14 Days to Go – Do the Palestinians Want Two States?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Two weeks to go to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly on September 13th and the vote to grant the Palestinians statehood. The real question of course is do the Palestinian Arab leaders really want a state of their own side by side with Israel or, at the end of the day do they see this as simply the next step to eliminating Israel altogether?
While no one can say for sure, although plenty of people here think that they know the answers, let’s take a look at some things that we do know.
Chairman Abbas continues to refuse to recognize Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people and says that he will only recognize Israel as the country of Israelis just as Palestine is the country of the Palestinians. The problem with this formulation is that then Abbas goes on to say that the future state of Palestine will not have any Jews living in it. Why? Because it is the national homeland of the Palestinian people, and, as such should not have any Jews living in it. Abbas clearly figures that if he recognizes Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish people Israel might very well say, similarly to what he says about Palestine, that the country can only have Jews living in it (even though everyone knows that would not be the position of the government here).
What does that have to say about the Palestinian Arab leadership’s view of a two state solution? Does it support the concept or detract from it? By the way, Abbas then goes on to say that if there are multinational forces stationed in Palestine to keep the peace they cannot contain any Israelis even they are citizens of other countries whose troops are part of the peace keeping contingent. That’s less bothersome than his original formulation a few weeks ago when he said those forces could not contain Jews.
Yesterday Abbas came out with another clarification. As some are now saying that if the UN votes in favor of a Palestinian state, this might abrogate the right of “refugees” to return to their homes in Israel, Abbas now says “Absolutely not.” His position is that even if the state of Palestine is created side by side with Israel, the refugees will still have a right to return to their former homes in Israel and this will be part of further negotiations. Remember that as of the end of 2010 there were 5 million refugees according to UNRWA (who counts as refugees all of the descendants of those who left Israel 63 years ago) of whom 1.5 million were still living in refugee camps. Does this support the concept of two states living side by side in peace and security or detract from it?
Earlier this week Palestinian Authority Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Qaraqi’ was quoted as saying Israel is the “major harvesting and trading center” of body organs in the world. Claiming that Israel was “holding the remains of 338 Arab and Palestinian fighters” in secret cemeteries, he said the “holding of the martyrs’ remains for many years casts doubts and accusations that Israel assassinated them after detention, or harvested their organs.” Does such language contribute to the development of two states living side by side n peace and security or detract from it?
And finally, recently senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar speaking to Al Jazeera, said that Palestinians will not give up their right to Palestine, and will not recognize the rule of Poles and Ethiopians in their land. He clarified by saying “Talks are a means, but recognition is a matter of principle. Palestine is hallowed ground and Hamas will never recognize Israel.” What do you think? Does such language contribute to the development of two states living side by side in peace and security or detract from it?
It would certainly seem that given the fact that the Palestinian Arab leadership had numerous opportunities to gain statehood side by side with Israel in the past and rejected it, the current language certainly does not augur well for progress towards a balanced two state solution. Rather it gives credence to those who take the position that the ultimate goal is to expunge Israel from the region.
So it would seem that the task before Israel’s diplomats is to continue to do all in their power to influence the “important” countries of the world to either vote against the UN resolution for statehood or, if they are not of a mind to do so, at least to work on moderating the language of the resolution so that it becomes less of a dramatic step. Meanwhile, the rest of us need to keep up the pressure with letters, demonstrations and a lot of noise objecting to this march by the Palestinian Arab leadership to what could end up to be theirs and our undoing.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
15 Days to Go – Abbas Still Up a Tree
By Sherwin Pomerantz
1 day and two weeks to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly on September 13th and the vote to grant the Palestinians statehood. The Palestinian Arab leadership remains up the tree that they have climbed with no indication that they are even close to finding the ladder.
Let me share with you some telling events over the past day or so.
Larry Derfner, the Jerusalem Post op-ed writer (who was once a nice Jewish kid from Los Angeles) after penning that despicable piece on his website justifying killing of Israelis by Palestinians when they see no other alternative protest available to them has now posted an apology (see http://israelleft.com/2011/08/26/apology/). In his apology he says:
"I didn’t mean to say anything “good” about Palestinian terror against Israelis – I see nothing good in it whatsoever, and I thought I made that clear, but I see now that I didn’t. I wrote that because of the occupation, Palestinians are “justified” in attacking, even killing Israelis, that they have the “right” to do so. Later on I stressed that I didn’t want them to kill my countrymen, and that I would do anything necessary to stop it. "
"What I mean is this: The occupation does not justify Palestinian terror. It does, however, provoke it. Palestinians do not have the right to attack or kill Israelis. They, do, however, have the incentive to, and part, though not all, of that incentive is provided them by the occupation. I believe that if Israel gives the Palestinians their independence, we have enough military power to neutralize whatever leftover incentive they would have to attack us. So my purpose with regard to Palestinian terror against Israelis is not to legitimize it, God forbid, but to end it."
The original post is no longer on his blog but not sure that the apology is complete given the second paragraph, but you can judge for yourselves,
Early this morning Israel once again saw the ugly face of terror as a 20-year old Palestinian Arab from Nablus/Shechem hijacked a taxi in Tel Aviv and tried to ram it into a nightclub full of teenagers having an end of summer bash. Fortunately, this time, no one was killed as the police were alerted and blocked the entrance to the club, although eight people were injured (one seriously), all of whom were security personnel. Of course, as in the terror attack on the Egyptian border last week, no condemnation of the event from the Palestinian Arab leadership was forthcoming
In this morning’s papers PA Chairman Abbas is quoted as saying that he is prepared to withdraw the application to UN for Palestinian statehood if Israel is prepared to come to the negotiating table as long as two conditions are met. First, that we agree to the 1967 borders as the basis for an eventual peace agreement (no mention being made of land swaps of course) and second, that Israel ceases all construction in Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. The building issue, you will recall, was a gift presented to Abbas by President Obama as previously negotiations were always possible even though building was going on in the settlements. But when President Obama made the cessation of building a condition, Abbas, of course, could demand no less and he has remained with that demand.
Yet the ladder that he is seeking to climb down from the precarious perch in which he has placed himself now seems to have just two rungs, neither of which Israel is likely to reinforce. Nevertheless, perhaps Abbas himself realizes that at the end of the day, both Israel and the Palestinians need the support of the US as we both move forward, while forcing the hand of the US to veto a Palestinian state in the Security Council will not inure to the long term benefit of the Palestinian Arab population. Concurrently, Israel is restraining itself in the response to the increasing terrorism and rocket attacks in a parallel attempt not to rile the US administration. As I write this the Israeli and Egyptian security forces are massed on their shared border given that intelligence reports indicate an imminent Islamic Jihad terrorist attack in the south. Welcome to the bad old days in Israel.
Last night I heard someone describe the Palestinian leadership’s march to the UN as similar to Thelma & Louise’s rush to the end of the cliff in their 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible. Hopefully Abbas and his people will not follow their example but will find the brake pedal in time!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
1 day and two weeks to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly on September 13th and the vote to grant the Palestinians statehood. The Palestinian Arab leadership remains up the tree that they have climbed with no indication that they are even close to finding the ladder.
Let me share with you some telling events over the past day or so.
Larry Derfner, the Jerusalem Post op-ed writer (who was once a nice Jewish kid from Los Angeles) after penning that despicable piece on his website justifying killing of Israelis by Palestinians when they see no other alternative protest available to them has now posted an apology (see http://israelleft.com/2011/08/26/apology/). In his apology he says:
"I didn’t mean to say anything “good” about Palestinian terror against Israelis – I see nothing good in it whatsoever, and I thought I made that clear, but I see now that I didn’t. I wrote that because of the occupation, Palestinians are “justified” in attacking, even killing Israelis, that they have the “right” to do so. Later on I stressed that I didn’t want them to kill my countrymen, and that I would do anything necessary to stop it. "
"What I mean is this: The occupation does not justify Palestinian terror. It does, however, provoke it. Palestinians do not have the right to attack or kill Israelis. They, do, however, have the incentive to, and part, though not all, of that incentive is provided them by the occupation. I believe that if Israel gives the Palestinians their independence, we have enough military power to neutralize whatever leftover incentive they would have to attack us. So my purpose with regard to Palestinian terror against Israelis is not to legitimize it, God forbid, but to end it."
The original post is no longer on his blog but not sure that the apology is complete given the second paragraph, but you can judge for yourselves,
Early this morning Israel once again saw the ugly face of terror as a 20-year old Palestinian Arab from Nablus/Shechem hijacked a taxi in Tel Aviv and tried to ram it into a nightclub full of teenagers having an end of summer bash. Fortunately, this time, no one was killed as the police were alerted and blocked the entrance to the club, although eight people were injured (one seriously), all of whom were security personnel. Of course, as in the terror attack on the Egyptian border last week, no condemnation of the event from the Palestinian Arab leadership was forthcoming
In this morning’s papers PA Chairman Abbas is quoted as saying that he is prepared to withdraw the application to UN for Palestinian statehood if Israel is prepared to come to the negotiating table as long as two conditions are met. First, that we agree to the 1967 borders as the basis for an eventual peace agreement (no mention being made of land swaps of course) and second, that Israel ceases all construction in Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem. The building issue, you will recall, was a gift presented to Abbas by President Obama as previously negotiations were always possible even though building was going on in the settlements. But when President Obama made the cessation of building a condition, Abbas, of course, could demand no less and he has remained with that demand.
Yet the ladder that he is seeking to climb down from the precarious perch in which he has placed himself now seems to have just two rungs, neither of which Israel is likely to reinforce. Nevertheless, perhaps Abbas himself realizes that at the end of the day, both Israel and the Palestinians need the support of the US as we both move forward, while forcing the hand of the US to veto a Palestinian state in the Security Council will not inure to the long term benefit of the Palestinian Arab population. Concurrently, Israel is restraining itself in the response to the increasing terrorism and rocket attacks in a parallel attempt not to rile the US administration. As I write this the Israeli and Egyptian security forces are massed on their shared border given that intelligence reports indicate an imminent Islamic Jihad terrorist attack in the south. Welcome to the bad old days in Israel.
Last night I heard someone describe the Palestinian leadership’s march to the UN as similar to Thelma & Louise’s rush to the end of the cliff in their 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible. Hopefully Abbas and his people will not follow their example but will find the brake pedal in time!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
16 Days to Go – Is The Effort Against the UN Vote for Palestinian Statehood Pointless?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 16 days to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly on September 13th and the vote to grant the Palestinians statehood, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prossor, has come out publicly with an admission that the UN battle is probably lost.
In a statement published in this morning’s papers here he is quoted in a classified cable to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as follows: “The maximum that we can hope to gain [at the UN vote] is for a group of states who will abstain or be absent during the vote.” He added that his comments were based on more than 60 meetings he had held during the past few weeks with his colleagues at the UN, finishing off with “Only a few countries will vote against the Palestinian initiative.” Foreign Ministry sources estimate that 130-140 countries will vote in favor of the motion when it comes to the floor of the General Assembly.
As things look right now, Prime Minister Netanyahu will not go to New York to speak on behalf of Israel but, instead, will probably ask President Shimon Peres to do the honors as he is more likely to present a moderate and conciliatory face to the world body (excluding those, of course, who will probably leave the room as soon as he gets up to speak).
I believe that our efforts to lobby the UN delegates must continue even in the face of this assessment by someone for whom I have the utmost respect. Why? Not only because, as Yogi Berra said, “it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings” but more importantly, because our voices need to be heard. Remember, that the bashing of Israel continues worldwide and we simply do not have the luxury of stopping the pressure, even if it may not do any good in the short term.
Last week, for example, Iran celebrated Quds Day, which is the day towards the end of Ramadan on which they schedule their annual Jerusalem solidarity rally. At that event, General Naghdi, the head of the Baseej organization (volunteers committed to enforce Islamic behaviour, crush protests, mete out beatings, carry out torture and extra-judicial executions [see http://middleeast.about.com/od/iran/f/basij-vigilantes.htm]) opined:
"We recommend to the Zionists to pack their furniture and return to their countries. And if they really insist on staying, they should know that a time will come that they will not even have time to pack their suitcases."
After which of course, the President of Iran went on to say:
"Do not think that your existence (i.e. Israel) will be recognized with the recognition of the Palestinian state. You have no place in our region and among our nations, and you will not be able to continue your ignominious life on even a small part of the Palestinian territories."
He then called for the annihilation of Israel at all costs and, unable to resist the opportunity to do so, once again called the holocaust a lie.
And if all of this is not bad enough, along comes regular Jerusalem Post op-ed writer Larry Derfner who posted the following to his blog on August 21st:
"I think a lot of people who realize that the occupation is wrong also realize that the Palestinians have the right to resist it – to use violence against Israelis, even to kill Israelis, especially when Israel is showing zero willingness to end the occupation, which has been the case since the Netanyahu government took over (among other times in the past)."
He, of course, later in the post goes on to say the “while I think the Palestinians have the right to use terrorism against us, I don’t want them to use it, I don’t want to see Israelis killed and, as an Israeli, I would do whatever was necessary to stop a Palestinian, oppressed or not, from killing one of my countrymen.” Too late Derfner, you can be sure that the earlier statement is the one that the anti-Israel forces will be quoting saying that even well respected Israelis believe terrorism is justifiable. Then he ends with the even more galling statement “Writing this is not treason. It is an attempt at patriotism.”
So the venom continues and whatever actually happens at the UN, the tension will not subside, peace will not come to this part of the world, and anti-Semitism will continue its attraction for all too many people with whom we share this planet. As such, we have no alternative but to keep the flame of passion for our rights to this land on a very high setting and to seize every opportunity to call the world’s attention to our commitment never to be forced from our homes. So please, make your voices heard at every opportunity.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 16 days to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly on September 13th and the vote to grant the Palestinians statehood, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prossor, has come out publicly with an admission that the UN battle is probably lost.
In a statement published in this morning’s papers here he is quoted in a classified cable to Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as follows: “The maximum that we can hope to gain [at the UN vote] is for a group of states who will abstain or be absent during the vote.” He added that his comments were based on more than 60 meetings he had held during the past few weeks with his colleagues at the UN, finishing off with “Only a few countries will vote against the Palestinian initiative.” Foreign Ministry sources estimate that 130-140 countries will vote in favor of the motion when it comes to the floor of the General Assembly.
As things look right now, Prime Minister Netanyahu will not go to New York to speak on behalf of Israel but, instead, will probably ask President Shimon Peres to do the honors as he is more likely to present a moderate and conciliatory face to the world body (excluding those, of course, who will probably leave the room as soon as he gets up to speak).
I believe that our efforts to lobby the UN delegates must continue even in the face of this assessment by someone for whom I have the utmost respect. Why? Not only because, as Yogi Berra said, “it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings” but more importantly, because our voices need to be heard. Remember, that the bashing of Israel continues worldwide and we simply do not have the luxury of stopping the pressure, even if it may not do any good in the short term.
Last week, for example, Iran celebrated Quds Day, which is the day towards the end of Ramadan on which they schedule their annual Jerusalem solidarity rally. At that event, General Naghdi, the head of the Baseej organization (volunteers committed to enforce Islamic behaviour, crush protests, mete out beatings, carry out torture and extra-judicial executions [see http://middleeast.about.com/od/iran/f/basij-vigilantes.htm]) opined:
"We recommend to the Zionists to pack their furniture and return to their countries. And if they really insist on staying, they should know that a time will come that they will not even have time to pack their suitcases."
After which of course, the President of Iran went on to say:
"Do not think that your existence (i.e. Israel) will be recognized with the recognition of the Palestinian state. You have no place in our region and among our nations, and you will not be able to continue your ignominious life on even a small part of the Palestinian territories."
He then called for the annihilation of Israel at all costs and, unable to resist the opportunity to do so, once again called the holocaust a lie.
And if all of this is not bad enough, along comes regular Jerusalem Post op-ed writer Larry Derfner who posted the following to his blog on August 21st:
"I think a lot of people who realize that the occupation is wrong also realize that the Palestinians have the right to resist it – to use violence against Israelis, even to kill Israelis, especially when Israel is showing zero willingness to end the occupation, which has been the case since the Netanyahu government took over (among other times in the past)."
He, of course, later in the post goes on to say the “while I think the Palestinians have the right to use terrorism against us, I don’t want them to use it, I don’t want to see Israelis killed and, as an Israeli, I would do whatever was necessary to stop a Palestinian, oppressed or not, from killing one of my countrymen.” Too late Derfner, you can be sure that the earlier statement is the one that the anti-Israel forces will be quoting saying that even well respected Israelis believe terrorism is justifiable. Then he ends with the even more galling statement “Writing this is not treason. It is an attempt at patriotism.”
So the venom continues and whatever actually happens at the UN, the tension will not subside, peace will not come to this part of the world, and anti-Semitism will continue its attraction for all too many people with whom we share this planet. As such, we have no alternative but to keep the flame of passion for our rights to this land on a very high setting and to seize every opportunity to call the world’s attention to our commitment never to be forced from our homes. So please, make your voices heard at every opportunity.
