Netanyahu on the Test for Peace in the Holy Land

Ambassador Nikki Haley on UN Security Council Priorities

The Din of Disdain for Obama's Chief "Diplomatch" John Kerry

In the waning days of the Obama Administration, international affairs are sullying the lame duck President's legacy.  In a United Nations Security Council vote held before Christmas, the United States failed to block a resolution condemning Israel for settlements in disputed territories. 

This was a shift in American policy, which had previously threatened to veto such condemnations of our democratic ally in the Middle East.  It is widely speculated that American diplomats orchestrated the UN Security Council Vote vote, which the US subsequently abstained to not have diplomatic fingerprints on the rebuke of the Jewish State.

After Christmas, President Obama's Secretary of State doubled down on critics of America's ally in Israel with a 73 minute repetitive harangue of a speech which chided Israel about settlements 42 times and occupation 14 times, while the haughty foreign minister only mentioned Iran and Hezbollah one time, and Hamas (which is part of the Palestinian governing leadership) four times. Perhaps Kerry thinks that America's foreign policy will now pass "the global test". 





Reaction to the Obama Administration's outgoing admonitions of Israel have been swift and bipartisan. The Washington Times characterized incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)  as tearing into John Kerry's Israeli speech as it emboldened extremists. House Foreign Affairs Ranking Member Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY 16th) vowed to work with Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Congress withholding UN funds until the anti- Israel vote is reversed   Senator Cruz had some bitter analysis over the Obama Administration's anti-Israel tact.

Even President Elect Donald Trump entered the fray, opining on social media that things would   change come January 20th.

Recently, a progressive interlocutor opined that President Obama has been Israel's best friend ever.  I thought that was a dubious assertion.  But Secretary of State Kerry's penchant for acting like a Diplomatch (sic) really impeaches that opinion. 

Even after all of the tumult after the 2016 election, it is surprising that what is bringing Democrats and Republicans together is the foreign policy pyrotechnics of the outgoing Obama Administration. 

Pope Francis on Mid East Peace

While traveling to Manger Square, Pope Francis deviated from his tightly scheduled itinerary, he spontaneously halted the motorcade to pray for several minutes at the wall that divides Israel from the Palestinian territory.

{Pope Francis praying  at the Bethlehem Wall, West Bank}

John Kerry Lurches Forward on the Levant

When speaking in a closed door meeting of the Trilateral Commission, Obama Administration Secretary of State John F. Kerry opined that a two state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian affair was the only alternative to apartheid or annihilation of Israel.  This comes after talks with the Palestinian Authority were broken off by Israel as P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas reconciled with Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the Jewish State.

There are a few remarkable things about Secretary of State Kerry's admission.  It envisages that a one state solution could only be conducted under Palestinian auspices.  Currently, Arabs who live in Israel are first class citizens with full rights.  Muslim lead governments in the Mid-East have dhimmi second class citizens who do not ascribe to Islam but are countenanced by paying a jizha tax.

Secondly, Kerry's choice of words is alarming.   Notwithstanding the validity of Kerry's contention, applying the word apartheid is alarming as it introduces a pejorative phrase to the diplomatic toolbox for Israeli/Palestinian relations.  While apartheid is much more likely on the Palestinian plane, anti-semitic elements are much more likely to cast Israelis as the authors of apartheid.

Thirdly, the Obama Administration's Minister to the world has revealed the meaninglessness of President Obama's promise to Israel "I have Israel's back" when he was out of the campaign hustings in 2012.  To paraphrase another flimsy Obama promise: "If you like your state, then you can keep it."  It's a pity that too many people relied up these sweet sounding cozenings in exchange for their support.

Mahmoud Abbas on the Holocaust

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen released a statement which extended his first official condolences of the Shoah.  Unlike prior Palestinian leaders (namely Yasser Arafat) who would say moderate things in English translation but would be undaunted anti-semitic in the Arabic original, Abbas' statement was released in both English and Arabic.

This statement is in stark contrast to his doctrinal thesis from Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow later published as  The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism (1984) in which he claimed: the Zionist fantasy, the fantastic lie that six million Jews were killed” and claimed that only some 890,000 Jews were killed by the Nazis.  Moreover  these were chiefly the victims of a Zionist-Nazi plot in the Havaara Agrement (1933) to facilitate German emigration to the Palestine Mandate.  Such a theory contributes to the fever swamp frenzy of Holocaust deniers.  Abbas had backtracked from this thesis in 2011 when he asserted that he could accept that six million people were killed during the Holocaust.

Abbas' conciliatory statements are not being welcomed with open arms by the Israeli government.  As Abbas reiterated his Holocaust condolence statement, Abbas' ruling Palestinian Fatah party (which prevails in the West Bank) made a rapprochement with Hamas, the terror organization which is based in the exclave Gaza Strip.  

As Hamas is still dedicated in its charter to the destruction of Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet unanimously decided to break off negotiations with a Palestinian government which incorporates Hamas.  In addition, Israel is planning to impose economic sanctions against the Palestinian Authority by withholding tax revenue collected by Israel on behalf of the PA.

Palestine Pop Quiz

The United Nations recently voted 138-9 (with 41 abstentions) to elevate "Palestine" with non-member state status. Before delving into the meaning of according observer status it is worth taking a Palestine Pop Quiz.

Perhaps a primer on the disputed territory of the West Bank would be instructive. 

Since "Palestine" is comprised of two separate exclaves, the separate areas (Gaza and the West Bank) with separate governments (Gaza's by the terrorist inspired Hamas and the West Bank by Fatah) . So its territory stability is dubious. And both Gaza and the West Bank use the Israeli Shekel as its currency.

READ MORE at DCBarroco.com