Saturday, May 10, 2014

If these are Poodles, imagine the Jackal

If Kenneth Pollack who is with the Brookings Institution, and if Shmuel Rosner who is with the Jewish Policy Institute, are not the moderates they appear to be, imagine what Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would be like. Pollack wrote: “The Right Way to Press Iran” and had the article published in the New York Times on May 7, 2014. Three days later, Rosner wrote: “Kerry's 'Mideast' Failure was a success” and had it published, also in the New York Times.

You will find that despite the facade of moderation which these two articles project, they carry ideas and deliver tricks with the potential to alter the American culture. And the authors use them to reshape the world in which America lives and influences deliberately and inadvertently. Given that Iran – which is Pollack's concern – and given that the Middle East peace process – which is Rosner's concern – are also the preoccupations of Benjamin Netanyahu, a man that does not even try to appear moderate, you can imagine what lurks in his head and his heart. You will conclude that if Pollack and Rosner are poodles, Netanyahu is by comparison a jackal.

Six months into the negotiations between Iran and the other powers, Pollack describes what has been accomplished so far, and adds this: “Washington seems focused on … But those issues are not the keys to getting the best deal with Iran.” This means scrap the whole thing and start from scratch. Well, the lesson to draw from this is that the pattern of coming near the end of a negotiating process, and torpedoing it from the inside to then insist that the negotiations proceed along a different track, is not a Pollack thing but a Jewish thing. This is what the Israelis have been doing for twenty years in their negotiations with the Palestinians, and no one has played this trick more frequently and more brazenly than Netanyahu.

So you ask the obvious question: How does Ken Pollack believe the Iranians will react when told about that suggestion? In fact, he does give an opinion, and this is how he begins to explain it: “Of course, the Iranians will probably object to all of this.” Well, when you see “of course” and “probably” in the same sentence, you know that the author is joking and could not care less what develops after his torpedo. Sadly, however, this has also been the Israeli attitude with the Palestinians all along, though it was done in subtle ways before Netanyahu, and has become in-your-face since he came along.

But unlike Netanyahu, Pollack is not dealing with a disarmed Palestine that is under occupation and that sits helpless. He is dealing with an America upon which Israel and the Jews the world over depend to eat, feel safe and enjoy a normal life. So he knows he has to be a little more subtle; and the way he does that is best described by the Italian saying which goes this way: “Screw them but do not show them your dick.” Pollack is doing exactly that to America by following a ritual that is as Jewish as the Star of David.

Writing about the Iran negotiations, the first thing Pollack says is that the law and the facts are on “our side.” He points to language in the agreement he interpreted in such a way as to assert that Iran has accepted something it did not. Here is this part: “Iran would be treated as a normal nuclear power after the terms of the treaty had ended. That was an implicit acceptance by Iran it would not be treated as normal until then.” In reality this is self-delusion because if he believes that Iran had accepted a provision that can be so interpreted, he would not have started this segment of the presentation with the warning that the Iranians will object. Obviously he knew better but chose to play with the words – a typical Jewish pastime.

Sensing that most readers will laugh at this idiocy, he backtracks a little by signaling that his interpretation may be less important than other things. Here is how he puts it: “More importantly, the Iranian government desperately needs to rid the economy of the sanctions.” But here too, he senses that most readers will think it is idiotic to state the obvious which is that most of the sanctions are still in place, and the agreement spells out a protocol for their removal.

What Pollack does next is inflate the ego of the readers by denigrating the Iranians. He does it by saying basically that the readers should not have a high regard for these unprincipled people. Here is his version: “Iran's leaders have demonstrated they sacrifice principles for benefits. They can be convinced to do the same in a comprehensive agreement [that] will grant them the economic revival and prosperity they crave.”