Friday, August 26, 2011
18 Days to Go – Where Will You Be on September 13th?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With just 18 days to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly on September 13th and the vote to grant Palestinians statehood, it is interesting to note what the Jewish community in America will be doing on that day.
One would think, of course, given the potential gravity of the situation, that there will be mass demonstrations around the country and an even larger one at the Isaiah wall across from the UN. But, think again. Here is what I found when looking at the event list of four of the largest Jewish communities in America for that date:
Los Angeles has (a) a Taglit-Birthright Israel Registration Day, (b) a Valley Alliance Thank You Phone Session, and (c) a Maimonides Academy Back to School Night. While I support the latter given that I have grandchildren attending the school, it is a bit disappointing to see nothing on the calendar dealing with what will face us in New York.
Chicago has scheduled (a) a Chaverim: Social Skills for Orthodox Children session, (b) a Kid Connect-Making & Keeping Friends workshop, (c) a class entitled Is Entrepreneurship Right for You, (d) and another on Banking on success as well as a (e) Rosh Hashanah Boot Camp. All, of course are very important activities but, once again, nothing about the threat to our long term existence here.
Miami has scheduled (a) a CAJE Board of Directors Retreat, (b) a Network Stand-up for Service Rush Hour & Volunteer Fair, and the (c) B'nai Zion Foundation Tribute Dinner.
New York, interestingly enough, has nothing on the schedule for the 13th but, in a bow to a positive future will hold a Bagels & Stocks Accountants Division breakfast on the 14th.
Of course if you go to the Christians United for Israel website you will find Nights to Honor Israel scheduled for September 12th in Roswell, NM, September 13th in Las Cruces, NM and September 14th in Spring Valley, CA. Thank the Lord for CUFI.
Am I missing something here? Does nobody there get it? Is nobody upset not only about the potential negative aspects of the vote but also about the arrival once again of the President of Iran who just this week again stated at a “Jerusalem Day” rally in Tehran that Israel must be eradicated from the face of the earth? His rants remind me of Cato the Elder’s constant refrain at the end of every one of his speeches in the Roman Senate when he said “Carthage must be destroyed!”
Former US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in a landmark case said "The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that the United States Congress has a right to prevent. It is a question of proximity and degree.”
The words we are hearing today from the Palestinian Arab leadership, from Hamas, from Iran, from Hezbollah, themselves create the clear and present danger defined by Justice Holmes. Our failure to acknowledge this and take demonstrative action flies in the face of both logic and self-preservation. On September 13th in New York the friends of Israel need to be on the barricades, big time, in order to subvert the clear and present danger now before us. There is no other choice.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With just 18 days to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly on September 13th and the vote to grant Palestinians statehood, it is interesting to note what the Jewish community in America will be doing on that day.
One would think, of course, given the potential gravity of the situation, that there will be mass demonstrations around the country and an even larger one at the Isaiah wall across from the UN. But, think again. Here is what I found when looking at the event list of four of the largest Jewish communities in America for that date:
Los Angeles has (a) a Taglit-Birthright Israel Registration Day, (b) a Valley Alliance Thank You Phone Session, and (c) a Maimonides Academy Back to School Night. While I support the latter given that I have grandchildren attending the school, it is a bit disappointing to see nothing on the calendar dealing with what will face us in New York.
Chicago has scheduled (a) a Chaverim: Social Skills for Orthodox Children session, (b) a Kid Connect-Making & Keeping Friends workshop, (c) a class entitled Is Entrepreneurship Right for You, (d) and another on Banking on success as well as a (e) Rosh Hashanah Boot Camp. All, of course are very important activities but, once again, nothing about the threat to our long term existence here.
Miami has scheduled (a) a CAJE Board of Directors Retreat, (b) a Network Stand-up for Service Rush Hour & Volunteer Fair, and the (c) B'nai Zion Foundation Tribute Dinner.
New York, interestingly enough, has nothing on the schedule for the 13th but, in a bow to a positive future will hold a Bagels & Stocks Accountants Division breakfast on the 14th.
Of course if you go to the Christians United for Israel website you will find Nights to Honor Israel scheduled for September 12th in Roswell, NM, September 13th in Las Cruces, NM and September 14th in Spring Valley, CA. Thank the Lord for CUFI.
Am I missing something here? Does nobody there get it? Is nobody upset not only about the potential negative aspects of the vote but also about the arrival once again of the President of Iran who just this week again stated at a “Jerusalem Day” rally in Tehran that Israel must be eradicated from the face of the earth? His rants remind me of Cato the Elder’s constant refrain at the end of every one of his speeches in the Roman Senate when he said “Carthage must be destroyed!”
Former US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, in a landmark case said "The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that the United States Congress has a right to prevent. It is a question of proximity and degree.”
The words we are hearing today from the Palestinian Arab leadership, from Hamas, from Iran, from Hezbollah, themselves create the clear and present danger defined by Justice Holmes. Our failure to acknowledge this and take demonstrative action flies in the face of both logic and self-preservation. On September 13th in New York the friends of Israel need to be on the barricades, big time, in order to subvert the clear and present danger now before us. There is no other choice.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
19 Days to Go – Glen Beck in Israel
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The march to the edge of the cliff by the Palestinian Arab leadership to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly and the vote to unilaterally establish a Palestinian state continues unabated even though there are moderate voices within who are vocal about their sense that this is not in the best interests of that community at this time. Sad that no one can figure how to put a ladder against the tree that will be tall enough to permit Abbas to descend to firm ground.
Here in Israel on Wednesday, Glen Beck held the last of his three “Restoring Courage” events, this one at the southern wall excavations near the Temple Mount at what is now known as the Davidson Center. There were barely 1,000 people in attendance (less than was expected) although an additional several thousand were watching the event on large screens set up in City Hall Plaza where tickets of admission were not required.
This majority (but not all) of the op-eds in this morning’s papers here were, for the most part, critical of the events in general, critical of his holding this particular program at a Jewish holy site (some saying it was a desecration of the place), and critical of his even being here for these events as some perceive his commitment to Israel and stated love of the Jewish people is nothing but traditional Christian anti-Semitism dressed up in different clothes, but now much more palatable to those of us who are, indeed, historical Jews.
I was not at either place, just as I was no longer in the room when he spoke at the Christians United for Israel Night to Honor Israel in Washington in July (he was the last speaker on the program so it was easy for me to exit). I did not participate in those events because I am not sure of his motives, have some discomfort with his statements in the not too distant past that were less than wise, if not foolhardy, nor can I vouch for his sincerity. But I am grateful that he came here along with thousands of supporters from the US and other countries with a message of love and support for Israel and the Jewish people.
For the naysayers who claim we do not need the support of people like him and caution us about who we choose for friends, I would feel more comfortable not having to depend on the Glen Becks of the world for support if I and millions of others here like me felt that our natural partners were with us. But, truth be told, that is simply not the case. Europe can certainly not be depended upon to support our cause, the US does so grudgingly (recall the difficulty Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN, had in raising her hand to veto a resolution condemning Israeli settlements last February and her immediate explanation that this should not be seen as support for Israel), and, quite frankly we here are not seeing any great public outpouring of support from the Jewish community in the US either.
Taking all of this into account if 50 million US Christians who consider themselves Evangelicals are prepared to express their vocal support for Israel, to lobby their congressional representatives on our behalf, to rally in support of Israel and express their love for this country and the Jewish people, and for some of them to travel here at great expense to put their money where their mouths are, then in this period of time where we here feel ourselves becoming more isolated every day, I for one will accept that support gladly and worry about their long term intentions later.
Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Tuesday that Beck has come to Israel to show support and solidarity with Israel and he should be welcomed as a friend. He added that the fact that Beck expressed views people did not agree with was no reason to ostracize him.
Foxman is right and we need to remember this important concept embedded so deeply in our tradition. All of us have friends and if they are good friends, sometimes we disagree with them but we remain friends. It is always possible that we will find out differently sometime in the future, it has happened before. But Beck’s message, as elucidated on Wednesday that “Evil is counting on us to do nothing, that evil is counting on us to be afraid but that evil has misjudged us” is an important concept to remember and act on, even it was uttered by Beck.
Martin Luther King, to whom a fitting memorial will finally be dedicated this coming Sunday in Washington, said “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” So even if Beck turns out not to be such a friend, we will more clearly remember those who said they were friends but remained silent.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The march to the edge of the cliff by the Palestinian Arab leadership to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly and the vote to unilaterally establish a Palestinian state continues unabated even though there are moderate voices within who are vocal about their sense that this is not in the best interests of that community at this time. Sad that no one can figure how to put a ladder against the tree that will be tall enough to permit Abbas to descend to firm ground.
Here in Israel on Wednesday, Glen Beck held the last of his three “Restoring Courage” events, this one at the southern wall excavations near the Temple Mount at what is now known as the Davidson Center. There were barely 1,000 people in attendance (less than was expected) although an additional several thousand were watching the event on large screens set up in City Hall Plaza where tickets of admission were not required.
This majority (but not all) of the op-eds in this morning’s papers here were, for the most part, critical of the events in general, critical of his holding this particular program at a Jewish holy site (some saying it was a desecration of the place), and critical of his even being here for these events as some perceive his commitment to Israel and stated love of the Jewish people is nothing but traditional Christian anti-Semitism dressed up in different clothes, but now much more palatable to those of us who are, indeed, historical Jews.
I was not at either place, just as I was no longer in the room when he spoke at the Christians United for Israel Night to Honor Israel in Washington in July (he was the last speaker on the program so it was easy for me to exit). I did not participate in those events because I am not sure of his motives, have some discomfort with his statements in the not too distant past that were less than wise, if not foolhardy, nor can I vouch for his sincerity. But I am grateful that he came here along with thousands of supporters from the US and other countries with a message of love and support for Israel and the Jewish people.
For the naysayers who claim we do not need the support of people like him and caution us about who we choose for friends, I would feel more comfortable not having to depend on the Glen Becks of the world for support if I and millions of others here like me felt that our natural partners were with us. But, truth be told, that is simply not the case. Europe can certainly not be depended upon to support our cause, the US does so grudgingly (recall the difficulty Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN, had in raising her hand to veto a resolution condemning Israeli settlements last February and her immediate explanation that this should not be seen as support for Israel), and, quite frankly we here are not seeing any great public outpouring of support from the Jewish community in the US either.
Taking all of this into account if 50 million US Christians who consider themselves Evangelicals are prepared to express their vocal support for Israel, to lobby their congressional representatives on our behalf, to rally in support of Israel and express their love for this country and the Jewish people, and for some of them to travel here at great expense to put their money where their mouths are, then in this period of time where we here feel ourselves becoming more isolated every day, I for one will accept that support gladly and worry about their long term intentions later.
Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Tuesday that Beck has come to Israel to show support and solidarity with Israel and he should be welcomed as a friend. He added that the fact that Beck expressed views people did not agree with was no reason to ostracize him.
Foxman is right and we need to remember this important concept embedded so deeply in our tradition. All of us have friends and if they are good friends, sometimes we disagree with them but we remain friends. It is always possible that we will find out differently sometime in the future, it has happened before. But Beck’s message, as elucidated on Wednesday that “Evil is counting on us to do nothing, that evil is counting on us to be afraid but that evil has misjudged us” is an important concept to remember and act on, even it was uttered by Beck.
Martin Luther King, to whom a fitting memorial will finally be dedicated this coming Sunday in Washington, said “In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” So even if Beck turns out not to be such a friend, we will more clearly remember those who said they were friends but remained silent.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
20 Days to Go – Levity in the Face of Danger!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock continues to tick with now just 20 days to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly and the vote to grant Palestinians statehood, for which, for sure, they are not ready in any event.
In Israel, of course, in addition to the concern about September there’s always something else going on as well. On Friday of last week, the Jerusalem Light Rail System, which has been under construction for the better part of ten years, finally began operating with passengers. Of course, even ten years was not long enough to get all the kinks out of the system. Only 20% of the sensors which will permit giving the trains right of way over automobile traffic have actually been installed, the automated ticketing system is not working (which is why people are being allowed to ride free) and, because of the signalling problems, the maximum allowable speed is 25 mph (40 kph). That means that the 13km (7 mi) end-to-end run which is supposed to take 42 minutes actually takes an hour and 15 minutes but, who cares right?
Of course even under these very restricted conditions the US Consulate in Jerusalem could not help itself and had to issue the following advisory early this morning:
"The U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem advises U.S. citizens that the light rail system in Jerusalem has now started operations in the city. This new form of transportation is part of the public transportation network. Official U.S. Government personnel are currently prohibited from utilizing public transportation facilities, including municipal buses and the light rail network. The Consulate General will monitor the performance and security climate of the new light rail system as it begins operations."
"U.S. citizens in Jerusalem are encouraged to exercise caution and take appropriate measures to ensure their safety and security, and to report any suspicious or unusual activity immediately to Israeli authorities. U.S. citizens should, as always, maintain a low profile in public."
Can you believe? Of course I took all this to heart and now when I walk the streets of this city I make sure I hug the building walls closely trying to maintain a low profile which is a real challenge for someone 6’-3” tall and heavy but I do my best. And I will definitely stay off the light rail given the US Consulate’s warning.
But there is really nothing to worry about. Gil Troy, Professor of History at McGill University and a Shalom Hartman Research Fellow in Jerusalem, whose writing I highly respect, tells us in an op-ed in this morning’s Jerusalem Post:
"We should stop dreading this fall. The calendar is our friend. For each of the five weeks starting with Sunday August 28, Zionist activists and educators should pick a theme or two – conceptualizing the conversation about Israel as a double helix linking education and advocacy, the purely positive and the necessarily defensive, the aspirational with the historical. We should affirm Zionism’s continuing relevance and power for Jews today, along with Israel’s continuing search for peace. The advocacy piece should link Palestinians’ destructive – and self-destructive - hatred of Israel with the Durban debacle, 9/11-style terrorism, al Qaeda anti-Americanism, and the UN’s corruption– all on full display this coming September."
Well, I cannot disagree with some of the activities he advocates but I certainly do not agree either that the calendar is our friend or that there is nothing to dread this fall. Not since 1973 have the winds blowing in this region been as menacing as they are today with stockpiled armaments pointed at us from at least two directions, a number of our neighbors in the midst of political chaos, and world opinion definitely not on our side.
The challenge that we face is to do our best to continue living normal lives, riding the light rail, walking upright and proud on our streets and believing that we have every right in the world to be here as dictated by the resolution on the topic passed at the San Remo Conference on April 25, 1920. But in parallel, we must also be prepared to deal with the events of the next month which could very well be the catalyst for some very unpleasant occurrences within Israel and on our borders as well. We need not keep a low profile as the Americans have advised people here, but we also should not lull ourselves into a false sense of security should the effects of September turn negative, as well they may.
Si vis pacem, para bellum first uttered by Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus in 5th century Rome and repeated often in our day as If you wish for peace, prepare for war remains relevant. We all hope that whatever the outcome of the General Assembly in September, we will have nothing to dread. But, given past history, the deck is stacked against that and, therefore, we need to be ready, ever vigilant and, in the interim, vocal regarding what we believe is in the best interests of Israel and the Jewish people. This is our job over the next month, nothing less.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock continues to tick with now just 20 days to the opening of the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly and the vote to grant Palestinians statehood, for which, for sure, they are not ready in any event.
In Israel, of course, in addition to the concern about September there’s always something else going on as well. On Friday of last week, the Jerusalem Light Rail System, which has been under construction for the better part of ten years, finally began operating with passengers. Of course, even ten years was not long enough to get all the kinks out of the system. Only 20% of the sensors which will permit giving the trains right of way over automobile traffic have actually been installed, the automated ticketing system is not working (which is why people are being allowed to ride free) and, because of the signalling problems, the maximum allowable speed is 25 mph (40 kph). That means that the 13km (7 mi) end-to-end run which is supposed to take 42 minutes actually takes an hour and 15 minutes but, who cares right?
Of course even under these very restricted conditions the US Consulate in Jerusalem could not help itself and had to issue the following advisory early this morning:
"The U.S. Consulate General in Jerusalem advises U.S. citizens that the light rail system in Jerusalem has now started operations in the city. This new form of transportation is part of the public transportation network. Official U.S. Government personnel are currently prohibited from utilizing public transportation facilities, including municipal buses and the light rail network. The Consulate General will monitor the performance and security climate of the new light rail system as it begins operations."
"U.S. citizens in Jerusalem are encouraged to exercise caution and take appropriate measures to ensure their safety and security, and to report any suspicious or unusual activity immediately to Israeli authorities. U.S. citizens should, as always, maintain a low profile in public."
Can you believe? Of course I took all this to heart and now when I walk the streets of this city I make sure I hug the building walls closely trying to maintain a low profile which is a real challenge for someone 6’-3” tall and heavy but I do my best. And I will definitely stay off the light rail given the US Consulate’s warning.
