- What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately.
- Obama at his meeting with AIPAC.
Let’s see how this works in other areas:
What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately:
… that Taiwan is an independent country
… that the dollar is too strong
....that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a horny old toad...
What I did on Thursday was to say publicly what has long been acknowledged privately:
… that Taiwan is an independent country
… that the dollar is too strong
....that Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a horny old toad...
Can any of these things, which are often said privately, be said by the president? In your dreams....
It is nonsense to claim, as does Obama and the liberal pro-Palestinian side that “all” he did was to make publicly something that’s always been said privately. What the president says, publically – or, just as importantly, does not say – is important, and makes news, not to say waves.
It is nonsense to claim, as does Obama and the liberal pro-Palestinian side that “all” he did was to make publicly something that’s always been said privately. What the president says, publically – or, just as importantly, does not say – is important, and makes news, not to say waves.
I was, however, good to see Obama make a point that the mutually agreed swaps would mean different borders from 1967, ie these are to be 1967 borders, except when they aren’t….
- … let me reaffirm what ‘1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps’ means.” His view, he said, is that “the parties themselves — Israelis and Palestinians — will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967.
Meantime, there’s been much debate, including from pro-Israel sides, about Netanyahu’s comments in the White House last Friday. The liberal – that is to say, the pro-Palestinian – voices are saying that Bibi was out of order. That he should not have “lectured” the president. The “elder” takes on Jeffrey Goldberg over that very issue at “Jeffrey Goldberg, the ‘sha, shitil!’ Jew”, which he starts with “an old joke:”
- Two Jews are dragged off by anti-Semites before a firing squad. The first one cries, "Stop! Stop! You're murdering an innocent man."
- "Shhhhh!" hisses the second Jew. "Don't cause trouble!"
My own view: Bibi was spot on. He had a unique opportunity to speak direct to the world, and he did so.
My post to “the elder”:
I'm an Aussie living in Hong Kong, who follows this issue very closely and am very pro-Israel (a declining minority, I'm afraid to say, amongst my friends and even my relatives). Also, for what it's worth, I used to be in Australia's diplomatic service (though some wags say "Aussie Diplomat" is an oxymoron). So I've been part of the sorts of intense discussions that go on behind the scenes before meetings like this one (well, it doesn't take much to imagine that, does it?).
An opportunity like the one Bibi had does not come round often and he was absolutely right to take it.
He was indeed speaking to the world and he did so with consummate skill, forcefully, robustly and clearly.
In my view it was a masterful performance and one that will long resonate ("it isn't going to happen; it's just not going to happen". Wonderful!)…
We should note, too, that the fifteen minutes of the meeting in front of the press was almost exactly 50/50, with Obama doing his share of "lecturing", if that's how some want to characterize the exchange.
BTW: I too rather like Goldberg's writings, though I don't find him always quite "sound" on this issue, and this is one such case. The elder was right to eviscerate him, as he's done.
BTW2: I'm new to this site and find it wonderful. Will be coming back often.
