Paula R. Stern – Top 10 Reasons Not to Go to Paris
Paris is supposed to be an amazing city. I was there once. For 24 hours. It wasn’t great. The people were really nasty – from the snotty municipal worker who refused to give me directions because my French wasn’t accented properly, to the inconsiderate cleaner at the airport who carefully smashed her broom into garbage cans near benches where people were sleeping, but quietly circled the cans where the benches were empty (I kid you not…we watched this for 15 minutes till we realized and confirmed the pattern). Maybe they just don’t like tourists. Maybe they don’t like Americans. Or maybe they just don’t like Jews. Who knows?
So, as we begin the week, here are the top 10 reasons why Israel should not attend the Paris “Peace” Summit:
10. The results are a foregone conclusion. Israel will be condemned; Palestinians will be rewarded. Israel will be admonished; the Palestinians will be praised. Same old, same old. Why bother to give them the satisfaction of being in the room when they blabber?
9. All that is wrong, the entire conflict, will be blamed on the settlements – never mind the fact that Arabs were waging terror attacks in the 1920s and 1930s. Forget that they attacked Israel in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. It’s all because of settlements that didn’t even exist when the conflict began. When you start with the wrong assumptions, there’s almost zero chance of getting to the right conclusion.
8. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 proved that Israel cannot rely on its “trusted” friend, the United States – at least not for another six days. Why give Obama his final revenge?
7. France is not safe for Jews and Israelis – the less we all go there, the better. And, as it happens, Paris especially seems to have too many random attacks against Jews. As they set up a massive terror target, why would we trust our security to French security forces. No, not. No way. If something’s going to happen there, we really don’t want to be there.
6. I heard John Kerry might be there and statistics show that whenever John Kerry opens his mouth, the blood pressure of most Israelis goes up.
5. Because the solution to the long-lasting Arab-Israeli conflict has never rested in the hands of France or the US, Russia, China, Senegal, Germany, England, or New Zealand.
4. Because sometimes the best answer is the one delivered from far off – and the answer really is simple. It is to live here in our land and do what we have been doing forever – living. That’s what Israelis will be doing this week – going about our normal lives, celebrating simply the way we live.
3. Because the weather is nicer here in Israel, the views so much more ours. Just think – you could be looking at John Kerry’s face, or the golden walls of Jerusalem. Well, duh!
2. Israel shouldn’t go to Paris because it’s time for the Palestinians to make a move towards peace, time for THEM to make concessions, offers, good will gestures. We’ve done all of that and nothing was gained. Their turn.
and, the number 1 reason why we shouldn’t go to Paris is…
Because every step we take in this land, every day we spend here, every breath we take in Israel, is a blessing, a present, a statement, a promise.
Israel is eternal; the rest of those guys who will meet in France? Not so much.
So, have your party, condemn us, threaten us, sanction us, hate us. You’ve been doing that for more than 2,000 years, do you really think this meeting in Paris will make any difference?
