We have to remember that we are grateful to Nicholas Kristof. In March of last year he interviewed Obama for the New York Times and wrote a glowing review of him in the Opinion Section - Obama: Man of the World.
We have to remember that we gained important insight about Obama from that piece... such as...
He once got in trouble for making faces during Koran study classes in his elementary school, but a president is less likely to stereotype Muslims as fanatics — and more likely to be aware of their nationalism — if he once studied the Koran with them. Mr. Obama recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent. In a remark that seemed delightfully uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart attacks), Mr. Obama described the call to prayer as ‘one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.’
(I'm wondering again if Kristof taped that interview. I would love to actually hear Obama's rendition of the Muslim call to prayer ... wouldn't you? The entire nation should hear it, and we shouldn't have to wait until AFTER the election.)
Okay. This is good to know about Obama, and we give Mr. Kristoff our ritual thanks before we excoriate him for this morning's op-ed in which he recommends Tough Love for Israel?
(Don't let the question mark fool you; it does nothing to ameliorate the hostility that follows.)
On his visit to the Middle East, Barack Obama gave ritual affirmations of his support for Israeli policy, but what Israel needs from America isn’t more love, but tougher love.Particularly at a time when Israel seems to be contemplating military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, the United States would be a better friend if it said: “That’s crazy” — while also insisting on a 100 percent freeze on settlements in the West Bank and greater Jerusalem.
Granted, not everybody sees things this way, and discussions of the Middle East usually involve each side offering up its strongest arguments to wrestle with the straw men of the other side. So let me try something different.
After I wrote a column last month from Hebron in the West Bank, my blog, nytimes.com/ontheground, was flooded with counterarguments — and plenty of challenges to address them. In the interest of a civil dialogue on the Middle East, here are excerpts from some of the readers’ defenses of Israel’s conduct in the West Bank and my responses:
[....]
To withdraw from the West Bank without a partner on the Palestinian side will find Israel in the same fix it has once it withdrew from Gaza: a rain of daily rockets. Yes, the security barrier causes hardship, but terrorist attacks have almost disappeared. That means my kids can ride the bus, go to unguarded restaurants and not worry about being blown up on their way to school. Find another way to keep my kids safe, and I’ll happily tear down the barrier. (Laura)
This is the argument that I have the most trouble countering. Laura has a point: The barrier and checkpoints have reduced terrorism. But as presently implemented, they — and the settlements — also reduce the prospect of a long-term peace agreement that is the best hope for Laura’s children.
How often have we seen this? "Yes the security barrier saves Israeli lives, BUT..."
But what? But the Jewish lives it saves are obstacles to peace.
Settlements of Jews "reduce the prospect of ... peace" because (I think it's safe to say) the Palestinians generally hate Jews and don't want us around.
We Jews are like the Mohammed Cartoons: our existence alone is enough to incite riotous bloodshed, causing some to feel that we should be done away with... in the "interest of peace," of course. Never mind that it would be the peace of the grave for us.
How caring Kristof shows himself to be, so concerned about what constitutes the best hope for Laura's children. BUT it seems he is assuming they're not Jews. I assumed quite the opposite. In fact, The Husband has an Aunt Laura and his Aunt Laura has a couple of children with a couple of children each. It's conceivable (pardon the pun) that she could have great-grandchildren soon. And they're all Jewish.
For Aunt Laura's children, grandchildren and potential great-grandchildren, it's not only a philosophical and moral imperative that the Jewish people should live and be safe, it's a personal imperative. And one that seems to escape Kristof.
Settlements of Jews - no matter how they are "implemented" - don't bother Aunt Laura and Uncle Irv and my cousins-in-law. And barriers to keep suicide bombers at bay don't reduce the peace in their lives. Quite the opposite: those barriers and checkpoints are responsible for what little peace there is.
Kristof writes:
If Israel were to stop the settlements, ease the checkpoints, allow people in and out more freely, and negotiate more enthusiastically with Syria over the Golan Heights and with the Arab countries on the basis of the Saudi peace proposal, then peace might still elude the region. But Israel would at least be doing everything possible to secure its long-term future, rather than bolstering Hamas.
Kristof's chutzpah is astounding. How dare he suggest allowing people (i.e., Palestinian people) to move "in and out more freely"? Is it not enough that Israeli Arab citizens of the state are using their freedom of mobility to mow us down in the streets of Jerusalem with bulldozers? That they're walking into our houses of learning and murdering our next generation before they can even reach adulthood?
Kristof would have the non-citizens from the terror-tories -many if not most of whom are sworn to the annihilation of Jewish life- rewarded with similar freedom... to randomly murder Jews at will. And he has the added chutzpah to declare this "tough love" that would lead to "peace."
Finally, Kristof wants Obama - "as a candidate or as a president" - to go after the Jews "warmly but firmly" and somehow convince us of the inevitability of the world's total disrespect and disregard for our lives, and its concomitant warm embrace of our killers. Granted, that's tough, but it sure doesn't feel like love.
If I were to pursue these matters any further with Mr. Kristof, I would ask him how it is that settlements of Jews in Florida don't threaten peace in the United States. But I think I will not bother.
UPDATE:
If you think Kristof's consistently anti-Israel position is somehow courageous, there's a group called the Israel/Palestine Working Group of Progressive Democrats who invite you to sign this petition thanking him.
Otherwise, you can comment at his blog.
Me? My first thought was to tell Kristof exactly where he could shove his tough love, but my second and better thought was simply to refer him to Tovia Singer.
Posted by: Irene | Thursday, 24 July 2008 at 12:42 PM