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Quote of the Day: Miracles Do Happen
“Bahrain, for its part continues to astonish Israelis with its enthusiasm over its the newly opened peaceful ties with Israel. Last weekend, Sheikh Khaled bin Khalifa al Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s royal family who serves as the Chairman of the King Hamad Global Center for Co-Existence and Peace signed an agreement in Washington with Elan Carr, the US anti-Semitism monitor where both sides committed to work together to fight anti-Semitism. The Bahraini center adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-Semitism. The IHRA definition defines anti-Zionism as a form of anti-Semitism.” —Caroline Glick
Although the outcome of the Abraham Accords in August was shocking and difficult to imagine, this next step is also deeply satisfying.
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have joined Israel in the Accords, and I’m sure it took a great deal of effort to bring it to fruition. Also, Sudan has been removed from the terrorist list and is working on normalizing relations with Israel, as are at least four other Arab countries.
I think these countries realized that from an economic standpoint, it was foolish not to normalize relations with Israel; they have so much to gain from working together. Abandoning their political support of the Palestinians after years of their recalcitrance regarding a peace accord was certainly no surprise; some Arab countries believed they could distract their citizens from their own internal issues by demonizing Israel in its peace process with the Palestinians. But as Arab countries began realizing their own internal progress and technological advancements, they recognized they had more to gain from working with Israel than not. And familiarity with others waters the seeds of acceptance.
To me, the most satisfying result of these agreements, however, is this follow-on acknowledgment that anti-Zionism is the same as anti-Semitism, and that Bahrain has agreed to fight this scourge. Hatred of Jews is embedded in Arab cultures, so for Bahrain to take this step shows courage and maturity—and wisdom. I think we will see other Arab countries follow suit. I didn’t believe in my lifetime that I would see any Arab country make this commitment.
Maybe that commitment is the miracle.
* * * * *
So what message can we take from the courage of Bahrain to step forward and condemn anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism for what it is–a hateful, destructive force that thrives on the hatred of those who must find scapegoats to find relief from their own lives?
I think our Congress needs to take a hard look at these actions of the Bahrainis. America is supposed to be one of the most accepting countries in the world when it comes to Jews. Yet, as I look at the emergence of anti-Semitism coming from the mouths of Progressive House members, I wonder if they will believe they are better empowered, after this election, to act on their virulence toward Jews and Israel? If Kamala Harris becomes our new Vice-President, she has already expressed her sympathies for the Palestinians, who were denied funding by the Trump administration and shut out of the Abraham Accords.
I guess we’ll just have to watch and wait for now.
Published in Group Writing
Jared Kushner embarrassed the entire professional diplomatic establishment. The idea that any Arab-Israeli rapprochement was possible without first resolving the Palestinian issue was supposed to be a pipe dream. The “peace process” in which (1) the US and various European nation throw money at whatever the leadership of the Palestinians calls itself while (2) pressuring Israel to sacrifice territory and security so that (3) an utterly meaningless document could be generated was all designed to produce photo ops and a big plus on the diplomats’ resume, especially if they could get in the photo. Nobody expected it to work.
Ah, those glorious days when Yassir Arafat would make promises and everybody smiled for the camera a couple of weeks before new violence would be directed at Israeils… and Arafat would then say something like “I have no real power, no authority, if the people are upset it must be because you did not make enough concessions. Say, for the next round of talks what about Paris instead of Switzerland. And I would like a bigger suite this time….and more cash…” or words to that effect.
When Arafat died the new leadership of the PLO had to negotiate with his wife Suha because the entire PLO treasury was in personal Swiss bank accounts and only Arafat’s widow had access. Naturally, she got to keep her Paris condo and enough cash to maintain her lifestyle in exchange for releasing the rest. How much of that cash was originally from Uncle Sam is indeterminate.
A Biden Administration will welcome State Dept retreads who will look for ways to torpedo these accords just to prove Kushner and Trump wrong. Instead of Palestinian gang leaders forced to deal without cover from Arab states for bad behavior, the bad old conditions can resume, and then there can be a resumption of the “peace process” and they can go back to harassing Israel for concessions.
If you doubt that our professional diplomats are that petty or that willing to sabotage American interests in that way, I have some magic beans and a couple of bridges you might want to buy.
Bless you, @oldbathos! I love your adding this history–you’ve so enriched the OP!
