador to the US who also did a productive stint as the president of one of the country’s largest universities make a good candidate for Minister of Foreign Affairs? And don’t you think the head of one of Israel’s major investment houses who has years of financial management experience, degrees from the world’s best universities and a track record of financial success would make a good prospect for Minister of Finance?
Well, if this country is going to get past middle age successfully, at some point the Prime Minister and his top advisors will have to look beyond the governing coalition to the people here who really know how to manage and have the professional experience to qualify them for their positions, regardless of their politics. Until that happens we will continue to muddle along, selecting our ministers on the basis of their political strength rather than their professional capabilities.
Former US President Theodore Roosevelt once said “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them when they do it.” Now there’s a lesson our leadership needs to internalize!
Monday, July 4, 2011
74 Days to Go
Uncharacteristically Passive Israelis
By Sherwin Pomerantz
While there seems to be some wavering on the part of the Palestinian Arab leadership vis-à-vis the UN vote on statehood for Palestine, the countdown continues. It would seem that both the fact that the flotilla effort this year has imploded with the help of some of our friends and the seeming “drying up of” support payments from the Arab world to the Palestinian Authority have had a depressing effect on the movement for statehood. Nevertheless, efforts to derail the initiative remain in place so we continue to be watchful of events in the region.
What is surprising, however, is the passivity of the Israeli public on issues relating to the international challenges that face us over the next months as we approach September and, what is sometimes scarier, what happens “the day after.” I’ll leave that part of the subject to another blog but today, let’s take a look at the passivity issue.
One could easily list a dozen or more items about which the Israeli public should be rightfully agitated and upset. From this writer’s perspective they include, but are not limited to, (a) the lack of a coherent and realistic statement by our government on what our vision is for the future, (b) the lack of action regarding the embarrassment who serves as our Minister of Foreign Affairs, (c) the absence of backup systems when critical aspects of national survival fail us [e.g. May’s contamination of our jet fuel supplies…the reason not yet determined], (d) the failure of Jerusalem’s light rail line to be operational after eight years of construction [Dubai built theirs in 18 months, and it was mostly elevated to boot], (e) the unwillingness of our government to do what needs to be done to bring Gilad Schalit home and (f) the continued introduction and eventual passage of clearly racist laws by our Knesset.
Here in one of the most vocal, most demonstrative societies in the world there are almost no mass demonstrations on any of these issues. Yes, there are occasional protests on the issue of Gilad Schalit but, even those, are not the kinds of things we used to see here in the past. Even the recent demonstrations mounted against the arrest of some rabbis who refused a police order to appear and were subsequently arrested, did not bring out the numbers we used to see in the past.
Sadly, and maybe this tells us something, the only problem that energized our populace sufficiently to actually demonstrate and make something happen was the run-up in prices of cottage cheese. Via a massive Facebook campaign the buying public was actually successful in getting the producers and retailers of cottage cheese to roll back their mercenary price increases of the last year. But in no other sphere have we seen anything like the hundreds of thousands who demonstrated in Tel Aviv in 1982 after the Sabra & Shatilla massacres, or even the anti-Oslo demonstrations of the early 90s.
Have we gone soft? Has Israeli society become so inured to the futility of raising its voice that it has gone completely silent? I don’t think so. Rather I think what has happened is that the Prime Minister, whose seemingly only objective is to keep himself in power and his coalition in place (even though I am sure he tells himself that he is doing the best job possible for the country), has cobbled together a coalition of interests each of which is getting their needs met. Given that, why should they encourage any demonstrations that might upset that apple cart and potentially destroy the coalition? So on the one hand you have a population that, in spite of what is going on all around us is generally living a good life with a healthy economy, the lowest unemployment in many years and general quiet on the security front with a coalition that clearly does not want to rock the boat. And we wonder why there are no demonstrations? It’s obvious.
George Washington once said “The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women suffer to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.” Those words, uttered over 200 years ago ring true yet today. We owe it to ourselves to protest such burdens before they work to unravel what has been successfully built here in the last 63 years.
Uncharacteristically Passive Israelis
By Sherwin Pomerantz
While there seems to be some wavering on the part of the Palestinian Arab leadership vis-à-vis the UN vote on statehood for Palestine, the countdown continues. It would seem that both the fact that the flotilla effort this year has imploded with the help of some of our friends and the seeming “drying up of” support payments from the Arab world to the Palestinian Authority have had a depressing effect on the movement for statehood. Nevertheless, efforts to derail the initiative remain in place so we continue to be watchful of events in the region.
