In Support Of President Obama's Stand On Israel - And Response (4)

  • Sunday, March 22, 2015

Roy Exum ends his latest column with the quotation "those who do not study history will be forced to relive it." Let's take that directive to heart from an American perspective. 

Exum is no doubt aware of the dark days of Jim Crow politics in our neck of the woods. For decades, shameless white politicians would curry support from the basest elements of the electorate with dire warnings of black citizens voting in large numbers, typically said to be cast for those politicians' opponents. Those days, not as far in the past as we wish, are ones which decent citizens pray never return. Nonetheless, we still suffer from the damage today, and absolutely, we must learn from the past rather than forget it. Given our own American experience, should we expect less of Israeli democracy than what we expect in modern American politics? I say we should not. 

Exum should not conflate the PLO or Hamas with Israel's Arab citizens, the latter being the target of Netanyahu's trumped-up screeds in the closing days of the campaign. Change the word from "Arab" to "black" and you might think Netanyahu was channeling Georgia electioneering from the 1930's. Our President and his administration has condemned Netanyahu's behavior, as is entirely decent and proper for them to do. So, too, have a variety of Israeli public figures issued condemnations, including Israel's president. Nonetheless, Netanyahu's behavior, and the votes it garnered, serve as a reminder of Arab Israelis' relegation to second-class status in too many areas of Israeli society. 

I support a sovereign, democratic Israel, but I expect it to be an inclusive and egalitarian society for those that live within its borders. If my tax dollars and my country's political capital are to support that nation, I have no problem with setting some boundaries, rather than echoing Senator Rubio's naïve "unconditional support." Will the Senator from Florida call up Netanyahu's Israeli critics and notify them of their "emboldening" of Israel's enemies? I can't speak for those Israelis, but as I have experienced Israeli geography (as has the Senator), I suspect they are acutely aware of the tight living quarters and rough neighborhood.  Nonetheless, perhaps they believe that people who would trade essential freedoms for security deserve neither. As for the President's response, attaching strings to our largess is an idea no more novel now than when James Baker and the elder Bush administration turned the screws on Israel during the 90's. Exum would do well to consider our own political history, and what we can learn from it, before making facile pronouncements against the President and implicitly excusing the odious behavior of foreign politicians and their domestic water carriers. 

Let's study some even older history. No doubt Exum is familiar with "Citizen Genet," the conniving French ambassador who sought to bend American party politics to his own ends by suborning President Washington's political opponents to the interests of an unstable French state. President Washington rightly denounced Genet, and Washington's political foes ultimately saw the light and placed a higher priority on American needs than those of the French. Will the Republican Party learn the same lessons? I can only hope, but empirical evidence so far is in short supply. 

As for Netanyahu, he is better-versed in American history than many Israeli politicians, having spent much time living here and being an alum of MIT. Unfortunately, he seems to have learned the wrong lessons. His playbook comes from Eugene Talmadge and his ilk. I do hope for a viable, sovereign, free Israel, and thus I am troubled that Netanyahu can be rewarded politically for denigrating a large portion of his own citizenry. I support those who will not condone his behavior, be they Americans or Israelis. Mature political thought means criticizing allies when they fall short, rather than serving as political puppets for foreign campaigns in the hope of scoring domestic points. Down the road of "unconditional support" lies the slide of Israel into a "Jim Crow" society. Now add to that the political purgatory that is the inescapable reality of millions of non-citizens living under various levels of Israeli control in the Palestinian territories. The future picture for Israeli democracy could be bleak indeed. Regardless of how much blame for the situation can be assigned to Israeli and Palestinian alike, Netanyahu should take heed of Thomas Jefferson's written words: "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever." Does Netanyahu tremble before God? Many of his actions suggest not. Whatever path Israel's citizens choose, I support President Obama's stand for the best of American political principles. 

David Kelman 

* * *  

I don't think Mr. Exum read the full reports compiled by Freedom House that he cited in his recent column fawning over Prime Minister Netanyahu’s impressive military record. 

The West Bank and Gaza were given such poor freedom rankings mostly because of Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and the complete blockade of Gaza by Israel and Egypt. There were several reports going back to 2011 that were more detailed than the most recent report, which was published last year. 

I'll quote directly from the some of the reports below, but they all are available on the Freedom House website.

"During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel conquered the West Bank along with the Gaza Strip and other territories, and subsequently annexed East Jerusalem, leaving the rest of the West Bank and Gaza under a military administration." 

"After 1967, Israel began establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a process that—along with the annexation of East Jerusalem—was regarded as illegal by most of the international community." 

"A September report by B’Tselem accused the IDF of failing to adequately investigate and prosecute cases of civilian deaths in the West Bank, citing only 23 criminal investigations out of the 148 recommended by the group between 2006 and 2009. Nevertheless, several soldiers were prosecuted in 2010. However, because most soldiers are investigated and tried internally, a low percentage of them are prosecuted and convicted, and most receive relatively light sentences." 

