Bloodthirsty Liberal

Hoo boy, this one’s got the works: bells, whistles, ribbons, bows, buckles, and even comes with optional spinning hubs.

Resist this brilliant, far-reaching proposal, I dare you!

The London daily Al-Hayat reports, citing an Egyptian diplomatic source, that during their trip to Washington on January 8, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman presented to U.S. President Barack Obama a plan for renewing negotiations, called “End Game.”

The plan includes the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the 1967 borders, including eastern Jerusalem, with an option for territorial exchange, as well as international guarantees for the establishment of the Palestinian state, and a proposal for sources of authority for a permanent arrangement by the international community.

The source added if these principles are agreed on, an international peace conference will be held in Egypt in March or April, and to this end efforts will be made for the completion of the Palestinian reconciliation.

…’67 borders… east Jerusalem… Palestinian state… what no right of return for everyone one-eighth Palestinian and his goldfish?! This is an outrage! This is an insult! This is a Zionist plot to seize the internal organs of Palestinian children and make frilly little umbrella drinks out of their blood (my favorite being Mohammed Al-Durr-ade: one part lime juice, one part Campari, one part selzer, and one part O-negative Palestinian blood—preferably from a boy under the age of twelve).

They called it “End Game” because it was dead before the ink was dry. Not that George Mitchell didn’t drop his spoon into his lobster bisque and hop a 747 to Cairo for “consultations” the moment he heard about it.

How about we propose a peace plan for a change? Before we talk details of territory and “sources of authority for a permanent arrangement by the international community” (whatever the [bleep] that’s supposed to mean), let’s start with one teensy-weensy premise: stop hating.

Let PM Netanyahu explain:

[B]ased on recent experience, we’ve seen that in Lebanon we had an international guarantee – the United States [sic] Resolution – 1701 – an insurance policy signed by the entire international community and you know that that unfortunately has failed, in fact it’s failed miserably and Hizbollah is just pouring in weapons, more and more weapons to fire into Israel. And you know that we had also an understanding with other countries when we left Gaza about the Philadelphi corridor and I appreciate the efforts made by President Mubarak and the Egyptian government to stop it, but you can see that there is massive infiltration continuing all the time. We can’t afford to have that replicated a third time in the center part of the country that dominates our cities, dominates our population, and dominates our airfield.

…

It is a peculiar notion that the Hamas that committed a double war crime of firing on civilians, our civilians, while hiding behind civilians, their civilians, is basically exonerated and the international community or parts of it is directing the fire against Israel which did what any country would do and that is try to pinpoint the rocketeers and try to stop them from firing on us. I think the battle against terror has been sorely hurt by the Goldstone Report and it’s also meant to, of course tie our hands so that we cannot take actions to defend ourselves.

…

But we have another challenge, and that’s the challenge of peace. We want to move forward and in order to move forward we need immediately to negotiate peace. We said that on day one in the formation of the government. We have not been met by a similar position from the Palestinian side. What we’ve done in the nine months that we’ve been in office was one: to call immediately for peace talks, second: to remove hundreds of roadblocks, checkpoints, and other obstacles to move and as a result the Palestinian economy has soared to about 8% growth. We think that together we could get it to reach an even higher level. Third: I gave a speech at Bar-Ilan that formed a national consensus about the idea of peace, of a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state and fourth: we took an unprecedented step in the Cabinet to restrain the construction in the settlements for a ten month period. This is what we did.

During that time, what we’ve seen the Palestinian do is one: raise preconditions that didn’t exist for the sixteen years from the onset of the Oslo process. Two: incite their public and their people in their national media and by their official leadership in ways that are fully contrary to peace. Third: to promote the Goldstone agenda and these are all contrary to peace. These all lead to the other direction.

Israel has been trying to get the Palestinians to enter the negotiating tent; the Palestinians have climbed up a tree. They’re not in the tent, they’re not in the entrance to the tent, they’re climbing higher and higher in the tree and they like it up there. People bring ladders to them. We bring ladders to them. The higher the ladder, the higher they climb.