What is surprising, however, is the passivity of the Israeli public on issues relating to the international challenges that face us over the next months as we approach September and, what is sometimes scarier, what happens “the day after.” I’ll leave that part of the subject to another blog but today, let’s take a look at the passivity issue.
One could easily list a dozen or more items about which the Israeli public should be rightfully agitated and upset. From this writer’s perspective they include, but are not limited to, (a) the lack of a coherent and realistic statement by our government on what our vision is for the future, (b) the lack of action regarding the embarrassment who serves as our Minister of Foreign Affairs, (c) the absence of backup systems when critical aspects of national survival fail us [e.g. May’s contamination of our jet fuel supplies…the reason not yet determined], (d) the failure of Jerusalem’s light rail line to be operational after eight years of construction [Dubai built theirs in 18 months, and it was mostly elevated to boot], (e) the unwillingness of our government to do what needs to be done to bring Gilad Schalit home and (f) the continued introduction and eventual passage of clearly racist laws by our Knesset.
Here in one of the most vocal, most demonstrative societies in the world there are almost no mass demonstrations on any of these issues. Yes, there are occasional protests on the issue of Gilad Schalit but, even those, are not the kinds of things we used to see here in the past. Even the recent demonstrations mounted against the arrest of some rabbis who refused a police order to appear and were subsequently arrested, did not bring out the numbers we used to see in the past.
Sadly, and maybe this tells us something, the only problem that energized our populace sufficiently to actually demonstrate and make something happen was the run-up in prices of cottage cheese. Via a massive Facebook campaign the buying public was actually successful in getting the producers and retailers of cottage cheese to roll back their mercenary price increases of the last year. But in no other sphere have we seen anything like the hundreds of thousands who demonstrated in Tel Aviv in 1982 after the Sabra & Shatilla massacres, or even the anti-Oslo demonstrations of the early 90s.
Have we gone soft? Has Israeli society become so inured to the futility of raising its voice that it has gone completely silent? I don’t think so. Rather I think what has happened is that the Prime Minister, whose seemingly only objective is to keep himself in power and his coalition in place (even though I am sure he tells himself that he is doing the best job possible for the country), has cobbled together a coalition of interests each of which is getting their needs met. Given that, why should they encourage any demonstrations that might upset that apple cart and potentially destroy the coalition? So on the one hand you have a population that, in spite of what is going on all around us is generally living a good life with a healthy economy, the lowest unemployment in many years and general quiet on the security front with a coalition that clearly does not want to rock the boat. And we wonder why there are no demonstrations? It’s obvious.
George Washington once said “The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women suffer to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.” Those words, uttered over 200 years ago ring true yet today. We owe it to ourselves to protest such burdens before they work to unravel what has been successfully built here in the last 63 years.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
75 Days to Go
Let’s Hear It for Greece!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With just 75 days to go before the opening of the UN General Assembly and the still possible vote to grant statehood to the Palestinian Arabs, many other side events are in the works as well.
The most current one is the attempt by people from around the world to mount a new flotilla to Gaza with the intent of breaking Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory. Ostensibly the reason given by those participating is that this is a humanitarian mission designed to bring much needed supplies to the deprived Gazans.
Well, the whole world knows and honest people will admit that Israel now permits hundreds of trucks a day to enter Gaza with all kinds of supplies that the border with Egypt is now open and receptive to shipments of materiel as needed and that, for all practical purposes, there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza at all. There is, of course, wide spread unemployment and some serious economic issues to be dealt with. But many of those could be intelligently addressed if the Hamas leadership would accept the demands of the world to recognize Israel, give Gilad Shalit back to his waiting parents, and abandon its extremist positions which have only worked to the long term detriment of the people living there.
No, the real purpose of the flotilla which has yet to float is to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza which is designed solely to prevent the arrival of weapons caches to the territory whose leadership is committed to Israel’s destruction. Such a blockade is entirely legal according to international law. Further, Israel’s willingness to off load the flotilla’s humanitarian cargo in Ashdod for transfer to Gaza (and Egypt’s approval to do the same) is proof that the only impetus for the blockade on Israel’s part is to control the entry of weapons into the territory.
Typical of the kinds of people who are populating these ships is Pulitzer-prize winning author Alice Walker. In an interview by Robert Zeliger published in Foreign Policy magazine on June 23rd, she says:
"I think Israel is the greatest terrorist in that part of the world. And I think in general, the United States and Israel are great terrorist organizations themselves. If you go to Gaza and see some of the bombs – what’s left of the bombs that were dropped – and the general destruction, you would have to say, yeah, its terrorism. When you terrorize people, when you make them so afraid of you that they are just mentally and psychologically wounded for life – that’s terrorism. So these countries (i.e. the US and Israel) are terrorist countries."
