My column today has been “outsourced.” My mother forwarded me this letter from an Israeli citizen. I have never met the man. His message is delivered in a more gracious manner than I would deliver it, but his points must be heeded.
Avi Ifergan, Rehovot, Israel
“Dear Mr. President,
Earlier this month, your Secretary of State told a forum of Jewish leaders that ‘sometimes friends need to tell each other the hard truth’. Well Mr. President, allow me, on behalf of my people, to return the courtesy. You have always been rhetorically supportive of Israel, but the incongruence of your actions in the first year of your presidency have left us Israelis, and Jews worldwide, scratching their heads in bewilderment. Mr. President, here’s the hard truth from an Israeli father of 3 daughters, under the age of 6.
No we can’t take any chances when it comes to the physical security of our land, our people or my girls. There exists no room for error. Security is the primary priority.
You see, we learn from our history, and it teaches us a simple truth: No we can’t count on the promises or protection of other nations when our people face an existential threat. The world watched, immovable, as we were slaughtered by the Nazis; In every decade of Israel ’s existence, its neighbors, or the Palestinians waged war on us, and the world watched in relative silence. In the years after the so-called Oslo Peace Treaty, the world remained silent as Israelis faced hundreds of Palestinian suicide bombings, stabbings, drive-by shootings, and kidnappings. The world did however feel free to openly criticize us when we set up check posts and built a security fence to protect ourselves.
No we can’t understand how, in 2006, when over 4,000 Hezbollah missiles rained down on a third of the Israeli population, the leaders of the world found it important to criticize Israel’s military reaction. Similarly we read their criticisms that were splashed across the headlines of the global media during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in 2008. They remained silent during the preceding 6 years that the Kassam rockets from Gaza forced Israel ’s Southern population to sleep in bomb shelters, and did not commend Israel ’s military restraint. Of course, that changed as the Israeli military went into Gaza to locate and destroy the Hamas rocket launchers.
No we can’t believe that you would expect your governments to react any differently, if you and your children were faced with the similar threats.
No we can’t stomach the thought of a holocaust-denying, Hezbollah- and Hamas-funding Iranian President, who in the same breath openly states that his intentions are for Iran to achieve nuclear capabilities, and for the destruction of the ‘Zionist entity’.
No we can’t imagine you doing anything more than proposing more painful sanctions on Iran – and what do you call it – ‘containment’? This is where he ends up getting the nuclear weapons he seeks, right?
No we can’t accept a divided Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel , and of the Jewish people. It is not ‘the third holiest city’, as it is for the Moslems. It is the only holy city of the Jewish people. It has been so for over 3,000 years. Since coming under Israeli sovereignty all religions have been able to visit and practice openly and freely. Oh – and you should know that the ‘Waqf’, those Palestinians who control the Temple Mount in Jerusalem , do not allow any other religions, Jew or Christian, to pray there. I even hear that swaying or the silent moving of the lips is forbidden.
So, no we can’t have friends dictating to us where in Jerusalem we can or cannot build – or feeling insulted when we do as we please in our own land.
No we can’t believe that giving the Palestinian people a land of their own is such a high priority on your foreign policy agenda. Considering their civil rights and terrorist track-record, and the growing influence of Hamas as the likely ruling party. Mr. President, did you know that when the Palestinian Authority came to power in 1994, the first piece of legislation that it passed was the death penalty for any Palestinian who sells land to Jews. Over 100 Palestinians have died, under sentence or extra-judicially, for such sales in the last 15 years. Is this the ‘two-state solution’™ that you imagine?
No we can’t comprehend why you would spend the first year of your presidency hugging, bowing and warming to those shining leaders of freedom and democracy Venezuela’s Chavez, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, or Mubarak of Egypt. I know you’re aware of the brutality and lack of freedoms in such non-democracies – the beheadings, the inability of a woman to bear witness in court, or to simply drive, the lack of tolerance when it comes to people who are different – be it culture, religion, or sexual orientation.
And No we can’t understand why, in Israel, where the opposite is true, where Arabs enjoy more freedoms than in any Arab country in the world – freedoms of speech and expression, the press, religion, tolerance to the gay and lesbian community, gender equality, you choose to make a big deal about Jews building in their holiest city – Jerusalem ? We’re an easy target, we know, but please, how about finding something more substantial to make an issue of – and about a non-democracy.
