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Big step towards Middle East peace — 27 Comments

1. Recall how our “betters” predicted disaster from Trump’s moving the US embassy to Jerusalem:Flashback: John Kerry Warns Trump Moving Embassy to Jerusalem Will Be A Disaster

   Via Times of Israel.
   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who will leave office in two weeks’ time, warned on Friday of “an absolute explosion” in the Middle East should President-elect Donald Trump decide to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
   “You’d have an explosion,” he said in an interview with CBS. “You’d have an explosion – an absolute explosion in the region, not just in the West Bank and perhaps even in Israel itself, but throughout the region.”

   If John F. Kerry, in his infinite wisdom, predicted disaster for Trump in the Middle East, who are we to disagree with him? 🙂

2. Harris/Biden lead in the polls. They have said nothing, zilch, about this remarkable event. Either the American public is stupid or a large minority lie to pollsters. I pray it is the latter, but remember what happened to Churchill after the war: got thrown out like an old shoe.
   Scientific American, which is not scientific, says science dictates it must endorse Biden.
   Kerry should be reincarnated as toilet paper. He has never once in his life been right. In a new role (pun!) as toilet paper, he would be useful.

3. Consider what Senator Chris Murphy of CT has said about Israel and the UAE establishing diplomatic relations. The UAE-Israel deal is Trump’s first genuine foreign policy success, experts say.

   “Normalizing relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is a historic step that will enhance the security and economic interests of both countries,” said Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, who has frequently blasted Trump’s foreign policy and accused him of taking the country to the brink of war with Iran. “This breakthrough is a powerful example of how diplomacy can bridge historic divides and advance the United States’ interests.”

   Recall what Senator Murphy said about Trump’s policy in Iraq. Sen. Chris Murphy condemns Soleimani airstrike days after claiming ‘no one fears’ US during embassy assault.
   Senator Murphy condemned the strike that killed Soleimani, accusing Trump of being a warmonger,

   Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., criticized President Trump’s order that led to the death of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani Thursday, appearing to contradict his own rhetoric following the Iran-backed militia assault on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.
   “Soleimani was an enemy of the United States. That’s not a question. The question is this – as reports suggest, did America just assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most powerful person in Iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war?” Murphy tweeted.

   Yet several days before, Senator Murphy told us that Trump was a weakling, a paper Tiger for his policy in Iraq.

   However, the Democratic senator struck a different tone on Tuesday following the violence at the embassy.
   “The attack on our embassy in Baghdad is horrifying but predictable,” Murphy tweeted. “Trump has rendered America impotent in the Middle East. No one fears us, no one listens to us. America has been reduced to huddling in safe rooms, hoping the bad guys will go away. What a disgrace.”

   BTW, Senator Murphy unwittingly provided a reason why Trump did not seek Congressional authorization for killing Soleimani, when he later admitted he had met with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Senator Murphy, potential leaks are why Trump didn’t seek Congressional authorization.

   I suppose I should be glad that Senator Murphy (D-CT) has supported establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, but after all Senator Murphy has already said and done, I suspect that if Senator Murphy said that the sun rose in the east, I wouldn’t believe him.

   Maybe the conclusion is that Sen. Murphy is someone in love with hearing his own voice, and as such, should be ignored, 🙂

4. It’s almost as if the more the Deep State gets dismantled, and globalism gets disempowered, long standing problems with no possibility of getting fixed, get fixed.

   Who’da thunk it?

5. In some other reports on this, there’s a pic of a projection of the flags of the principals to this agreement on the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. Amusingly, they seem to have projected the older iteration of the US flag with 48 stars. 🙂 Either because that was the version that flew in 1948 or because it was easier to draw, who knows.

6. I hate to be a “debbie downer” and I too pray this peace evolves into a fundamental change for the better. But Bahrain and the U.A.E. are at best, second tier players. A step in the right direction, yes. But it’s far too soon to assume that it’s a new day.

7. The democrats will do every thing in their power to ruin this deal. Remember what the democrats did after president Nixon ended the Vietnam war. They cut off funding to our allies in SE Asia so the communists could take over. Chris Dodd addressed the congress and said the people in Cambodia would be better off under Pol Pot. We know how that worked out. Pol Pot killed about 1/3 of the population of Cambodia. That evidently didn’t matter to the democrats.