I’m tempted to say give them a rope and let them hang themselves, but that just reinforces my uncharitable misperception. Instead, I’ll just calmly and peacefully observe that all plans and proposals are a waste of garlicky breath if they don’t guarantee Israel’s security.

I’m quite sure that’s their point—peace is merely a Trojan horse meant to breach Israel’s perimeter—and, if so, they will never get anywhere. Which is also their point.

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.
F. Scott Fitzgerald

If so, we are governed by a pack of Einsteins.

Idea one:

The US Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Holl Lute, met with Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch in Jerusalem on Wednesday, as well as senior police officers, to discuss bilateral cooperation on confronting terrorism.

“Unfortunately, Israel is considered a world expert on dealing with terrorism. At the same time, we have an obligation to share information with our friends,” Aharonovitch said during the meeting.

Lute’s visit comes as part of a major US-Israeli effort to increase cooperation on counter-terrorism efforts in order to help avert future attacks.

The US is keen to learn about Israeli counter-terrorism experience, as well as how various Israeli law enforcement agencies work together and share information.

Idea two:

The Obama administration is gearing up for a fresh attempt to relaunch stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after the effort hit a dead end last year.

In a flurry of meetings in Washington and in European capitals this week and next, senior administration officials will explore new approaches to bringing the two sides together.

The new track would include preparing letters for Israeli and Palestinian leaders that would lay out the endgame and guarantee US support for a negotiated end to the conflict.

We acknowledge that Israel is beset by death-cult terrorists, as are we, whose goal is their destruction, their slaughter—and ours.

Hey, sounds like peace!

I guess it takes an intelligence greater than mine to understand this. Earth to Chris. Come in, Chris.

Now I feel bad.

Our intransigence, our insistence that Israel’s security be guaranteed, our call for the Palestinians to cease not only their terror but their incitement to terror—and all our other petty demands have made Tom Friedman upset:

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has become a bad play. It is obvious that all the parties are just acting out the same old scenes, with the same old tired clichés — and that no one believes any of it anymore. There is no romance, no sex, no excitement, no urgency — not even a sense of importance anymore. The only thing driving the peace process today is inertia and diplomatic habit. Yes, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has left the realm of diplomacy. It is now more of a calisthenic, like weight-lifting or sit-ups, something diplomats do to stay in shape, but not because they believe anything is going to happen.

…

This peace process movie is not going to end differently just because we keep playing the same reel. It is time for a radically new approach. And I mean radical. I mean something no U.S. administration has ever dared to do: Take down our “Peace-Processing-Is-Us” sign and just go home.

Whoa, them’s fighting words. (Get it?)

I think Friedman is in a snit because he signed on to the Saudi so-called peace plan with the biggest, most flourished signature since John Hancock’s—and it ain’t worth the paper it’s written on:

For those whose memories do not extend all the way back to 2002, the Saudi plan was promoted by New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, who claimed he and one of the Saudi royals had a Vulcan mind-meld moment and that the result was a peace plan that fell onto the Saudis’ desks like manna from heaven. For Friedman, it was a typical piece of self-promotion but for the Saudis it was a gift from the Times that kept on giving. In 2002 ,the Saudis had a big public relations problem stemming from the 9/11 attacks. Due to our typically parochial view of the world, most Americans identified the oil-rich Kingdom with Al Qaeda. But rather than change their guiding philosophy, the Saudis decided that it would be smarter to earn some good PR by pretending to make peace with Israel. And with an assist from the feckless Friedman, that’s just what they did.

Their peace plan did say they would recognize the State of Israel; that was certainly progress. But the details of their plan (which they have consistently said were not negotiable) also called for complete Israeli withdrawal from every centimeter of disputed land that Israel took in 1967, and recognition of the Palestinian “right of return.” Following through on the latter would flood Israel with millions of descendants of refugees from Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. So, despite the sweet talk, what the Saudi plan really calls for is two Palestinian states, albeit one with a sizeable number of Jews living there. In other words, the Saudi initiative is no peace plan at all, that is as long as you think Israel has a right to be the one Jewish state on the planet amid the 22 existing Arab countries (in most of which, including Saudi Arabia, Jews are not permitted to live).

