The lead headline in the May 11, 2021 New York Times was this: "VIOLENCE ERUPTS BETWEEN ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS." Coincidentally, I ran into Violence the other day at the local coffee shop. Working up my courage, I went up to him and asked: "Violence, how come you erupted again?" He asked if I was from the press; I said that I was not but that I do write a blog. He agreed to talk to me as long as I did not convey his comments to the press. Violence: "Look, I really did not want to erupt again. But, and this is off the record, I was getting a lot of pressure from the Palestinians." I asked what pressure. Violence: "C'mon, man. You must know that under Trump, the Palestinians were ignored. This was a way to reassert themselves back into the international dialogue." How so, I asked?
Violence: "Remember when Trump said he was going to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel's capital city of Jerusalem? Many people predicted that I would erupt then. They were nuts. You think I was going to erupt with a guy like Trump in the White House?" Me: "What changed?" Violence: "Trump lost. Biden returned to Obama's policy of appeasing bad guys. Biden reestablished relations with the Palestinians, and he reinstated aid to them. And the Palestinians did not have to promise anything - not to stop killing Jews, and no need to recognize Israel as a Jewish state." Me: "And so?" Violence: "C'mon, man! Trump helped establish normalized relations between Israel and 4 Arab states. Unheard of. Arab leaders were openly stating their frustration with the Palestinians refusal to make peace."
Me: "I see. So what is the goal of the Palestinians?" Violence: "It's already a done deal. The Palestinians are now the front and center story in the Middle East. They're relevant again. And those 4 Arab countries that normalized relations with Israel? They now had to openly condemn Israel. Those 'Abraham Accords' are at risk of being pulled apart." Me: "What about the claim that this is about the houses in Sheikh Jarrah, and the clashes at the Al Aqsa Mosque?" Violence: "Seriously, man? We both know that was all a pretext for my erupting now." Me: "Why won't you discuss this on the record?" Violence: "Listen, man. The media, the UN, the Europeans, the Arabs, and even Democrats in your country are already blaming the Jews. Sorry to tell you, but that will always be the easiest narrative. I gotta run." Me: "One more thing. What would happen if you told the truth?" Violence: "I'm Violence, man. I always have to be seen as siding with the perceived underdog. Besides, there is no upside to me going against the tide and siding with the Jews. Later, dude."
That was quite an illuminating conversation that I had with Violence. But what about the Arabs being evicted from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah? Turns out that Jews owned those properties since 1875. But during Israel's war of independence beginning in 1948, Jordan succeeded in capturing the half of Jerusalem later known as East Jerusalem. The Jews were evicted from their homes, because Jews were not permitted to remain in the territory captured by Jordan; ethnic cleansing of Jews always being permissible. Jordan then transferred title to some of those properties to Arabs, Others remained under Jewish ownership. Then Israel retook the area in the 1967 Six Day War. As to those properties that remained under Jewish ownership, litigation has been ongoing in Israeli courts for years. Some of the Arabs living in those homes have been treated as tenants. The courts were reluctant to evict them as long as they paid rent. But they refuse to pay rent. And some are mere squatters, with no rights at all. In the areas of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority, it is illegal for Arab owners to sell their property to Jews. The punishment for doing can be extreme. Just don't expect any condemnation of that policy from the mainstream media, the left, the UN or the Europeans.
But what about the clashes between Israeli police and Arabs at the Al Aqsa Mosque. The Mosque sits on the site of what the Arabs refer to as the Noble Sanctuary, often described as the third holiest place in Islam. For Jews, it is The Temple Mount, the site of Abraham's binding of Issac, and the site where the two Great Temples stood. It is the holiest place in Judaism. For reasons hard to comprehend for this writer, and after recapturing Jerusalem in the 1967 war, the Israelis turned over control of the Temple Mount to the Waqf, which is under Jordanian authority. However, Israel annexed the eastern area of Jerusalem after the 1967 war, and is therefore responsible for security in all of Jerusalem. I think the question to ask about the clashes between Arab worshippers and Israeli police on the Mount, is why were the Arabs stockpiling large rocks in their holy mosque? Why were those rocks thrown at Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall below? Here is another question: why are Jews forbidden from praying on the Mount?
The reaction in the mainstream media was predictable. Nicholas Kristof, one of the chief columnists at the New York Times, made this less than astute observation: "It's also true that Hamas not only attacks Israeli civilians but also oppresses its own people. But as American taxpayers, we don't have much influence over Hamas, while we do have influence over Israel and we provide several billion dollars a year in military assistance to a rich country and thus subsidize bombings of Palestinians." Let me start with this. Israel is our greatest ally in the Middle East, perhaps in the world. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by our State Department. So according to Kristof, let's punish our ally Israel in order to reward terrorists? And what does he mean we have no influence over Hamas? Of course we do, if we choose to exercise it. Trump knew how to, Biden has no clue. Unless, you disagree with Violence, and believe it is all coincidental that Violence did not erupt during Trump's term in office, but has erupted mere months into Biden's term?
Here is Tracy Wilkinson's analysis in the Los Angeles Times. (As an aside, Wilkinson was single-handedly responsible for my dropping my subscription to the LA Times with her constant anti-Israel reporting during an earlier war between Israel and the Palestinians.) Wilkinson: "Trump gave cart blanche to the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its right-wing nationalist supporters while sidelining and punishing the Palestinians." As with so many on the left, Wilkinson does not see a difference between Hamas and Israel. And she clearly does not understand how the withholding of aid can be just as influential as the providing of aid. Kristof suggested that US aid to Israel could be better spent on providing Covid-19 vaccinations around the world or pre-K at home. (I will not debate here whether or not the US should ever provide foreign aid. That is a topic for another time.)
While Iran supplies rockets to Hamas, the US has assisted Israel with financing its Iron Dome missile defense system. The system was developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. As reported by the WSJ, "In 2020 the American firm Raytheon announced partnership with Rafael to build Iron Dome in the U.S." The US relationship with Israel is far from being one way. The US benefits greatly from Israeli technology and intelligence. As I recall, during one of our past wars in the Middle East, a US general praised Israeli intelligence as being worth five CIAs.
In case readers have any doubt about where much of the mainstream media stands, the New York Times is always pleased to make it clear. You see, it is not sufficient for Israel to be declared the guilty party in the current war with Hamas. No, Israel should not even exist. So says Peter Beinart in a May 13,2021 Op-Ed in the Times. Beinart is a Jew, and apparently has a great deal of guilt over the fact that Israel exists. I will not address his points here. (If somebody wishes to debate those, let me know.) But, his approach sounds no different than that of the Palestinians: "From the river to the sea, all of Palestine will be free." From the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea will be Palestine. Israel will be gone. Exactly what Hamas and Fatah call for in their charters - the destruction of Israel. So if you want to know what this current war, and all the wars, have been about, that's it. The Palestinians desire to wipe Israel off the map. As Violence told us, there is always a pretext for the fighting, but the pretext is not the truth.
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