OUT OF THE FRYING PAN – INTO OBLIVION? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JEWS ARE NEWS?
Howard Epstein: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN – INTO OBLIVION?
It is a strange feeling, is it not, after all those years of Israel being branded as the greatest threat to world peace, featuring as such daily in the finest rags in the West, from the Guardian to the New York Times, to be relegated to near oblivion? Have they by any chance twigged that we are unlikely to go to war over water, now that we can desalinate the Med for all our needs? Unlikely. Do they perhaps see a link between the cruelty of the Sunnis of Da’esh and that of their poster‑boys in Hamas/Fatah, who happily defenestrated each other, their fellow Palestinians, in 2007). Don’t hold your breath. Do they – and I know I am pushing it here – finally understand that the IDF really is a force for the defence of Israel, and not for foreign adventures or aggrandisement? You can count on it: that will never be acknowledged.
No. For activities of that sort, for foreign adventures by a state’s military, we need look no further than those who self-righteously lecture to us on our behaviour. See under the USA, the UK, France and Russia – and Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia. Let us take them in turn:-
the USA, the UK, France and Russia: wherever this week’s exigencies or whims may take them, from West Africa (the French), to Djibouti (the Yanks, with their not-completely-disclosed airstrip for launching drones for targeted killings) and to Iraq cum what-used-to-be-Syria (the Brits, plus all of the above).
Turkey: army units newly installed in Qatar;
Iran: somewhat engaged in Yemen in a proxy war with Saudi Arabia;
Saudi Arabia: somewhat engaged in Yemen in a proxy war with Iran;
Iran and Saudi Arabia: somewhat engaged in the Iraq/Syria theatre in a proxy war with each other.
No. It is entirely unlikely that such a comparison of military priorities would be undertaken by our “friends” in the West. You know what I mean by “friends”. All those who consider that they are best placed to advise us what to give up for “peace” because they speak as our true friends. (No doubt, some of their best friends are Jews.)
But to get back to Western journalism, maybe all that anti-Israel stuff was always about body-count, and it has gone quiet because 1,300 lives lost in Gaza now seems like small beer, what with Da’esh having got into its stride and all. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Yet, puzzlement heaped on puzzlement: where are the UK street-demos about hundreds of non-combatants being ripped to shreds (“collateral damage”) by Russian bombing sorties in the territory that used to be Syria? It all seems terribly lop-sided.
Be all that as it may, there is a strange sensation hovering over me. Something familiar is absent. Ah yes! It seems an age, does it not, since Bibi was last criticised for failing to take chances for peace? What irony that the old saw: “when in doubt say no and do nothing” is Persian in origin. Bibi’s much lambasted “inertia” seems nothing other than shrewd policy when, not only is there no partner for peace, but also there is no one who could deliver it. If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs … you’ll be a Man my son! [1] And, if you live in the eye of the cyclone, old chap, why would you risk disturbing your precious equilibrium? Better the devilish circumstances you know than to invite new ones.
Here is another irony to chew on. A world-wide caliphate would consign the Palestinian project to the trash-can of history. All those frustrated Hamas warlords, robbed of their Buggin’s Turn fifteen minutes of fame and of the chance of some thorough-fare being named after them, just because some interloper in far-away Al-Raqqah has taken control. Your heart could weep for them.
Let us try to be positive. Now that, so it is rumoured, the Saudis are seeking to squeeze under our umbrella, might our very own Pals consider working with us instead of for our destruction? After all, while they have hi-jacked and knifed and bombed and shot and schemed, the Israeli miracle has been built here. At this stage, possibly on the cusp of a Third Intifada, the Palestinians would do well to reflect on the words of two great Jews (much though they might choke on it). As Albert Einstein put it:-
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
and Karl Marx said:-
History repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce.
Now, sadly for them, the Palestinians’ history has been farcical – just not in a way that induces mirth. It is time for them to try something new for all our sakes, not least theirs.
And that may not be the stuff of fantasy for ever. There must be many amongst them who appreciate that the world would be unimpressed by a Third Intifada. After all, despite the affinities between the modus operandi of Hamas/Fatah and Da’esh, the efforts of the former could only be a pale reflection of those of the latter, and (taking their score-cards to date) rather less successful.
Perhaps the abandonment of nihilism as the national Palestinian project just needs a catalyst – say a mini-Marshall plan – to kick-start it. Now there’s something Obama and Kerry could usefully do whilst they waddle their way through their last lame-duck months. Having laid to rest Pax Americana, they should have plenty of time on their hands. They could do worse than mimic, and leverage, the recently-announced Israeli government’s policy – wait for it, no sign of the contemptible inertia here – to spend NIS 15 billion ($3.84 billion) on a five-year plan to develop Israeli-Arab and other minority communities. (Now I have not seen a lot about that in the Western press.)
Whilst we do our bit, therefore, let the USA make “renewed efforts for peace”, by investing in Judea and Samaria. As a true friend of America – some of my best friends are Americans – I feel especially qualified to offer them this advice:-
O America. This would enhance your greatness – and be a great investment for you.
- Give generously to the Palestinians. Only $15 billion over five years (each $3 billion about 0.5% of your annual military budget) would change Palestinian life for the better, forever. New roads and drainage, schools and hospitals, partnerships with world-leading Israeli companies -indeed everything needed to enable them to eschew self-brutalisation and to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, as did devastated Europe after WWII.
- Attach just five conditions:-
- none of it is to be spent on weapons – only beating into ploughshares is permitted;
- all concrete is to be used above ground;
- rip the “descendants of pigs and monkeys” pages out of the schools textbooks;
- develop the rule of law, separation of powers and the usual democratic institutions;
- live in peace alongside Israel for ten years; and
- then hold a really meaningful peace conference.
It might even merit an article or two about Israel in the Guardian and the New York Times.
[1] Rudyard Kipling: http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/poetry/rudyard-kipling.html
Howard Epstein: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN – INTO OBLIVION?
Howard Epstein, LLB, is an English commercial lawyer of some 45 years’ standing. He still practices international commercial litigation on several continents. As such, he is articulate and voluble.
Howard is also a staunch Zionist, having achieved aliyah in September 2005, after a lifetime as “an armchair Zionist”. His parents met at a Habonim function and he was raised with Zionism on a daily basis. He is well-read, knowledgeable and opinionated about Jewish and Israeli history and current affairs.
Howard Epstein: OUT OF THE FRYING PAN – INTO OBLIVION?
