In Israel and Its Liberal Friends WSJ columnist Bret Stephens asks what if the standards of friendship Israel’s ‘friends’ claim is the source of their criticism was applied to the Palestinians as well.
an excerpt
Finally there’s the fact that liberalism has become a politics of easy targets. Liberals have no trouble taking stands against abstinence educators, Prop 8 supporters or members of the tea party. But when it comes to genuine bigots and religious fanatics—and Hamas has few equals in those categories—liberals have a way of discovering their capacity for cultural nuance and political pragmatism.
“Of course the Palestinian problem does play some role in the Middle Eastern anti-Americanism. It does so in some places more than others, however- in Jordon, for example, with its very large Palestinian population, where the “street” is far more anti-American than the government. However, in Iran, whose government is as anti-American and as anti-Israel as can be, its people are not anti-American at all; quite the contrary. There is an important lesson here, and it is that the bitterest anti-Americanism, which one finds in places like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, stems not from U.S. support for Israel but from U.S. support for the Saudi and Egyptian regimes, among others, which are so deeply unpopular. As Leslie Gelb put it, “America’s central strategic problem in the region… is that we need our corrupt, inept, and unpopular Arab allies because the likely alternative to them is far worse,” even though this need produces more anti-Americanism than anything having to do with U.S. support for Israel.”
From” Jewcentricity- why the Jews are praised, blamed, and used to explain just about everything” by Adam Garfinkle
The book focuses on the exaggerated perception of Jews and their influence, both good and bad.
We have committed $900 million dollars to Palestinians and $200 million is on its way. One could argue that this is chicken feed compared to the aid given to Israel. Even as the committed Zionist I am I do not have a problem with helping the downtrodden even if they are Palestinians, but I do have a few questions?
Would it be too much to ask that we require a few conditions; specifically:
1. Recognition of Israel’s right to exist.
2. Rejection of terrorism without the ‘moral equivalency’ double talk. This includes the rocket attacks.
3. Stop teaching Antisemitism and the destruction of Israel in the Palestinian schools and mosques.
Would it also be too much to expect the Arab world with their oil revenues to help out a bit too?
It is apparently perfectly acceptable to require that Palestinian lands be Judenrein, free of Jews. We (our administration) are even pressuring Jews NOT to build within the borders of Jerusalem.
It would be unconscionable to allow the Jews in Israel to make any of Israel free of Palestinians? There are 1.5 million Palestinians living in Israel as citizens.
Yet Jordon is revoking the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians ” to avoid a situation in which they would be “resettled” permanently in the kingdom “ Jordan is probably the most tolerant of any of the Arab countries toward the Palestinians: at least they are allowed to become citizens. (James Taranto WSJ)
But wait; King Abdullah’s Queen Rania is of Palestinian descent. Will she be stripped of her citizenship?
Is this not a parallel of the story of Purim where Persian (Iranian) King Ahasuerus is lobbied by the evil Haman to kill the Jews but they are saved by the Jewish Queen Esther and Mordecai?
Jordon was created in the 1920’s from a significant portion of Palestine that the British set aside for the Jewish Homeland. One could reasonably argue that the Palestinian homeland was established then. But tribal differences have kept Jordon from being recognized as such.