8. Ray: I believe you are suggesting Democrats are as evil as Bolsheviks. If so, I find no reason to disagree.

9. Of course Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this; and, of course, he will not be. The prize itself has little to do with any successful practical efforts to achieve peace anywhere; it has everything to do with proper political posturing and virtue signaling. Obama’s win eleven years ago was the most egregious example, but not at all the only one.

   If I were a betting man, I’d wager the prize goes (posthumously) to George Floyd, shared with BLM. I also expect George Floyd (shared with Anthony Fauci) to be Time’s “Person of the Year”.

   That said, this could matter slightly, electoral wise. I hope Javanka promotes this, quietly but forcefully, among Zionists in America. There is really only one swing state where Jewish people make up a significant portion of the population: Florida. Prying a few of them away from their traditional home of the Democrat Party, could secure the state for Trump

10. Another thing: I notice that here we have Netanyahu speaking in pretty glowing terms of this agreement. How did the representatives from the Arab signers speak of it? I wonder if their public assessments on the scene were quite so euphoric.

11. Philip Sells: yes, whatever else we may think of Thomas Friedman, he was right to suggest that we ignore anything that a Muslim (or especially an Arab) leader tells the world in English, and find out what he is telling his cultural peers in their native language (Arabic, Farsi, etc.).

    GB: you are not a “debbie downer” but a double downer on the search for truth and liberty. Are there really any first tier players in the ME except Turkey, Iran, and Russia? Egypt should be but just isn’t (102 million population, 10 million Copts; 10 million living abroad).
    “But it’s far too soon to assume that it’s a new day.” Agree.

12. UAE and Bahrain are indeed second-tier, but is there really any doubt that the Saudis are letting them test the water to see if it’s safe for the rest of the Arab world to jump in?

    Another interesting post about how the players are positioned in The Great Game.

    https://www.timesofisrael.com/peace-agreements-suggest-uae-bahrain-are-now-less-pro-palestinian-than-europe/#gs.fpo20v

    …the European Union probably wouldn’t have signed an agreement with Israel that does not specifically state that it doesn’t apply to the settlements. Brussels rarely, if ever, issues statements on Israel that don’t stress its position on the conflict.

    Even in its statement welcoming the Israel-UAE agreement, the EU said that it “remains firm in its commitment to a negotiated and viable two-state solution built upon the internationally agreed parameters and international law.”

    To be sure, both the UAE and Bahrain have in recent days asserted that they still adhere to the Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for a Palestinian state in the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital. Their position on the core issues of the conflict, which are similar to those of the EU, have not changed, officials from both countries insisted.

    But the fact that they agreed to sign written agreements — in the UAE’s case a treaty that needs to be ratified by its parliament — without any of the aforementioned parameters is noteworthy. That the agreements don’t even mention the two-state solution — a concept endorsed by the US, which sponsored the agreement — is astounding.

13. “The democrats will do every thing in their power to ruin this deal.” – Ray

    Indeed.
    Part of my turn away from the Democrats involved their (quite frankly) evil insistence on losing the Vietnam war after Nixon had it almost won.
    (Cf comments on the post about the Cronkite School of Woke Journalism)

14. Geoffrey Brittain,
    But Bahrain and the U.A.E. are at best, second tier players. A step in the right direction, yes. But it’s far too soon to assume that it’s a new day.

    What Emiratis are like: Insights from a Jew who lived among them.
    The author was an exchange student from the US when he spent a semester at a university in the UAE in 2006. He didn’t hide his Jewish identity. He asked an Emirati where he could get the long white robe that Emirati men wore. That was an icebreaker. He made a lot of friends among Emirati.

    Only 12% of those living in the UAE are Emirati- who also comprise only one third of one percent of the workforce.

    None of the Emiratis I was friends with were bothered by me being a Jew or a supporter of Israel. They’d ask me questions occasionally about Israel and Zionism. One friend from the Sharjah royal family announced his wish to become the UAE’s ambassador to Israel while he played the Alpha Blondie song “Jerusalem” in his car. I sincerely hope he’s in the running for the job.
    These attitudes were in sharp contrast to the rest of the student body at AUS, who may have been more Americanized on the surface, but who were taught deeply anti-Semitic and anti-Israel beliefs. To most students in the university, who had also grown up in the UAE for the most part, I became unbreakably linked to the policies and politics of Israel, despite my lack of Israeli citizenship at the time. I was constantly thrust into the role of chief representative for America, Israel, and the Jews all wrapped into one. Many believed I was a spy.
    But to the Emiratis, whose country had never fought a war with Israel or ever had a culture of deep-seated anti-Semitism, I was just Michael. Plus an honorary Emirati last name or two.

