May we hope the Palestinians mourn thoughtfully and let the healing begin.
Israel
We’ve All Seen This Coming
A news item on the Reuters wire service reports on a 10 year projection prepared by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. It seems that they think there’s a very real possibility that the European Union will impose sanctions on Israel because of the ongoing Palestinian problem. Proponents of sanctions have been quick to compare the proposed sanctions to similar actions that were imposed on South Africa due to Apartheid.
To be frank, I’ve always been mildly surprised that the EU hasn’t gotten around to some sort of sanctions already. Most of the support that the Palestinians rely on to keep their terrorist war going comes from Europe, and hate crimes against Jews seem to be on the rise in some European countries. Added to this is the constant criticism of Israel’s actions against suspected terrorists while there’s a ringing silence when it comes to any Palestinian violence.
I’d have to say that, unless Palestinian society destroys itself after the security barrier is completed through civil war, things are unlikely to change. European opinion is always going to be weighted against Israel, and sanctions appear to be inevitable when the EU finally gets it’s act together and produces a unified foreign policy.
Views From The Past
I’m feeling kind of blogged out and decided to post something different. I’ve been going through a batch of family photos that no one has looked at in years. It’s like a time capsule. A few of the pictures may be of general interest. I really like the ones below. A relative of mine made them when President Nixon visited Jerusalem in 1974.
Parade route with Monastery of the Cross in background.
I don’t know where this was. It may have been across the street from the prime minister’s residence.
Outside the prime minister’s residence.
A Shocking Interview
The establishment-left Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz published this interview with the Israeli historian Benny Morris, who is widely known for his revisionist critiques of Zionism and Israel’s founders.
The interview is remarkable, especially the second page, where Morris discusses the nature of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. Morris’s profound new pessimism regarding the possibility of Israel’s reaching a peaceful accommodation is astonishing. Indeed, not only is he pessimistic, his current position sounds almost like last year’s leftist caricature of the Israeli Right’s position.
I forwarded the interview to a relative of mine who is sympathetic to the Israeli Left. She was shocked. In U.S. terms, it’s as if Anthony Lewis had come out in 1970 in favor of nuking North Vietnam.
I don’t know much about Morris, and this is pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if his new hard attitude foretells changes in the Israeli Left paralleling those that occurred in the American Left after 9/11. In our case there has been a broad split, with many serious liberals (in the current U.S. sense of the term) aligning themselves with the Bush administration on defense issues. It will be interesting to see if Morris’s apparent shift is idiosyncratic or the harbinger of a similar ideological move in the Israeli Left. My sense is that in Israel, as in the U.S., big things are happening, and that much of what’s going on is beneath the surface — or that we are too close to events to see what will be obvious to future historians.
As I wrote, remarkable.
Sweden Confirms Its Neutrality Between Good And Evil
The Swedes are throwing a hissy fit because the Israeli Ambassador, visiting a museum exhibit associated with a Swedish government-sponsored conference on genocide, took offense at a display of offensive “art” and literally pulled out its plug.
(The Israeli government says that the Swedes promised not to link the conference to the Arab-Israeli conflict — which, BTW, Reuters mislabels “the Middle East conflict.”)
Meanwhile, the “artist” — a lefty Israeli “peace” activist — said, essentially: Hey, what are you so upset about? It’s just an exhibit, we were trying to raise consciousness about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what about freedom of expression, etc., etc. And a representative of the Swedish government expressed outrage that the ambassador had the temerity to damage sacred art, etc., etc.
To the “artist” and the Swedish government, I say: fuck you. Yeah, the Israeli ambassador lost it, but you provoked him. He took the bait and now you get to tut-tut about his emotional reaction and make sanctimonious statements about “art.”
The message I get is that the Swedish government cares more about art exhibits and moral posturing than it does about the lives of Jews. Would the Swedish government tolerate, at an official conference, an “art exhibit” portraying Hitler sailing in a lake of Jewish blood? More to the point, would the Swedes tolerate an exhibit showing the Jewish mass murderer Baruch Goldstein sailing in a lake of Arab blood? Would they tolerate an exhibit that could be interpreted as insulting to Muslims or Arabs? To ask this question is to answer it.
Maybe I, like the Israeli ambassador, am overreacting, but my impression is that the ambassador isn’t the problem here.
UPDATE: I am happy to learn that the Israeli government is supporting the ambassador:
Sharon said he called Mazel Saturday night and thanked him for his stand against rising anti-Semitism. “We are witnessing a rise in anti-Semitism, and will increase our efforts to fight the phenomenon,” he reportedly told the cabinet.
Good. Let the bastards worry about offending Jews, for a change.
(Link: Yehudit)
UPDATE 2: Bjørn Stærk has a contrary view.