Poisonous Peace Partners…writes Michael Kuttner
It is inevitable as day follows night that if you drip feed poisonous information into the impressionable minds of young school children you will produce a generation growing into adulthood who will not only believe the worst of those being demonized but also in many cases galvanize them to take action against those they have been taught to hate.
Michael Kuttner
This sad fact of life is what has and continues to be the story of those with whom we are urged to make gestures for peace.
Those of us living here in Israel can read, hear and see the results of this daily diet of delegitimisation being disseminated via the Arab media and inevitably going viral in the international social media as well as in much of the mainstream press. It is not as though this is something new. After all the same technique was very successfully employed by the Germans from 1933 onwards with spectacular results and with the same indifference on the part of those who purport to be the leaders of democracy and freedom.
This harvest of hate has produced tragedies over many years and yet despite everything there are still individuals and Governments who will not take the lessons to heart and persist in repeating policies which are doomed to produce even more chaos, murder and mayhem.
The very latest manifestation of how this poison can kill occurred a few days ago when a Palestinian Arab teenager stabbed to death an 18 year old Jewish youngster who had just commenced his military service. While he napped on a bus taking him back to his base this Arab teen illegally in Israel without a permit, was murdered in cold blood. The usual crop of psychologists and left wing apologists will no doubt waste little time in rationalizing the motives but the brutal truth is that youngsters brought up on a steady diet of Jew hatred have every motivation in the world to carry out their dirty deeds.
This latest in a previous string of violence and murder against Israelis comes on the heels of gestures made by the Israel Government at the behest of an American administration which is so clueless as far as Middle East realities are concerned. Releasing convicted murderers who have killed women and children in the most brutal fashion sends only one message. The teen who committed this murder knows only too well that even after conviction in a court of law the most that can happen to him will be a jail sentence. Once incarcerated he will be well fed, clothed and be able to receive an education graduating if he is clever with a degree from an Israeli institute of higher learning. Well before he has completed his time in jail he will be released as another gesture to a hypocritical and morally bankrupt international community which believes that by Israel releasing terrorists, peace will be achieved. On his return to his home he will be greeted as a hero, given a lump sum as a reward and receive a monthly stipend from the Palestinian Authority which cries poverty on the one hand and then when gullible Western Governments throw more money at them use it to reward murderers.
Mr. Kerry and company believe that in order to induce Abbas to sit down and talk, Israel needs to continue making these gestures even if they pose a life threatening scenario to Israelis. Meanwhile hate education and the vilest libels continue to emanate from those with whom we are urged to embrace.
This week as part of the ongoing hate fest the rulers of Gaza urged their people to kill Jews and prepare for another campaign to eliminate the Jewish State. Efforts continue to reconcile Hamas and the PLO and this is the new Arab State which Obama and others see as the answer to all the world’s problems. If it was not so tragic it would be laughable but this is certainly no laughing matter.
The spectacle of the USA and others, lurching down the appeasement path rather than face harsh realties makes one gasp in wonderment. Even a kindergarten child could have predicted that the Palestinian Arabs would soon blow up the farcical peace talks over one pretext or another and then proceed to negate any previous promises made and run to the UN. They are safe in the knowledge that the UN, a morally bankrupt organisation if ever there was one, will pass whatever resolutions against Israel are put forward.
After the nine month period is up or well before that the talks will collapse, the USA will try to impose some doomed plan of their own and Israel will regardless of the outcome cop the lot as something dirty hits the fan.
Why should the PA make concessions if it on a daily basis tolerates and encourages hatred against Israel, Jews and Judaism? Why does it in fact need to do anything other than walk out, safe in the knowledge that it will escape any blame and that the international community led by a witless lot in Washington will do anything other than confront the brutal truth?
The last question which needs to be asked of course is why we are going along with this farce. The standard answer is that we must be seen to be going the extra kilometer and bending over backwards in order to demonstrate our good will. The added excuse given is that unless we continue to self flagellate the USA will do nothing about preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons capability.
As bending over backwards in the face of Islamic terror has only resulted in a pain in our backside and as it is obvious that on present indications we cannot expect the USA cavalry to thwart Iran’s genocidal plans against us, the only alternative is to cease making useless gestures and instead make plans to do what is necessary to safeguard our security and future. In other words we need an effective antidote to the torrent of poison threatening to engulf those who stand for tolerance, freedom and respect for human rights.
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.
Can we really, really assume that the Israeli Gov. is so “blissfully” unaware of all those pertinent points raised here, in terms of the precarious situation their own country may find itself in !!!??
Just asking……………
Otto,
You’ve missed the point.
The issue has nothing to do with really assuming or not assuming anything.
The facts are that Israeli Governments are disfunctional where everyone in the Cabinet babbles on with their own agenda and keeps knifing each other in the back to push their own policies. There is no Cabinet solidarity on many issues confronting the country, a recipe for chaos.
Have a read of Isi Leibler’s latest post titled: “Chaotic Government Undermines our Global Standing.”
Just telling ……..
Gil,
I read and comprehend fully what you said, yet it does not mean that you had a point I could possibly miss.