"As of August the IDF maintained 59 permanent checkpoints and over 400 roadblocks within the territory. These impose extensive delays on local travel, stunt internal and external trade, and restrict Palestinian access to jobs, hospitals, and schools. Israel’s security barrier has also cut off many Palestinians from their farms and other parts of the West Bank. While most roads are open to both Israelis and Palestinians, about 10 are open only to drivers with Israeli documents, ostensibly for security reasons." 

"All West Bank residents must have identification cards to obtain entry permits to Israel, including East Jerusalem; Israel often denies permits. In 2010, the IDF broadened the definition of “infiltrator” in the West Bank to include Palestinians who are not in the PA population registry and do not have a permit to live in the territory, exposing them to deportation within 72 hours, imprisonment, and other penalties." 

"The Israeli NGOs Peace Now and B’Tselem report that Israel denies construction permits and demolishes unauthorized housing at a far higher rate for Palestinian residents than for Israeli settlers. In 2010, B’Tselem found that while built-up settlements occupy 1 percent of the West Bank’s land, 21 percent of that is private Palestinian land." 

Mr. Exum reduced five years of reports to a two digit ranking with the overall implication that criticism of Israeli policies or its political leaders is unacceptable because Mr. Netanyahu was a skilled soldier.  

It’s a bit more complicated than that. 

Brent Stott 

* * * 

After reading David Kelman's analysis of Roy Exum's commentary on Bibi Netanyahu, it appears to me that he, Mr. Kelman, lives in the echo chamber of the left.  His entire commentary revolves around comments Mr. Netanyahu made during the waning days of his re-election campaign.  Specifically, I believe, Mr. Kelman refers to remarks intended to motivate his base to get out the vote given that the pollsters were indicating that Mr. Netanyahu's party might lose in the general election.  Those comments indicated that his opponents, including foreign NGO's, were going all out to defeat his party which included bussing Israeli Arabs to polls.  If, indeed, this was true (and an unusually high turnout by Israeli Arab voters seems to indicate that it was) then what was so horrible about Mr. Netanyahu's exhorting his base to thwart this effort by urging his supporters to come out to vote for Likud candidates?  Sure, this was distasteful, however, it was hardball politics, not unlike Democrat ads that show Republicans throwing Granny off a cliff and the like.  Mr. Kelman's constant references to "Jim Crow" seemed incongruous given that there was no evidence of voter intimidation in the Israeli elections, at least none that I have discovered.  And I am sure that had there been any efforts of voter suppression in Israel, all of the news sources that Mr. Kelman tunes into would have made that front page news. 

Now let's dissect another part of Mr. Kelman's response.  He eruditely refers to "Citizen Genet" as some sort of historical reference to shame Republican supporters of Israel and Mr. Netanyahu.  It has been widely reported that President Obama's State Department gave OneVoice, a non-profit organization, a $350,000 grant which it reportedly used to fund an Israeli based organization, V15, with the specific task of defeating Netanyahu.  Further, V15 employed a top Obama political operative, Jeremy Bird, as one of its key personnel in this task.  I don't know about you, Mr. Kelman, but from where I sit, it appears that Mr. Obama and his followers were directly trying to influence the Israeli election.  Citizen Genet, indeed.

And since historical references are the order of the day, here is one more.  For all your stated support for Israel, Mr. Kelman, the title of your commentary "In support of President Obama's stand on Israel" belies any such notion.  Mr. Obama, in 2011, called for a return to pre-1967 borders for Israel, which as anyone with an ounce of sense knows, are virtually indefensible.  It seems clear to me, that Mr. Obama is no friend to Israel, now or in the past. 

Jim Nelson 

* * * 

What needs to be asked of an Arab Israeli is if they would rather live in Israel or the West Bank or Gaza. 

Another thing is that Israel has been at war for over 60 years, with people sworn to their destruction. I believe Palestinians would have a thriving state right this moment if they would quit hating. They teach hatred to their children. Their televisions demonize Jews with more instruction on hating. Kind of like white people teaching their children to hate black people just because they are black. 

I guess most of you writers haven't noticed the vitriol that comes from the UN, focused on how bad Israel is. Lately, Israel has been rated at the top of the list for their alleged "War on Women," and the Islamic basically ignored for their treatment of women. 

Brian Foley 

* * * 

Mr. Stott, 

You forgot to mention that in 1967, Israel was attacked; you made it sound like Israel was the aggressor. Israel is the only free and open society in the middle east. Arabs can vote and serve in the Knesset, how many other countries in that region even allow real voting. In fact, in how many of those other countries are Jews even allowed to live (none).  

If the Arabs of those countries lay down their weapons, there will be peace, it the Israelis lay down their weapons there will be a mass execution of Israelis. You can not dispute this fact. Israel wants to live in peace, the Arabs want to exterminate the Jews. 

Gregg Juster

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