Ken Berwitz
Given that most blogs are about presidential politics thesedays, I thought I would take this opportunity to remind readers of how thingsare going in the Middle East – specifically, how things are going betweenIsrael and its supposed peace partners, Palestinian Arabs.
Excerpted from Ari Lieberman\’s article at frontpagemag.com:
When Barack Obama or his shills at the State Departmentaren\’t busy apologizing to the Muslim world for America\’s imagined misdeeds orthanking the Iranians for kidnapping our sailors, they\’re usually excoriatingIsrael for “creating obstacles to peace” while the other side – the so-calledPalestinians – generally escape criticism. Palestinian Authority incitement andoutright anti-Semitism are all but ignored by the Obama administration as isthe fact that 6% of the PA\’s budget is earmarked toward paying the salaries ofconvicted terrorists or their families. Since a substantial portion of that budget is subsidized by the U.S.taxpayer, it places the administration of being in the odd position of being anaccessary to terror.
The incidents and examples of Palestinian Authorityincitement are too voluminous to note in this piece but there are a few recurringthemes. Jews (and sometimes Christians) are routinely referred to as apes, pigsor monkeys. Ancient blood libels accusing Jews of kidnapping Arab children forthe purpose of using their blood in preparing Passover Matzah are regurgitatedwith regularity and lastly, those who engage in terrorism and murder areextolled as heroes or Shahids. They or their families are often rewarded withcash payments or lucrative job opportunities. Some have even had public placesnamed after them.
Two watchdog groups, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) and theMiddle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) have done an outstanding jobdocumenting and compiling the data relating to Palestinian incitement andanti-Semitism and their viewing should be mandatory for State Department staff.I doubt that will ever happen under an administration besotted by the conceptof tearing Israel\’s ancestral and historic heartland away from its people.
Israel is an oasis of western civilization, of modernity,of progress in technology, medicine, science, the arts and agriculture, which sits adjacent to a self-created, self-enforced sewer of repression, hatred and desolation.
The purveyors of that repression, hatred and desolation arewho Israel is supposed to make peace with – an impossible task. And they are who many of the world\’s countries – the Obama-led United States front and center among them – blame Israel for not making peace with – an insane demonstration of a great many issues, all negative, one of which is the endurance of anti-Semitism as a driving force in this world.
US politics will, of course, continue to be the main area of discussion in this election year. But it is important to remember whatelse is going on out there, and why it is happening. I hope this has been a useful contribution.