No we can’t fathom why on earth you don’t get us Israelis yet. We Israelis and our governments have repeatedly demonstrated an unwavering commitment to peace, and a willingness to pay a high price for it. In 1947, we accepted the UN’s ‘two-state’ resolution on the partition of Palestine, despite the fact that we would not have had any control of Jerusalem or the surrounding neighborhoods; The Arabs rejected it, and instead 6 Arab nations declared war on our fledgling state. In 1979 we gave up a piece of land greater than the size of the state of Israel , the Sinai, for peace with Egyptians. In 1999, we unilaterally withdrew from South Lebanon , allowing Hezbollah to set up its bases in our stead. A year later, Israeli PM Ehud Barak offered the Palestinians ‘the deal of the century’ – 97% of the West Bank, 100% of the Gaza strip, the dismantling of 63 settlements and agreeing that the East Jerusalem neighborhoods would become the capital of their new state. This too, was rejected by the Palestinians. In 2005, Israeli PM Sharon, without negotiations or demanding of concessions, unilaterally pushed through his disengagement plan that led to the dismantling of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and 4 in the West Bank .
No we can’t trust you….yet. Trust is earned. You see, Mr. President, I teach my girls to pay little attention to words and close attention to deeds. My people have demonstrated by deed that we are willing to pay a high price for peace and security. On more than one occasion you have said that you are committed to the Israel ’s security and will not tolerate a nuclear-capable Iran . Now it’s your turn to match your words with deeds. A two-state solution with the Palestinian people is of little relevance if Iran achieves its nuclear goals.”
All I can say is “Amen!”
eric
same here
eric, this may be the best post I have read on this site. Amen.
Toma
This is nothing more but typical Jew Zionist propaganda, my
dear friend Eric.
Let’s face it, we Jews since the year 1, have been out to control the world, especially through what nature provided us naturally, oil beneath the ground.
We control the oil flows worldwide, through out agents, as per the
“Protocols of the Elders of Zionion” For those that don’t know, this
revealed to the world our conspiracy to own and control every aspect
of the planet’s life.
Don’t believe for one moment that 6.5m Jews died (including 1.5m
children) during WW2, It’s all part of the same conspiracy to
justify the creation of the country called Israel.
Let’s be frank and honest, the Arabs say that Jesus was a Palestinian,
and the Western Wall a hoax. I believe everything they say.
BTW, they also claim the 67 War was fought by US pilots in those
300 Israeli jets, that downed over 400 Egyptian and Syrian planes,
many on the ground. I mean, we all know that (read Hitler), Jews
are gonifs, (crooks), untermenschen ( less than human ), exploiters
of their countrymen..money lenders and the such.
Unlike their fellow countrymen who love “The land”, the Jews
have raped, stolen from, abused..every country they’ve been
accepted in, until thrown out that is ( after loaning too much to their
kings).
The Palestinians, an indiginous people in that part of the world,
had their land and homes stolen by the Jewish immigrants. They
only want their land back. , nothing more. They are a peace loving
people’s. Jihad is not in their language..more Zionist propagana.
In fact, every war fought by the resistance (Palestinians and 5 Arab nations) was to expel the Zionists from the land they stole. This is the bottom line.
Regarding Iran, they are simply protecting the interests of fellow
Muslims. They have no intentions of making atomic bombs.
However, if Israel/USA attacks it, everything is on the table.
So lets not get carried away. Those 6m Jews who supposedly perished
during WW2, were in fact, dead Germans, killed by Allied bombing raids,
and the 5th columnist Jews, who also stabbed Germany in the back
during WW1.
Now I hope everything is set straight.
Oh one thing, I do believe websites which reveal Israel has
400 nukes, high fusion, on 5 platforms: F15Is, Jericho missiles,
Dolphin Submarine cruise missiles, artillery and land mines.
But who cares, the Arabs have G-d on their side and the truth.
I’m trying hard to ignore the ridiculous allegations in the comments of “Dev” and concentrate on the positive message conveyed in your post today. I stumbled upon your site by accident, but I will definitely add it to a favorite list. As someone who descended through Russian Jewish ancestry, I applaud and support Avi Ifergan’s attempt to get the world to open their eyes. I can’t believe the double standard that my own nation has applied to Israel. I doubt anyone in this country would accept foreign opinions dictating what we do and don’t do. Hooray for sharing. Would you permit me to post this on my own blog with a link back to yours as the place of origin? I would love to spread the word. I think readers can discern the truth from the ramblings of those who launch rambling attacks on facts in evidence.
“No we can’t” put Istael ahead of our own.
This notion that somehow the Obama adminsitration is less supportive of Israel than any other prior administration is yet another LIE propagated from the Right.
Truman was the first world leader to recognize Israel, but only after careful consideration. It was no guarantee that was going to happen. Truman, I believe, did the right thing, but he did do it with caveats, and one of those was that the new state of Israel would remain within it’s founding boundaries.
