Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Fresno Zionism
Peter Beinart has a new piece in the New York Times. It will be called ‘important’ because part of his message and that of his supporters is that he is telling an important truth that is suppressed by the Jewish establishment. He insists that he is a Zionist and supports Israel. But there is little truth in his analysis and a huge amount of fantasy in his prescriptions.
Beinart calls for boycotting Jewish communities (‘settlements’) beyond the Green Line, because he wants to end what he calls “undemocratic Israel:”
…both names mislead. “Judea and Samaria” implies that the most important thing about the land is its biblical lineage; “West Bank” implies that the most important thing about the land is its relationship to the Kingdom of Jordan next door. After all, it was only after Jordan conquered the territory in 1948 that it coined the term “West Bank” to distinguish it from the rest of the kingdom, which falls on the Jordan River’s east bank. Since Jordan no longer controls the land, “West Bank” is an anachronism. It says nothing meaningful about the territory today.
By Isi Leibler
I must confess I rubbed my eyes in disbelief when I read that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker at the J Street Conference Gala dinner on March 26.
By doing so, Olmert has sunk to an all-time low, not only destroying whatever remained of his battered political legacy but also shaming the state of Israel.
Let me state at the outset that I am acquainted with Olmert and once admired him. At 28, as the youngest member of Knesset, he developed a reputation, ironically as a crusader against crime and corruption. A successful fundraiser and networker, his engaging personality contributed toward making him the consummate politician. Olmert was loyal to his supporters and friends and made a distinguished contribution as health minister. I enthusiastically supported him when he was candidate for mayor of Jerusalem, campaigning on the platform of a united city.
Wallace Edward Brand, JD
Background (part of letter written by the author, a Harvard and UCLA alumnus, to UCLA):
On March 3,4 there was a conference held at Harvard on a one state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. In effect it was a “one Arab majority state” solution. The panel consisted of Arab academics and Israel post modern revisionist who are apologists for terrorism. The other side or sides were completely missing. Harvard would not accept our request to be part of a panel or make a presentation.
A similar conference was held or is soon to be held at UCLA. A second conference is likely at Harvard sponsored by Professor Alan Dershowitz of the Harvard Law School on a “two state solution” to the Arab Israeli conflict.
Wallace Edward Brand, JD, inn
Balfour resigned as foreign secretary following the Paris Conference in 1919, but continued in the Cabinet as lord president of the council. In a memorandum addressed to new Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon, he stated that the Balfour Declaration contradicted the letters of the covenant (referring to the League Covenant) the Anglo-French Declaration, and the instructions to the King-Crane Commission. All of the other engagements contained pledges that the Arab or Muslim populations could establish national governments of their own choosing according to the principle of self-determination. Balfour explained: “… in Palestine we do not propose to even go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present (majority) inhabitants of the country though the American [King-Crane] Commission is going through the form of asking what they are.
The editor of Stonegate prefaced this article with
“The talk about “Jordan is Palestine” only plays into the hands of those who seek to turn the kingdom into a radical state that would most probably be affiliated with Iran or the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Zahran has many times made the case to me that this won’t happen. Still one must be very cautious. I wrote to him and others involved and said,
Mudar may lose control of events in the event of civil war. When Israel sees 200,000 Palestinian refugees from Lebanon and Syria streaming into Jordan armed to the teeth you can imagine the worry. The Jordanian army may really get tough on them and force them to flee to Israel. Perhaps the Palestinians in J&S will riot and have a revolt of their own. Any thing can go wrong and Israel is right not to take the risk.
So it is incumbent on Mudar and his people to negotiate a bloodless coup if possible.
If it has to be bloody, Mudar’s promises will only be bankable if he comes into power. Even if he is the new Prime Minister and wants a good relationship, will he be able to get everyone to go along?
Those who support the idea of turning Jordan into a Palestinian state need to be think carefully about the consequences of such a move.
A Palestinian state in Jordan would only be a source of even further instability and tension in the Middle East.
Oh, but wait: Mr. Schmidt ran one of the worst campaigns in the history of presidential elections, losing to a first-term senator from Illinois with no experience governing anything, and Ms. Wallace let the entire message of the McCain campaign be overrun by — “Saturday Night Live”?
I spent a year of my life on the McCain campaign, and I can tell you this: Nuh uh. “Game Change” is a ridiculous farce of a movie — even more absurd as a chronicle of a major historical event — that appears to have been written mostly by Mr. Schmidt and Ms. Wallace, two players who have major axes to grind with the higher-ups of the McCain campaign.
Assaf David is for sure a leading expert. What he doesn’t know though is the Palestinians have had enough of mistreatment and I getting ready to take to the streets in big numbers. Through my work with Mudar Zahran, I have my finger on their pulse. It is only a matter of time. When they do so, Abdullah will have to decide whether to do what Assad is doing or concede. He knows that if he starts killing them like his father did in 1970, they are likely to be joined by 200,000 armed Palestinians from Lebanon and Syria. It is only a two hour drive. Stay tuned. Ted Belman
Middle East expert Dr. Assaf David, a research fellow at the Truman Institute at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said on Sunday he believes that Jordan might also be rocked by the Arab Spring turmoil in the Middle East.
Speaking to Arutz Sheva, David said that even if Jordan’s King Abdullah is not overthrown, he is losing the public’s support.
According to Dr. David, the turmoil in Jordan began even before the protests in other countries across the Middle East, and is centered on King Abdullah’s economic policy, which is interpreted by many of the local tribes as targeting them and working towards strengthening the status of Palestinian Authority Arabs in Jordan.
Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
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