But there is really nothing to worry about. Gil Troy, Professor of History at McGill University and a Shalom Hartman Research Fellow in Jerusalem, whose writing I highly respect, tells us in an op-ed in this morning’s Jerusalem Post:
"We should stop dreading this fall. The calendar is our friend. For each of the five weeks starting with Sunday August 28, Zionist activists and educators should pick a theme or two – conceptualizing the conversation about Israel as a double helix linking education and advocacy, the purely positive and the necessarily defensive, the aspirational with the historical. We should affirm Zionism’s continuing relevance and power for Jews today, along with Israel’s continuing search for peace. The advocacy piece should link Palestinians’ destructive – and self-destructive - hatred of Israel with the Durban debacle, 9/11-style terrorism, al Qaeda anti-Americanism, and the UN’s corruption– all on full display this coming September."
Well, I cannot disagree with some of the activities he advocates but I certainly do not agree either that the calendar is our friend or that there is nothing to dread this fall. Not since 1973 have the winds blowing in this region been as menacing as they are today with stockpiled armaments pointed at us from at least two directions, a number of our neighbors in the midst of political chaos, and world opinion definitely not on our side.
The challenge that we face is to do our best to continue living normal lives, riding the light rail, walking upright and proud on our streets and believing that we have every right in the world to be here as dictated by the resolution on the topic passed at the San Remo Conference on April 25, 1920. But in parallel, we must also be prepared to deal with the events of the next month which could very well be the catalyst for some very unpleasant occurrences within Israel and on our borders as well. We need not keep a low profile as the Americans have advised people here, but we also should not lull ourselves into a false sense of security should the effects of September turn negative, as well they may.
Si vis pacem, para bellum first uttered by Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus in 5th century Rome and repeated often in our day as If you wish for peace, prepare for war remains relevant. We all hope that whatever the outcome of the General Assembly in September, we will have nothing to dread. But, given past history, the deck is stacked against that and, therefore, we need to be ready, ever vigilant and, in the interim, vocal regarding what we believe is in the best interests of Israel and the Jewish people. This is our job over the next month, nothing less.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
21 Days to Go – Three Weeks Left – Have You Written to the UN?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Three weeks from today, on Wednesday, September 13th at 3 PM Eastern Daylight Time in New York the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly will convene. Have you written to the UN representatives asking them to vote NO or at a minimum, ABSTAIN? And if not, why not? Because you don’t believe it will do any good? Rubbish! Rubbish! Rubbish!
People are moved by public opinion, that’s what pollsters tell us, that’s what politicians know and history has proven that when we have made our voices heard it meant something. God forbid we should remain silent at this important juncture in the history of the Jewish people.
I applaud (and you should as well) the actions of Sen. Robert Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) and Sen. Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida) who last week sent letters to the Presidents of Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica encouraging them to oppose any resolution that may come before the UN General Assembly seeking to impose a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by the UN. They wrote:
"Though it has proven to be an elusive goal, we are confident that long-lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians is achievable and that direct, bilateral negotiations between the sides offer the best hope of realizing it. Therefore, we are deeply concerned about efforts by the Palestinian leadership to seek unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood during the upcoming meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York."
"As you may know, the US Senate recently approved by Unanimous Consent a Resolution declaring that persistence by the Palestinian Authority to circumvent direct negotiations will have implications for continued American aid. Therefore, a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN is not in the best interests of the Palestinian people or conducive to the ultimate objective of two democratic states living side by side in peace and security."
For those who are not aware, Menendez is the Chairman and Rubio is the Ranking Member (i.e. highest ranking member of the minority party) of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Kudos to them and our gratitude for their putting their money where their mouths are.
Speaking of that, this week I spent about $200 on postage to send individual letters to every UN delegate (copy of the letter attached as well as the list of representatives, once again) urging them to either vote NO or ABSTAIN, as either will be good for us and abstaining may even be better than a no vote, and probably more palatable to many of the delegates. One of the stamps even said “Visit Israel” so it will be interesting to see if the Iranian mission even accepts the mail. Time will tell.
But what are YOU doing about this? Even if you believe it will not help are you willing to take that risk with the lives of those of us who live here and, truth be told, ultimately the lives of westerners living abroad as well? One lesson we have learned in history is that when bad things begin to happen, they may begin with Jews but we are just the litmus test for the evildoers. If they get away with their attempts to discredit us, the rest of the world is the next target.
I accept the fact as some people have pointed out, that some of this is alarmist. But better to sound the alarm for a perceived threat that does not materialize than to keep silent and suffer the consequences.
Elie Wiesel said “Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.” I vote for life and hope you do as well!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Three weeks from today, on Wednesday, September 13th at 3 PM Eastern Daylight Time in New York the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly will convene. Have you written to the UN representatives asking them to vote NO or at a minimum, ABSTAIN? And if not, why not? Because you don’t believe it will do any good? Rubbish! Rubbish! Rubbish!
People are moved by public opinion, that’s what pollsters tell us, that’s what politicians know and history has proven that when we have made our voices heard it meant something. God forbid we should remain silent at this important juncture in the history of the Jewish people.
I applaud (and you should as well) the actions of Sen. Robert Menendez (Democrat-New Jersey) and Sen. Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida) who last week sent letters to the Presidents of Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica encouraging them to oppose any resolution that may come before the UN General Assembly seeking to impose a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by the UN. They wrote:
"Though it has proven to be an elusive goal, we are confident that long-lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians is achievable and that direct, bilateral negotiations between the sides offer the best hope of realizing it. Therefore, we are deeply concerned about efforts by the Palestinian leadership to seek unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood during the upcoming meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York."
"As you may know, the US Senate recently approved by Unanimous Consent a Resolution declaring that persistence by the Palestinian Authority to circumvent direct negotiations will have implications for continued American aid. Therefore, a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN is not in the best interests of the Palestinian people or conducive to the ultimate objective of two democratic states living side by side in peace and security."
For those who are not aware, Menendez is the Chairman and Rubio is the Ranking Member (i.e. highest ranking member of the minority party) of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Kudos to them and our gratitude for their putting their money where their mouths are.
Speaking of that, this week I spent about $200 on postage to send individual letters to every UN delegate (copy of the letter attached as well as the list of representatives, once again) urging them to either vote NO or ABSTAIN, as either will be good for us and abstaining may even be better than a no vote, and probably more palatable to many of the delegates. One of the stamps even said “Visit Israel” so it will be interesting to see if the Iranian mission even accepts the mail. Time will tell.
But what are YOU doing about this? Even if you believe it will not help are you willing to take that risk with the lives of those of us who live here and, truth be told, ultimately the lives of westerners living abroad as well? One lesson we have learned in history is that when bad things begin to happen, they may begin with Jews but we are just the litmus test for the evildoers. If they get away with their attempts to discredit us, the rest of the world is the next target.
I accept the fact as some people have pointed out, that some of this is alarmist. But better to sound the alarm for a perceived threat that does not materialize than to keep silent and suffer the consequences.
Elie Wiesel said “Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.” I vote for life and hope you do as well!
Monday, August 22, 2011
22 Days to Go – I Agree - Glenn Beck Gets It!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
On September 13th at 3 PM Eastern Daylight Time in New York the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly will convene….just 22 days from today. Will the leaders assembled there understand what the real issues are that face humanity at this critical time in world history? I’m not sure.
Glenn Beck, the Mormon commentator who has now allied himself with the Christian Evangelical Movement is in Israel this week for three events associated with his “Restoring Courage” project aimed at making the world aware of the perils that face humanity if support for Israel fails. Should we feel good about that or is he just another charlatan pouncing on a hot topic to grab headlines? As for me, I’m happy he is here and grateful for his support.
You can say what you will about his motives, his carelessness with certain words and his sometimes lack of critical research but, in the words of Barry Rubin, Director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, Beck “gets it.”
In an op-ed in today’s Jerusalem Post Rubin says that Beck’s common sense, courage, knowing the difference between right and wrong, a willingness to learn and a readiness to admit when one has been wrong has allowed Beck to understand the real truths present in this region and what must be done to address the dangers we must engage. And what does Beck get right? 10 specific points:
1. The main threat in the Middle East is revolutionary Islamism, and the United States must combat it.
2. The problem is not Islam as a religion but revolutionary Islamism as a political ideology that draws on normative Islam to product its own plausible interpretation.
3. The revolutionary Islamist side is winning.
4. The “Arab Spring” contains many dangers.
5. Israel just happens to be largely right and deserves support.
6. One man’s terrorist…is still a terrorist.
7. The Obama administration has messed up the Middle East to a phenomenal extent.
8. One should be fearless in facing intimidation and politically motivated ridicule.
9. We must re-evaluate friends and enemies in this new era of revolutionary Islamism and post-Marxist leftism.
10. Whatever mistakes the United States has made, it is a good country and the hope of the world.
Rubin concludes with the words:
Any criticism one can make of Beck pales in comparison to all of the above points, on which he is quite correct. But then, as Jews, and Israelis most of all, should know, to be falsely reviled in not proof of being wrong or evil.
So, in spite of earlier criticism of Beck by respected members of the American Jewish Community such as ADL National Director Abraham Foxman and this morning’s diatribe against Beck in the Jerusalem Post by Likud right-winger Moshe Feiglin, because Beck “gets it” and he is prepared to put his money where his mouth is, I, for one, welcome his support.
Zev Chafets, who was former Prime Minister Menahem Begin’s Press Secretary writes in today’s Washington Post that in those days Israel was seeing the very beginning of Christian Evangelical support and did not really know how to deal with it. But Chafets recalls that:
"Begin asked his staff how many of these evangelicals there were in the United States. The answer was upward of 20 million. And that settled that. American Jewish leaders, virtually all of whom were (and are) liberal Democrats, were (and remain) scandalized. They argued that evangelical Christians believe that Jews don’t go to heaven and that they will die in some end-of-the-world scenario. Begin – and every subsequent Israeli prime minister of both the left and the right – preferred to let God sort out eternity. Here on Earth, actions speak louder than words."
I agree with that and in this world, where Israel struggles every day to find supporters I am happy to take the support of the now 50 million Evangelical Christians and even the likes of Glen Beck, who proudly proclaim that they not only love Israel they love the Jewish people. As Pastor John Hagee often says, someday he and his Jewish friends will be walking the streets of the old city of Jerusalem and the Messiah will be coming the other way. At that point in time one of them will need to change their theology. Until then we need to be grateful for their support and bless them for it.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
On September 13th at 3 PM Eastern Daylight Time in New York the 66th Regular Session of the UN General Assembly will convene….just 22 days from today. Will the leaders assembled there understand what the real issues are that face humanity at this critical time in world history? I’m not sure.
Glenn Beck, the Mormon commentator who has now allied himself with the Christian Evangelical Movement is in Israel this week for three events associated with his “Restoring Courage” project aimed at making the world aware of the perils that face humanity if support for Israel fails. Should we feel good about that or is he just another charlatan pouncing on a hot topic to grab headlines? As for me, I’m happy he is here and grateful for his support.
You can say what you will about his motives, his carelessness with certain words and his sometimes lack of critical research but, in the words of Barry Rubin, Director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, Beck “gets it.”
In an op-ed in today’s Jerusalem Post Rubin says that Beck’s common sense, courage, knowing the difference between right and wrong, a willingness to learn and a readiness to admit when one has been wrong has allowed Beck to understand the real truths present in this region and what must be done to address the dangers we must engage. And what does Beck get right? 10 specific points:
1. The main threat in the Middle East is revolutionary Islamism, and the United States must combat it.
2. The problem is not Islam as a religion but revolutionary Islamism as a political ideology that draws on normative Islam to product its own plausible interpretation.
3. The revolutionary Islamist side is winning.
4. The “Arab Spring” contains many dangers.
5. Israel just happens to be largely right and deserves support.
6. One man’s terrorist…is still a terrorist.
7. The Obama administration has messed up the Middle East to a phenomenal extent.
8. One should be fearless in facing intimidation and politically motivated ridicule.
9. We must re-evaluate friends and enemies in this new era of revolutionary Islamism and post-Marxist leftism.
10. Whatever mistakes the United States has made, it is a good country and the hope of the world.
Rubin concludes with the words:
Any criticism one can make of Beck pales in comparison to all of the above points, on which he is quite correct. But then, as Jews, and Israelis most of all, should know, to be falsely reviled in not proof of being wrong or evil.
So, in spite of earlier criticism of Beck by respected members of the American Jewish Community such as ADL National Director Abraham Foxman and this morning’s diatribe against Beck in the Jerusalem Post by Likud right-winger Moshe Feiglin, because Beck “gets it” and he is prepared to put his money where his mouth is, I, for one, welcome his support.
Zev Chafets, who was former Prime Minister Menahem Begin’s Press Secretary writes in today’s Washington Post that in those days Israel was seeing the very beginning of Christian Evangelical support and did not really know how to deal with it. But Chafets recalls that:
"Begin asked his staff how many of these evangelicals there were in the United States. The answer was upward of 20 million. And that settled that. American Jewish leaders, virtually all of whom were (and are) liberal Democrats, were (and remain) scandalized. They argued that evangelical Christians believe that Jews don’t go to heaven and that they will die in some end-of-the-world scenario. Begin – and every subsequent Israeli prime minister of both the left and the right – preferred to let God sort out eternity. Here on Earth, actions speak louder than words."
I agree with that and in this world, where Israel struggles every day to find supporters I am happy to take the support of the now 50 million Evangelical Christians and even the likes of Glen Beck, who proudly proclaim that they not only love Israel they love the Jewish people. As Pastor John Hagee often says, someday he and his Jewish friends will be walking the streets of the old city of Jerusalem and the Messiah will be coming the other way. At that point in time one of them will need to change their theology. Until then we need to be grateful for their support and bless them for it.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
26 Days to Go – And the Rockets’ Red Glare!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock continues to tick now with 26 days to the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the proposed vote on the Palestinian Arab’s planned unilateral declaration of statehood.
But here in Israel over the last few days we have buried eight of our citizens killed in the terrorist attack close to the Egyptian border, while another citizen was killed last night as a result of the barrage of 80 rockets from Gaza in the last 60 hours. The only good news is that there were not more casualties, but there probably will be if the rocket attack continues. And why? Because Israel responded to the terror attack which occurred on Thursday by taking out the leadership of the group responsible for the attack, a group that has its headquarters in Gaza.
But, of course, according to the New York Times the terrorists were not terrorists at all, but rather militants, or so the caption on the picture of the event calls them. And what is the difference? The dictionary defines terrorist as “A person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.” The US Department of Defense says “An individual who uses violence, terror and intimidation to achieve a result.” A militant, on the other hand, is defined as “Having a combative character, aggressive, especially in the service of a cause.”
It would seem to this writer, therefore, that while the people who perpetrated this action against non-combatant Israelis were both militants as the definition indicates as well as terrorists. What made them terrorists is that they carried their militancy one step further employing terrorism as a political weapon. Of course it is much more convenient for the western press to see the people who do these things as militants, because then op-ed writers can go to the next step and say that they have become militant because they are oppressed forgetting, of course, that some of the most effective protest movements of the last 100 years shaped by the concept of passive resistance and not the use of terror.
As if this shading of world reportage was not sufficient in light of the events of the last days, Roger Cohen who writes regularly for the New York Times and who is called by them a “globalist,” comes out with an op-ed on Saturday entitled “Jews in a Whisper” which examines why, in public places, when the word “Jew” is uttered it is usually done in a whisper. He supplies a number of personal examples and then includes this interesting paragraph:
"Jewish identity is an interesting subject and quest. In America, because I’ve criticized Israel and particularly its self-defeating expansion of settlements in the West Bank, I was, to self-styled “real Jews,” not Jewish enough, or even – join the club – a self-hating Jew. In Britain I find myself exasperated by the muted, muffled way of being a Jew. Get some pride, an inner voice says, speak up!"
So in a way, we can take heart from his desire to see an increase in Jewish pride until later in the article he gives himself away as someone who, indeed, does not put his lot in with the Jewish people when he says:
"The lesson is clear, Jews, with their history, cannot become the systematic oppressors of another people. They must be vociferous in their insistence that continued colonization of Palestinians in the West Bank will increase Israel’s isolation and ultimately its vulnerability."
The italics are mine and it is in those words that he, like many of our brethren, gives himself away. Instead of saying our history, he says their history; instead of saying We he says They, thus removing himself from the historical narrative and separating himself from the 3,500 year line of Jewish history. In a word, he confirms, whether intentionally or not, that he is not part of the people of whose history he is a modern day product. So perhaps, even as he seemingly objects to the term, he really is a self-hating Jew or, at the very least, certainly not a proud one.
In our continuing quest to get the world to recognize our legitimate right to live here in the national homeland of the Jewish people, we continue to do battle with those who use linguistics to demean us as well as brethren who would prefer to have had the act of birth bequeath unto them a different, less cumbersome identity. After 3,500 years the battle is not nearly over.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock continues to tick now with 26 days to the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the proposed vote on the Palestinian Arab’s planned unilateral declaration of statehood.