What a spoiled brat.

Here’s my peace plan, first proposed by Golda Meir:

“Peace will come when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.”

Until that day comes (as if), Friedman is right: let’s let Israel be Israel and butt the hell out.

Well, that’s next.

President.

Messiah (unless I have the order reversed).

Nobel laureate:

President Barack Obama made history again Friday, winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee recognized Obama’s efforts to solve complex global problems, including working toward a world free of nuclear weapons.

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the committee said.

“His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population,” it said.

Did anybody ask the Afghans?

There can be only one explanation: fellow laureates Al Gore, Jimmy Carter, and Yasser Arafat were looking for a fourth for bridge.

Let’s call off the hockey season while we’re at it and award the Stanley Cup to Obama. He’s earned it.

Aunt Agatha has shown us that the Arabs have no intention of recognizing Israel at all (except as a cancer, I noted in a comment).

But that’s hardly surprising when they won’t recognize each other:

“Hamas has no intention of harming Fatah leaders and especially not Abu Mazen,” Rantisi said, claiming that in fact, the opposite was true.

“It is Fatah that is carrying out a massacre of Hamas people in the West Bank. Look at what happened in Kalkilya,” he said. “In my opinion,” he went on, “there has to be a response to Fatah’s actions in the West Bank. There must be arrests in Gaza.”

Rantisi said that Hamas had asked Fatah for the immediate release of detainees “a thousand times.”

Fatah official Khadoura Farez rebutted Rantisi’s denial.

“From what has come up in investigations, Hamas is ready to hurt Abu Mazen. I cannot say 100% that this is true. But according to security sources, it is,” he said. “I can say that there is willingness, whether it is reported daily in the media or demonstrated in the daily arrests on both sides. The willingness is there.”

…

Rantisi said in response: “We want to have reconciliation. We want to sit down and talk. But there are people in Abbas’ government who torpedo any efforts for unity.”

Abbas said Wednesday that the PA had “verified information” that Hamas had been planning terrorist attacks against senior PA officials.

“We are following the situation very closely and when the appropriate time comes we will produce the evidence to the media,” he added. “We have discovered tons of explosives and weapons cashes in residential neighborhoods in the West Bank.”

And this is after six sessions of reconciliation talks.

G’ahead and make them a state. I can’t wait for the civil war.

I confess I didn’t pay much attention to PM Netanyahu’s speech on relations with the Palestinians because, like the good liberal I used to be, I don’t give much weight to statements made under duress or coercion. From what I saw, it looked like a hostage tape.

But others were watching and listening, and they didn’t much like what they saw and heard:

Palestinian Authority negotiations department head Saeb ‘Ariqat stated: “The peace process can be compared to a turtle, and now that Netanyahu has turned it over, it’s lying on its back. Not in a thousand years will Netanyahu find a single Palestinian who would agree to the conditions stipulated in his speech.”

…

Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority president, stated: “The speech has destroyed all peace initiatives and [chances for] a solution.”

…

PLO Executive Committee Secretary Yasser ‘Abd Rabbo stated: “Netanyahu’s speech was hollow, and it ruined the chances to advance toward a balanced settlement. … Netanyahu is a liar and a crook….”

…

Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Nabil ‘Amro stated: “Netanyahu’s speech is nothing but a hoax [to deceive] America….”

…

Hamas issued an announcement, stating: “Netanyahu is offering the Palestinians a state without identity, sovereignty, army, or weapons; without Jerusalem or the right of return. And at the same time, it insists on leaving the settlements in place. He is offering an economic peace in return for normalization and recognition of the Zionist entity.

…

Hamas official Dr. Ahmad Bahr, who is acting speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated: “[Netanyahu’s] racist speech rests on denying the [existence of] the Palestinian people and on disregarding their suffering, and [affirms] that a racist entity [exists] on Palestinian soil. It is an arrogant Zionist speech, rife with threats and condescension towards the Palestinians as well as towards the Arab and Muslim peoples.

