Very difficult for a blogger who fancies himself writing with a wry sense of humour to compete with the self parody ofTrumpf tweets.Keeping up with this dangerous narcissist would be an almost full-time job.
I will eschew writing the standard New Year's blog predicting the future or reprising the past.
Rather I will start the year by simply responding to requests for comments on the latest UN resolution condemning Israel and the spat between Netanyahu and Obama/Kerry.
First if I might,I attach two URLs.The first,a column in the London Times by one of their regular columnists--Melanie Phillips.This is in the form of a letter to Theresa May that is rant against Obama and an unpleasant attempt to delegitimize Palestinian aspirations. http://melaniephillips.com/open-letter-theresa-may/
The second is a short article in the Daily Beast sent to me by a passionate Zionist reader.It is by a Palestinian activist Maajid Nawaz and is intelligent, balanced and wise.It gives one continued hope that sooner or later there will be two states and two peoples living in peace-- however fraught. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/30/why-did-obama-pander-to-the-un-s-stunning-anti-israel-bias.html
Part of the foundation of Nawaz's piece is a criterion King Cyclops typically uses when looking at the latest shenanigans by the Israeli government,Palestinian spokesmen,Downing Street,the Arab League, the UN, the White House,innumerable columnists and lobbyists :
Does what ever is being said, proposed or done make the two state solution more or less likely.
More is good. Less is bad. The King is ultimately a simple soul.
I am at a loss to see how yet another UN resolution helps,anymore than Netanyahu's provocative finger to the U.S. http://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-unsc-resolution-approved-dec-23-demanding-israel-stop-all-settlement-activity
It seems the original sponsor,Egypt,saw things the same way and tried to table[remove from the agenda]the resolution.Too late.
So one of the UK Duchesses --who is increasingly frustrated by Theresa May's incompetence--wanted the King's view on the UN resolution and the UK role in its drafting.So here be it.
- Melanie Phillips is nuts .
- Theresa May is ignorant,inflexible ,shallow and out of her depth.
- The F.O.[foreign office] never much liked Jews--pushy people--romantically Arabist and desperately hanging on to the USA coattails.
- Delusions of glory and influence.
- Some still trying to be the Greeks to the Pax Americana Romans--too many classicists not enough economists I guess.
- Obama and Kerry are irked and annoyed with Netanyahu's posturing and pandering to the Israeli right and its religious fanatics.
- They misjudge him--its not just pandering,he really does want to destroy a two state solution
- [of course O and K understand this hence their frustrated belligerence].
- But Chaver Barack,pique is not policy.
- Netanyahu is a nasty piece of work who happens to be articulate in American English.
- No doubt his provocative siting of settlements on the border of Ramallah has nothing to do with the investigation of his family's finances by the Israeli police-- he, Putin and like-minded crooks love a good distraction for the masses.
- The Israeli electorate did not used to be that dumb, we shall see-- hope springs!
- Trumpf is a wise,subtle,learned and patient peace maker.
- For those Israelis who think a Trumpf presidency is in their interest I have some shore front land to sell you in the Sinai.
- The resolution is grand standing,unnecessary and unhelpful.
- Building more settlements in provocative areas is even more so.
- All-and I mean ALL-informed observers know that these settlements will be dismantled if a two state solution is agreed .
- Netanyahu's anger reveals his weakness, lack of a coherent foreign policy and economy with the truth.
or perhaps just convenient posturing.
- King Cyclops understands the weakness of men[ generic, women just as bad]
As a postscript,after I had drafted the above,Therese May has taken issue with Obama and Kerry criticism of the Israeli government-- on the rather strange and spurious grounds that one should not criticize the internal politics of an ally.
The British press immediately realised this criticism of Obama/Kerry was blatant pandering to Trumpf. She she did not seem to realize that the UK foreign office fingerprints are all over the drafting of the UN resolution. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/28/uks-key-role-in-brokering-un-resolution-on-israeli-settlements-confirmed It seems she has an extraordinarily short memory or the F.O. mandarins do not feel the need to keep her in the loop.
Much less Boris who seems to be on his Christmas Hols.Not a peep throughout the fuss.No problem, Boris,nothing much happens at this time of year.
Have these British Trumpf Panderers lost all sense of perspective and judgment?
Humiliatus est quam Leo
One needs a sense of humour of 'whatever kind' to survive life on our planet today.
ReplyDeleteIsrael allows its citizens to practice whatever religion they want, allows all Israelis to vote Arabs into the Knesset & to fight in the IDF, whilst surrounding nations are awash with human rights injustices, no freedom of speech, civil wars, no democracies, no religious practice for minorities & no government elections.
One critic of Israel suggested 'Israel be removed from map and replaced by a democratic polity with equal rights for all its citizens, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity be it Arabic, African, Asian, European or American, Where the word ' Zionist ' generates as much horror as the word " Supremacist '.
Now that's what I call a sense of humour .. its surely better to have a world full of countries like Israel, than a world full of Islamic countries where there is no 'rule of law' & pure terror.
Netanyahu might not have a foreign policy, and perhaps he's got 'his hand in the till', but he's got Israel's security as a priority. And in my opinion, when you're the only Jewish State surrounded by a sea of war mongering nations, security is 'top dog'. Melanie Phillips might be a 'nut' but when the likes of the UN, the retiring US leadership & organisations like the BDS are trying to delegitimise the State of Israel, all supporters of Israel are welcome.
Whether you like it or not, anti semitism is an age old disease which morphs into many forms, and today's small number of 13 million Jews 'won't take **** from anyone'.