But here in Israel over the last few days we have buried eight of our citizens killed in the terrorist attack close to the Egyptian border, while another citizen was killed last night as a result of the barrage of 80 rockets from Gaza in the last 60 hours. The only good news is that there were not more casualties, but there probably will be if the rocket attack continues. And why? Because Israel responded to the terror attack which occurred on Thursday by taking out the leadership of the group responsible for the attack, a group that has its headquarters in Gaza.
But, of course, according to the New York Times the terrorists were not terrorists at all, but rather militants, or so the caption on the picture of the event calls them. And what is the difference? The dictionary defines terrorist as “A person who employs terror or terrorism, especially as a political weapon.” The US Department of Defense says “An individual who uses violence, terror and intimidation to achieve a result.” A militant, on the other hand, is defined as “Having a combative character, aggressive, especially in the service of a cause.”
It would seem to this writer, therefore, that while the people who perpetrated this action against non-combatant Israelis were both militants as the definition indicates as well as terrorists. What made them terrorists is that they carried their militancy one step further employing terrorism as a political weapon. Of course it is much more convenient for the western press to see the people who do these things as militants, because then op-ed writers can go to the next step and say that they have become militant because they are oppressed forgetting, of course, that some of the most effective protest movements of the last 100 years shaped by the concept of passive resistance and not the use of terror.
As if this shading of world reportage was not sufficient in light of the events of the last days, Roger Cohen who writes regularly for the New York Times and who is called by them a “globalist,” comes out with an op-ed on Saturday entitled “Jews in a Whisper” which examines why, in public places, when the word “Jew” is uttered it is usually done in a whisper. He supplies a number of personal examples and then includes this interesting paragraph:
"Jewish identity is an interesting subject and quest. In America, because I’ve criticized Israel and particularly its self-defeating expansion of settlements in the West Bank, I was, to self-styled “real Jews,” not Jewish enough, or even – join the club – a self-hating Jew. In Britain I find myself exasperated by the muted, muffled way of being a Jew. Get some pride, an inner voice says, speak up!"
So in a way, we can take heart from his desire to see an increase in Jewish pride until later in the article he gives himself away as someone who, indeed, does not put his lot in with the Jewish people when he says:
"The lesson is clear, Jews, with their history, cannot become the systematic oppressors of another people. They must be vociferous in their insistence that continued colonization of Palestinians in the West Bank will increase Israel’s isolation and ultimately its vulnerability."
The italics are mine and it is in those words that he, like many of our brethren, gives himself away. Instead of saying our history, he says their history; instead of saying We he says They, thus removing himself from the historical narrative and separating himself from the 3,500 year line of Jewish history. In a word, he confirms, whether intentionally or not, that he is not part of the people of whose history he is a modern day product. So perhaps, even as he seemingly objects to the term, he really is a self-hating Jew or, at the very least, certainly not a proud one.
In our continuing quest to get the world to recognize our legitimate right to live here in the national homeland of the Jewish people, we continue to do battle with those who use linguistics to demean us as well as brethren who would prefer to have had the act of birth bequeath unto them a different, less cumbersome identity. After 3,500 years the battle is not nearly over.
Friday, August 19, 2011
28 Days to Go – Remembering Leaving Gaza.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Earlier today, 28 days to the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York, Israel buried eight of its citizens, victims of yesterday’s terrorist attack close to the Egyptian border. As I write this the words of the grandfather of Staff Sgt. Moshe Naftali, z’l, killed in the attack still ring in my ears when he said at the funeral on Mt. Herzl here in Jerusalem: “I just want to kiss him one more time.” Should any grandfather, or parent, have to witness this kind of a burial and especially for this reason?
Six years ago this week the State of Israel evacuated 1,700 families from the Gaza Strip in an effort to disengage from that area which contained 1.4 million Palestinian Arabs. The period was one of extreme angst within Israel and the decision by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was made even though a referendum on the subject showed that the 65% of the population who voted was against the move. The intent was to bring these families back into “Israel proper” as it were and no longer be involved with regular skirmishes with the Palestinian Arab community in the strip. The hope was that the area would then be run by the local leadership and Israel, having evacuated the region, would have no more political problems with it.
Of course, that was not to be the case. The local population went on a rampage right after Israel finally left the region on September 11th as the last Israeli soldier locked the gate at the Kissufim Crossing behind him and lowered the Israeli flag from its stanchion. The hothouses left by Israeli and purchased for the benefit of the Palestinians by former World Bank President James Wolfensohn were destroyed as was every vestige of the Israeli presence in Gaza. The later election of Hamas and its takeover of the strip then generated an ongoing barrage of rockets into Israel until the advent of Operation Cast Lead in December 2008.
So the withdrawal from the settlements of Gaza did not give Israel any more peace than the withdrawal of our forces from south Lebanon in 2000 under the Premiership of Ehud Barak. Neither border has been quiet and secure and one can only surmise that Israel’s withdrawal for nothing in return ended up being inimical to our long term desire to survive and thrive in this land.
For those who continue to wonder why Israel is so adamant about not granting statehood to the Palestinians except as a result of direct, face-to-face negotiations aimed at declaring an end to the conflict, these two situations should provide sufficient proof of the failure of unilateral action when it comes to Middle East politics.
The question remains: Why doesn’t the world understand this? Or is the world’s seeming support for the proposed UN resolution just the next act in history’s longest running drama dealing with the indestructible Jews? And if so, will there ever be a happy ending as the curtain comes down on the last act? We need to help that along and understand the role each of us personally can play in this drama. Please, write to the UN delegates now and urge them to vote no and do it soon!! History is calling us once again and we dare not be silent.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Earlier today, 28 days to the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York, Israel buried eight of its citizens, victims of yesterday’s terrorist attack close to the Egyptian border. As I write this the words of the grandfather of Staff Sgt. Moshe Naftali, z’l, killed in the attack still ring in my ears when he said at the funeral on Mt. Herzl here in Jerusalem: “I just want to kiss him one more time.” Should any grandfather, or parent, have to witness this kind of a burial and especially for this reason?
Six years ago this week the State of Israel evacuated 1,700 families from the Gaza Strip in an effort to disengage from that area which contained 1.4 million Palestinian Arabs. The period was one of extreme angst within Israel and the decision by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was made even though a referendum on the subject showed that the 65% of the population who voted was against the move. The intent was to bring these families back into “Israel proper” as it were and no longer be involved with regular skirmishes with the Palestinian Arab community in the strip. The hope was that the area would then be run by the local leadership and Israel, having evacuated the region, would have no more political problems with it.
Of course, that was not to be the case. The local population went on a rampage right after Israel finally left the region on September 11th as the last Israeli soldier locked the gate at the Kissufim Crossing behind him and lowered the Israeli flag from its stanchion. The hothouses left by Israeli and purchased for the benefit of the Palestinians by former World Bank President James Wolfensohn were destroyed as was every vestige of the Israeli presence in Gaza. The later election of Hamas and its takeover of the strip then generated an ongoing barrage of rockets into Israel until the advent of Operation Cast Lead in December 2008.
So the withdrawal from the settlements of Gaza did not give Israel any more peace than the withdrawal of our forces from south Lebanon in 2000 under the Premiership of Ehud Barak. Neither border has been quiet and secure and one can only surmise that Israel’s withdrawal for nothing in return ended up being inimical to our long term desire to survive and thrive in this land.
For those who continue to wonder why Israel is so adamant about not granting statehood to the Palestinians except as a result of direct, face-to-face negotiations aimed at declaring an end to the conflict, these two situations should provide sufficient proof of the failure of unilateral action when it comes to Middle East politics.
The question remains: Why doesn’t the world understand this? Or is the world’s seeming support for the proposed UN resolution just the next act in history’s longest running drama dealing with the indestructible Jews? And if so, will there ever be a happy ending as the curtain comes down on the last act? We need to help that along and understand the role each of us personally can play in this drama. Please, write to the UN delegates now and urge them to vote no and do it soon!! History is calling us once again and we dare not be silent.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
29 Days to Go – KABOOM – Do the Palestinians Want a State?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Today the border went KABOOM and with 29 days to the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the vote a day or two after that on Palestinian statehood the question must be asked: Do the Palestinians really want a state or is all this just another smokescreen?
Israel Harel in an article in today’s Ha’aretz makes the statement that “If the Palestinians knew their bid for UN recognition would lead to the establishment of a state in the 1967 borders, they wouldn’t make it. Rather their application is meant to serve their strategy of delay, which has many stages and stratagems.”
In the context of that theory, at noon today Israel time armed gunmen stationed at the border between Israel and Egypt near the southern port city of Eilat fired on an Egged bus traveling the road on the Israel side following which there were additional attacks on other Israeli vehicles as well. Seven people are now dead and at least 26 were wounded from an unprovoked, terror attack on Israeli citizens going to their homes for the weekend. As I write this at 5:40 PM Thursday afternoon, the story is still developing so information is somewhat sketchy but everyone does agree that this is yet another terror attack aimed at the citizens of Israel.
While it is not yet clear who the terrorists were, one thing we know for certain. These were people who were not in favor of any sort of peace with Israel or an eventual two state solution to end the conflict. If that were not the case, there would be no reason to engage in terror. There never has been any reason to engage in terror other than to derail whatever chance might exist for normalization of life in this part of the world.
One can only conclude that in reality, there really is no desire on the part of the Palestinian Arab leadership for the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. If one looks at the history going back to the generous offer made by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David in 2000, or even the amendments proposed later by Israeli peaceniks such as Yossi Beilin, followed by the extensive discussions between former Prime Minister Olmert and Chairman Abbas, it becomes painfully obvious that the Palestinian Arab leadership had multiple opportunities to end the conflict and move on to a Palestine within the same parameters that they are now demanding at the UN. But they did not take them then and, sad as it is for me to admit, they will not take them now or probably anytime in the future.
One can only conclude that the real goal of the Palestinian Arab leadership is to put an end to the enterprise called Israel and to wait, delay, and posture for as long as it takes to get to that goal. The move to get the UN General Assembly to vote for Palestinian statehood then becomes just one more event in the process. What will happen the day after regardless of how the vote goes? No one knows for sure but the possible scenarios include, but are not limited to:
• Massive demonstrations in Judea and Samaria (i.e. the West Bank) as well as Gaza against Israel (and, of course, the US as well if it goes ahead with its Security Council veto) either because the vote was “no” or the vote was “yes” and Israel has not immediately left the settlements.
• Demonstrations that then turn violent even though the Palestinian Arab leadership claims that they will prevent violence, although history shows that these always turn violent.
• The possibility that this will lead to a third uprising (or, as they tend to call it: intifada).
• Nationalist elements in Israel convince the government to annex the settlement blocs and claim that they are now officially part of Israel causing widespread violent demonstrations.
The list is endless of course, only limited by one’s imagination. In a word, as Harel said in his article “Because Israel cannot be destroyed by force, as both conventional and non-conventional wars and terrorist wars have proved, they have embarked on a different sort of campaign: a global campaign (aided by more than a few Jews both in Israel and abroad) to undermine the Jewish people’s right to sovereignty in its homeland. Meanwhile, they are avoiding all negotiations until this goal is achieved.”
While I have been advocating for some months that the UN should vote “no” on statehood in September, perhaps, just perhaps, the better alternative would be for all the delegates to abstain, which is, officially, a refusal to vote. At least that way the world can effectively throw the problem back in the laps of the two parties involved and say “you deal with it” and the Palestinians can’t blame any single country for their disappointment.
Hearst journalist Ambrose Gwinnett Pierce, who died in 1913, once said, succinctly “When you doubt, abstain.” Good advice to the world on this sad day for so many families in Israel, yet again.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
Today the border went KABOOM and with 29 days to the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the vote a day or two after that on Palestinian statehood the question must be asked: Do the Palestinians really want a state or is all this just another smokescreen?
Israel Harel in an article in today’s Ha’aretz makes the statement that “If the Palestinians knew their bid for UN recognition would lead to the establishment of a state in the 1967 borders, they wouldn’t make it. Rather their application is meant to serve their strategy of delay, which has many stages and stratagems.”
In the context of that theory, at noon today Israel time armed gunmen stationed at the border between Israel and Egypt near the southern port city of Eilat fired on an Egged bus traveling the road on the Israel side following which there were additional attacks on other Israeli vehicles as well. Seven people are now dead and at least 26 were wounded from an unprovoked, terror attack on Israeli citizens going to their homes for the weekend. As I write this at 5:40 PM Thursday afternoon, the story is still developing so information is somewhat sketchy but everyone does agree that this is yet another terror attack aimed at the citizens of Israel.
While it is not yet clear who the terrorists were, one thing we know for certain. These were people who were not in favor of any sort of peace with Israel or an eventual two state solution to end the conflict. If that were not the case, there would be no reason to engage in terror. There never has been any reason to engage in terror other than to derail whatever chance might exist for normalization of life in this part of the world.
One can only conclude that in reality, there really is no desire on the part of the Palestinian Arab leadership for the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders. If one looks at the history going back to the generous offer made by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak at Camp David in 2000, or even the amendments proposed later by Israeli peaceniks such as Yossi Beilin, followed by the extensive discussions between former Prime Minister Olmert and Chairman Abbas, it becomes painfully obvious that the Palestinian Arab leadership had multiple opportunities to end the conflict and move on to a Palestine within the same parameters that they are now demanding at the UN. But they did not take them then and, sad as it is for me to admit, they will not take them now or probably anytime in the future.
One can only conclude that the real goal of the Palestinian Arab leadership is to put an end to the enterprise called Israel and to wait, delay, and posture for as long as it takes to get to that goal. The move to get the UN General Assembly to vote for Palestinian statehood then becomes just one more event in the process. What will happen the day after regardless of how the vote goes? No one knows for sure but the possible scenarios include, but are not limited to:
• Massive demonstrations in Judea and Samaria (i.e. the West Bank) as well as Gaza against Israel (and, of course, the US as well if it goes ahead with its Security Council veto) either because the vote was “no” or the vote was “yes” and Israel has not immediately left the settlements.
• Demonstrations that then turn violent even though the Palestinian Arab leadership claims that they will prevent violence, although history shows that these always turn violent.
• The possibility that this will lead to a third uprising (or, as they tend to call it: intifada).
• Nationalist elements in Israel convince the government to annex the settlement blocs and claim that they are now officially part of Israel causing widespread violent demonstrations.
The list is endless of course, only limited by one’s imagination. In a word, as Harel said in his article “Because Israel cannot be destroyed by force, as both conventional and non-conventional wars and terrorist wars have proved, they have embarked on a different sort of campaign: a global campaign (aided by more than a few Jews both in Israel and abroad) to undermine the Jewish people’s right to sovereignty in its homeland. Meanwhile, they are avoiding all negotiations until this goal is achieved.”
While I have been advocating for some months that the UN should vote “no” on statehood in September, perhaps, just perhaps, the better alternative would be for all the delegates to abstain, which is, officially, a refusal to vote. At least that way the world can effectively throw the problem back in the laps of the two parties involved and say “you deal with it” and the Palestinians can’t blame any single country for their disappointment.
Hearst journalist Ambrose Gwinnett Pierce, who died in 1913, once said, succinctly “When you doubt, abstain.” Good advice to the world on this sad day for so many families in Israel, yet again.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
31 Days to Go – Will You Demonstrate?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock is ticking and there are now 31 days before the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the vote a day or two after that on Palestinian statehood.
One of my readers has raised the question of whether or not there are demonstrations planned for New York during the period of the General Assembly against the drive for statehood by the Palestinian Arab leadership? A search of the web turned up nothing although I hope that will not really be the case as the date draws closer.
Do you remember December 6, 1987? That was the Sunday when over 250,000 people descended on Washington from all parts of the United States to demonstrate on behalf of Soviet Jewry. It was, at the time, the largest outpouring of support for that movement and was timed to occur a day before Gorbachev and Reagan were scheduled to meet in the nation’s capital. The organizers never expected that more than 150,000 people would participate in the middle of winter, yet representatives of over 300 community groups in the US braved the cold and made their voices known, insuring that the issue of human rights in the Soviet Union would be placed on Reagan’s “front burner.”
The members of the American community who care about values and the respect for the right of those of us living here to live fruitful lives in the national homeland of the Jewish people need to do as much this year as well.
Many of you know that fully 20% of the US Congress will have visited Israel this month. I won’t deal here with the propriety of legislators leaving their desks when the country is in so much economic turmoil, as others smarter than me have spoken about this. But they are here nonetheless and last week, at a meeting in Ramallah with Mahmoud Abbas he shared with the visiting legislators his vision of a Palestinian state, and it was not pretty.