Eisenhower and Kennedy barely acknowledged Israel.
Johnson was very sympathetic to Israel, but was furious with them for the Liberty accident, and I do believe that attack was an accident.
Nixon and Ford both wanted Israel to pull back to the ’67 boundaries, and stepped in to save the Egyptian army during the Sinai occuaption.
Carter then parlayed the Sinai occupation into the first and only (yeah, Jordan too, I know, but that was didn’t have all that much to do with us) lasting peace that Israel enjoys today – and sure enough it was a “land for peace” deal.
Reagan was more of the status quo, and in fact took some time to warm up to Israel. Reagan also was the first president to really start pushing a two-state solution.
Bush Sr was openly hostile to Likud, and continued to formulate and push a two-state solution, settlement construction freezes, and conditions on aid.
Clinton continued the tradition, though there was hostility again with Likud.
Bush Jr basically ignored Israel until toward the end of his adminsrtation, and by then tit was too late to do much of anything. The status quo continued.
Obama, sure enough, is yet another US president to have trouble with the screwballs in Likud. Other than that, nothing substantial has changed.
And that’s it. As we can see, things haven’t really changed much.
JMJ
“This notion that somehow the Obama adminsitration is less supportive of Israel than any other prior administration is yet another LIE propagated from the Right.”
Then why are so many Israelis distrusting of him as opposed to Bush ?
” Other than that, nothing substantial has changed.”
Thats right, you’re the first one today to call a respectful man who spoke history correctly with respectful concerns names just because you dont see it from his direction.
Other than that, nothing substantial has changed.
Keep your eye on Syria and Iran and what Obama intends to fdo about it.
Oh, I know, he’ll hold a summit far enough away so he cant here the Syrians and Iranians laughing their a$$es off at him
Netanyahu just told Obamawhere to go by not showing at the nuke conference.
He sent a rep instead, howmany other countries did that ?
No change ?
Yup, they’re still making koolaid
Mizging
Dan Lev was being fasicious.
Micky, Israeli’s were leery of Obama from the day he won the election, long before he ever did or said anything to deserve it. I think Israelis are just being paranoid. Obama’s popularity – or I should say “lack thereof” – in Israel is peculiar, as he’s very popular in most of the rest of the developed, and most of the developing, world. Personally, I think Israelis are being irrational. I also think there’s more than a little racism going on with this too.
I also don’t see any substantial change ion the way we deal with countries like Syria and Iran. Do you? Really? At least Obama is having more luck with getting Russia on board than Bush, with his soul-seeing vision powers, ever did!
Netanyahu didn’t show up for the nuke conference because Israel is closet nuclear power – they have NEVER admitted they have an arsenal. You’d have to be an idiot to make hay outta that! Israel NEVER shows up for these things! It has NOTHING to do with Obama. Jeez. You guys will just say anything that pops into your heads, huh?
And Dan may have been facetious, but is wrong when it comes to the Palestinians not being an indigenous people of that region. Where does crazy ol’ Dan think the Palestinians come from? Vanuatu?
JMJ
Give me break Jersey.
The guy had the Muslim brotherhood sitting right up front when he made that kiss a$$ apologetic speech to the entire middle east.
I suppose now you’re going call the majority of American Jews and Israelis who holda majotity that dont trust him idiots, ? paranoid ? victims of right wing propoganda ?
The majority of Israelis have distrusted him since his campaign.
“Netanyahu didn’t show up for the nuke conference because Israel is closet nuclear power – they have NEVER admitted they have an arsenal.”
Then I guess the rep was not needed ?
How bout the fact that whether or not Israel has nukes they still deserve to participate under the Iranian threat ?
No my friend. Netanyahu was giving Obama the finger
“And Dan may have been facetious, but he’s being a facetious LIAR when it comes to the Palestinians not being an indigenous people of that region. Where does crazy ol’ Dan think the Palestinians come from? Vanuatu?”
Actually they come from all over the middle east. They’re a collage` from many different regions
“I also think there’s more than a little racism going on with this too.”
As usual.
Tell me, what other state in the middle east is as tolerant of other races and cultures than Israel ?
Dont you get tired of having to look over your shoulder all the time because of all them racist running around ?
Micky, where the heck do you get your “facts” from? I don’t even know where to begin!
First of all, the MB is an illegal group in Egypt. If they were sitting up front, they would have been shot! And both before and after the speech, the MB panned Obama’s effort, calling it “useless.” Look it up. Make an effort man! Do you just want to be wrong? I mean, are you just making this stuff up, Micky? Really. Is there some “news” outlet you get this from? If so, I’d love to know what sleazy SOBs you get these little “facts” from.