On the other had, I DO have a point and I am sure that you did not miss it. The point, worth repeating, is that , in times and issues of essential, existential threats etc. , OUR Israeli boys and girls in Goverment and even Knesset abandon the knifing and ( always ) behave.
The knifing, by the way, is done the fair, Jewish way, NOT in the back but unbearably up-front, hence the infinite way they can do it and do it and the more they do it the more absurd it gets. After all, how long can you keep on knifing while the other party refuses to expire……
Otto,
You say in times of essential existential threats everyone “behaves”.
In these circumstances, what do you expect them to do?
The question one should ask is why wait until a clear and present danger presents itself before they are united?
Minimising these threats requires sound, consistent policies where at the very MINIMUM the cabinet is united and speaks with one voice so that enemies will fear what they could expect from a united Israel that is provoked.
Gil
I knew that eventually we would agree simply because we both have at heart the best for Eretz Zion.
This means that, just as with my previous argument that Israel welcomes well intended eitzes, but she is in full and reliable control, its enemies have learnt from all previous experiences that , at the crunch stage of their provocations, the Zionist Armagedon shall reveal itself and no pebble shall be big enough to hide the villains.
Gil, I agree with everything you have said in response to my posting. Perhaps you misinterpreted my comments, or, perhaps I didn’t express myself clearly enough. I’m saying that Israel should take a hard line, and it’s about time, not that Israel has done so. I have always been for plain speaking, not for pussy-footing around.
It all really should come down to a hard line taken by the Israeli government, rather than death penalties and taking no prisoners alive. At the end of the day if government makes a stand as well as imposing conditions on the Palestinians for peace talks, such as removal of hatred of Jews as part of the school curriculum, that’s what will make the difference. And it will also make it clear to the rest of the world what the realities are.
Liat,
As well meaning as you are, where have you been for the last 20 years?
Never once since the Oslo Accords when the world was attentive has any Israeli Govt. seen fit to demand that the indoctrination of Arab children in hate must stop as a precondition of any talks taking place or resuming.
The Palestinians have the advantage of knowing that not even the most heinous statements such as “Jews are the offspring of pigs and apes” will bring so much as a rebuke. Israeli “Negotiators” meet with their counterparts, smile and shake hands for the cameras but never make the demand IN PUBLIC (for the “rest of the world” as you say) that the indoctrination of children in hate is so serious an issue that talks will cease if nothing is done about it.
Now they face a new generation of adults who know nothing but hate for Jews and Israel and these are supposed to be Israel’s new peaceful neighbours in some newly created Palestinian entity?
It’s time Israel stopped allowing itself to be treated with contempt, said whatever is needed to be said clearly and PUBLICLY with a clear warning that in the event of any further hostilities after these talks formally break down, this time the gloves will come off.
Michael,
Your article is an excellent exposure of the situation that exists and validates my view that Israel is a democracy gone insane.
Never once, since that left wing idealogue Shimon Peres started the disastrous Oslo Accords did Israel, when it held all the cards, ever demand that the indoctrination of Arab children in hate must stop. On the contrary, talks continued till this present round and never a peep from Israel that this abomination must cease or the PA would be held accountable.
A democracy that incarcerates murderous terrorists then lets them go with the idiotic mantra assuring the public not to worry because if they offend again (and are caught???) they will be re-incarcerated. I’m sure this gives great comfort to the families of those whose loved ones were murdered. As you point out, incarceration in an Israeli jail is something these murderers do not fear. Summary execution I think is something they would fear but if not no matter, even if they became martyrs it would nevertheless guarantee that the particular martyr could never offend again, period.
Michael, I have two questions for you.
1. If the US and other western democracies have the death penalty, why not Israel?
2. A lot of politics comes down to effective Hasbara and in this regard Israel is hopelessly inadequate. With all the means at the Government’s disposal to garner world wide media access, why are they not out there talking in plain language what you and people like Isi Liebler expose on J-Wire with such clarity day after day?
Thanks,Gil, for your comments. In reply to your 2 questions:
1. Apart from a few States in the USA I don’t believe that other western democracies have the death penalty and if some do it is not enforced. Israel has the death penalty for one category only and that is Nazi war crimes. This is why Eichman was hanged. The argument against the death penalty for terrorists is that they will become martyrs although as that is their stated aim anyway I think we should help them on their way to the virgin territory they so crave. As an “enlightened” member of the civilized community Israel perceives the death penalty to be contrary to those values. That being the case the terrorists should serve their sentence for the duration of their lives and under no condition should they be released early.
2. The world of politics and diplomacy is riddled with political correctness which has gone mad. As neither Isi nor I are diplomats we do not speak in diplomatic double talk and as we are not politicians we tell the truth as it is. Most politicians are well known for “fudging” the facts and trying to please other (often vested) interests.
Hi Michael.
Thanks for your reply.
One last comment in relation to the terrorist issue.
It seems that the only permanent way out of any dilemma is for Israel to adopt new Rules of Engagement which specifically instruct the IDF that in any future confrontation with terrorists there are to be “No Prisoners.”
However, being the “enlightened” nation that it is, I wouldn’t expect this to happen any time soon.
Best Regards.