What civilization looks like
I have a friend — a dear, longtime friend — with whom I often disagree on matters related to politics and world affairs. The disagreements occasionally turn into arguments, but the friendship has endured, and will endure – we’ve known each other too long, and been through too much together.
One of the things we disagree on is Israel. After Newt Gingrich’s comments of a couple weeks back that the Palestinians are an “invented” people, my friend bristled. This, he insisted, was not the point. It was simply that both sides in this conflict — the Israelis and the Palestinians — needed to behave in a “civilized” manner.
Implicit in this statement is the notion that both sides are not behaving in a civilized manner. It’s an idea all too common in modern thought. Weary of the ongoing, seemingly intractable Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and under the influence of media coverage that is quick to point out every misstep Israel makes (and loath to point out examples of Palestinian terrorism and rejectionism), people who adopt this way of thinking reason that both sides must be equally to blame. There are no heroes, no villains in this fight — just two parties that stubbornly refuse to treat each other with dignity and respect.
The problem with this narrative, of course, is that it has no basis in history or experience. It’s especially hard to stomach when you read stories like this, which involves Israeli doctors at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem saving unborn Palestinian conjoined twins through an innovative medical procedure.
This is what civilization looks like. It’s scientific achievement, harnessed for human good; it’s simple human compassion, extended not just to your own people, but to all people. Palestinians are treated every day in Israeli hospitals and receive the same high level of care that everyone else does, irrespective of their ethnicity or religion.
A note to my friend: Israel is well-versed in “behaving in a civilized manner.” If Palestinian leadership made similar efforts, we wouldn’t be at odds about the Middle East. There would be peace — or at least an absence of the day-to-day conflict…
Read More » Comments (2) »Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 at 10:04 AM | David Kuner
Dennis Ross to leave Obama administration
Obama's Senior Middle East Advisor Dennis Ross, who recently announced his resignation
Solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been at the center of Obama’s foreign policy agenda since he first took office. Yet, due to a lack of progress in peace talks coupled with the fact that Obama is about to enter an election year, it is unlikely that in the near future the administration will give any serious push for the two sides to resume talks.
Meanwhile, Obama’s Senior Middle East Advisor, Dennis Ross, has recently announced that he will be resigning from his position. Considering Ross’ extensive involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has earned him the respect and trust of many Israeli politicians, his departure will be a great loss to any efforts to facilitate an agreement.
Dennis Ross’ resignation is not the only problem Obama will face if and when he decides to refocus his agenda on solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Obama’s unpopularity amongst Israelis is yet another impediment. A recent poll revealed that only 12% of the Israeli population believes that Obama is pro-Israel.
Starting from the Clinton administration, there have been three U.S. presidents who have been intimately involved in brokering a peace deal between Israel and the P.A. And up until the Obama administration, Israelis have trusted that each U.S. president had an appreciation for the Jewish people’s historical rights to the land and were sympathetic to the security concerns we face.
Given these new stats and sentiments, it has become less likely that Israel will agree to give up any land for a peace that will be guaranteed by a U.S. president whose popularity here is at such a low level.
Comments (8) »Thursday, December 1st, 2011 at 4:06 PM | Amichai Farkas
Taking Abbas at his word
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas
Sheesh . . . you know what? I’m really starting to think Abbas means it!
I mean, sure his U.N. speech in September completely read the Jewish people out of the history of the Land of Israel. And sure, he has denied that there was ever a Jewish Temple on Temple Mount. And sure, he wrote his doctoral dissertation on a fictitious link between Nazism and Zionism and, in that work, denied the facts of the Holocaust.
But other than that, he’s so moderate!
Maybe, for a change, we should listen to what Israel’s “peace partners” actually say – not dream about what we wish they would say.
Comments (6) »Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 at 11:29 AM | Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg
Netanyahu’s post-U.N.-speech interview
On the heels of his powerful speech at the U.N. General Assembly last Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu met with members of the foreign press to answer a few questions:
Comments (1) »Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 at 11:14 AM | David Kuner
Netanyahu tells U.N.: Peace can’t be forged through resolutions
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addresses the U.N. General Assembly (Photo: Reuters)
In his speech at the U.N. General Assembly earlier today, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called for peace “anchored in security,” the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, and a more accurate depiction of Israel in the international media and within the U.N.:
Comments (21) »“Palestinians want a state without peace,” Netanyahu stated, telling the assembled diplomats, “You should not let that happen.”
Netanyahu called on Abbas to renew peace talks immediately, “today at the United Nations.”
“If we genuinely want peace, what is there to stop us,” Netanyahu asked Abbas.
“With God’s help let’s find the common ground for peace. I can’t make peace without you,” Netanyahu said during his address.
Friday, September 23rd, 2011 at 2:10 PM | David Kuner
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