Before there was the airplane, there was the airship which was a
notch higher than the hot balloon on the totem pole of inventions intending to
improve the ability of humans to travel from place to place via the air.
Filled with helium, which is lighter than the mix of nitrogen and
oxygen that make up the planet's atmosphere, the airship became the upscale
mode of transportation for the rich and famous of their time. This went on till
the Zeppelin came down in flames, and “balloon travel” as it was called, was
retired for good. It was replaced by the motorized noisy airplane, which was
made of spruce, and then made with aluminum and/or titanium.
But technology never forgets its past, says a wise adage, and it
proved correct once again when the making of airships was revived in modern
times. However, it was not revived to serve as a mode of transportation again,
but to serve other purposes. Renamed the blimp, giant airships are produced
nowadays to serve a small clientele, including companies that wish to advertise
their products or services.
And then it happened that the blimp, which is filled with helium,
was conflated in the mind of some people with the hot air balloon that is
filled with — what else? — hot air. And the confusion was used as a metaphor to
mock the pompous characters whose buffoonery was equated with pumped up
balloons filled with hot air or cold helium. An example of that would be the
work that's constantly being produced by trumpeters in charge of inflating the
make-believe accomplishments of Israel.
One such trumpeter is Steven A. Cook. He wrote: “The Golan Heights
Should Stay Israeli Forever,” an article that also came under the subtitle: “At
least one of Israel's occupations will be permanent, whether anyone else likes
it or not,” published on January 28, 2019 on the website of the Council on
Foreign Relations.
The motivation behind the writing of this article is the state of
panic in which the Jewish leaders find themselves, now that their past antics
have caught up with them. In fact, having ignored the multiple warning that
were thrown at them, to the effect that escalating the animosity with Israel's
neighbors will work against Israel in the long run because time was working in
favor of the neighbors, the predictions finally came true, and Israel now finds
itself backed into a corner of its own making.
In the face of this, the Jewish response has been to pursue a
two-track propaganda campaign. One track is to plead with the American Congress
to take a stand and force the Executive to commit America's military to remain
in Syria and be prepared to fight for Israel. The other track is to reassure
the Jewish rank-and-file that Israel is on top of everything, and will come out
winner in the upcoming fight that will center on the subject of the Israeli
occupied Syrian Golan Heights. And this is where Steven Cook's disposition to
turn Israel's accomplishments into a blimp-like mass of hot air, shines like a
red-hot star that depleted its helium reserves. Here are some examples of
Steven Cook's style of writing:
“Should the US recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan
Heights? Whether Washington does or not, the Israelis are never withdrawing
from the Golan Heights—nor should they. Bashar's father had seen what happened
to his former partner in arms, Egypt's Anwar Sadat, whose separate peace turned
out to be a humiliation only partially salved with copious amounts of US
assistance. Sadat also ended up dead. It was surprising that Israel's
much-vaunted security establishment seemed eager to give up the Golan Heights.
Quiet along the Israeli-Syrian front is a function of the capabilities of the
Israel Defense Forces, and the advantage that the Golan heights gives Israel's
armed forces. In reality, there is no need for American recognition. Israel is
in Golan for its own reasons, and nothing the Trump administration decides will
change that”.
You read those passages and get the impression that the Israeli
blimp is rising into the air where the sky is the limit. This happens till you
hit something that causes the bell to ring at the back of your head. Here is
that thing: “Nothing the Trump administration decides will change that.” And
you realize that Steven Cook would not have said this thing but for the fact
that the Jewish leaders told him they got a big fat NO from the administration,
having lobbied it for such recognition since he moved the American embassy to
occupied Jerusalem.