Thomas Friedman, of the not-so-subtle poison pen which usually issues from the NEW YORK TIMES, once again attacks the Jewish settlers in Judea and Samaria, on August 21st. Friedman launches his attack by first complaining that President George W. Bush spoke about the need to deal with Iraq when he was playing golf. Friedman then suggests that the President be more ??serious?? if we are to win world backing. Friedman is obviously referring to the Europeans and the Arabs as the World whom America is to appease and seek their approval.
This is sophomoric tripe from an ultra-leftist writer who inevitably minimizes the hostile goals of Arab rogue nations and their jihadist terrorist proxies. Friedman continues his diatribe by claiming that Bush says nothing about Egypt and Saudi Arabia and their ?lack of democracy?. Now that he has some of his audience nodding their approval, he starts to shift towards his real target, hoping that the uninformed will continue nodding.
This flip-flop reporter was always remarkably silent about the lack of democracy in those Arab countries and amongst his favorite group of Jihadist terrorists - the PLO under Yassir Arafat. Friedman grumbles that Bush is ??pushing democracy in Iraq and Arafat?s Palestinian Authority but, will do not utter a word against the Israeli settlements??.
Now we get to the root of the Friedman leftist message. The whole problem for Friedman is and always has been those Jews who are proudly nationalistic about their Jewish State of Israel, and especially those who settled the empty, rocky hills of Judea and Samaria. After 1948 the world renamed the area the ?West Bank" when Trans-Jordan occupied it illegally while the Gaza Strip was illegally occupied by Egypt. The Golan Heights was also occupied by Syria for 19 years until Israel liberated them all during the 1967 Six Day War. All of this occurred because the surrounding Arab countries, themselves artificially created, objected to the existence of a Jewish state of Israel and attacked in order to fulfill their vow to eliminate the Jews.
Leftists like Friedman who are so enamored with the anti-democratic regimes of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and academics like Prof. Steven Cohen, invariably couch their rhetoric in sophisticated and misleading language which can persuade their audiences that appeasement is always the best policy. They are the mini Neville Chamberlain umbrella carriers of our time.
What is bizarrely interesting is that while Friedman whines about Bush needing to "push" democracy on Iraq and the Palestinians, he ignores the only ?democrats? in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and the Golan, that is, the Jewish settlers.
While the Palestinians as a whole have been subjected to Arafat?s terrorist regime where democracy is not even a respectable word in the lexicon, the Jewish settlers virtually duplicate American-style democracy. They teach their children humanistic values; they vote; they have legitimate courts with real judges; they have elected municipal officials who run the infrastructure and attend to the day - to - day needs of their communities. The mayors can be voted out of office if they disappoint their electorate. In brief, they have the norms of democratic society despite the security situation, a living ?light unto the nations?.
Now, if we look through the Friedman-Cohen puce-colored glasses at the Arafat regime we find:
Power by Terror. No elections, only appointments of Arafat?s corrupt cronies as power brokers. ?Justice? meted out by kangaroo courts. Routine torture. Lynching and death by cruel methods of those suspected of ?collaborating? with Israel . A culture of martyrdom. School curriculum, radio, TV and religious indoctrination with one goal: to inculcate hatred of Jews and promote murder. Confiscation of all donor monies into Arafat?s personal accounts, from which he pays terrorists. Every shop and business has a Palestinian Authority partner. (It?s called ?protection?.) Poor or non-existent municipal services and medical facilities despite huge U.S. and European donations towards such infrastructure. Finally, massive accumulation of weapons both conventional and unconventional for a final battle intended to utterly eliminate the non-Muslim nation of the Jews.
Can it be that the latter are whom Tom Friedman champions? He and the Europeans and other leftists would like to see this ?society? establish independent self rule while denying the Jews their rights by ethnically cleansing them from the area (?dismantling settlements?)? Appeasement of the PA regime will only lead to more dead Jews, Christians and Arabs, and weaken the cause of democracy in a Middle East so desperate for change.
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Emanuel Winston is an analyst and commentator.
This is sophomoric tripe from an ultra-leftist writer who inevitably minimizes the hostile goals of Arab rogue nations and their jihadist terrorist proxies. Friedman continues his diatribe by claiming that Bush says nothing about Egypt and Saudi Arabia and their ?lack of democracy?. Now that he has some of his audience nodding their approval, he starts to shift towards his real target, hoping that the uninformed will continue nodding.
This flip-flop reporter was always remarkably silent about the lack of democracy in those Arab countries and amongst his favorite group of Jihadist terrorists - the PLO under Yassir Arafat. Friedman grumbles that Bush is ??pushing democracy in Iraq and Arafat?s Palestinian Authority but, will do not utter a word against the Israeli settlements??.
Now we get to the root of the Friedman leftist message. The whole problem for Friedman is and always has been those Jews who are proudly nationalistic about their Jewish State of Israel, and especially those who settled the empty, rocky hills of Judea and Samaria. After 1948 the world renamed the area the ?West Bank" when Trans-Jordan occupied it illegally while the Gaza Strip was illegally occupied by Egypt. The Golan Heights was also occupied by Syria for 19 years until Israel liberated them all during the 1967 Six Day War. All of this occurred because the surrounding Arab countries, themselves artificially created, objected to the existence of a Jewish state of Israel and attacked in order to fulfill their vow to eliminate the Jews.
Leftists like Friedman who are so enamored with the anti-democratic regimes of Saudi Arabia and Egypt and academics like Prof. Steven Cohen, invariably couch their rhetoric in sophisticated and misleading language which can persuade their audiences that appeasement is always the best policy. They are the mini Neville Chamberlain umbrella carriers of our time.
What is bizarrely interesting is that while Friedman whines about Bush needing to "push" democracy on Iraq and the Palestinians, he ignores the only ?democrats? in Judea and Samaria, Gaza and the Golan, that is, the Jewish settlers.
While the Palestinians as a whole have been subjected to Arafat?s terrorist regime where democracy is not even a respectable word in the lexicon, the Jewish settlers virtually duplicate American-style democracy. They teach their children humanistic values; they vote; they have legitimate courts with real judges; they have elected municipal officials who run the infrastructure and attend to the day - to - day needs of their communities. The mayors can be voted out of office if they disappoint their electorate. In brief, they have the norms of democratic society despite the security situation, a living ?light unto the nations?.
Now, if we look through the Friedman-Cohen puce-colored glasses at the Arafat regime we find:
Power by Terror. No elections, only appointments of Arafat?s corrupt cronies as power brokers. ?Justice? meted out by kangaroo courts. Routine torture. Lynching and death by cruel methods of those suspected of ?collaborating? with Israel . A culture of martyrdom. School curriculum, radio, TV and religious indoctrination with one goal: to inculcate hatred of Jews and promote murder. Confiscation of all donor monies into Arafat?s personal accounts, from which he pays terrorists. Every shop and business has a Palestinian Authority partner. (It?s called ?protection?.) Poor or non-existent municipal services and medical facilities despite huge U.S. and European donations towards such infrastructure. Finally, massive accumulation of weapons both conventional and unconventional for a final battle intended to utterly eliminate the non-Muslim nation of the Jews.
Can it be that the latter are whom Tom Friedman champions? He and the Europeans and other leftists would like to see this ?society? establish independent self rule while denying the Jews their rights by ethnically cleansing them from the area (?dismantling settlements?)? Appeasement of the PA regime will only lead to more dead Jews, Christians and Arabs, and weaken the cause of democracy in a Middle East so desperate for change.
---------------------
Emanuel Winston is an analyst and commentator.