Of course, I agree with all you say. I’m embarrassed to say that I wrote a post that was skeptical about Kushner–I mean, how was this “kid” going to deal with the Palestinian scoundrels! But he did it and admirably, and I am ever so grateful.
Let’s hope if Biden gets in that his people don’t upend everything that’s happened. Of course, parts of these agreements can probably go forward without the US. Fortunately.
Here it is. Most of the diplomats gave up on peace decades ago, and consider the Arabs letting us bribe them into pretending to negotiate to be ‘success’.
And who woulda thunk @judgemental, that the Arabs–the Arabs might be moving events forward?! I try not to get too excited about it, but the idea of peace for Israel is so thrilling!
I think that the Abraham Accords are the most astonishing success of President Trump. While I would have preferred any of the other Republican candidates in 2016, I doubt that any of them would have had the moxie to produce the Abraham Accords.
While I have asserted that any Republican would have nominated 3 good Supreme Court Justices, I have to admit that Trump produced a near miracle with the Abraham Accords that I don’t think that the other 16 would have produced.
Trump did two things to break the mold. First, his first trip was to Saudi Arabia. Second, he moved the embassy to Jerusalem. In retrospect, both were good moves.
Every president for at least fifty years has tried and failed to achieve Middle East peace. Trump has achieved more than all of them combined, and gets no press whatsoever on it.
It really shows how well Trump and his team were willing to break out of the chains of the past.
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If, on the other hand, you want to share with Ricochet the thanks you have to give, you might consider Group Writing, for which the theme this month is: Cornucopia of Thanks.
Outstanding!
I suspect the Abraham Accords would survive a Biden administration. While Trump catalyzed the new deal, the real reason it happened was the threat from Iran, which is mutually concerning to Israel and the Arab states. Since the Left in power is almost certain to let Iran out of its box, resulting in a nuclear breakout, that realpolitick situation becomes more acute, pushing the Arabs and Israel into even closer alignment.
Trump has been cunning in setting up a number of situations during his term that will be very difficult to reverse, since they have set aside polite fictions in favor of reality. Dealing with China is another. Even if a Biden presidency tried to reverse Trump’s doing, the issue is out in the open, and Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and Australia have been drawn into a tighter alliance.
I was assessing which decisions will survive, too, @lockeon, and I agree with your view. Do really think he planned ahead in that way? I’d be even more impressed with his decisions.
And you’re still not cynical enough…
Amazing what you can get done in the Middle East if you just tell the Palestinians to go suck an egg while nations seriously interested in peace negotiate . . .
I am sure the left will not side with Israel. The Muslim faction of the radical left will not let them and neither will most liberals. The left hates Israel and they will not allow the Biden administration to move against the Palestinians. Hopefully they cannot undo Trump’s accomplishments.
I can’t imagine they would be foolish enough to move the embassy. Time will tell.
One benefit to Israel of a Biden <shudder> administration is that they will get their own political act together. There is a tendency for Israeli politics to go all Italian when there is a friendly administration in the White House. Unfriendly ones tend to bring out the national self-defense mode and the politics get serious. They can’t afford not to.
Excellent point, @caryn. Now is not the time to get sloppy or lose focus. It will especially be important for them to focus on their activities with the Arab countries, to make sure that the process is not sabotaged–particularly by the U.S.
FTFY.
Go all Italian? Sounds interesting. Can you explain?
In heaven:
In hell:
This reputation comes from the fact that from about 1945 to 1990, the Italians had more governments formed and fallen than there were years in the period.
Now that brings a smile to my face. :)
As someone of Italian ethnicity, I’m curious myself…lol.
Paisano!
It’s mainly post-WWII. To quote from here:
Here’s an article from 2016. Basically, it gets into some of the why of Italy’s governmental instabilities.
And that’s why when Israel has a friendly US administration, Caryn said they go all Italian.
How much you wanna bet Biden moves the embassy back to Tel Aviv?
Sadly, I believe that’s #1 on the list. #2 is to redo the Iran deal . . .
No! No! No!
It would be huge if he did. Biden strikes me as someone who is unimaginative and afraid of rocking the boat. He would never have moved it out of Tel Aviv, but he would have to get immense push from within to move it back. We’ll have to see.
I can see he returning somehow to the Iran deal, if not fully, partially.
What’s the difference between Liberals and Progressives? They are pretty much synonymous, are they not?
Oh that’s what she was referring to. I thought it had to do with ordering pizza for dinner. ;)