As to the Rosner article, this author tells what happened to the Palestine negotiations, and then adds the following: “Many consider this a failure. But it's actually, in a way, a success.” From this point on, you sense that you're being fed a series of reversals. Recalling that in Israel, truism had always been: Jews and Americans stand against Arabs and Palestinians ... you are surprised to know that Rosner now says: “Israelis and Palestinians were wondering whether they should admire Mr. Kerry or consider him a fool.” You think about it for a moment and conclude that there has been a shift in the Israeli strategy, but you ask: a shift to what?

It does not take you long to see the shape of the new strategy. Speaking in the name of the Jewish hierarchy, Rosner basically states the following to the Americans: Do not feel bad that you failed because the Palestinians and the Israelis got what they wanted which is the status quo. In fact, while he may be speaking for the Jews, he also pretends to speak for the Palestinians who want to put an end to the status quo. If somebody is desperate about something, it is not the Iranians as asserted by Pollack, but the Palestinians who have lived under the yoke of Jewish occupation for several generations already, and have suffered savage treatment.

To explain his view, Rosner performs an act of gesticulation that can only be called intellectual self-massaging of the most Jewish kind. Sensing that this will not persuade a regular audience, he sets out to destroy the most important premise upon which Israel built the old arguments. Look at the following and marvel at the tailored for the occasion hubris: “There are two false perceptions that repeatedly distort discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. First is the misguided idea that everybody knows what a final deal will look like. And second is the unfounded belief that Israelis and Palestinians want peace more than anything else.”

Well, the second point has already been discussed. As to the first, it is necessary to recall that when the Jews repeatedly justified building new settlements on Palestinian land, the excuse they gave was to the effect that everybody knows what the final deal will look like. They went on to say: It is that the settlements will go on land which is destined to remain in Jewish hands so why wait for the final deal? Let us build now and negotiate later. To this, the world replied that talking this language invites humanity to seek implementing the Final Solution, so why wait? Let us finalize now and mourn your passing or celebrate it later.

Rosner is not smart enough to realize what he just did. On the contrary, believing that he is riding high, he now moves to make a major point that will tackle John Kerry head on. But he wants to soften the blow a little, so he backtracks somewhat from what he said earlier. To do so, he throws a qualifier into the mix: “Mr. Kerry and numerous other observers, including many Israelis and Palestinians, don't think that waiting is a good strategy.” With this, he tells John Kerry he is not alone but that “numerous” observers and “many” Israelis and Palestinians are with him. He now moves to deliver the blow: “they keep warning of doomsday scenarios – the latest of which was Mr. Kerry's comment about Israel becoming an apartheid state, for which he had to apologize.”

No, Kerry did not apologize because there was nothing to apologize for. But what you see here are two examples in one sentence harking back to the days when the Jewish propaganda machine was driven by rabbis. First, they used to hound people with their incessant barks: apologize because you slandered me, apologize because you defamed me, apologize or I'll sue you. Apologize, apologize, apologize. Second, they used to portray their enemies as being capable of responding only to coercion – just like animals. The twist this time is that the enemy is no longer the Palestinians or the Arabs but John Kerry and the Americans. He “had” to apologize, says Rosner, which means Kerry responded to coercion like an animal.

At the end of the article you see one more thing that is Jewish through and through. It is that when they encounter something new, they describe it as having been there since the beginning of time and that it will remain there to the end of time. They do not believe that something can just happen here and now, or that it might disappear sooner or later. Look how Rosner expresses this belief: “the mediator's inability to imagine and respect that other people might have other priorities – a shortcoming that is quite typical of American administrations.”

In other words, he says that America's shortcoming is so entrenched, successive administrations have been and will remain hopeless. And this is what the Jews have said about every country they went into with high hopes, and got out of with a kick in their behind.

You look at life and see all the groups study their past. They keep what has worked and discard what has not. All groups, that is, except one. The Jews study their past, discard the best they see in it and preserve the worst. This is why the best is yet to come for humanity; the worst is yet to come for the Jews … unless they change.