Hamas’s Unchanged Heart
The latest attempt to convince Israelis that worries about their security are unfounded concerns a supposed shift in the worldview of Hamas. Some say the terrorist group is about to embark on a new path of nonviolence. But as the rocket barrages that continue to fall on southern Israel attest, this is yet another example of peace-processers not listening to what the Islamist rulers of Gaza say in Arabic to their own people as opposed to what they say in English to the Western media. The one truthful element of the story is that Turkey is now stepping up as Hamas’s main financial and diplomatic backer. Hamas has not given up its goal of eliminating Israel, a point that its spokesman made in Gaza to reassure the group’s supporters. But it is hoping to use its recent deal with Fatah, the governing authority in the West Bank, to spread its influence there. Palestinian “unity” will enable Islamists to lay claim to all the territories—making peace impossible and a new round of bloodshed likely.
Engaging the Brotherhood
The Obama administration’s decision to try “engagement” with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is a repeat of its flopped attempt to reach out to Iran in 2009. This is a major reversal of U.S. policy that till now has rightly seen the Islamist group as a threat. It is even more misguided in the context of the administration’s public unhappiness with Egypt’s current military rulers. After the victory of the Brotherhood and other Islamist parties, it is obvious Egyptian democracy is not leading to freedom. If America’s choice in Egypt is between the Brotherhood and an unsavory military that wishes to maintain the peace with Israel, it’s hard to understand why Obama would choose engagement with the Islamists.
So Much for Iran Sanctions
President Obama signed into law a sanctions bill in early January that could possibly bring Iran’s nuclear program to a halt. The legislation bans all transactions with any entity that does business with Iran’s Central Bank. But, at Obama’s insistence, the bill contains waivers that will allow the president to avoid putting it into effect. Unfortunately, he gave every indication of doing exactly that at the signing ceremony, claiming sanctions interfered with his constitutional authority to conduct foreign policy. He warned that he might therefore treat them as “nonbinding.” In other words, the chances of putting U.S. sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank, let alone an international boycott of Iranian oil, are slim to none. That renders Obama’s promise never to allow Iran to go nuclear even less credible than before.
Palestinian Youth and Hitler
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has come under a great deal of justified criticism for its blatant bias against Israel. But in at least one instance, UNESCO has lived up to its mandate to oppose hatred by pulling its funding of the Palestinian youth magazine Zayzafouna, which published an article written by a 10-year-old girl who extolled Adolf Hitler for his murder of the Jews. The teaching of Jew-hatred in Palestinian Authority schools, textbooks, and broadcast media is so widespread, it is hardly surprising that a child would choose to use the character of Hitler to make a point about alleged Jewish perfidy. Far from being an egregious outlier, Zayzafouna is very much part of the mainstream of Palestinian political culture. As pointed out by the Palestinian Media Watch, the organization that brought this instance to light, similar instances of anti-Semitism are a regular occurrence in the Palestinian media.
Friedman and Anti-Semitism
In December, Thomas Friedman let his anger about Republican support for Israel boil over in a bizarre New York Times column in which he likened democratic Israel to Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian Russia. Even worse, he wrongly claimed the ovations for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress last spring were “bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.” With this phrase Friedman crossed the line from being a bitter critic of the Jewish state to employing the terminology of the Walt-Mearsheimer conspiracy theories that seek to explain the broad support for Israel. It was a shameful performance, and he quickly walked back the use of the term “Israel lobby”—even though he also said he stood by the central idea of his piece.
D.C. Incitement
The willingness of critics of Israel to engage in prejudicial rhetoric also became a subject of debate when coverage of slurs published on the websites of the liberal groups Center for American Progress and Media Matters came under scrutiny. The organizations found themselves on defense when asked about their use of terms like “Israel-Firster,” “Likudnik,” and “warmonger” to describe friends of Israel. While such incitement, meant to delegitimize pro-Israel thinkers, is not unique, the fact is that it issued from prominent institutions linked to the Democratic Party—a fact that ought to trouble Americans on both sides of the aisle.
Truthers, Birchers, and Israel
The emergence of Ron Paul in the early stages of the Republican presidential race gave friends of Israel a jolt as the libertarian used the debates to rationalize Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons as well as to denigrate giving aid to Israel. Although the candidate’s links to “truther” 9/11 conspiracy theories and hate groups such as the John Birch Society ensure that there is no chance he will be nominated, the exploration of his record gave the country a tutorial about the roots of opposition to the alliance with Israel. Paul’s appeal shows that when it comes to extremism, the line between far left and far right is thin. Such forces remain marginalized in American politics, but the isolationist’s prominence illustrates the need to take them seriously.q