Given all of this it is entirely logical that a country friendly to Israel would cooperate with Israel and prevent the flotilla’s ships from leaving its ports. Greece, whose relations with Israel have improved dramatically as a result of Israel’s worsening relations with Turkey after the last flotilla in May 2010, did what any responsible member of the family of nations would do and prohibited the flotilla from setting sail from its ports. I say thank you Greece! For once our diplomatic efforts seemed to have been well directed and successful.
There are still some ships that have the hope of sailing here and I retain the belief that our government will act differently from the way they did in May 2010 if these ships do approach the Israeli coast. I don’t believe that Israel will do what I suggested in an earlier blog, that is to board the ships, inspect the cargo and if it is, indeed, all humanitarian in nature, escort the ships into Gaza harbor with Israeli flags flying. It would, indeed, be a great public relations coup to do that, at least in my opinion. But if some ships do sail, and if they do approach the Israeli costs, perhaps we can do what blogger Roi Ben-Yehuda suggested and that is to have some conflict resolution professionals board those ships rather than representatives of our own military. These “soldiers of peace” would be one of the new tools designed to maximize the possibility of a non-destructive outcome. Now wouldn‘t that be a kick?
Let’s Hear It for Greece!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With just 75 days to go before the opening of the UN General Assembly and the still possible vote to grant statehood to the Palestinian Arabs, many other side events are in the works as well.
The most current one is the attempt by people from around the world to mount a new flotilla to Gaza with the intent of breaking Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory. Ostensibly the reason given by those participating is that this is a humanitarian mission designed to bring much needed supplies to the deprived Gazans.
Well, the whole world knows and honest people will admit that Israel now permits hundreds of trucks a day to enter Gaza with all kinds of supplies that the border with Egypt is now open and receptive to shipments of materiel as needed and that, for all practical purposes, there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza at all. There is, of course, wide spread unemployment and some serious economic issues to be dealt with. But many of those could be intelligently addressed if the Hamas leadership would accept the demands of the world to recognize Israel, give Gilad Shalit back to his waiting parents, and abandon its extremist positions which have only worked to the long term detriment of the people living there.
No, the real purpose of the flotilla which has yet to float is to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza which is designed solely to prevent the arrival of weapons caches to the territory whose leadership is committed to Israel’s destruction. Such a blockade is entirely legal according to international law. Further, Israel’s willingness to off load the flotilla’s humanitarian cargo in Ashdod for transfer to Gaza (and Egypt’s approval to do the same) is proof that the only impetus for the blockade on Israel’s part is to control the entry of weapons into the territory.
Typical of the kinds of people who are populating these ships is Pulitzer-prize winning author Alice Walker. In an interview by Robert Zeliger published in Foreign Policy magazine on June 23rd, she says:
"I think Israel is the greatest terrorist in that part of the world. And I think in general, the United States and Israel are great terrorist organizations themselves. If you go to Gaza and see some of the bombs – what’s left of the bombs that were dropped – and the general destruction, you would have to say, yeah, its terrorism. When you terrorize people, when you make them so afraid of you that they are just mentally and psychologically wounded for life – that’s terrorism. So these countries (i.e. the US and Israel) are terrorist countries."
Given all of this it is entirely logical that a country friendly to Israel would cooperate with Israel and prevent the flotilla’s ships from leaving its ports. Greece, whose relations with Israel have improved dramatically as a result of Israel’s worsening relations with Turkey after the last flotilla in May 2010, did what any responsible member of the family of nations would do and prohibited the flotilla from setting sail from its ports. I say thank you Greece! For once our diplomatic efforts seemed to have been well directed and successful.
There are still some ships that have the hope of sailing here and I retain the belief that our government will act differently from the way they did in May 2010 if these ships do approach the Israeli coast. I don’t believe that Israel will do what I suggested in an earlier blog, that is to board the ships, inspect the cargo and if it is, indeed, all humanitarian in nature, escort the ships into Gaza harbor with Israeli flags flying. It would, indeed, be a great public relations coup to do that, at least in my opinion. But if some ships do sail, and if they do approach the Israeli costs, perhaps we can do what blogger Roi Ben-Yehuda suggested and that is to have some conflict resolution professionals board those ships rather than representatives of our own military. These “soldiers of peace” would be one of the new tools designed to maximize the possibility of a non-destructive outcome. Now wouldn‘t that be a kick?
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