    The non-Emirati didn’t have such a benign view of Michael.

    The problem was that when I wasn’t in their [Emirati] presence, I wasn’t totally safe. During my third week in Sharjah, I received a phone call from an unidentified number. A gruff voice ordered me to report to an isolated room near the university’s administrative offices.
    Waiting for me was a muscular, bearded man wearing a suit sitting behind a large desk. He wasn’t an Emirati. He told me he was with the Criminal Investigations Department, the UAE’s equivalent to the secret police. He accused me of being a troublemaker and said he was receiving notifications that I was causing incitement, provocation, and displaying signs of political dissent. He warned me that in the UAE, the walls have eyes and ears, watching and listening to me to make sure I’m not up to anything suspicious.

    The Palestinian supervisor of the dorm he lived in cut off his Internet access.
    So, while establishment of diplomatic relations between the UAE and Israel is a step in the right direction, there are a lot of potential pitfalls.

15. Scott at PowerLine says that the most powerful part of Netanyahu’s remarks were his personal references.

    Ladies and gentlemen, the people of Israel well know the price of war. I know the price of war. I was wounded in battle. A fellow soldier, a very close friend of mine, died in my arms. My brother Yoni lost his life while leading his soldiers to rescue hostages held by terrorists at Entebbe. My parents’ grief over the loss of Yoni was unrelieved until their dying day. And over the years, when I have come to console the families of Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror, I have seen that same grief countless times. And this is why I am so deeply moved to be here today. For those who bear the wounds of war cherish the blessings of peace.

    I have always been profoundly moved by Golda Meir’s statement about the conflicts forced on Israel, and why the sidelining of the Palestinians by these Accords is so important.

    We can forgive [the Arabs] for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with [the Arabs] when they love their children more than they hate us.

    She said a lot of other wise things.
    https://www.azquotes.com/author/9943-Golda_Meir

16. People didn’t believe me when I declared doom and gloom, 2007 after.

    People didn’t believe me when I declared that North Korea would fix itself and that it is not a threat to the USA that the fake news says it is (during Trump negotiations). People didn’t believe that either.

    I declared the dawn of the Golden Age in 2021, for those that can survive 2020. People didn’t believe that either.

    Whether sweet or bitter, neither can penetrate the frequency barrier of the masses.

    https://www.alcohol.org/alcoholics-anonymous/

    Here is a guidance on repentance which means change yourself or choose again.

    We admitted we were powerless over alcohol (read USA)—that our lives had become unmanageable.
    Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
    Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
    Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
    Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs (not just blaming Leftists).
    Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
    Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
    Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
    Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
    Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
    Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
    Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

    Netanyahu had a choice to make. It appears he made the one polarizing service to other. He could have chosen war still.

17. Neo;
    Haven’t you heard?
    This ME agreement is a distraction, that’s it.
    The #3 person in line to be President of the USA said this, so it must be true.

    If Obama had done this he would have been awarded the Nobel PP ten times in 1 year. The headlines would read “historic step to ME peace,” and so on.
    The lies, deceit, the propaganda of the American Pravda’s, Izvestia’s and Der Sturmer’s is there for everybody to see.

    On a more serious note, the spheres of influence that have developed in the ME; Iran vs Turkey vs Arabs vs Israel has provided the Arabs the impetus to do what they must to defend themselves against their real potential adversaries; Turkey and Iran.
    And as unlikely as an alliance betwixt Iran and Turkey to divvy up the ME, just recall the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939; which was impossible alliance. Anything is possible.

    It’s well known that Arabs despise the Palestinians and have used them only as cannon fodder against Israel. Nobody in the ME gives a shite about the Palestinians .

