The Coronavirus Twenty-Two Weeks Later - Israel and the UAE Make Peace, BLM and Other News.

It was quite a major foreign policy breakthrough. Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed to complete "normalization of relations." It is expected that each country will now open an embassy (although it is unclear if the UAE embassy will be in Jerusalem, Israel's capital, or in Tel Aviv) in the other's country. The New York Times reported that, as described by President Trump, the "deal would lead to greater cooperation on investment, tourism, security, technology, energy and other areas while the two countries move to allow regular direct passenger flights, open embassies and trade ambassadors for the first time." In 1979, Israel and Egypt entered into what can only be described as an uneasy peace agreement, which has nevertheless held. The same with Jordan in 1994.

This peace deal is truly historic. However, much of the mainstream could not see fit to give the President and his emissary, son-in-law Jared Kuschner, any credit. On the front page of the 8/14/20 New York Times in the upper right was this headline: "Israelis and U.A.E. Agree To Full Ties In Landmark Deal." No mention of Trump. Immediately below were two subheadlines leading into two stories about the deal. Neither subheadline mentioned Trump. Had this deal been brought about by Obama, I have no doubt that the headline would have been spread across the entire width of the front page with something like "Obama Succeeds In Mid-East Peace Deal That Many Thought Was Impossible." Subheadline: "Exercising Extraordinary Diplomacy, Obama Says Other Arab States Are Likely To Follow."

Joe Biden was quick to take some credit for the historic deal. "The coming together of Israel and Arab states builds on the efforts of multiple administrations to foster a broader Arab-Israeli opening, including the efforts of the Obama-Biden administration to build on the Arab Peace iniative." If you hate Trump, or just do not know better, then this whopper of a lie may sound plausible. But the Arab Peace iniative asserted that Israel had to recede to the so-called 1967 borders (of no legal significance) and recognize a Palestinian state in order for Arab countries to establish relations with Israel. But, as most Republicans and a few Democrats know, the Palestinians have regularly rejected all peace offers, and declared their desire to take over all the land of Israel. So the Arab Peace iniative was going nowhere.

Although, the Obama-Biden administration was of some help. By cozying up to the Ayatollahs in Iran, Obama and Biden made it clear to the Gulf Arab states that the United States would not be a trustworthy ally in opposing the terrorist sponsoring and aspiring nuclear power of Iran. On the other hand, Israel and the Gulf states shared a distrust of Iran. Additionally, Israel is an economic and technological powerhouse in the Middle East. No doubt that the UAE (and perhaps other Gulf states) see that it is in their interest to have normalized relations with a country like Israel. Maybe they decided it was time to stop putting Palestinian interests ahead of their own, especially given the Palestinians lack of interest in settling the long-standing dispute. Objecting to the deal were, of course, the Palestinians, and Iran and Turkey. Under Erdogan, Turkey has been moving away from being a secular country to more Islamist. Admittedly, the UAE and some other Arab countries are rated "not free" by Freedom House. But, as with all countries, Israel does not get to pick its neighbors. And this deal, and others if they happen, can not help but add stability to a region that desperately needs it. And just maybe the Palestinians will come to realize that the rest of the world is not going to wait for an end to their intransigence.

Here is an example of some classic Leftist thinking. At the start of a Major League Soccer game in Frisco, Texas between FC Dallas and Nashville SC, the players on both teams took a knee during the playing of the national anthem. The fans were not pleased, and player Reggie Cannon said this afterwards: "I think it was disgusting. I think it was absolutely disgusting. You got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in. Millions of other people support this cause and we discussed with every other team and the league what we're going to do and we've got fans booing us in our own stadium. How disgraceful is that?...it pissed me off...it's baffling to me." Maybe I can help you understand, Mr. Cannon. You see, as a man of the Left, you expect everyone to think like you do. When people have the nerve to express a contrary opinion you feel a need to retreat to your safe space. Well, maybe millions do agree with you, but millions do not. The only "disgusting" thing, Mr. Cannon, is how society allowed you to come to the belief that only those who agree with you get to publicly express their opinions. I might add, if you are shocked by your own fans booing you, you have clearly never been to Yankee stadium when the Yanks are losing badly.