…

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine called Netanyahu’s speech “akin to a declaration of war and an insult to the international community…”

Well, they’re Palestinians. No one expects them to be happy. Daily humiliation will do that to a people.

But you might have thought an Israeli PM’s concession to a Palestinian state would bring more of a positive reaction from our side:

U.S. officials reacted skeptically Monday to an Israeli proposal that the United States and other world powers guarantee that a new nation of Palestine remain demilitarized as a condition of its statehood.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said for the first time Sunday that Israel would be prepared to live side by side with a Palestinian state, but only if world powers guaranteed that it would be “demilitarized.” The proposal came in a major statement of his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that attracted attention worldwide.

…

“We take the security of Israel very seriously, but we need a solution that works, and this would be very difficult for the Palestinians to swallow,” said an official, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the diplomacy. American officials “are a long way away from the point where we’d be talking about this kind of arrangement.”

I’ve got something the Palestinians can swallow right here, pal.

Exactly what need would the Palestinians have of “militarization”? They’ll be at peace with the Israelis, and all their other neighbors—Egypt, Jordan, even nearby Lebanon and Syria—are, if not always friendly, at least generally sympathetic.

No, the Palestinians need “militarization” because without “militarization” they’re not Palestinians. They’re just Arabs without guns, and that’s not much of an Arab at all.

Either that, or they have no intention of peaceful coexistence with Israel. You have to choose one.

This is all part of a death by a thousand cuts for Israel. We tell them what to say, then we tell them what we don’t like about it, then we tell them how it’s going to be.

I think Netanyahu was wise to take this step because there’s no way the Palestinians will reciprocate. You can see the statements above for proof, or you can just open your eyes.

PS: I just stumbled across another unhappy camper:

Today at the UN Human Rights Council, the Palestinian delegation attacked the Jewish nature of Israel. While critiquing the recent two-state solution peace plan proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it said its “most dangerous” aspect is “his request to our people to recognize the Jewish nature of the Israeli State.” Such a demand is “evidence of a systematic and organized racist policy.”

But at least he was answered:

Later in the session, one such Israeli delegate took the floor in his native Arabic to proudly declare that the Jewish nature of Israel in no way implies that it is racist. “The Jewish people have suffered over several ages because of racism,” he said. “Israel is a Jewish State committed to tolerance, democracy and human rights, and will always be a partner in the battle against racism.” The Israeli delegate also noted that some of the States that single out Israel for racism, including through the Durban process, themselves “commit the most flagrant violations against their own people.”

So is it now American policy to support the militarization of a Palestinian state, but not the Jewishness of a Jewish state? Just checking.

I’d say that’s how Netanyahu played this one:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a major shift, will accept the notion of a Palestinian state — a policy pushed by the Obama administration but resisted until now by Mr. Netanyahu, Israeli officials and Americans briefed on the Israeli leader’s thinking said.

The policy reversal, which is expected to go public this weekend, could help restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and allow the Israeli leader to steer a course between Mr. Obama’s view and those of his own hawkish base.

The Israeli and American officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Washington Times on Thursday that Mr. Netanyahu, in a major speech Sunday, will, however, set Israeli parameters for recognizing Palestinian sovereignty.

I wouldn’t give the Palestinians Perth Amboy, NJ, but I’m not Prime Minister. I think Netanyahu knows that this gesture on his part gives President Obama a carrot, but still takes the stick to the Palestinians. Will they reign in terror? No. Cease incitement and bigotry? Hardly. Will they give up on demanding the right of return and half of Jerusalem? Why would they start now?

We’re no further along than we’ve ever been. Each administration wants to bring peace to the Middle East, and each has failed for the same reason: the party opposed to a two-state solution is not the Israelis, but the Palestinians. By bombs or by demographics—doesn’t matter to them— and with a hefty dose of propaganda, they walk away from peace deals, sabotage good-will initiatives, piss on olive branches.

