Friday, April 11, 2014

No tears shed for Palestinians

Norman Podhoretz writes, Pity the Palestinians? Count Me Out. Mr. Podhoretz was the editor of Commentary magazine from 1960 to 1995. His most recent book is "Why Are Jews Liberals?" (Doubleday, 2009).   These comments appeared in the Wall Street Journal.  They are reproduced here through a link on Mosaic.
Provoked by the predictable collapse of the farcical negotiations forced by Secretary of State John Kerry on the Palestinians and the Israelis, I wish to make a confession: I have no sympathy—none—for the Palestinians. Furthermore, I do not believe they deserve any.
This, of course, puts me at daggers drawn with the enlightened opinion that goes forth from the familiar triumvirate of the universities, the mainstream media and the entertainment industry. For everyone in that world is so busy weeping over the allegedly incomparable sufferings of the Palestinians that hardly a tear is left for the tribulations of other peoples. And so all-consuming is the universal rage over the supposedly monumental injustice that has been done to the Palestinians that virtually no indignation is available for any other claimant to unwarranted mistreatment.

And why is it "unwarranted?"
As for the monumental injustice supposedly done to the Palestinians, it consists largely of losing territory in the war they themselves provoked in 1967, and the refusal of their demand that every inch of it be returned to them by the Israeli victors in that war. Such demands have always been known and universally denounced as revanchism or irredentism, most recently over the Russian seizure of Crimea. But where Israel is concerned, everything goes topsy-turvy, so that Palestinian irredentism is universally supported.
It's a great column and I recommend you read it here.

That's what I think.  How about you?
Stephen M. Flatow

Harvard students make pilgrimage to Arafat's grave - disgusting

I've commented on the recent pilgrimage of Harvard students to the grave of Yassir Arafat in Ramallah.

I guess their trip to Israel, sponsored in part by the Boston Jewish federation and Harvard's Hillel, included the visit trip to Ramallah to allow an understanding of the Palestinian "narrative" (oh, how I hate that word) as part of the educational purposes of the trip.

As I noted in my column,
One of the Harvard students, by the name of Kelsey, last week defended her participation in the Arafat grave visit on the grounds that, “Acknowledging one person’s lived experience neither negates nor diminishes another person's lived experience.”
Actually, Kelsey, you have not at all acknowledged Arafat’s “lived experience”—you did not write anything about the mass murders and maimings he perpetrated. And you have indeed negated and diminished “another person’s lived experience”—you have negated and diminished the suffering of his victims and their families. Until you understand that, you have learned nothing from your years of learning in the prestigious halls of Harvard.
I pray that this does not become a trend.  Read the full column here.