His main point was that if he succeeds in creating an independent Palestinian state it will have no Jewish settlements. In his zeal to achieve ethnic cleansing of Jews presently living in Judea and Samaria, he is speaking about the eviction of over 500,000 Jews from everywhere over the “green line” including Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Ramot, Gilo, Ramat Shlomo and, of course, the large settlement blocs of Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim and Ariel. After that he added that if multinational forces were to enforce a future peace, those forces could also not contain any Israelis, whether they lived in Israel or abroad (a bit of moderation over his earlier statement that they could not contain any Jews).
So the message is clear. The simple fact that Jews might live in a Palestinian state is a humiliating thing for the Palestinians. Of course, if the shoe were on the other foot and we said that after a peace treaty no Arabs would be allowed to live in Israel the world would become one ball of fire with anti-Israel demonstrations everywhere. We dare not blind ourselves to the possibility that the real desire of the Palestinian Arab leadership is not to make peace with Israel but to see to our ultimate expulsion from this part of the world.
While I do not believe, and certainly hope, that this will not happen vigilance is critical. So thinking Americans, Jews and non-Jews, should be on the barricades in New York in mid-September to make it clear to the UN and the world that the intransigence of the Palestinian Arab leadership in not being willing to even come to the negotiating table, will not be rewarded by a declaration of statehood one of whose aims is to make the resultant country Judenrein!!
There must be a demonstration that will make Washington in December 1987 look like amateur night.
Edmund Burke was right when he said “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” We need to internalize that lesson.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock is ticking and there are now 31 days before the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the vote a day or two after that on Palestinian statehood.
One of my readers has raised the question of whether or not there are demonstrations planned for New York during the period of the General Assembly against the drive for statehood by the Palestinian Arab leadership? A search of the web turned up nothing although I hope that will not really be the case as the date draws closer.
Do you remember December 6, 1987? That was the Sunday when over 250,000 people descended on Washington from all parts of the United States to demonstrate on behalf of Soviet Jewry. It was, at the time, the largest outpouring of support for that movement and was timed to occur a day before Gorbachev and Reagan were scheduled to meet in the nation’s capital. The organizers never expected that more than 150,000 people would participate in the middle of winter, yet representatives of over 300 community groups in the US braved the cold and made their voices known, insuring that the issue of human rights in the Soviet Union would be placed on Reagan’s “front burner.”
The members of the American community who care about values and the respect for the right of those of us living here to live fruitful lives in the national homeland of the Jewish people need to do as much this year as well.
Many of you know that fully 20% of the US Congress will have visited Israel this month. I won’t deal here with the propriety of legislators leaving their desks when the country is in so much economic turmoil, as others smarter than me have spoken about this. But they are here nonetheless and last week, at a meeting in Ramallah with Mahmoud Abbas he shared with the visiting legislators his vision of a Palestinian state, and it was not pretty.
His main point was that if he succeeds in creating an independent Palestinian state it will have no Jewish settlements. In his zeal to achieve ethnic cleansing of Jews presently living in Judea and Samaria, he is speaking about the eviction of over 500,000 Jews from everywhere over the “green line” including Jerusalem neighborhoods such as Ramot, Gilo, Ramat Shlomo and, of course, the large settlement blocs of Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim and Ariel. After that he added that if multinational forces were to enforce a future peace, those forces could also not contain any Israelis, whether they lived in Israel or abroad (a bit of moderation over his earlier statement that they could not contain any Jews).
So the message is clear. The simple fact that Jews might live in a Palestinian state is a humiliating thing for the Palestinians. Of course, if the shoe were on the other foot and we said that after a peace treaty no Arabs would be allowed to live in Israel the world would become one ball of fire with anti-Israel demonstrations everywhere. We dare not blind ourselves to the possibility that the real desire of the Palestinian Arab leadership is not to make peace with Israel but to see to our ultimate expulsion from this part of the world.
While I do not believe, and certainly hope, that this will not happen vigilance is critical. So thinking Americans, Jews and non-Jews, should be on the barricades in New York in mid-September to make it clear to the UN and the world that the intransigence of the Palestinian Arab leadership in not being willing to even come to the negotiating table, will not be rewarded by a declaration of statehood one of whose aims is to make the resultant country Judenrein!!
There must be a demonstration that will make Washington in December 1987 look like amateur night.
Edmund Burke was right when he said “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” We need to internalize that lesson.
Monday, August 15, 2011
32 Days to Go – See What the Other Side Thinks!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 32 days before the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the vote after that on Palestinian statehood does anyone ever wonder what the Palestinian man and woman on the street is thinking?
Well, if you look at Twitter excerpts from the Palestinian community, they are, to say the least, instructive.
Some examples:
• Araberican: It's enough all the other Arab govs are anti-Palestinian. We don't need an anti-Palestinian Palestinian gov!
• Nnoaf_e: Dissolve the PA so we can start talking about Palestine again rather than negotiating a halt in building settlements and because they're just as much of a barrier for Palestine as that Zionist apartheid Wall is!
• Earthtonadine: Dissolve the PA because Mahmoud Abbas is an idiot. Palestinians and Palestine can do SO much better than him.
• LinahAlsaafin: Dissolve the PA for suppressing freedom of speech and for jailing anyone (journalists) speaking out against them
• Budouroddick: Dissolve the PA so our sons and daughters won't have to hang their heads in shame when asked about Palestinian leaders.
So it seems that the people who make up the population ruled by the Palestinian Arab leadership are not so enamored of their top guns and see them as just as much an obstacle to independence and statehood as their concern about the “occupation” and living side by side with Israel
But the Palestinian Arab leadership, immune to the concerns of their own people, remains intent on going to New York and pressing for the UN vote. And, of course, they continue to spout the “Judenrein” concept of statehood with Chairman Abbas coming out once again today with the statement that the newly designated Palestine will not have any Jews living in it. After which he added that while he is in favor of international forces maintaining security after statehood, those forces cannot have any Israelis in them, whether they live in Israel or abroad. Well, he has tempered that a bit as a few weeks ago he said those forces cannot have any Jews in them. Are there no liberals left in the world who are bothered by these kinds of statements? One wonders!
Of course, when Abbas and his henchmen get to the US they will no doubt be happy to attend the Durban III Conference on Racism scheduled to be held just before the opening of the UN session which will, once again, be a forum for Israel bashing as it was in Durban I and II. At Durban II the President of Iran was one of the keynote speakers and you can bet that his speech was not one of reconciliation with Israel or the west. But a counter-demonstration is planned for Wednesday, September 21st at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the UN headquarters. Hopefully those people who value tolerance and religious freedom will show up in force in a statement of solidarity against the forces of evil in the world.
So, while the world’s attention is focused on the steady stream of news coming out of Israel, little more than lip service is being paid to the more than 1,000 Syrian civilians who have been killed by the Alawite regime or the fact that once again thousands in Somalia seem to be on the verge of starvation. Talk about misplaced priorities.
But I close once again urging my readers to contact the UN delegates so that they can hear from those of us who care that the path to peace in this region is not through the UN but through direct negotiations between the parties concerned. Losing the vote at the UN will, hopefully, force the Palestinian leadership back to the negotiating table whether or not Israel continues to build for the natural growth of the large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 32 days before the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York and the vote after that on Palestinian statehood does anyone ever wonder what the Palestinian man and woman on the street is thinking?
Well, if you look at Twitter excerpts from the Palestinian community, they are, to say the least, instructive.
Some examples:
• Araberican: It's enough all the other Arab govs are anti-Palestinian. We don't need an anti-Palestinian Palestinian gov!
• Nnoaf_e: Dissolve the PA so we can start talking about Palestine again rather than negotiating a halt in building settlements and because they're just as much of a barrier for Palestine as that Zionist apartheid Wall is!
• Earthtonadine: Dissolve the PA because Mahmoud Abbas is an idiot. Palestinians and Palestine can do SO much better than him.
• LinahAlsaafin: Dissolve the PA for suppressing freedom of speech and for jailing anyone (journalists) speaking out against them
• Budouroddick: Dissolve the PA so our sons and daughters won't have to hang their heads in shame when asked about Palestinian leaders.
So it seems that the people who make up the population ruled by the Palestinian Arab leadership are not so enamored of their top guns and see them as just as much an obstacle to independence and statehood as their concern about the “occupation” and living side by side with Israel
But the Palestinian Arab leadership, immune to the concerns of their own people, remains intent on going to New York and pressing for the UN vote. And, of course, they continue to spout the “Judenrein” concept of statehood with Chairman Abbas coming out once again today with the statement that the newly designated Palestine will not have any Jews living in it. After which he added that while he is in favor of international forces maintaining security after statehood, those forces cannot have any Israelis in them, whether they live in Israel or abroad. Well, he has tempered that a bit as a few weeks ago he said those forces cannot have any Jews in them. Are there no liberals left in the world who are bothered by these kinds of statements? One wonders!
Of course, when Abbas and his henchmen get to the US they will no doubt be happy to attend the Durban III Conference on Racism scheduled to be held just before the opening of the UN session which will, once again, be a forum for Israel bashing as it was in Durban I and II. At Durban II the President of Iran was one of the keynote speakers and you can bet that his speech was not one of reconciliation with Israel or the west. But a counter-demonstration is planned for Wednesday, September 21st at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the UN headquarters. Hopefully those people who value tolerance and religious freedom will show up in force in a statement of solidarity against the forces of evil in the world.
So, while the world’s attention is focused on the steady stream of news coming out of Israel, little more than lip service is being paid to the more than 1,000 Syrian civilians who have been killed by the Alawite regime or the fact that once again thousands in Somalia seem to be on the verge of starvation. Talk about misplaced priorities.
But I close once again urging my readers to contact the UN delegates so that they can hear from those of us who care that the path to peace in this region is not through the UN but through direct negotiations between the parties concerned. Losing the vote at the UN will, hopefully, force the Palestinian leadership back to the negotiating table whether or not Israel continues to build for the natural growth of the large settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
33 Days to Go – Don’t Believe Everything You Read!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The numbers are getting smaller and we now have 33 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote after that on Palestinian statehood.
The Palestinian Arab leadership has now reaffirmed its intent to move forward with this project in spite of serious concerns in a great many corners of the world about the efficacy of the move and whether it has real benefit to their cause. But what has struck me this past week in the run-up to the “Days of September” is how news from this part of the world is being reported in the world press.
Take for example the Government of Israel’s announcement last week that it had authorized the construction of 1,600 new “homes” (actually condos in western terms) in Ramat Shlomo and 950 new apartments in Har Homa. Well, it did not take any time at all for (a) the Palestinian Arab leadership to immediately call for a stop to Israel’s unilateral decision to construct additional homes in East Jerusalem, (b) for the US Secretary of State to, once again, say that Israel’s building in East Jerusalem is an obstacle to peace and (c) for EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton to express her “deep regret” over Israel’s decision to build in Ramat Shlomo.
But one needs to look behind the story to really figure out what this is all about. The community of Ramat Shlomo is ½ km from my office where I am writing this blog. The tech park in which our office is situated is just inside the 1949 (not the 1967) armistice lines while the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood is just on the other side of the line. It is located just east of Ramot which is also, for the most part, just over the 1949 armistice lines. Started in 1995 to handle the growing ultra-orthodox population situated on the north side of the city, Ramat Shlomo today has about 2,200 families (i.e. 16,000 people). This is a neighborhood whose natural growth is high and the 1,600 new units were originally authorized in March 2010 and will probably not be completed for another couple of years. The area itself is certainly an integral part of the City of Jerusalem, whether or not the rest of the world recognizes this.
Har Homa, located south of the city, is also just over the armistice line facing Bethlehem and was conceived to contain 8,200 housing units although, at the present time, less than half of those have been built. The community is mixed religious and secular and was opened to accommodate the growing population on the south side of Jerusalem.
In the earlier negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Arab leadership it was always understood that the large settlement blocs would remain in Israeli hands if a peace agreement was ever reached. So the suburbs of Jerusalem such as Ramot, Ramat Shlomo, Har Homa, and Gilo were always acknowledged by both sides to remain within Israel under any peace agreement, just as would Ma’ale Adumim, the Gush Etzion bloc and Ariel. However, when US President Obama said 18 months ago that Israel must stop building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he gave a gift to the Palestinians that they themselves did not expect. Once Obama said that the Palestinian Arab leadership had no choice but to be at least as Palestinian as Obama.
In this hyperactive political period, in which we now find ourselves, all of the earlier agreements and understandings, including the famous letter on the topic that former president Bush gave to Ariel Sharon acknowledging the US understanding of these facts, have been forgotten and now every square centimeter of land outside the 1949 armistice lines has become part of the “settlements.” Therefore, the way the non-Israeli world looks as things, all of this building is an obstacle to peace while the unwillingness of the Palestinian side to come to the table during the 10 month construction free in 2010 is totally overlooked.
Of course the news articles generally cover only the objections of the other side, the EU and the US and rarely give space to the remarks from the Israeli side. So, for example, in an August 12th article in the New York Times by Rick Gladstone, he waited until paragraph 12 of a 12 paragraph article to include the statement that “Israel has argued that any two-state solution with the Palestinians will involve holding on to areas like Ramat Shlomo, so that in its view, building there for its citizens should not affect talks.” So much for fair and balanced reporting.
It is in this spirit that Israel goes to the UN in September to object to the unilateral move by the Palestinians to get General Assembly approval for statehood. In the opinion of many jurists the Palestinians, by going unilaterally to the UN are in direct violation of the Oslo Agreement which states in Para V:4 “The two parties agree that the outcome of the permanent status negotiations should not be prejudiced or pre-empted by agreements reached for the interim period.” Similar language was contained, as well, in every additional agreement signed by the parties so going to the UN instead of sitting down and negotiating an end to the conflict with Israel is, by all accounts, in violation of agreement the Palestinians have signed with Israel. So what else is new eh? (Have you written those letters yet to the UN delegates?)
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The numbers are getting smaller and we now have 33 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote after that on Palestinian statehood.
The Palestinian Arab leadership has now reaffirmed its intent to move forward with this project in spite of serious concerns in a great many corners of the world about the efficacy of the move and whether it has real benefit to their cause. But what has struck me this past week in the run-up to the “Days of September” is how news from this part of the world is being reported in the world press.
Take for example the Government of Israel’s announcement last week that it had authorized the construction of 1,600 new “homes” (actually condos in western terms) in Ramat Shlomo and 950 new apartments in Har Homa. Well, it did not take any time at all for (a) the Palestinian Arab leadership to immediately call for a stop to Israel’s unilateral decision to construct additional homes in East Jerusalem, (b) for the US Secretary of State to, once again, say that Israel’s building in East Jerusalem is an obstacle to peace and (c) for EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton to express her “deep regret” over Israel’s decision to build in Ramat Shlomo.
But one needs to look behind the story to really figure out what this is all about. The community of Ramat Shlomo is ½ km from my office where I am writing this blog. The tech park in which our office is situated is just inside the 1949 (not the 1967) armistice lines while the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood is just on the other side of the line. It is located just east of Ramot which is also, for the most part, just over the 1949 armistice lines. Started in 1995 to handle the growing ultra-orthodox population situated on the north side of the city, Ramat Shlomo today has about 2,200 families (i.e. 16,000 people). This is a neighborhood whose natural growth is high and the 1,600 new units were originally authorized in March 2010 and will probably not be completed for another couple of years. The area itself is certainly an integral part of the City of Jerusalem, whether or not the rest of the world recognizes this.
Har Homa, located south of the city, is also just over the armistice line facing Bethlehem and was conceived to contain 8,200 housing units although, at the present time, less than half of those have been built. The community is mixed religious and secular and was opened to accommodate the growing population on the south side of Jerusalem.
In the earlier negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Arab leadership it was always understood that the large settlement blocs would remain in Israeli hands if a peace agreement was ever reached. So the suburbs of Jerusalem such as Ramot, Ramat Shlomo, Har Homa, and Gilo were always acknowledged by both sides to remain within Israel under any peace agreement, just as would Ma’ale Adumim, the Gush Etzion bloc and Ariel. However, when US President Obama said 18 months ago that Israel must stop building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he gave a gift to the Palestinians that they themselves did not expect. Once Obama said that the Palestinian Arab leadership had no choice but to be at least as Palestinian as Obama.
In this hyperactive political period, in which we now find ourselves, all of the earlier agreements and understandings, including the famous letter on the topic that former president Bush gave to Ariel Sharon acknowledging the US understanding of these facts, have been forgotten and now every square centimeter of land outside the 1949 armistice lines has become part of the “settlements.” Therefore, the way the non-Israeli world looks as things, all of this building is an obstacle to peace while the unwillingness of the Palestinian side to come to the table during the 10 month construction free in 2010 is totally overlooked.
Of course the news articles generally cover only the objections of the other side, the EU and the US and rarely give space to the remarks from the Israeli side. So, for example, in an August 12th article in the New York Times by Rick Gladstone, he waited until paragraph 12 of a 12 paragraph article to include the statement that “Israel has argued that any two-state solution with the Palestinians will involve holding on to areas like Ramat Shlomo, so that in its view, building there for its citizens should not affect talks.” So much for fair and balanced reporting.
