Saturday, April 21, 2012

THE POST-PESACH BLUES



By Schmoel Yitzhak

                                                                                   I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues -- Jazz trombonist-vocalist Jack Teagarden's most famous tune.


Jack Teagarden is long gone but were he scanning the headlines these days -- and cared for Israel -- he'd pick up his trombone and blast out "I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues."

The story lines back up that statement, as you will see:

* ABBAS WARNS NETANYAHU TWO-STATE SOLUTION COULD COLLAPSE: 
Now there's a laugh; that is if there's anything funny about the Palestinian Authority. So far, the only "authority" it has is thanks to the endless stream of cash it receives from Uncle Sam and the Europeans; not to mention, the quiet help provided by Israel. Without support from Jerusalem, the PA would fold like a deck of cards; overwhelmed by Hamas.

Over and over again Bibi has proposed direct talks with Mahmoud Abbas and the result inevitably is a return flood of superficial Arabic rhetoric designed to dodge face-fo-face negotiations. The PA's "warnings" have the usefulness of a flat tire with no spare in the trunk. For years it has been a fact of life that the PA simply will not acknowledge the knowledgeable; that is Israel has been, is, and will continue to be The Jewish State.

* FLYTILLA ACTIVISTS BEEF ABOUT BEING SNUBBED BY ISRAEL: Ever since the Jew-haters' flotilla project ran aground, these so-called "activists" -- a ridiculously nebulous, mis-used term to begin with -- have been seeking ways and means to display their vicious, damage-Israel propaganda. They claim to be "peace-loving" supporters of the "poor, repressed" Israeli Arabs. They ignore what most Palestinians realize; life is a lot better in Israel than any Arab country. Thus, Palestinians attempt every which way to work in Israel because the opportunities for a good living there clearly out-strip any place in Arab lands. 

Unfortunately, too few on the liberal side have sized up these "Flytilla" clowns for what they are; base hypocrites. If they were genuinely serious about seeking to accomplish something positive in the Middle East, they would have altered their flight plans. One group could well have descended on Damascus where -- truce or no truce -- Bashar al-Assad has been wiping out protestors not by the tens, or hundreds but by the thousands with little to no meaningful response -- only blathering rhetoric -- from Barack Obama and the appeasing European Union.

Another dozen or so of these "activists" -- if there was any genuine adventure in their souls -- could have flown into Tehran where the mullahs have been developing atomic weaponry that could alter the entire Middle East balance of power, if not the world balance. Egypt, which doesn't know in which directly its political gyroscope is pointing, could use a few of those leftists to help Cairo determine whether it wants to be the new Taliban, or the old Iraq. But since "Flytilla" is merely an airborne synonym for hypocrisy simply because no such humanitarian moves as listed above ever will be taken by the non-active activists.

*  THE 'ARAB SPRING' HAS WILTED; POLITICALLY IT'S 'WINTER' FOR ISLAM: A year ago the liberal press got hot and bothered about what then was enthusiastically dubbed "The Arab Spring." In a year, however, it has emerged more like an Islamic Winter. The Arabs are calling it "Nahda," which is another way of saying the rebirth of Islamic power. 

Therefore, if "Spring" means that militant Islam is crusading to annex the world, then -- let's not delude ourselves -- that's what in their short and long-range cards. Essentially, that's what Khairet el-Shater, deputy guide of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, has in mind. What's more you can't overlook this guy because he's the Brotherhood's announced presidential candidate in Egypt. "The mission is clear," el-Shater said in a speech recently translated by the Hudson Institute, "restoring Islam in its all-encompassing conception' subjugating people to God...the Islamization of life."

Those who closely study the Arab world -- and that means translating to English speeches made by Islamic leaders -- are not for a second fooled by the Arab Spring's utter deception. Clifford D. May is one such individual not easily deceived. As president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on national security and foreign policy, May knows his Arab onions.

"The 'Arab Spring' was a mirage," May recently wrote in Israel Hayom. "The 'Nahda' is a reality. Listen carefully to what the Islamists say. Let's not be complicit in our own deception. Let's watch what they do. Let's not confuse gradualism with moderation.

"Journalists, diplomats and academics might understand all this if they were relying less on optimism and more on analysis."

* UNDRESSING THE 'ARAB SPRING:: Other reasons demonstrating why the Islamists should be feared in and out of Egypt should be clear to everyone. Clifford May lists no less than nine such reasons:  1. Escalating attacks on Egypt's Coptic Christians; 2. The Saudi grand mufti's fatwa that more churches be demolished;  3. Sudan's mass murders of both Christians and the black Muslims of Darfur; 4. Endless atrocities committed by the Taliban; 5. The Iranians continued repression at home and support for terrorism abroad; 6. Assad's assaults on fellow Syrians; 7. Hezbollah's takeover in Lebanon; 8. Hamas' endless war against Israel; 9. Continued operations by al-Qaida.

* DECEPTIVE NUCLEAR TALKS IN TURKEY: How naive can Catherine Ashton be? Answer: VERY. The European Union foreign policy chief is trying to sell the world that nuclear talks in Turkey can result in an "exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program." Since the anti-Israel Turks hosted the meeting in Istanbul you can bet your bottom shekel that this is another Iranian stall tactic, buying time for development of nuclear weaponry. 

That a new round of talks won't be held until May 23 plays right into the hands of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollahj Ali Khamenei. But Benjamin Netanyahu is not fooled one bit. "Iran," Israel's Prime Minister notes, "now has five weeks during which it can continue to enrich uranium without limit."

Of course, the prince of appeasers, Barack Obama, is supporting Ashton; which only proves that the White House does not have "israel's back," as the president deceitfully proclaimed last month.

Those who care for Israel, therefore, can echo Jack Teagarden's favorite tune;  we certainly do have a right to sing the blues!

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