Let me ask you a question that may sound a little odd but is pertinent to this discussion. Here it is: Can you think of something that is bigger than Pinocchio’s nose? If you can’t, let me tell you of one.
What
you’ll need to do first, is read the piece that came under the title: “An open
letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield,” and the subtitle: “Men of ice cream,
men of unjust deserts.” It was written by Clifford D. May, and published on
August 3, 2021 in The Washington Times.
Once
you’ve read through the preliminaries of that open letter, you’ll encounter the
following bigger-than-Pinocchio’s nose lie: “You should be aware that the BDS
movement with which you’re now associated, openly seeks Israel’s
extermination”.
So,
you want to know why this a lie. It is a lie because Clifford May began by
asserting that BDS seeks the extermination of Israel, which conjures up visions
of the Holocaust. Clifford May then followed the assertion with what he wants
the readers to believe is evidence that proves it. He did so by quoting one of
the founders of the BDS movement. And that’s where the demonic dimension of the
lie reveals itself.
To
understand this part, you need to have some background. Here are the pertinent
points to remember: Omar Barghouti is one of the co-founders who worked on
establishing the BDS movement. Educated in Egypt, America and Israel, and
married to an Israeli of Palestinian origin, he sought to work on a peaceful
solution that will replace the sometimes-violent resistance plaguing the Middle
East today.
He
discovered that there can only be one of three solutions to the
Palestine/Israel dispute: It can be the one-state solution, the two-state
solution or the binational solution. He settled on the one-state solution as
the most viable option, but discussed them all in depth at various times.
Omar
Barghouti openly answered questions to explain his views and elaborate on their
implications. Asked if peace can be achieved by implementing the binational
option, he responded as follows: “Definitely, most definitely we oppose a
Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian,
not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine”.
Barghouti
has maintained all along that it will be a bad idea to create a binational
state where two peoples will maintain their distinctiveness and be forced to
compete against each other at perpetuity. By contrast, in the one-state
solution, which he wants to see implemented in Palestine, everyone will be
considered equal under the law. This will make the distinctiveness disappear in
his view, and so will be the need to compete between the ethnic groups.
Instead, they will all work together for the good of the country.
As
can be seen, there is not a hint in any of the above about exterminating Israel
or the Jews. What is sought is the implementation of a solution such as the one
chosen for South Africa where it has worked well for the country. And so, for
Clifford May to have hidden this truth, and to have deceptively characterized
the Barghouti approach as some kind of extermination, is to commit an
intellectual fraud that’s bigger than Pinocchio’s nose could ever get. In other
words, Clifford May lied a big lie.
Having
done this, the writer used the lie as a foundation upon which he built layers
upon layers of speculations as to what the Palestinians will do to the Jews
once they are freed from the bondage imposed on them by a military occupation
that has lasted more than half a century already. Here is how Clifford May
started this segment of his presentation, talking to the addressees of the open
letter:
“Perhaps
you believe that the Palestinian state Mr. Barghouti hopes to see replace the
Jewish state would refrain from killing or expelling Jews, and allow them to
remain as a minority. But that’s hardly a safe bet considering what’s happened
to Jews elsewhere in the region”.
He
went on to propose what follows, presented here in condensed form:
“In
Gaza and the areas of the West Bank governed by the Palestinian Authority,
selling land to Jews is a crime. The educational system demonizes Jews. The
policy you oppose is the presence of Israelis in the West Bank. But consider if
the Israelis were to withdraw from the West Bank, as they withdrew from Gaza,
is it not probable that the West Bank would become what Gaza has become? I hope
you’re aware that after the Israelis left Gaza, Hamas, has been waging war
against Israelis utilizing rockets, tunnels, incendiary kites, etc. If Hamas
takes over the West Bank, how long before rockets are fired at Israelis in
nearby Jerusalem and Tel Aviv? Israelis will respond. Both Israelis and
Palestinians will be killed. Your policy preference will have helped bring
about this carnage. You’re okay with that?”
By
now, Clifford May would have realized that what he says makes no nonsense,
considering that he is describing the state of war which exists now between the
Palestinians and the Jews, not the state of peace that Ben Cohen, Jerry
Greenfield and Omar Barghouti, wish to see implemented. Thus, the writer
shifted gear and went looking for a safe exist in the basket of worn-out
talking points that the Jews have been using for decades.
Clifford
May lied about Israel making good offers that the Palestinians rejected. He
speculated about the motives of the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud
Abbas. He distorted the history of the region. He made false analogies between
the Israeli genocidal occupation of Palestine and the small disputes in other
parts of the world. And he made the false promise that, “Unusually and
uniquely, Israelis are willing to give disputed territories to Palestinians in
exchange for nothing more than peaceful coexistence. To date, no Palestinian
leader has been willing to accept that deal”.
And this has been the biggest lie uttered by Clifford May.