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.