Saturday, June 16, 2012

Israel Thrives Welcomes Jay in Philadelphia



Mike L.

I am pleased to announce that JayinPhiladelphia has joined Israel Thrives as one of our eminent front pagers. This came about when Jay suggested that I do some analysis of The Atlantic around the Arab-Israel conflict and I suggested that maybe he could do so and he has agreed. So, like our other front pagers, Doodad, Oldschooltwentysix, and Geoffff (of Bar and Grill fame), Jay will publish according to his will and we very much look forward to his contributions.

Israel Thrives is, of course, a part of the larger on-line pro-Israel community that includes well-trafficked blogs, such as Elder of Ziyon, as well as lower traffic joints such as, say, Richard Landes' The Augean Stables. Our primary goal... or perhaps it's just my primary goal... is to rethink the terms of discussion around the Long Arab War against the Jews due to the fact that the old Oslo assumptions are no longer operational and because Barack Obama has driven the final nails into the peace process coffin.

Acknowledging the demise of the Oslo "peace process" means thinking in new categories around old problems. Before we can think in new categories, however, we must forgo old terminologies so that we may replace them by terms more suitable to the current political moment. What's most important, given the fact that the Long Arag war against the Jews in the Middle East continues to this day, is in not using terminology that reflects Arab and Palestinian propaganda, but that better reflect the 4,000 year history of Jewish people on Jewish land in the Middle East. Thus, for one small example, the term "West Bank" may have seemed useful during the Oslo years because there was still hope for a negotiated conclusion of hostilities in which the Palestinians would agree to a state for themselves in peace next to Israel. However, given that the local Arabs absolutely refuse to end hostilities against the Jews through a two-state solution, it makes no sense to continue referring to Judea and Samaria as the "West Bank."

The term "West Bank" was originally created, or popularized, by the Jordanians when they swiped that land during Israel's War of Independence. The reason that they chose to call it the "West Bank" was to obliterate any Jewish historical claims which would be impossible to do if we continued to call Judea Judea. Because well-meaning liberal Jews were invested in the two-state solution, via a negotiated agreement, it became standard that Jews who wanted two states used "West Bank" while those who opposed the creation of a Palestinian state continued to use Judea and Samaria.

This is no longer the case because the entire premise of Oslo is no longer operational. Since Oslo has failed the terms used during Oslo need to be rethought and abandoned if necessary. These include outmoded terms such as "West Bank" or "East Jerusalem" or even "Israel-Palestine conflict." And while I still believe in two states for two peoples, I also recognize that it cannot come with Palestinian cooperation for the very simple reason that the Palestinians absolutely refuse any such cooperation and have done so for almost one hundred years. In fact, the Palestinians have refused to cooperate in the creation of their own state since long before they even emerged as a distinct nationality toward the end of the twentieth century.

At a certain point one must acknowledge the obvious and it is more than obvious that the Arabs, Palestinian or otherwise, have no intention of concluding hostilities against the Jews in the Middle East, nor have they any intention of creating a Palestinian state in peace next to the Jewish one.

My appeal, therefore, is simply to encourage people to rethink the basic terms of the conflict. Whether or not people continue to use a Jordanian term such as "West Bank" or an inaccurate term that encourages the partition of Jerusalem, such as the non-existent city known as "East Jerusalem," what counts is sloughing off the old assumptions in recognition that we are in a new political moment defined by the failure of the "peace process" that wore the name Oslo.

The conclusions that we draw, upon acknowledging the current situation, are entirely up to each and every one of us, but to continue under the Oslo Delusion is to sustain the conflict, and the status quo, indefinitely on into the future. I, of course, do not have all the answers. All I want is fresh thinking on an issue that is exceedingly important to all of us, left, right, and center.

It is in that spirit, a spirit of non-partisan, forward-looking open-mindedness, that I welcome Jay to Israel Thrives.

{After all, we welcome all sorts of heretics, infidels, and apostates.}

15 comments:

  1. I will join in the welcome. As to Oslo, one can ask if the Palestinians ever had intentions to make peace. How many times have they instigated aggression?

    Aggression is a wrong committed by a state. The UN Charter makes aggression or the threat of aggression unlawful. State responsibility arises when a state commits aggression.

    The UN should consider extending these principles to non-state actors.

    In any event, acting as if aggression does not matter contradicts progressives principles. Maybe it's about something else besides peace.

    Obama? I believe his approach is too accommodating and seen as weak. He only has limited influence to start. I think he should have learned from Europe when it comes to his approach. That said, the Arab and Muslim worlds have been a mess for hundreds of years, and much of what has occurred was only a matter of time.

    I wish more people were able to get from the environment that prevents them from being able to conceive what transpires and alternative ideas why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. School,

      the news today is that Abbas has declared the peace process dead and blames Israel for its demise.

      http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4243638,00.html

      Shocking, I know.

