Free Speech, Freedom of Expression

Our "Peace Now" comrades have taken a calculated step.

Probably to attract attention more than trying to convince anyone of the logic of their case, they plastered over town this poster:

which reads: "Opponents of Annapolis - The Oppositionist Coalition to A Peace Agreement".

The lefty-progressive camp has been frustrated by the ability of the right-wing camp to succeed in graphic portrayals of messages.  Just recently, they claimed that a poster put up by the Kahane remnants with President Shimon Peres with a kaffiyeh was incitement.  That's so ridiculous but the mainstream media repeated it and sure enough for two or three days, the dictatorship of mindthought was back in place.

Why is it ridiculous?  Does Peace Now/ACRI/Meretz/Gush Shalom et. al., think that a kaffiyeh, that distinctive Arab peasant headress that the Mufti El-Husseini made all city-dwelling Arabs in the 1936-39 period wear so that the terrorists from the hill-country could blend in with the population (talking about collective punishment, by the way), automatically is racist, defammatory and inciteful?  If so, they should start a campaign to bring back the tarboosh.  But otherwise, I think they should shut up and allow others the blessed democratic privilege of freedom of thought, freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

And if they think they are so 'clever' in their paralleling Lieberman and Ahmadinemajhad (or however one spells it), what would happen if someone would portray, say, Yossi Sarid and a...dog. 

Why a dog?  Well, both of them urinate on the side of the road (see here).

That would be silly and disrespectful and in bad taste, no?  If so, why does Peace Now insist on publicizing the poster above?

And if they do insist on doing so, for peace's sake, stop crying about right-wing incitement.

SINK OR SWIM?

AT ANNAPOLIS, WILL ISRAEL SINK OR SWIM?

The umpteenth Middle East peace conference to resolve the Arab-Israel conflict is scheduled to be conducted in late November (or a bit later if at all at this rate) in Annapolis.  Secretary Condoleezza Rice, in her remarks at the end of a Ramadan Iftaar Dinner at the State Department on October 5, spoke of “a real sense of momentum among Israelis and Palestinians to end their conflict” and the need “that everyone support this”.  The meeting, she indicated, will be a substantive and serious one and address the core issues.  To her mind, “perhaps the time has come. Palestinians have waited long enough for the dignity that will come with their own state….a democratic neighbor” alongside Israel.

Lucky for her, and for James Baker in the background, Haim Ramon, an Israeli Minister rehabilitated from a criminal osculatory exercise, declared recently that for him the most important thing is to preserve the state of Israel as Jewish and democratic.  That would be accomplished, by example, by transferring major sections of united Jerusalem to Arab sovereignty.  Jordan, having established a $1.5 million renovation fund, has already opened the bidding.

In a brief conversation I had with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni last night (*) it is my impression that it is finally sinking in that what Ehud Olmert has in mind and what Condi Rice has in mind is not quite in the best interests of Israel and that there is a real apprehension.  Annapolis is being wrested away by the Pal. declarations and the upping ever higher of their demands.  It is being supported by internal Arab subversive elements, including one Minister.  But more important, Israel's Prime Minister appears to be incapable of grasping the reality of the military, economic and national ethos aspects of what the proposals he has been trumpeting are becoming.

Previously I noted that our leaders, Begin, Rabin and, it seems, now Olmert, are caught on the edge of a psychological threshhold.  They realized that what their original ideas were have been taken out of their control but now that they are at a certain point which seems to be one of no return (their historical image, current public relations, their standing in the eyes of world leaders, etc.), they feel that they just have to charge ahead and take the plunge.

At this point, it is our duty to point out the danger.  This is a sink or swim juncture and there seems to be no reliable lifesaver anywhere near.

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(*) really. she was at the opening of the Begin Center exhibit marking 30 years since Sadat's visit to Jerusalem and the beginning of another peace process long ago.

Ehud, Let Me Help You

Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel, Chairman of the Qadima Party and someone who is targetted in four police investigations,

Dear Sir,

We do not agree ideologically or politically, and, of course, morally, but I still recognize the position of power that you hold.  It's tough moving over from the nationalist camp to the liberal-progressive camp.  Your wife Aliza is a supporter of Women in Black, your lesbian daughter regularly participates in radical demonstrations, your two sons live abroad in NY and Paris, one a homosexual and and concientious objector and the other has also stopped serving and your other daughter, well, I really don't recall anything about her.

Anyway, it can be lonely with Condi Rice and those police investigators.  And with Annapolis coming up, your government coalition could be out the window.  I don't want you to misinterpret my advice.  I am not coming closer to you but want you to come closer to me so that we don't lose our state. Until we can bridge the gap between us, however, I have a suggestion:

Your "partner", Mahmoud Abbas, said this a day ago: "we must topple this [Hamas] gang that took control of the Gaza Strip" and since you are wily enough, you probably already guessed what I am going to suggest.

Tell Condi that you haven't changed your mind about dividing Jerusalem, handing away Israel's sovereignty over the Temple Mount, bringing Qassam rockets closer to Israelis in Jerusalem, Petah Tikva, Ra'anana, et. al., freeing more prisoners, etc., etc., etc.  You still think that Abu-Mazen is capable and sincere and great all around Arab. However, you want to give hime a chance to prove his capabilities.

It's not enough that Jake Wallis, US Consul-General, went up to Shchem and pronounced the Pal. police fit for taking on Fatah gangs.  You want better proof.  You want to wait until Hamas is out of power in Gaza.  Tell Condi that all Abbas has to do is prove his mettle.

Ehud, come on up to Shiloh for a cup of coffee and let's think this through carefully.  But take care.  Some military commander heard from you that it's okay to remove some more roadblocks so you never know if there are some drive-by-shooting-happy Arabs on the roads.