Somewhat related, is the thinking of some who hate, who detest, Trump. Last time around, in 2016, I was called a "Putin lover" because I was going to vote for Trump. More recently I have been called a "hater." And, I have been accused of believing that the coronavirus is a hoax. Which is really strange, as I have been giving the weekly number of cases and deaths in various places every single week of the blog. Most recently, I have been accused of putting party ahead of country because of my expressed intention to vote for Trump again. To me, that is no different than Mr. Cannon not understanding that others may have a legitimate difference of opinion. And the fact that these ad hominem attacks occur with some frequency perhaps may explain why many Trump supporters remain silent.

A week ago, there was a substantial amount of looting in the Magnificent Mile area of downtown Chicago. Over 100 peope were arrested, and 13 police officers were injured. A day or so later, Black Lives Matter held a rally in support of those who were arrested. Prior to the looting, the police had shot a man who had fired on them, on Chicago's south side. Apparently, caravans from the south side then went to the downtown area for the purpose of looting. Said one of the organizers of BLM: "I don't care if someone decides to loot a Gucci or Macy's or a Nike store, because that makes sure that person has clothes...this is reparations...anything they wanted to take, they can take it because because these businesses have insurance." There is a clear understanding of how the world works. Putting aside for the moment the estimated $60 million dollars in damage, and the hundreds of stores now boarded up, I would ask this BLM organizer if she knows if all insurance policies cover this type of damage. I would ask if she knows about deductibles. I would ask what she thinks about all the people who are now out of work until such time as these businesses may reopen. What if some cannot reopen?

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot finally spoke up, saying this was "abject criminal behavior." The Mayor: "This is not legitimate First Amendment protected speech. These were not poor people engaged in petty theft to feed themselves and their family. This was straight-up felony criminal conduct." For those inclined to support the BLM movement, here is more of what that organizer had to say: "The fact that anyone gives a shit about these businesses over what is happening in this city right now and the pain that people are in and the suffering that is taking place, I don't care." And then there is this: "The whole idea of criminality is based on racism anyway...because criminality is punishing people for things that they have needed to do to survive or just the way that society has affected them with white supremacist B.S." I think I'll let her words speak for themselves.

The New York Times reported that, after the rioting and looting in New York City, some major national chains have decided to permanently close their stores in midtown Manhattan. Those chains include JC Penney, Kate Spade, Subway, and Le Pain Quotidien. Other stores are keeping closed for the time being. But those lost jobs are of no concern to some. See above paragraph.

If you still support BLM, here is a further story out of Louisville, Kentucky, which was brought to my attention by a friend who is a retired police officer. In "The Police Tribune" was a story about a business owner who felt that the local BLM people were using Mafia-like tactics to force his agreement to certain demands they were making. This business owner was told to make 23% of his staff black and buy a minimum of 23% of his inventory from black businesses. In the alternative, he could pay a "contribution" of 1.5% of his net sales to black organizations. His last option was to face a boycott. However, the business owner claimed that he was also told that he "better put (the demands) on the door so your business is not fucked with." Having grown up in New Jersey, I am confidant in saying that this is exactly like the "protection racket" that the Mob used to extort money from legitimate business owners. The justification put forth in support of these extortionist tactics, was the fact that the area had seen significant "gentrification," including the demolition of a public housing project that resulted in many black families being displaced. If that is the case, the BLM's beef is not with legitimate business owners, but with the elected officials and government bureaucrats that made the decisions regarding the rezoning of the area.

President Trump's younger brother, Robert, just died. Trending on Twitter was "#wrongtrump." Disgusting, but not surprising given the intense hatred many on the left feel towards this President. But, in a heartwarming goodbye to his brother, the President expressed this: "He was not just my brother, he was my best friend. He will be greatly missed, but we will meet again. His memory will live on in my heart forever. Robert, I love you. Rest in peace."