Fatally flawed dead ends
When one has traversed down a dead-end road in the past and discovered that it leads nowhere but to dangerous territory, it is inconceivable that at some later time the same journey should once again be attempted.
Michael Kuttner
Yet unbelievably that is exactly the scenario we face at present, in the immediate future and for at least the next four years if we all survive intact.
One has only to listen carefully to the exultant expressions of joy emanating from many quarters to realize that the incoming U.S. administration is set to embark on dead-end treks which have proven dangerous and disastrous for Israel in the past and lead only to grief, strife and a distinct threat to our lives.
The cheering and expectations expressed by the left of the Democratic Party complement whoops of delight resounding in EU capitals, relief of the sanctioned Mullah regime in Tehran and expectant UNRWA recipients of renewed American taxpayers’ money. Lost in this cacophony of anticipatorily largesse and appeasement are the President for Life of the PA and his PLO cohorts salivating at the thought of once again being able to guide gullible and ill-informed politicians to acquiesce to every outrageous lie and demand.
Messages of congratulations accompanied by hallucinatory visions of peace have been issued by Jewish organizations on every continent. Obviously, this is sensible diplomacy and good manners but it would help if they were accompanied by some down to earth acknowledgement of reality rather than myopic and mystical mirages. Unfortunately, far too many of our communal machers still refuse to internalize that the failed mantras and policies of the past are about to be trotted out again. This is why the gaps between those of us on the lethal receiving end of these demands and cheerleaders living far away from the consequences of their failures keep widening.
Some latest examples should help to illustrate the difference between misplaced expectations and actual facts on the ground.
Listening to and reading all the torrents of praise and inflated expectations one is struck by the complete absence of any mention relating to Biden’s past association with Israel bashing policies. Who still remembers or indeed wants to remember that as a freshman Senator, Biden told Golda Meier that Israel needs to surrender territory in exchange for “peace?” Years later he repeated the same demand to Menachem Begin and accompanied this with a threat to cease aid to Israel. Have you noticed that none of the Jewish organizations now singing from the same hymnal books of praise actually point out that Biden as Vice President to Obama was complicit in enabling the passage of UN Resolution 2334? This infamous UN decision, co-sponsored by New Zealand, officially detached and delegitimized a Jewish connection to Jerusalem as well as Judea and Samaria. It forms the basis for ongoing demands to hand these areas over to the terrorist inciting PA/PLO.
He was and remains an enthusiastic supporter of re-entering the disastrous Iran nuclear (non) deal and abandoning sanctions. Jewish settlement in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan remains a crime and therefore ethnic cleansing of Jews from these areas will be a high priority.
Joe Biden has never apologized or renounced his support for any of these objectives and in fact, if his recent pronouncements and those of his advisers are anything to go by the same failed and fatal policies will once again be promoted. Imaginary green lines and land for peace will be resurrected. Like broken records, all the Clinton and Obama peddlers of past failures are already assembling in order to march like lemmings down a dead-end road.
Right on cue last week the UN demonstrated once more its abiding obsession with Israel bashing and denial of any vestiges of truth. Seven resolutions vilifying and condemning Israel were once again passed with huge majorities and for good measure, the Temple Mount was renamed with its Islamic title. Most European countries showed their true colours again by joining the worst abusers of human rights in passing these resolutions. Shamefully New Zealand followed suit obviously oblivious to the implications of their actions. Australia and the USA to their credit made a stand for honesty and voted against. Do any of the spokespersons currently waxing lyrical about the incoming Biden Administration not realize that an unconditional embrace of that corrupt body is now back on the agenda?
As the UNHRC pushes and peddles its notorious “blacklist” of companies and urges a boycott of them, voices in the Democratic Party are urging the same course of action. Obscenely this is all happening as we commemorate the anniversary of Kristallnacht when Jewish businesses in Germany and Austria were boycotted, looted and together with Synagogues were destroyed. As the international community gathers once a year for its collective commemoration of these events conspicuously missing from the narratives are any connection to implications for today and the eerie repeat of the same sort of appeasement of those plotting our demise once again.
Ironically at the same time that the UN and its willing partners are pushing boycotts, the UAE is encouraging business with enterprises on the blacklist.
Former Clinton and Obama era US ambassadors to Israel are expressing ecstatic joy at the prospect of Abbas and the Palestinian Arabs once more becoming beloved partners and recipients of billions of dollars. In fact the euphoria on the part of the PLO/PA at the prospect of a Biden led bonanza showering them with boundless bounty that they have already listed their demands for when a resumption of relations takes place.
These are: The USA Embassy must be returned to Tel Aviv.
Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel
must be cancelled.
“Peace” negotiations must start from the point where they were halted in 2016 under Obama.
The US must reopen the “Palestinian Embassy” in Washington.
“Aid” must be resumed.
UNRWA must be fully funded again.
Note that unconditional aid is demanded regardless of the fact that it will be used to pay the slayers of Israelis and in the brainwashing of students in UNRWA schools.
In the normal course of events, these chutzpadik demands should be consigned to the garbage can. Even the Gulf States and some others have finally woken up to the fact that this confidence trick of milking billions should now be terminated. Will Biden and Harris do so or more likely will they return to the failed dead-end road maps of the past?
The current Trump-appointed US Ambassador to Israel who will no doubt soon be packing his bags has stated: “the Middle East is exploding with opportunities under Trump.”
I am afraid that in the immediate future we will witness plenty of different types of explosions, none of them beneficial and all of them as a result of fatally flawed follies.
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.
Having a track record of being wrong has never deterred ideologues pursuing goals, pretending that with just a bit more time and a bit more pressure on one of the parties the intended result will be reached. And their egos burnished.
Some of the statements from our main Jewish organizations have been Naive and An embarrassment Quite frankly they are a lost cause !