      The truth, of course, is precisely the opposite. We have almost one hundred years of documented history proving that Arab/Palestinian Koranically-based hostility toward Jewish sovereignty in Israel is precisely why they refuse to stop shooting rockets at Jews.

      It's seems to me that we must, somehow, convince western-left Jews that the fault here is not with our brothers and sisters in Israel. It seems pretty obvious that the Jewish left blames the Jews of Israel, or at least consecutive Israeli governments from Labour to Likud, for ongoing Arab hostility.

      It is unjust, historically inaccurate, and exceedingly dangerous because it justifies violence against us.

      Am I wrong?

      I do not think so.

      Delete
    2. No.

      If it were only individuals preaching the hatred, it might be less insidious, but it is also coming from states and non-state entities, and Israel gets blamed for causing it all to occur.

      The wrongful behavior is excused. This is where we see humanitarian racism. Aggressors are not be accountable for their conduct. Except for Israel, no other international crimes matter. Israel is an instrument of Western hegemony, and that determines propriety.

      It is fine to blame Israel for its behavior. Why blame Israel for the behavior of people who are opposed to its very existence, whether for religious or political purposes?

      Since no other state is held to the same standard, this double standard practiced against the Jewish collective constitutes antisemitism, period!

      Overall, to deny the religious aspects that are at play here is to deny the obvious. This does not even touch on the other hatred expressed by "anti-Zionists" on the left and right. The 1972 Munich terrorists and their neo-Nazi helper about says it all about how deeply ingrained Jew hatred is in this world, much to its sufferance because of what is lost.

      Delete
  2. Welcome, Jay. Ain't nobody gonna report you to some Wazoo and get you banned here!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I might, but y'know...

      Delete
    2. Fun to note that the whiny little sack who got me "permanently NR'ed" there... was just banned last week. Ironically, for allegedly taking a stand I'd generally agree with. But, since it was him? Hahaha! :)

      Delete
  3. Just realised I'd better find another Aussie for here. We are now outnumbered.!!

    I do have one in mind who has been helpful as far as Geoff is concerned. I passed him information from her, as lived in his neck of the woods for years and follows the rat bags there closely.

    I just picked this up on a Facebook group I subscribe to
    "Jordan is Palestine"

    It looks interesting though I've only skimmed through a little of it.
    http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=273912&R=R2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another Aussie would be terrific, but I really think we need some British representation going on... or the occasional stray South African... or, better yet, an honest to G-d pro-Israel Muslim.

      If you can pull one of them out of your pocket, Shirl, I will definitely owe you a belly rub!

      {There was a time and place when I was famous for those, dontcha know.}

      Delete
    2. Mike ... You have your Brit. ME !!

      I can get you an ex-Scot. I know a few South Africans, but I don't think they are this way inclined. Take that how you will.

      Muslim!!!!!! Oy !! That's quite an ask

      Delete
    3. Oh, I just assumed that you were Australian.

      My apologies!

      ;O)

      Anyways, you, my friend, are my brand new fave.

      Cheers!

      Delete
    4. Love you too Mike!!! I am Australian well and truly now, I have no desire anymore to go 'home' My husband went on his own in April.

      Good old Cockney. Born and bred "Within the sound of Bow Bells" in what was the shtetl of the East End of London, now home to the most radicalised mosque in Britain, if not Europe too.

      This video "The Islamisation of London" breaks my heart. This area was the heart of Jewish England.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9iZbHcxB5U&list=FLRjSAgzAZGBNafbhc-zzs2g&index=20&feature=plpp_video

      This is the mosque in question, in the area where Anjem Choudary and sharia law now reign supreme. The beautiful old shul. The Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue sadly closed its doors after 150 years in 2007. It is surrounded on three sides by this dreadful mosque and is constantly vandalised, despite its Heritage Listing.
      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2515587181120245843

      Maybe, when and if I have some free time (joke) I'll do piece about the warm vibrant place where I grew up, which was multicultural, before it was PC to be multicultural.

      Delete
  4. Where do you guys all live?

    Mike lives in the Bay area I know
    Jay lives in Philadelphia
    Geoff lives in Far North NSW/S Queensland
    'Daphne Anson' is at present in Wales and will return to Melbourne very shortly
    I live in the 'ghetto' in the eastern suburbs if Sydney

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the welcome, youze all. As for neighborhoods, I used to post photo diaries of mine at Daily Kos all the time, until I realized it was a hate-friendly site where people like me aren't welcome, so now I post random photos of them in... well, random places I frequent. Like, for example - http://www.lavidalocavore.org/showComment.do?commentId=43560

      Just set up my own little blog last week, so this will be my main home soon. :)

      http://jayinphiladelphia.blogspot.com/

      Delete
  5. Welcome Jay. Feel free to visit, comment and post at the Bar and Grill any time.

    http://geofffff.blogspot.com.au/

    ReplyDelete