    Trumps accomplishment here, as well as that betwixt Kosovo and Serbia is sand in the eye of the arrogant, incompetent and really head-in-the-sand, stupid academics who populate the State Dept.
    Think about it.
    A NY real estate guy accomplishes in less than 4 years what the moronic academics in the State Dept have been unable to do in 30 years or more.
    True, the “new” threats the Arabs perceive – Turkey and Iran had much to do with the agreement with Israel.
    But there is no way on earth that anybody in the Obama admin. or anyone in the State Dept, could have done this.
    They are blinded by their own ideology (i.e.., the root cause of all the world’s problems are the USA , and the root cause of all the problems in the ME are the Jews and the USA).

    One reason Trump is really really hated by the deep state is his exposing them for the incompetents and phonies they really are. They are useless in solving real world problems and their only goal, apparently , is to attend fancy-schmancy cocktail parties and dinners with foreign diplomats, all on the US taxpayer dime.

    Given the history of the State Dept over the last 125 years, it should be reduced in size by 98%. They are useless, a waste of money. They are populated by hundreds of Susan Rice and Samantha Powers type academic morons.

18. I hope Javanka promotes this, quietly but forcefully, among Zionists in America. There is really only one swing state where Jewish people make up a significant portion of the population: Florida. Prying a few of them away from their traditional home of the Democrat Party, could secure the state for Trump

    Unfortunately, Jews who care largely already are in Trumps camp. The grandchildren of American Jews who were deafeningly silent during the Shoah, are even less Jewishly committed ( if they are Jewish at all).

19. One more triumph the mention of which will be met with “Mean tweets!” from someone who clearly believes nothing else matters.

20. Second-tier players have airfields, refueling facilities, radar and can choose to mention, or not, who’s using them.

21. My two cents;

    the Trump ME deal betwixt Israel, UAE and Bahrain will cause
    .000001% of jewish voters to switch their vote to Trump from Biden.

    If you toss in moving the US embassy to Jerusalem , then perhaps
    .0000015% of jewish voters will switch their vote to Trump from Biden.

    Toss in Trump’s nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize and this may cause
    .00000159% to switch their vote to Trump from Biden.

    And why am I so optimistic about this?
    Well, for liberal progressives – and that is nearly all jewish voters, Trump is an english speaking Hitler, minus a mustache.

22. John Tyler:

    And Trump isn’t a vegetarian! At least Adolph had that redeeming characteristic. /sarc

23. Conceived, birthed, and lived (“evolved”) in peace… baby steps. Good choices.

24. John Tyler:

    You know, I wonder why you give a rat’s ass about Jewish voters. Seriously, why? They are an infinitesimal percentage of voters who determine exactly nothing. They only place they have any numbers at all worth mentioning is in NYC and California (Los Angeles in particular), where the entire population is joined at the hip to the Democratic Party, including the Jewish voters. There, they are typical of the general population as a whole, and much less inclined to vote Democratic than black voters are.

    In Florida they also have some clout. Apparently, 3%. I suppose that could make a difference in a very close election. That’s the only place they matter at all, really.

    Very large Jewish donors make more of a difference than Jewish voters, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them (like most very large non-Jewish donors) seem to have cast their lot with Biden. But some – this huge donor, for example – have cast theirs with Trump.

    Orthodox Jews are for Trump, and that population is growing. However, it just so happens that there are indications that support for Trump among people who identify as Jewish (a great many of whom are secular Jews) has grown since 2016. See this. They are not single-issue voters, however, and I very much doubt Trump’s peace initiative will gain tons of them. But it certainly might gain some.

    Get educated. “Nearly all” Jewish voters are not “liberal progressives.” A lot of them are. About 65% say they plan to vote for Biden; that’s about 2/3. Hardly “nearly all.” A somewhat larger percentage voted for Clinton in 2016, but 25% of Jews voted for Trump then. That’s a quarter.

25. “But there is no way on earth that anybody in the Obama admin. or anyone in the State Dept, could have done this.” – John Tyler

    They could have done it; they didn’t want to.

26. Neo;

    Was responding in a round-about sort of way to the comments of Avi, above; that’s it.
    Perhaps I should have referenced his comments in my comments; I agree with what he said.

    Did not intend my comments to set you, or anyone, off. I had no idea nor did I intend my comments to be incendiary.

27. John Tyler:

    I understand. No problem.

    It’s always a good idea to reference the person you’re addressing, though, if you’re responding to something someone said.

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