It is in this spirit that Israel goes to the UN in September to object to the unilateral move by the Palestinians to get General Assembly approval for statehood. In the opinion of many jurists the Palestinians, by going unilaterally to the UN are in direct violation of the Oslo Agreement which states in Para V:4 “The two parties agree that the outcome of the permanent status negotiations should not be prejudiced or pre-empted by agreements reached for the interim period.” Similar language was contained, as well, in every additional agreement signed by the parties so going to the UN instead of sitting down and negotiating an end to the conflict with Israel is, by all accounts, in violation of agreement the Palestinians have signed with Israel. So what else is new eh? (Have you written those letters yet to the UN delegates?)
Thursday, August 11, 2011
36 Days to Go – Time to Act – Do it NOW!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 36 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood this is our chance to be heard and to make it known to those who will vote how we feel on the issue.
For some months now I have been urging my readers to write letters to the UN delegates voicing their opinion and now is the time to do so. Following is the text of the letter I have sent today to all of the delegates:
===============================================================================
H.E. Mr. Zahir Tanin
Ambassador of Afghanistan to the UN
633 3rd Ave., 27th Fl.
New York NY 10017
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you as an Israeli citizen urging you to vote NO on the issue of Palestinian statehood if it comes up at the UN General Assembly in September.
You should know that the overwhelming majority of my countrymen desire peace with our Palestinian neighbors, are prepared to make serious sacrifices to achieve that peace and, like them, want our children and grandchildren to be able to live successful and fulfilling lives without the need to go to war in every generation.
We would welcome the opportunity, in the framework of true and lasting peace and an end to the conflict, to work with our neighbors to continue to build what we have begun here over the last 63 years, a knowledge-based society with sufficient economic stability to weather any economic downturn.
But such peace can only come when and if the two parties are prepared to sit down together and discuss all of the issues, without preconditions and without the interference of outside forces. As such, a vote at the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood is simply counter-productive and runs the risk of unleashing forces here, on both sides, that could be both uncontrollable and detrimental to achieving what we all want.
As such, I urge you to vote NO and give a message to all of us here that the UN is only prepared to move in this direction once the parties involved have settled their differences and announced an end to the conflict.
Thank you for reading this letter and I hope you will be moved to act accordingly for the good and welfare of all of us who live here.
Sincerely yours,
===============================================================================
I urge everyone to do something similar using your own language of course. Once again I am attaching the list of delegates and their addresses.
There will come a time at the end of each of our days when, according to tradition, we will be asked to make an accounting of our deeds, good and bad. We dare not run the risk of saying that when the chips were down, when our people needed us, we remained silent. I have no guarantee that any of this will do any good but just in case it will be helpful, we dare not remain mute!!! If you care, take the time, make the effort, do it now!
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 36 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood this is our chance to be heard and to make it known to those who will vote how we feel on the issue.
For some months now I have been urging my readers to write letters to the UN delegates voicing their opinion and now is the time to do so. Following is the text of the letter I have sent today to all of the delegates:
===============================================================================
H.E. Mr. Zahir Tanin
Ambassador of Afghanistan to the UN
633 3rd Ave., 27th Fl.
New York NY 10017
Your Excellency,
I am writing to you as an Israeli citizen urging you to vote NO on the issue of Palestinian statehood if it comes up at the UN General Assembly in September.
You should know that the overwhelming majority of my countrymen desire peace with our Palestinian neighbors, are prepared to make serious sacrifices to achieve that peace and, like them, want our children and grandchildren to be able to live successful and fulfilling lives without the need to go to war in every generation.
We would welcome the opportunity, in the framework of true and lasting peace and an end to the conflict, to work with our neighbors to continue to build what we have begun here over the last 63 years, a knowledge-based society with sufficient economic stability to weather any economic downturn.
But such peace can only come when and if the two parties are prepared to sit down together and discuss all of the issues, without preconditions and without the interference of outside forces. As such, a vote at the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood is simply counter-productive and runs the risk of unleashing forces here, on both sides, that could be both uncontrollable and detrimental to achieving what we all want.
As such, I urge you to vote NO and give a message to all of us here that the UN is only prepared to move in this direction once the parties involved have settled their differences and announced an end to the conflict.
Thank you for reading this letter and I hope you will be moved to act accordingly for the good and welfare of all of us who live here.
Sincerely yours,
===============================================================================
I urge everyone to do something similar using your own language of course. Once again I am attaching the list of delegates and their addresses.
There will come a time at the end of each of our days when, according to tradition, we will be asked to make an accounting of our deeds, good and bad. We dare not run the risk of saying that when the chips were down, when our people needed us, we remained silent. I have no guarantee that any of this will do any good but just in case it will be helpful, we dare not remain mute!!! If you care, take the time, make the effort, do it now!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
37 Days to Go – Don’t Bank on the UN Leadership
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The countdown continues and there are now 37 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood.
When looking ahead to September there are two people whose names you should know but my guess is you have never heard of them. One is Nawaf Salam and the other is Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. Now you probably don’t recognize these people and they are certainly not the names of any people who are likely to live next door to most of my readers but they may very well become key players in the drama that will be played out in New York next month.
Nawaf Salam is the Lebanese Ambassador to the UN and at the end of this month he will take over as President of the UN Security Council for the month of September. A well-educated Lebanese native he holds a doctorate in Political Science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, an LLM from Harvard Law School and a doctorate in History from the Sorbonne. Now one would think that if there has to be an Arab conducting Security Council meetings in September that someone with his background would be the best of the best in the pursuit of fair and balanced debate. Yet, let’s look at some of his recent statements.
On the debate last week on increasing sanctions on Syria, Salam said: “Lebanon decided to disassociate itself from the council statement condemning violence in Syria,” a position slammed as shocking by Lebanon’s Future Movement lawmaker Ahmed Fatfat. In a debate on Israel on December 19, 2008, Salam said:
"Continued settlement activity (by Israel) is illegal anywhere in the occupied territories and is an obstacle to peace…. Israel must immediately dismantle all settlement outposts and freeze all future building in the occupied territories including Jerusalem…. Israel continues to subject Gaza to an immoral and illegal siege."
So not sure how much neutral adjudication of the upcoming meeting we will get from this source.
Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser is the Ambassador of Qatar and he is the President of the 61st General Assembly which will convene in September in New York. He holds a degree in law from Beirut Arab University and has been at the UN since September 1998. Prior to that he was the Ambassador to Jordan and was previously at the UN Mission as minister to that mission. He also served in Pakistan and Dubai. He is also an advisory member of NYU’s Center for Dialogues.
While it is almost impossible to find any record of significant remarks made by the Qatari ambassador, one of his first tasks will be to preside over Durban III just before the UN General Assembly convenes. What is instructive is to view the remarks of the head of Qatar’s delegation to the first Durban conference, Abdul-Rahman H. Al-Attiyah when he declared “all the Israeli heinous violations are justified as a means to bring back every Jew to a land that they raped from its legitimate owners and denied their right to claim it back.” So we know where the Ambassador is coming from on that issue.
Al-Nasser will, as well, probably reflect his emir’s current agenda. During the opening days of the General Assembly in September of last year, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said “The war on terror…has plunged us into a kind of war with no limits, nor end, nor logic, nor legal or moral conditions…We believe that even as the phenomenon of terrorist exists, it should not be treated by waging wars…To the contrary it has…undermined the efforts made in dialogue among cultures.”
And by the way, if the President cannot chair a particular meeting, he can turn the gavel over to one of his vice-presidents of whom one is Iran’s UN Ambassador, Mohammad Khazael, who in an earlier interview cited the “important issue” of the “Durban Conference focusing on racial discrimination.”
So September will also be interesting as Israel pleads its case before arbiters who are among the least friendly nations of the world to put it mildly.
Someone once said “We will remember not the names of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” It will be an interesting month to be sure as we find out who are friends really are, and we must continue our efforts to convince the delegates to the UN to vote NO on a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The countdown continues and there are now 37 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood.
When looking ahead to September there are two people whose names you should know but my guess is you have never heard of them. One is Nawaf Salam and the other is Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. Now you probably don’t recognize these people and they are certainly not the names of any people who are likely to live next door to most of my readers but they may very well become key players in the drama that will be played out in New York next month.
Nawaf Salam is the Lebanese Ambassador to the UN and at the end of this month he will take over as President of the UN Security Council for the month of September. A well-educated Lebanese native he holds a doctorate in Political Science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, an LLM from Harvard Law School and a doctorate in History from the Sorbonne. Now one would think that if there has to be an Arab conducting Security Council meetings in September that someone with his background would be the best of the best in the pursuit of fair and balanced debate. Yet, let’s look at some of his recent statements.
On the debate last week on increasing sanctions on Syria, Salam said: “Lebanon decided to disassociate itself from the council statement condemning violence in Syria,” a position slammed as shocking by Lebanon’s Future Movement lawmaker Ahmed Fatfat. In a debate on Israel on December 19, 2008, Salam said:
"Continued settlement activity (by Israel) is illegal anywhere in the occupied territories and is an obstacle to peace…. Israel must immediately dismantle all settlement outposts and freeze all future building in the occupied territories including Jerusalem…. Israel continues to subject Gaza to an immoral and illegal siege."
So not sure how much neutral adjudication of the upcoming meeting we will get from this source.
Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser is the Ambassador of Qatar and he is the President of the 61st General Assembly which will convene in September in New York. He holds a degree in law from Beirut Arab University and has been at the UN since September 1998. Prior to that he was the Ambassador to Jordan and was previously at the UN Mission as minister to that mission. He also served in Pakistan and Dubai. He is also an advisory member of NYU’s Center for Dialogues.
While it is almost impossible to find any record of significant remarks made by the Qatari ambassador, one of his first tasks will be to preside over Durban III just before the UN General Assembly convenes. What is instructive is to view the remarks of the head of Qatar’s delegation to the first Durban conference, Abdul-Rahman H. Al-Attiyah when he declared “all the Israeli heinous violations are justified as a means to bring back every Jew to a land that they raped from its legitimate owners and denied their right to claim it back.” So we know where the Ambassador is coming from on that issue.
Al-Nasser will, as well, probably reflect his emir’s current agenda. During the opening days of the General Assembly in September of last year, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said “The war on terror…has plunged us into a kind of war with no limits, nor end, nor logic, nor legal or moral conditions…We believe that even as the phenomenon of terrorist exists, it should not be treated by waging wars…To the contrary it has…undermined the efforts made in dialogue among cultures.”
And by the way, if the President cannot chair a particular meeting, he can turn the gavel over to one of his vice-presidents of whom one is Iran’s UN Ambassador, Mohammad Khazael, who in an earlier interview cited the “important issue” of the “Durban Conference focusing on racial discrimination.”
So September will also be interesting as Israel pleads its case before arbiters who are among the least friendly nations of the world to put it mildly.
Someone once said “We will remember not the names of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” It will be an interesting month to be sure as we find out who are friends really are, and we must continue our efforts to convince the delegates to the UN to vote NO on a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
38 Days to Go – Diversions in Israel
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 38 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood our government here has now had its attention diverted to domestic issues.
Over the last three weeks there have been growing street demonstrations against the high cost of living in Israel. That includes everything from housing, to fuel, electricity prices, food prices, day care, education, and…well the list is endless. It seems now that there is not a single issue in the life of human beings here that does not have its specific group protesting about the costs related to that issue. From a small group in Tel Aviv three weeks ago the size of the demonstrators grew to over 300,000 by last Saturday night with a promise of over 500,000 this coming weekend, spread over any number of cities across the country with even some sympathizers setting up tents in the US as well.
To be sure the cost of living in Israel is extremely high as compared to other western and OECD countries. For example, even though housing prices have tanked around the world over the last two years, in Israel they have seen a steady increase of 10-20% annually. Fuel is now over $8 a gallon (to use the US reference), spare parts for cars cost 4-20 times what they do in the west, and it costs Israelis who commute on public transportation from Herzlia to Tel Aviv (about 6 miles) double what it costs someone in New York City to get from any point A to point B via subway or bus.
So the demonstrators have a point although it seems to this writer that both they and the government are missing the boat as the voices of protest grow and the government seems not to know how to handle them.
As far as the demonstrators are concerned, I support them in principle. The cost of living here has spun out of control for a whole host of reasons, some related to the move from socialism to capitalism a generation ago and others to the fact that in so many areas vendors have monopolies (e.g. there is only one cement manufacturer in the country and for any one brand of automobile, only one dealer, albeit with many branches).
But the protesters are fooling themselves if they think that the government can simply decide to create economic equality in one fell swoop without bankrupting the country. So, instead of demanding adjustments to every one of the economic sectors in need of addressing, they should really put together a plan to assist the government to address the country’s social needs over a reasonable period of time and I have faith that they can do so. After all, as many people are quick to point out, a very large majority of these (mostly) young people are intelligent, well-educated and creative types who, if they exerted as much energy in developing a plan as they have in organizing the demonstrations, they could actually come up with something worthwhile and effective.
Of course, the government does not stand blameless either. One good example is the way that the Prime Minister has responded to the uproar. Almost four weeks into the cycle he has neither met with any of these demonstrators, nor addressed the nation with his plan for dealing with the concerns they have raised. Instead he has empanelled a committee to make suggestions for reform, a committee that contains no less than 12 government ministers and a host of other parties as well. As we all know, a committee that large has almost no chance of doing anything constructive and certainly not in the short run. Concomitantly his Knesset associates pushed through a housing bill that they claim will assist in alleviating the problem, even though the protestors and many others in the country see no chance of that really doing any good unless and until the Israel Lands Authority starts releasing large tracts of land for development.
Some people are claiming that the only solution is to abandon capitalism and go back to a socialist economy, even though it is difficult to point to one example of pure socialism that has served any nation well. Where the government has failed, in the transition from the socialism of the 70s (when there was high unemployment, rampant inflation, and life, in general was not so good) to a capitalist economy, is in not providing the means for people to benefit from capitalism.
For example, one can argue that not everyone can or should be able to afford to live in the center of Tel Aviv. Rather, people should be willing to live 20, 30 or 40 miles out of town where there is more affordable housing. However, in order to make that argument the government has an obligation to build a transportation infrastructure that enables people to get from their homes to their work places in a reasonable amount of time, and this was not done. As of today there is no intra-city rapid transit network anywhere in Israel and commuter trains, which were also late in developing, only serve a limited percentage of the population.
As for housing, the main reason that housing costs have skyrocketed is because there is a shortage of housing in the country. To alleviate that shortage, the government, which owns 95% of the land, needs to release that land for building and put certain controls in place to ensure that there will be pockets of affordable housing not affected by the willingness of overseas buyers to purchase second homes in Israel at inflated prices. Similarly, as a large percentage of the protestors are students, universities should be building high rise dormitories so that students do not have to consider living in expensive central Tel Aviv if they choose to go to school in that city.
As we have seen in the last few years, it is not capitalism per se that is a bad thing, it is the greed that drives certain capitalists to deal with today without worrying about tomorrow. Couple that with the lack of serious long term planning by every government we have ever had, and one has a recipe for socioeconomic disaster.
So the attention of the government has been temporarily diverted from the most important issues that speak to our survival here, the long term relationship with our neighbors and the very real threat of a nuclear Iran. Of course, the government was not doing so well attending to those issues before the protests started so, at the end of the day, maybe it doesn’t matter anyway.
We read earlier today in the service for the 9th of Av (Tisha B’av) the verse from Isaiah 46:4 which says “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Let’s hope so because we are not doing so well in dealing with these issues on our own.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 38 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood our government here has now had its attention diverted to domestic issues.
Over the last three weeks there have been growing street demonstrations against the high cost of living in Israel. That includes everything from housing, to fuel, electricity prices, food prices, day care, education, and…well the list is endless. It seems now that there is not a single issue in the life of human beings here that does not have its specific group protesting about the costs related to that issue. From a small group in Tel Aviv three weeks ago the size of the demonstrators grew to over 300,000 by last Saturday night with a promise of over 500,000 this coming weekend, spread over any number of cities across the country with even some sympathizers setting up tents in the US as well.
To be sure the cost of living in Israel is extremely high as compared to other western and OECD countries. For example, even though housing prices have tanked around the world over the last two years, in Israel they have seen a steady increase of 10-20% annually. Fuel is now over $8 a gallon (to use the US reference), spare parts for cars cost 4-20 times what they do in the west, and it costs Israelis who commute on public transportation from Herzlia to Tel Aviv (about 6 miles) double what it costs someone in New York City to get from any point A to point B via subway or bus.
So the demonstrators have a point although it seems to this writer that both they and the government are missing the boat as the voices of protest grow and the government seems not to know how to handle them.
As far as the demonstrators are concerned, I support them in principle. The cost of living here has spun out of control for a whole host of reasons, some related to the move from socialism to capitalism a generation ago and others to the fact that in so many areas vendors have monopolies (e.g. there is only one cement manufacturer in the country and for any one brand of automobile, only one dealer, albeit with many branches).