And they always ask Israel to show up for these nuke things. It’s just protocol or diplomatic courtesy, I suppose. But Israel never shows up! They are an UNDECLARED NUCLEAR POWER. They CAN’T show up! Get it? Do you even know that? What kind of sleaze would parlay that into a criticism of Obama? Really!
I’d rather not get into Israel and race here. It’s just a personal observation I’ve made from anecdotal experience. I’ll just let stand what I said. It is rather odd the way Israelis are so vehemently and almost universally against Obama. No other people are like that. You have to admit it’s a little wierd.
As for other nations in the Middle East, it depends on who you are and where you are. Besides, if Israel was so “tolerant” there wouldn’t even be an Israel. It’s a Jewish State, not a multicultural country. That’s why they never absorbed the Occupied Territories. If they did, Israel would be a majority non-Jewish state. That’s why Israel, underhandedly, goes the “settlement” route. But when all is said and done, that route will only end badly. That’s why people have been getting so PO’d with Israel these days. They’re behaving stupidly.
JMJ
JMJ:
“Micky, where the heck do you get your “facts” from? I don’t even know where to begin!
First of all, the MB is an illegal group in Egypt. If they were sitting up front, they would have been shot! And
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/03/muslim-brotherhood-members-attend-obamas-cairo-speech/
“Khaled Hamza, editor of the Muslim Brotherhood Web site, confirmed to FOXNews.com that 10 members of the Brotherhood’s parliamentary bloc received official invitations to attend the speech.
The list includes Mohammed Saad el-Katatni, head of the parliamentary bloc.
The expected attendance of the Brotherhood members already is stirring some criticism from conservatives in the U.S. who say they do not represent the kind of moderate Muslims Obama should be appealing to.
And then theres this
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33840_Muslim_Brotherhood_Invited_to_Obamas_Egypt_Speech
And this.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/271415,muslim-brotherhood-in-audience-for-obama-cairo-speech–feature.html
“Cairo – At least 10 members of parliament from Egypt`s banned Muslim Brotherhood will attend US President Barack Obama`s landmark speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, it was confirmed by the group Tuesday. As well as various lawmakers, activists, charity workers and non- governmental organisations at the address, invitations have been sent to the group for the keynote speech.
The Muslim Brotherhood are officially banned in Egypt, but have 88 seats in the parliament, where they sit as independents.
The invitations for Thursday`s speech came not from the US embassy, but from the sheikh of al-Azhar university, one of Egypt’s most prestigious centres of Islamic learning. “
And also this;
http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2009/06/muslim-brotherhood-will-attend-obama-speech-in-cairo.html
“Muslim Brotherhood Will Attend Obama Speech in Cairo
Posted by Shadi Hamid
The POMED Wire, the blog of the Project on Middle East Democracy, is breaking the news that ten parliamentarians from the Muslim Brotherhood will be attending Obama’s speech in Cairo on Thursday. There doesn’t seem to have been much in English on this yet, so we went ahead and translated parts of the Al Arabiya article which first reported this development just a couple hours ago. Apparently, the invitations were a result of U.S. pressure, and, according to the Muslim Brotherhood’s Saad Katatni “came as a compromise solution between the American administration and the Egyptian government.” This is a significant development, and quite unexpected. For more, check out the the POMED Wire summary here.”
JMJ;
“And they always ask Israel to show up for these nuke things. ”
“these things” ?
They were invited to nukesummit focusing on preventing proliferation.
Israel is concerned about Iran nuking them.
China andall managedto send their leaders,
Israel did not.
Are you really that delusional to not believe the majority of Israelis do not favor Obamas policies ?
========================
Oh, heres the icing on the cake.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/features/article_1480966.php/Muslim_Brotherhood_in_audience_for_Obama_Cairo_speech_News_Feature
“Cairo – At least 10 members of parliament from Egypt`s banned Muslim Brotherhood will attend US President Barack Obama`s landmark speech to the Muslim world in Cairo, it was confirmed by the group Tuesday.
As well as various lawmakers, activists, charity workers and non- governmental organisations at the address, invitations have been sent to the group for the keynote speech.
The Muslim Brotherhood are officially banned in Egypt, but have 88 seats in the parliament, where they sit as independents.
The invitations for Thursday`s speech came not from the US embassy, but from the sheikh of al-Azhar university, one of Egypt’s most prestigious centres of Islamic learning.”
I’m sure that secret service was aare who would be in attendance and this schmuck still did hespeech knwing they were out there regardless of who invited them.
I never talk outta my rump Jersey, you oughta know that by now
crickets