And for their troubles they are paid the highest per capita rate of international aid in the world, and rewarded with yet more plans and opportunities to achieve their ultimate goal of “one Palestine, from the river to sea”. Why would they ever stop? As a business model, it’s unbeaten.

Yesterday, a group of Palestinian children performed for Holocaust survivors

It was a sweet article. Most of those kids had never even heard of the Holocaust. Their teacher is trying to prepare them to live in peace with Jewish people, with Israel. Today, we read this:

Palestinian youth orchestra disbanded over concert for Holocaust survivors
By The Associated Press

Palestinian authorities disbanded a youth orchestra from a West Bank refugee camp after it played for a group of Holocaust survivors in Israel, a local official said on Sunday.

Adnan Hindi of the Jenin camp called the Holocaust a political issue and accused conductor Wafa Younis of unknowingly dragging the children into a political dispute.

He added that Younis has been barred from the camp and the apartment where she taught the 13-member Strings of Freedom orchestra has been boarded up.

“She exploited the children,” said Hindi, the head of the camp’s popular committee, which takes on municipal duties. “She will be forbidden from doing any activities…. We have to protect our children and our community.”
[note: Why don’t they worry about the exploitation of children when they are encouraged to put on suicide vests?]

The move highlights the sensitivity of many Palestinians over acknowledging Jewish suffering, fearing it would weaken their own historical grievances against Israel.

“The Holocaust happened, but we are facing a similar massacre by the Jews themselves,” Hindi said. “We lost our land, and we were forced to flee and we’ve lived in refugee camps for the past 50 years.”

…

Kaynan Rabino, director of Ruach Tova, or Good Spirit, the charity that organized the event, said he was disappointed to hear about the reaction in Jenin.

“They approached us and volunteered to play. Wafa knew the orchestra would play before Holocaust survivors,” he said. “We wanted to bring people’s hearts closer together and if they are against that then that’s a real shame.”

Hindi said Palestinians - especially in his hardscrabble cinder block refugee camp - had suffered at the hands of Israel and demanded their grievances be acknowledged first.

The refugee camp in the northern West Bank was the scene of a deadly April 2002 battle where 23 Israeli soldiers were killed, alongside 53 Palestinian militants and civilians, in several days of battle. The clash destroyed swathes of the refugee camp.

The camp’s residents are descendants of Palestinians who were displaced during Israel’s war of independence.

The youths, aged 11 to 18, of the modest orchestra performed a goodwill concert for elderly survivors in the Israeli town of Holon Wednesday.

The event, held at the Holocaust Survivors Center in the central Israeli town, was part of Good Deeds Day, an annual event run by an organization connected to billionaire Shari Arison, Israel’s richest woman.

Hindi said the children’s parents were not aware that the orchestra would play for Holocaust survivors.

Younis was not immediately available for comment Sunday. But as the controversy erupted over the weekend, she said Saturday that her intention was purely to perform music. “We didn’t do anything wrong,” she said.

At last Wednesday’s performance, most of the Holocaust survivors did not know the youths were Palestinians from the West Bank, a rare sight in Israel these days. And the youths had no idea they were performing for people who lived through Nazi genocide - or even what the Holocaust was.

How sad is that?

- Aggie

Jimmy Carter looks and sounds so reasonable here

Let’s refresh our memories. On page 13 of his book, Peace Not Apartheid, President Jimmy Carter wrote:

“It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel.”

Any adult English speaker reading that sentence would have to conclude that is it ok with President Carter for the suicide terror attacks to continue until Israel does what he feels they must do. He has written an acceptance and a justification for terrorism.

I wonder how he would feel if any particular group in the United States started to carry out terror attacks on innocent civilians? I wonder if he would understand a suicide terror attack in a church or an acid attack on a group of school girls in the US? I wonder if he feels that the acid attack in Afghanistan today was somehow Israel’s fault?

And most of all, I wonder if Obama lied to him too, or if he really plans to strong arm Israel to trade Land for Peace, or is it Land for More and More Pieces of Civilians? Because we’ve all seen how well that has worked out in Gaza.

- Aggie