But the protesters are fooling themselves if they think that the government can simply decide to create economic equality in one fell swoop without bankrupting the country. So, instead of demanding adjustments to every one of the economic sectors in need of addressing, they should really put together a plan to assist the government to address the country’s social needs over a reasonable period of time and I have faith that they can do so. After all, as many people are quick to point out, a very large majority of these (mostly) young people are intelligent, well-educated and creative types who, if they exerted as much energy in developing a plan as they have in organizing the demonstrations, they could actually come up with something worthwhile and effective.
Of course, the government does not stand blameless either. One good example is the way that the Prime Minister has responded to the uproar. Almost four weeks into the cycle he has neither met with any of these demonstrators, nor addressed the nation with his plan for dealing with the concerns they have raised. Instead he has empanelled a committee to make suggestions for reform, a committee that contains no less than 12 government ministers and a host of other parties as well. As we all know, a committee that large has almost no chance of doing anything constructive and certainly not in the short run. Concomitantly his Knesset associates pushed through a housing bill that they claim will assist in alleviating the problem, even though the protestors and many others in the country see no chance of that really doing any good unless and until the Israel Lands Authority starts releasing large tracts of land for development.
Some people are claiming that the only solution is to abandon capitalism and go back to a socialist economy, even though it is difficult to point to one example of pure socialism that has served any nation well. Where the government has failed, in the transition from the socialism of the 70s (when there was high unemployment, rampant inflation, and life, in general was not so good) to a capitalist economy, is in not providing the means for people to benefit from capitalism.
For example, one can argue that not everyone can or should be able to afford to live in the center of Tel Aviv. Rather, people should be willing to live 20, 30 or 40 miles out of town where there is more affordable housing. However, in order to make that argument the government has an obligation to build a transportation infrastructure that enables people to get from their homes to their work places in a reasonable amount of time, and this was not done. As of today there is no intra-city rapid transit network anywhere in Israel and commuter trains, which were also late in developing, only serve a limited percentage of the population.
As for housing, the main reason that housing costs have skyrocketed is because there is a shortage of housing in the country. To alleviate that shortage, the government, which owns 95% of the land, needs to release that land for building and put certain controls in place to ensure that there will be pockets of affordable housing not affected by the willingness of overseas buyers to purchase second homes in Israel at inflated prices. Similarly, as a large percentage of the protestors are students, universities should be building high rise dormitories so that students do not have to consider living in expensive central Tel Aviv if they choose to go to school in that city.
As we have seen in the last few years, it is not capitalism per se that is a bad thing, it is the greed that drives certain capitalists to deal with today without worrying about tomorrow. Couple that with the lack of serious long term planning by every government we have ever had, and one has a recipe for socioeconomic disaster.
So the attention of the government has been temporarily diverted from the most important issues that speak to our survival here, the long term relationship with our neighbors and the very real threat of a nuclear Iran. Of course, the government was not doing so well attending to those issues before the protests started so, at the end of the day, maybe it doesn’t matter anyway.
We read earlier today in the service for the 9th of Av (Tisha B’av) the verse from Isaiah 46:4 which says “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Let’s hope so because we are not doing so well in dealing with these issues on our own.
Monday, August 8, 2011
39 Days to Go – Is Anybody Listening?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock is ticking and there are now just 39 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood.
Here in Israel the Palestinian Arab leadership seems intent not only in going all the way with this (even though they surely understand that this will cause more problems than it solves) but also in urging their people here not to react violently after the vote, whichever way it goes.
Is there a way to avoid a worst case scenario? Well, for a change I actually agree with a New York Times editorial which appeared yesterday and which said:
"The best way, likely the only way, to head off this debacle is with the start of serious negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The two sides haven’t even been in the same room together since September 2010. "
Uncharacteristically for the New York Times, they lay the blame at the feet of both parties as opposed to their usual position of criticizing Israel alone. They also refrained from urging third party intervention here (although they do give credit to the continuing efforts of the Quartet to come up with some formula that will be accepted by all), which is also a departure from the norm, perhaps realizing at long last that only the parties to the conflict themselves can craft a solution, if there is one.
To reiterate a position that I have taken earlier, the ONLY way this situation will EVER get resolved (if it can be resolved, and there are those who believe we need to live in a perpetual state of war to survive) is if the two parties sit down together, without outside interference, and hammer together a plan that makes sense for both parties. Because I retain an American mentality even after 28 years here, I believe this can yet be done and deplore the fact that neither party seems to be willing to come to the table and work on this.
The Palestinians have created every excuse in the book not to do so and Netanyahu’s reluctance to meet the Palestinian Arab leadership without having them first agree to calling Israel the nation state of the Jewish people (which it is) is no less stultifying. Earlier last week the Bronfman’s urged Netanyahu to go to Ramallah and speak to the Palestinian National Council (something I suggested in my blog months ago) but my guess is he will continue to dismiss that suggestion.
So we are left with a very difficult and, of course, serious situation compounded by what is now going on in the world’s financial markets and the demonstrations here in the Israel Spring as it were. As for me, I continue to share the same frustration I have always shared living here. We are really smart people who know how to do things better than we oftentimes demonstrate and I will never fully understand why. But that is endemic to the society, I would even say it is part of the local DNA and it makes true progress in certain areas such as peace most elusive.
Tonight, the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, here in Israel and around the world, the Jewish community will pause for 24 hours to commemorate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. It is a period of fasting, prayer, engaging discussions on related topics and general mourning, akin to that of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) but much different. In addition to the Temple remembrance, this was also the day which marked the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492, from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, from England in 1290 and the start of the Crusades in 1095 which resulted in the death of 10,000 Jews in the first 30 days after that date. So we have reason to mark the calendar tomorrow in a special way.
But the message of this day is not only about remembrance, it is also about hope and the possibility of breaking the cycle of mourning that has too often enveloped the Jewish people. To do that, national leaders must know when to stand firm and when and how to bend to avoid disastrous results. They must be able to put their personal agenda and feelings aside and make proper decisions for the long term welfare of their people. Is anybody listening?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
The clock is ticking and there are now just 39 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood.
Here in Israel the Palestinian Arab leadership seems intent not only in going all the way with this (even though they surely understand that this will cause more problems than it solves) but also in urging their people here not to react violently after the vote, whichever way it goes.
Is there a way to avoid a worst case scenario? Well, for a change I actually agree with a New York Times editorial which appeared yesterday and which said:
"The best way, likely the only way, to head off this debacle is with the start of serious negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The two sides haven’t even been in the same room together since September 2010. "
Uncharacteristically for the New York Times, they lay the blame at the feet of both parties as opposed to their usual position of criticizing Israel alone. They also refrained from urging third party intervention here (although they do give credit to the continuing efforts of the Quartet to come up with some formula that will be accepted by all), which is also a departure from the norm, perhaps realizing at long last that only the parties to the conflict themselves can craft a solution, if there is one.
To reiterate a position that I have taken earlier, the ONLY way this situation will EVER get resolved (if it can be resolved, and there are those who believe we need to live in a perpetual state of war to survive) is if the two parties sit down together, without outside interference, and hammer together a plan that makes sense for both parties. Because I retain an American mentality even after 28 years here, I believe this can yet be done and deplore the fact that neither party seems to be willing to come to the table and work on this.
The Palestinians have created every excuse in the book not to do so and Netanyahu’s reluctance to meet the Palestinian Arab leadership without having them first agree to calling Israel the nation state of the Jewish people (which it is) is no less stultifying. Earlier last week the Bronfman’s urged Netanyahu to go to Ramallah and speak to the Palestinian National Council (something I suggested in my blog months ago) but my guess is he will continue to dismiss that suggestion.
So we are left with a very difficult and, of course, serious situation compounded by what is now going on in the world’s financial markets and the demonstrations here in the Israel Spring as it were. As for me, I continue to share the same frustration I have always shared living here. We are really smart people who know how to do things better than we oftentimes demonstrate and I will never fully understand why. But that is endemic to the society, I would even say it is part of the local DNA and it makes true progress in certain areas such as peace most elusive.
Tonight, the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, here in Israel and around the world, the Jewish community will pause for 24 hours to commemorate the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. It is a period of fasting, prayer, engaging discussions on related topics and general mourning, akin to that of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) but much different. In addition to the Temple remembrance, this was also the day which marked the Jewish expulsion from Spain in 1492, from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942, from England in 1290 and the start of the Crusades in 1095 which resulted in the death of 10,000 Jews in the first 30 days after that date. So we have reason to mark the calendar tomorrow in a special way.
But the message of this day is not only about remembrance, it is also about hope and the possibility of breaking the cycle of mourning that has too often enveloped the Jewish people. To do that, national leaders must know when to stand firm and when and how to bend to avoid disastrous results. They must be able to put their personal agenda and feelings aside and make proper decisions for the long term welfare of their people. Is anybody listening?
Friday, August 5, 2011
42 Days to Go – What State Can the UN Approve?
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 42 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood it is now more important than ever to let the UN delegates know saying YES would be a big mistake.
Steven Rosen in Foreign Policy magazine writes an analysis of the Palestinian state that the leadership there is attempting to get the General Assembly to approve that is the best I’ve seen on why this should not happen.
In a piece entitled The Palestinians' Imaginary State, Rosen poses the question: Which Palestinian State? He posits:
"Of the three Palestinian states the assembly could recognize, two are real and arguably could meet the requirements for statehood. But it is the third, purely imaginary one that the assembly will endorse, one that neither has a functioning government nor meets the requirements of international law. Both the Hamas-controlled Palestinian entity in Gaza and the rival Fatah-governed Palestinian entity in the West Bank can be said to meet all four of the criteria of the law of statehood. The one on which the United Nations will vote does not."
He makes a good argument when he says:
"Unlike the two Palestinian entities that already exist, either of which could be recognized as a Palestinian state because they seem to fulfill the legal requirements, the Palestinian entity that a General Assembly majority will recognize as a state this September does not actually exist on Earth. It is imaginary and aspirational, not real. And it does not meet the legal requirements."
His case is strengthened by the fact that Mahmoud Abbas, who claims to be the president of the Palestine that is pressing the claim in the U.N. General Assembly, is not considered to be the president anymore by Hamas, the largest political party in the putative state. Elected in 2005 to serve until January 2009, his term expired, even though he unilaterally extended it.
This putative state of "Palestine" also has a legislature that never meets. Elected on Jan. 25, 2006, for a term of four years, the PLC has enacted no laws, passed on no ministers, and conducted no meetings since 2007. It is common for Palestinian observers and their supporters in the West to attribute the PLC's inaction to the fact that Israel arrested 21 of its more radical members in June 2006 after the abduction of Gilad Shalit, most of who are still in detention. The Carter Center, for example, states, "With most of its representatives in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian Legislative Council never assembled the required quorum for meetings and hence was unable to carry out legislative functions designated to the PLC." But the PLC has 132 members, of whom fewer than 20 are detained by Israel, and a quorum of the PLC requires only one more than half the members -- 67 -- to be present. So it is not Israel that is preventing a quorum.
In a word if the General Assembly votes yes it will create an imaginary state that has two incompatible presidents, two rival prime ministers, a constitution whose most central provisions are violated by both sides, no functioning legislature, no ability to hold elections, a population mostly not under its control, borders that would annex territory under the control of other powers, and no clear path to resolve any of these conflicts. It is a resolution that plants the seeds for civil and international wars, not one that advances peace.
Of course, should the U.S. exercises its veto on this issue in the Security Council, Abbas can consort with Rostam Ghasemi, who on Wednesday became Iran’s oil minister and is now the new head of OPEC. Abbas would find a friend in this head of the world’s oil cartel who is not only from US-hating Iran but who has also been sanctioned by the U.S., the E.U. and Australia and has had his assets blacklisted. If you are wondering how this can happen, according to OPEC rules the leadership rotates among the countries and it is now in the hands of Iran whose oil minister is automatically the president of the oil cartel.
Is there any logic left at all in international relations? One can certainly have his doubt, that’s for sure.
George Washington said “There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an allusion which experience must cure.” As true, now as it was then. The pressure on the UN delegates must be kept up.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 42 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood it is now more important than ever to let the UN delegates know saying YES would be a big mistake.
Steven Rosen in Foreign Policy magazine writes an analysis of the Palestinian state that the leadership there is attempting to get the General Assembly to approve that is the best I’ve seen on why this should not happen.
In a piece entitled The Palestinians' Imaginary State, Rosen poses the question: Which Palestinian State? He posits:
"Of the three Palestinian states the assembly could recognize, two are real and arguably could meet the requirements for statehood. But it is the third, purely imaginary one that the assembly will endorse, one that neither has a functioning government nor meets the requirements of international law. Both the Hamas-controlled Palestinian entity in Gaza and the rival Fatah-governed Palestinian entity in the West Bank can be said to meet all four of the criteria of the law of statehood. The one on which the United Nations will vote does not."
He makes a good argument when he says:
"Unlike the two Palestinian entities that already exist, either of which could be recognized as a Palestinian state because they seem to fulfill the legal requirements, the Palestinian entity that a General Assembly majority will recognize as a state this September does not actually exist on Earth. It is imaginary and aspirational, not real. And it does not meet the legal requirements."
His case is strengthened by the fact that Mahmoud Abbas, who claims to be the president of the Palestine that is pressing the claim in the U.N. General Assembly, is not considered to be the president anymore by Hamas, the largest political party in the putative state. Elected in 2005 to serve until January 2009, his term expired, even though he unilaterally extended it.
This putative state of "Palestine" also has a legislature that never meets. Elected on Jan. 25, 2006, for a term of four years, the PLC has enacted no laws, passed on no ministers, and conducted no meetings since 2007. It is common for Palestinian observers and their supporters in the West to attribute the PLC's inaction to the fact that Israel arrested 21 of its more radical members in June 2006 after the abduction of Gilad Shalit, most of who are still in detention. The Carter Center, for example, states, "With most of its representatives in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian Legislative Council never assembled the required quorum for meetings and hence was unable to carry out legislative functions designated to the PLC." But the PLC has 132 members, of whom fewer than 20 are detained by Israel, and a quorum of the PLC requires only one more than half the members -- 67 -- to be present. So it is not Israel that is preventing a quorum.
In a word if the General Assembly votes yes it will create an imaginary state that has two incompatible presidents, two rival prime ministers, a constitution whose most central provisions are violated by both sides, no functioning legislature, no ability to hold elections, a population mostly not under its control, borders that would annex territory under the control of other powers, and no clear path to resolve any of these conflicts. It is a resolution that plants the seeds for civil and international wars, not one that advances peace.
Of course, should the U.S. exercises its veto on this issue in the Security Council, Abbas can consort with Rostam Ghasemi, who on Wednesday became Iran’s oil minister and is now the new head of OPEC. Abbas would find a friend in this head of the world’s oil cartel who is not only from US-hating Iran but who has also been sanctioned by the U.S., the E.U. and Australia and has had his assets blacklisted. If you are wondering how this can happen, according to OPEC rules the leadership rotates among the countries and it is now in the hands of Iran whose oil minister is automatically the president of the oil cartel.
Is there any logic left at all in international relations? One can certainly have his doubt, that’s for sure.
George Washington said “There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate, upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an allusion which experience must cure.” As true, now as it was then. The pressure on the UN delegates must be kept up.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
44 Days to Go – Missing an Opportunity to Miss an Opportunity
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 44 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood it looks like Abba Eban’s statement that the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity is in play once again.
Overnight the press reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been in communication with President Obama and said that Israel would be willing to accept the 1967 armistice lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps as a baseline for peace talks as part of a package in which the Palestinian Arab leadership would (a) recognize Israel as the Jewish state and (b) desist from the pursuit of September’s vote on statehood at the UN. The Palestinians would then agree that the final goal of negotiations would be two states side by side, a Palestinian one and a Jewish one.
Jerusalem, while not endorsing the 1967 lines, would agree to language that would say that Israel recognizes that this is the position of the international community. The Israeli official quoted in the press said that the willingness to show this degree of flexibility would be contingent on the Palestinians demonstrating flexibility of their own and endorsing language nodding at recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Well it did not take very long for the Palestinian Arab leadership to dismiss this potential concession on future borders calling it a ploy. According to a report in London’s Telegraph, senior officials responded with considerable suspicion to claims that Prime Minister Netanyahu was prepared to compromise on his long-standing objections to Palestinian sovereignty over Judea and Samaria within its current boundaries.
Saeb Erekat, a leading Palestinian negotiator, said “When I hear this from Netanyahu’s lips, that he will accept an Israeli state along 1967 borders, I will believe it. But what I have read so far is a masterpiece of PR and linguistics. [The Israelis] do this very well.” He then added “Such an important thing deserves that Netanyahu speak to his people in Hebrew,
Arabic, English or Chinese, so we can hear him saying that he accepts a two state solution along the 1967 borders.”
