Keep right on to the end of the road

 Email this story

Print

3 Comments

This old song’s opening lines, made famous by the late Harry Lauder, are very relevant as we bid farewell to 2022 and face the uncertainties of 2023.

Michael Kuttner

“Keep right on to the end of the road

 Keep right on to the end

Though the way be long, let your heart be strong

Keep right on round the bend.”

Surveying the wreckage that litters this current year and the potential for potent mayhem in the impending twelve months, we certainly need a strong heart to see us safely through what promises to be a minefield of explosive obstacles.

At this time last year, I predicted that despite the positive achievements of the Abraham Accords, the prospects for universal genuine peace and tolerance would still be a fair way off. So it has been proven. There are glimmers of expectations that Saudi Arabia may perhaps actually start the ball rolling which might precipitate a more robust move towards recognising the validity of the Jews in their restored homeland. Various balloons have been floated, but the way ahead is tortuous and by no means certain.

One thing you can put your money on is that is there will be no peace of any sort with the corrupt kleptocracy in Ramallah and the terrorists ruling Gaza. Forget the brainless braying of the UN and its collection of mindless members, democratic and despotic alike, who continue to parrot the same old failed formulas. Anyone who still dreams that Abbas and his cohorts actually desire to live in tolerance and harmony with Israel should snap out of their delusional hallucinations and tune in to what these inciters are churning out on a daily basis. The bottom line is that whatever plan may be peddled, whether it is a Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine or a mythical liberal democratic entity, none of these will satisfy those whose primary objective is an ethnically Jew-free presence.

We face, thanks to the appeasement policies of the USA and democratic nations, more terror financed and supplied by Iran. The UN stands impotent as the Mullah regime races to achieve nuclear and missile superiority and supplies its surrogate allies with the means to bully and threaten Israel, the Gulf States, and Saudi Arabia. In the coming year, Iranian drones to Russia and military technology from Russia will contribute to an increasingly unstable future. Iranian suppression of protesters will continue unabated and unhindered by any sort of meaningful punishment.

One thing can be 100% confidently predicted in 2023.

There will be increased and continuing condemnations of Israel as the sole serial criminal nation which in turn will generate increasing waves of hate against Jews and Zionists. This, in turn, will make the Israeli electorate even more hardline and precipitate reactions. Even before the new Government in Israel is sworn in the breast-beating champions of leftist thought control are in full cry.

Democracy as touted by our so-called progressive and liberal advocates, apparently only prevails when the extreme left wins. It is apparently perfectly acceptable to get into bed with anti-Zionist Arab parties. Embracing and excusing those whose agenda include violence, incitement against the concept of a Jewish State and the erasure of the Jewish character of the nation is deemed democratic.

Why is it that parties that win elections suddenly threaten democratic values when they promote get tough policies against terror and refuse to fall for fake appeasement with inciters against Israel & Jews?

The hypocrisy of the “enlightened” left is breathtaking, and as 2023 looms, we can expect more of the same. In the USA, three hundred Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist religious and lay leaders have declared a boycott of incoming Israeli government members. These are the same groups which embrace Black Lives Matter which touts anti-Israel policies. In other words, these so-called champions of freedom, progressive values and the oppressed have no hesitation in embracing groups dedicated to the erasure of Israel while at the same time rejecting and shunning democratically elected members of the Israeli Government.

Amazingly, these same individuals and groups also support the anti-Israel “squad” of Congress representatives. It reminds me of how in the recent past, mesmerised Jews on the left supported Stalin and his policies. Nothing it seems changes in the rose tinted vision of these lemmings. A prominent Obama-era official, Martin Indyk, stated, “I won’t see peace in my time.” Does that phrase not ring a warning bell? Neville Chamberlain did see peace in his time and look at the disasters which followed. Indyk foresees “dark times ahead” but like all his fellow progressives he avoids pointing the finger at the real culprits.

 The coming year will be decisive for many Diaspora communities. Do the Jews remain and face the increasing risks of being targeted for physical abuse or do they make up their minds to leave for the one country where being Jewish is a normal part of daily life?

Kvetching about what happens in Israel is a useless and futile exercise. If you want to make a difference, come here and have a say in the country’s political life. That is democracy in action.

Woke forces of political correctness will be out in force in 2023.

Perhaps that is the real meaning behind the song “keep on right to the end of the road.”

The road ahead is, without a doubt going to be rough and tough going, especially for those of us who battle to spread reality.

It will be better traversed if we all dispose of euphoric delusions and concentrate instead on how we can best safely navigate in order to arrive safely at a tranquil destination.

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.