Sonny Liston, The Sequel:

by: Schvach Yid

Well, they’re back. The old guard is headed for the ring again - Shimon Perez and Ehud Barak.
You remember that the current champ, Kadima, was founded by one of the same crowd, Ariel Sharon, and that Yitzhak Rabin, may he rest in peace, said something to the effect that Israel had to give peace a chance – some philosophy from a man who certainly knew that Israel’s military victories were the only factor that obviated a sequel to the holocaust. The stage was set years before by Menachem Begin, who grandiosely proclaimed ‘everything is negotiable’. Truncated memories.

Since Israel’s declaration of statehood, the Arabs have been playing rope-a-dope games with Israel. Israel, it seems, just doesn’t get it. Peace is not, and never has been, on the negotiation table. There never has been a negotiation table. Unlike the government of the former North Vietnam in the 1970’s, there isn’t even a negotiation to establish the physical plan of a proposed negotiation table. Get it? The Arabs want Israel out. Period. No peace. No Israel. Yitzhak in kever. Yishmail basks in the sun.

Along with this is the popular opinion of the international community. It goes something like this. Jews are white (not true) and therefore, so is Israel (not true). Israel isn’t Asian, it’s European (not true). The Arabs, on the other hand, are brown skinned (some) third worlders. They are Asian, and therefore in need of help (a preposterous assertion). You know, they’re poor (I should be so impoverished), dirty (not true), illiterate (absolutely not true). And most of all, Israel is a throwback to European colonial imperialism, an oppressive anachronism that just shouldn’t be. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the other hand, is not supposed to be viewed as some oppressive anachronism of European imperialism, in spite of the fact that it is.The UN and the EU both love Jordan and the Jordanian royal family. And just whom do the Hashemite rulers of Jordan oppress? Well, let’s see. The Palestinian Arabs, for one, and Israel, for another.

Israel, I’m sorry to say, does its little part to support the war of opinion and propaganda that’s waged against it. I think it has something to do with that insufferable Israeli penchant for feeling superior and for condescension. Yup, the Israelis love to toot their horn. Don’t you remember that public relations debacle launched by Israel on American TV, something like: ‘let Israel do your thinking for you, we’re smart’ (I can’t quote that TV commercial, but it was class A offensive, and wrong; thankfully, I saw it only once). It’s self destructive, but makes for a good momentary fix, an attempt at avoidance of their real problem - the prospect of annhilation. The problem is, the moment is now in its sixth decade, and there’s no longer a place to put the fix.

What now? That’s the dilemma. Israel needs a change of strategy, and has none, while its Arab neighbors, and the rest of the international community wait, like scavengers licking their chops.