In response Israeli official say they are prepared to accept a package proposed by the US and its negotiating partners as outlined above. Israel insists, of course, that adjustments would have to be made to allow us to annex some of our larger settlements in Judea and Samaria in exchange for land in Israel.
So, once again, an opening appears and the door is immediately shut. But this has happened before. And what is really amusing is that ever since Oslo when Arafat himself used to say one thing to the press in English (usually through an interpreter) and something entirely different to his people in Arabic, we have been demanding that the Palestinian leadership say in Arabic what they say to the world press, yet that normally does not happen. For the tables to be turned on us in a society with a free press is really ludicrous.
So the stalemate continues and another opportunity seems lost. For the moment, we will all go back to demonstrating for social equality while the politicians watch the days move ever closer to September. The frustration is palpable.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 44 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood it looks like Abba Eban’s statement that the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity is in play once again.
Overnight the press reported that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has been in communication with President Obama and said that Israel would be willing to accept the 1967 armistice lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps as a baseline for peace talks as part of a package in which the Palestinian Arab leadership would (a) recognize Israel as the Jewish state and (b) desist from the pursuit of September’s vote on statehood at the UN. The Palestinians would then agree that the final goal of negotiations would be two states side by side, a Palestinian one and a Jewish one.
Jerusalem, while not endorsing the 1967 lines, would agree to language that would say that Israel recognizes that this is the position of the international community. The Israeli official quoted in the press said that the willingness to show this degree of flexibility would be contingent on the Palestinians demonstrating flexibility of their own and endorsing language nodding at recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.
Well it did not take very long for the Palestinian Arab leadership to dismiss this potential concession on future borders calling it a ploy. According to a report in London’s Telegraph, senior officials responded with considerable suspicion to claims that Prime Minister Netanyahu was prepared to compromise on his long-standing objections to Palestinian sovereignty over Judea and Samaria within its current boundaries.
Saeb Erekat, a leading Palestinian negotiator, said “When I hear this from Netanyahu’s lips, that he will accept an Israeli state along 1967 borders, I will believe it. But what I have read so far is a masterpiece of PR and linguistics. [The Israelis] do this very well.” He then added “Such an important thing deserves that Netanyahu speak to his people in Hebrew,
Arabic, English or Chinese, so we can hear him saying that he accepts a two state solution along the 1967 borders.”
In response Israeli official say they are prepared to accept a package proposed by the US and its negotiating partners as outlined above. Israel insists, of course, that adjustments would have to be made to allow us to annex some of our larger settlements in Judea and Samaria in exchange for land in Israel.
So, once again, an opening appears and the door is immediately shut. But this has happened before. And what is really amusing is that ever since Oslo when Arafat himself used to say one thing to the press in English (usually through an interpreter) and something entirely different to his people in Arabic, we have been demanding that the Palestinian leadership say in Arabic what they say to the world press, yet that normally does not happen. For the tables to be turned on us in a society with a free press is really ludicrous.
So the stalemate continues and another opportunity seems lost. For the moment, we will all go back to demonstrating for social equality while the politicians watch the days move ever closer to September. The frustration is palpable.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
45 Days to Go – The Best Case Scenario
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 45 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood.
Yesterday I painted a picture of the worst case scenario (although there are probably even worse ones than what I portrayed) but all is not negative. So let’s look at the possible positive side of all of this. After all, could I have lived here for almost 28 years if I didn’t think that there is, indeed, always a best case scenario? Of course not!
First of all, Israel has been up against threats to its survival for all of its 63+ years of existence. While there have been periods when things appeared quiet, under the surface there was never real quiet, never real peace, never real security, just a better situation sometimes as opposed to others. Yet through all of this, wars, homicide bombers, busses blowing up, envoys killed in far off places and well, there is no end to the list, Israel has prospered. Today, with all of the economic chaos going on in the world, the economy here is doing well, unemployment is at its all-time lowest levels, and indices of happiness are high.
Of course, over the past week hundreds of thousands of people have been demonstrating against the economic inequalities of this society, given high prices for food, housing and day care along with what is becoming a severe imbalance in the assets of the rich vs. the rest of society. While the demonstrators have a case and all of us are affected by things such as paying 10 times as much for spare parts for cars than people pay in the west (according to this morning’s papers), even those demonstrations are constructive. They reflect, in a very real way, the freedom people have here to express their opinions, criticize the government and demand change without the fear of political retribution. In spite of our faulty democracy, we still live in a country that respects people’s individual rights to voice their opinions and the demonstrations show the strength of that theory.
On the issue of relations with our Palestinian Arab population, much of the present activity pushing for UN recognition is a direct result, in my opinion, of a misguided US president who has chosen to be more Palestinian than the Palestinians. President Obama has put ideas in play that the Palestinian Arab leadership might never have put on the table but, once Obama said it, the Palestinians had no choice but to agree. Obamas insistence, for example, that all building in the settlements as well as East Jerusalem must cease, was a gift to the Palestinian leadership that they never expected from a US president. As such, their position has become more intransigent than it has ever been and has had the effect of forcing Chairman Abbas up a tree while the President has effectively left the garden. So much for depending on the US to be a broker.
As regards the UN vote, here too, there is an optimistic side. A host of Palestinian Arab leaders have publicly stated that it is a mistake to go the UN right now for a vote. Even an Arab country like Jordan has decided to vote “no” should the issue come to a vote. So while Chairman Abbas publicly claims that he will not be deterred, back channel meetings are held between representatives of both sides in order to find some way to avoid a nasty experience at the UN. While it is still not 100% clear why this week’s meeting in Amman between Israeli president Shimon Peres and Chairman Abbas was cancelled, just the fact that the meeting was scheduled, in itself, is a positive sign.
In politics, 45 days is a long time to be sure. While I believe that we must continue to do everything in our power to convince UN members to vote “no” should the issue of Palestinian statehood be brought to the General Assembly, in my heart I am convinced that the intelligentsia on the other side understands that it is not in the best interests of the Palestinian people to move ahead with a statehood request at this time. So on this too, I am somewhat optimistic.
This is a difficult time in the Jewish calendar. The run up to the observance of the Ninth of the Hebrew month of Av (Tisha B’av) next Tuesday has always been a treacherous time for our people during which, historically, terrible things happened to our ancestors and their communities. But, by nature, we are an optimistic people and we know that after Tisha B’av comes a most joyful period in the Hebrew calendar culminating in the New Year observances seven weeks later and the Sukkot festival just two weeks after that. So, regardless of the state in which we may find ourselves today, there is always tomorrow and tomorrow brings with it the promise of positive change. And it is that promise that propels me and gives me hope.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
There are now 45 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood.
Yesterday I painted a picture of the worst case scenario (although there are probably even worse ones than what I portrayed) but all is not negative. So let’s look at the possible positive side of all of this. After all, could I have lived here for almost 28 years if I didn’t think that there is, indeed, always a best case scenario? Of course not!
First of all, Israel has been up against threats to its survival for all of its 63+ years of existence. While there have been periods when things appeared quiet, under the surface there was never real quiet, never real peace, never real security, just a better situation sometimes as opposed to others. Yet through all of this, wars, homicide bombers, busses blowing up, envoys killed in far off places and well, there is no end to the list, Israel has prospered. Today, with all of the economic chaos going on in the world, the economy here is doing well, unemployment is at its all-time lowest levels, and indices of happiness are high.
Of course, over the past week hundreds of thousands of people have been demonstrating against the economic inequalities of this society, given high prices for food, housing and day care along with what is becoming a severe imbalance in the assets of the rich vs. the rest of society. While the demonstrators have a case and all of us are affected by things such as paying 10 times as much for spare parts for cars than people pay in the west (according to this morning’s papers), even those demonstrations are constructive. They reflect, in a very real way, the freedom people have here to express their opinions, criticize the government and demand change without the fear of political retribution. In spite of our faulty democracy, we still live in a country that respects people’s individual rights to voice their opinions and the demonstrations show the strength of that theory.
On the issue of relations with our Palestinian Arab population, much of the present activity pushing for UN recognition is a direct result, in my opinion, of a misguided US president who has chosen to be more Palestinian than the Palestinians. President Obama has put ideas in play that the Palestinian Arab leadership might never have put on the table but, once Obama said it, the Palestinians had no choice but to agree. Obamas insistence, for example, that all building in the settlements as well as East Jerusalem must cease, was a gift to the Palestinian leadership that they never expected from a US president. As such, their position has become more intransigent than it has ever been and has had the effect of forcing Chairman Abbas up a tree while the President has effectively left the garden. So much for depending on the US to be a broker.
As regards the UN vote, here too, there is an optimistic side. A host of Palestinian Arab leaders have publicly stated that it is a mistake to go the UN right now for a vote. Even an Arab country like Jordan has decided to vote “no” should the issue come to a vote. So while Chairman Abbas publicly claims that he will not be deterred, back channel meetings are held between representatives of both sides in order to find some way to avoid a nasty experience at the UN. While it is still not 100% clear why this week’s meeting in Amman between Israeli president Shimon Peres and Chairman Abbas was cancelled, just the fact that the meeting was scheduled, in itself, is a positive sign.
In politics, 45 days is a long time to be sure. While I believe that we must continue to do everything in our power to convince UN members to vote “no” should the issue of Palestinian statehood be brought to the General Assembly, in my heart I am convinced that the intelligentsia on the other side understands that it is not in the best interests of the Palestinian people to move ahead with a statehood request at this time. So on this too, I am somewhat optimistic.
This is a difficult time in the Jewish calendar. The run up to the observance of the Ninth of the Hebrew month of Av (Tisha B’av) next Tuesday has always been a treacherous time for our people during which, historically, terrible things happened to our ancestors and their communities. But, by nature, we are an optimistic people and we know that after Tisha B’av comes a most joyful period in the Hebrew calendar culminating in the New Year observances seven weeks later and the Sukkot festival just two weeks after that. So, regardless of the state in which we may find ourselves today, there is always tomorrow and tomorrow brings with it the promise of positive change. And it is that promise that propels me and gives me hope.
Monday, August 1, 2011
46 Days to Go – The Worst Case Scenario
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 46 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood it is probably time to take a look at worst case scenarios and what might happen the day after the UN vote, regardless of the which way it goes, although I still believe that it would be best if the vote were negative.
First of all there is Iran, who will be a menace in the region regardless of how the vote goes or even if it does not come to a vote.
Reza Kahlili, a pseudonym for an ex-CIA spy who requires anonymity for safety reasons, writes in the Washington Post this week:
"While America focuses on its internal problems and its involvement in three wars and the world focuses on the global economy, Iran is progressing on three dangerous fronts: nuclear weapons, armed missiles and naval capability. It is estimated that Iran will have enough highly enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb within two months and currently has enough low-enriched uranium for three nuclear bombs. Iran is also perfecting its missile-delivery systems. The (revolutionary) guards' ballistic missiles have a range of 1,200 miles, covering all U.S. bases in the Middle East and all of Israel, and now they possess missiles from North Korea with a range of 2,000 miles, which covers most of Western Europe."
About the naval capability he writes:
"In an alarming July 18 statement, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said the Iranian navy plans on deploying warships in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a program to ply international waters, although he did not say where in the Atlantic the ships would be sent. Two days later, Rear Adm. Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi revealed for the first time that the Iranian navy has equipped a number of its logistic vessels and units with long-range surface-to-surface missiles. He stated, "Missile frigates and destroyers have been equipped with these missiles since a long time ago, and the surface-to-surface missiles of the logistic vessels were successfully tested and assessed during the recent naval war games, dubbed as Joushan." So an Iranian navy ship or any commercial vessel operated by the Iranians could easily launch a missile from outside the Gulf of Mexico and essentially cover most of the United States. Much more alarming is the fact that once in possession of a nuclear bomb, Iran could successfully carry out its promise to bring America to its knees by a successful electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the country."
He closes by stating that “A nuclear-armed Iran will change our world with horrific consequences.”
Closer to home, Ha’aretz reported this week that Mahmoud al-Zahar, a prominent Hamas member in Gaza said of the UN vote: “The approach to the UN is a 'political scam.'” He is equally unequivocal on the so-called two-state solution, which aims at an Israeli state and a Palestinian state existing side by side. "We are not going to recognize Israel. That is very simple. And we are not going to accept Israel as the owner of one square centimeter because it is a fabricated state. On what moral basis was Israel established? On the right of return (of the Jews) after 4,000 years? It's just imagination." He says accepting Israel's right to exist would "cost 10 million Palestinians their right to Palestine. Who can pay that price? Who will go to the refugee camps and tell the people you have no right on Palestine?"
Finally, of course, there is the Israeli annexation movement spearheaded by Jerusalem Post Deputy Managing Editor Caroline Glick. She has taken the position that Israel only has two alternatives, either to annex all of Judea and Samaria (known as the West Bank) or be destroyed by its neighbors. According to her and others here in Israel who have aligned with her, there is no future in a two state solution and any attempt at coming to terms with the Palestinian Arabs is doomed to failure. Therefore, the only option is to take Judea and Samaria and make it part of Israel.
What a series of options eh? Be nuked by Iran, engage in long term war with Hamas or annex Judea and Samaria and run the risk of full regional war which, of course, has the potential to start World War III in earnest (although some of us believe that it has already begun). But war, of course, will not solve anything. Bertrand Russell is quoted as saying “War does not determine who is right, only who is left.” No one can argue with that but in these difficult days it is a real challenge even for an optimist like me to see a positive end to this without a significant amount of interim bloodshed. How I hope I am wrong.
By Sherwin Pomerantz
With 46 days to go to the opening of the UN General Assembly and the vote on Palestinian statehood it is probably time to take a look at worst case scenarios and what might happen the day after the UN vote, regardless of the which way it goes, although I still believe that it would be best if the vote were negative.
First of all there is Iran, who will be a menace in the region regardless of how the vote goes or even if it does not come to a vote.
Reza Kahlili, a pseudonym for an ex-CIA spy who requires anonymity for safety reasons, writes in the Washington Post this week:
"While America focuses on its internal problems and its involvement in three wars and the world focuses on the global economy, Iran is progressing on three dangerous fronts: nuclear weapons, armed missiles and naval capability. It is estimated that Iran will have enough highly enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb within two months and currently has enough low-enriched uranium for three nuclear bombs. Iran is also perfecting its missile-delivery systems. The (revolutionary) guards' ballistic missiles have a range of 1,200 miles, covering all U.S. bases in the Middle East and all of Israel, and now they possess missiles from North Korea with a range of 2,000 miles, which covers most of Western Europe."
About the naval capability he writes:
"In an alarming July 18 statement, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari said the Iranian navy plans on deploying warships in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a program to ply international waters, although he did not say where in the Atlantic the ships would be sent. Two days later, Rear Adm. Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi revealed for the first time that the Iranian navy has equipped a number of its logistic vessels and units with long-range surface-to-surface missiles. He stated, "Missile frigates and destroyers have been equipped with these missiles since a long time ago, and the surface-to-surface missiles of the logistic vessels were successfully tested and assessed during the recent naval war games, dubbed as Joushan." So an Iranian navy ship or any commercial vessel operated by the Iranians could easily launch a missile from outside the Gulf of Mexico and essentially cover most of the United States. Much more alarming is the fact that once in possession of a nuclear bomb, Iran could successfully carry out its promise to bring America to its knees by a successful electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the country."
He closes by stating that “A nuclear-armed Iran will change our world with horrific consequences.”
Closer to home, Ha’aretz reported this week that Mahmoud al-Zahar, a prominent Hamas member in Gaza said of the UN vote: “The approach to the UN is a 'political scam.'” He is equally unequivocal on the so-called two-state solution, which aims at an Israeli state and a Palestinian state existing side by side. "We are not going to recognize Israel. That is very simple. And we are not going to accept Israel as the owner of one square centimeter because it is a fabricated state. On what moral basis was Israel established? On the right of return (of the Jews) after 4,000 years? It's just imagination." He says accepting Israel's right to exist would "cost 10 million Palestinians their right to Palestine. Who can pay that price? Who will go to the refugee camps and tell the people you have no right on Palestine?"
Finally, of course, there is the Israeli annexation movement spearheaded by Jerusalem Post Deputy Managing Editor Caroline Glick. She has taken the position that Israel only has two alternatives, either to annex all of Judea and Samaria (known as the West Bank) or be destroyed by its neighbors. According to her and others here in Israel who have aligned with her, there is no future in a two state solution and any attempt at coming to terms with the Palestinian Arabs is doomed to failure. Therefore, the only option is to take Judea and Samaria and make it part of Israel.
What a series of options eh? Be nuked by Iran, engage in long term war with Hamas or annex Judea and Samaria and run the risk of full regional war which, of course, has the potential to start World War III in earnest (although some of us believe that it has already begun). But war, of course, will not solve anything. Bertrand Russell is quoted as saying “War does not determine who is right, only who is left.” No one can argue with that but in these difficult days it is a real challenge even for an optimist like me to see a positive end to this without a significant amount of interim bloodshed. How I hope I am wrong.
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