This cross-post is By John Poris. How does that old Tom Lehrer song (National Brotherhood Week) go? “Oh, the white folks hate the black folks, And the black folks hate the white folks. To hate all but the right folks, is an old established rule.” and “Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics, And the Catholics hate the Protestants, And the Hindus hate the Muslims, And everybody hates the Jews.” (See the entire lyrics at http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/National-Brotherhood-Week-lyrics-Tom-Lehrer/625DBDA1F04F231148256A7D0025A2FC).
In reading Khaled Abu Toameh’s article in today’s Jerusalem Post (http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=210090), I can only wonder how quickly the blame for Fatah not wanting to deal with Hamas or Fayyad will shift to Israel and the Jews. Maybe I’m paranoid, but I don’t think so.
It does beg the question – “So who really is the elected government of the Palestinians? If Fayyad, Abbas, and Hamas are all illegitimate, since elections haven’t been held on schedule, they won’t work together to have elections, and they tend to kill one another when possible, who, specifically, speaks for the Palestinians?”
The obvious conundrum in this is, as always, who should Israel negotiate with to settle the issues?
If they negotiate with Fayyad, Fatah and Hamas won’t accept any agreements.
If they negotiate with Hamas (which isn’t going to happen – this is just hypothetical), the PA and Fatah won’t accept any agreements.
If they negotiate with Fatah, Hamas won’t agree with any agreements. The PA MIGHT accept those agreements, but it appears unlikely.
Of course, to the world, this is all Israel’s fault, because of course, the reason the Palestinians can’t agree with one another and continue to kill one another is because of the occupation, right?
But, if Israel pulled out of the West Bank tomorrow, evacuated all the “settlements”, evacuated all the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, what would change in the inter-Palestinian relationships?
Would that miraculously generate peace between the various factions? Would it engender a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict? Would it stop the rockets from Gaza from falling on Southern Israel, or, would rockets start flying to Israel from the West Bank?
I find it REALLY disturbing that these questions are glossed over by the governments of most of the world who point the finger of blame at Israel and demand that Israel not defend itself against attacks, or try to interdict arms shipments to Hamas.
I won’t stoop to the obvious response that it’s due to anti-Semitism, because I think that’s overly simplistic, but, I don’t have any other rational explanation for it, either….
About the author:
John Poris, a middle aged, Jewish, American male with a fairly eclectic, international background and perspective.
I am tolerant of others and their views, and expect tolerance of my views.
I have lived in several countries and have traveled extensively all over the world. I’m well educated with Bachelor’s degrees in Near Eastern Studies and Languages and Electrical Engineering; and Master’s degrees in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Business (MBA). I tend to be fairly “multi-cultural” and enjoy getting to know other cultures.
You will find that I tend to be a “Centrist” politically, but both conservative and liberal leanings in some areas.
I am NOT a member of any political party, nor do I wish to be – frankly, I think that our elected officials could do a much better job, but owe too much to special interests, and neither major party comes close enough to my views, overall, for me to support them.
I hope you enjoy reading my perspectives, and hope to hear from you!
