Ynet is notioning 3 names for the job of Obama's Middle East envoy: Colin Powell, Dan Kurtzer, and Dennis Ross. I'm for Powell, because I think he gets it and despises the JINSA crowd. Ynet says of Ross and Kurtzer:
What does proficient mean in the context of Palestinian statelessness forever? Ross campaigned on behalf of the settlements in the '92 presidential race, saying it was his boss George Bush's "achievement" that the settlement program hadn't stopped, then jumped over to work for Clinton. If you represent the pro-Israel Jewish community, you have 9 political lives. Look at Joe Lieberman. Do you ever have to pay for a criminal policy? Especially now that it's created apartheid?
As for Kurtzer, I've always liked him, but isn't it disqualifying if his brother is a settler who believes in Greater Israel? You'd never make it on a jury if you had family that was connected. The Jerusalem Post reported in 2006:
The fact that Ma'aleh Adumim is over the Green Line is not a
problem for Benjamin and his family. "For us, there are no green
lines or red lines, it's all part of Israel," he said.
The policies his brother represented as ambassador played no
role in their choice of where to live. "[Daniel] was coming from
the diplomatic viewpoint and we were coming from the Zionist viewpoint," Benjamin said.
Thanks to Ira Glunts.
Related posts:
- Arguing about whether Dan Kurtzer should get the nod from Obama
- Meeting the Palestinians, Obama’s Retinue is Ross, Steinberg, Shapiro, Kurtzer
- Another appeal to Obama not to name Dennis Ross envoy
- Obama Once Praised ‘All Faiths and Nationalities Living Together’ in Israel
- Kurtzer, Obama’s Surrogate, Issues Coded Assault on Israel Lobby
{ 6 comments }
This is a 'master-of-the-obvious' thing to say, but I'll say it anyway. P-E Obama's selection of Middle East envoy will be a crystal clear signal to absolutely everyone whether he is serious about pursuing American interests by either forcing Israel to accept a reasonable final-status agreement, or to cut them off completely by using the DoJ to enforce laws that are already on the books. As powerful as the lobby is, its might rests on the slenderest of pillars: an executive branch compliant enough not to impartially enforce our nation's laws. I expect that the behavior of the Lobby over the next year or two will make it abundantly clear whether it is, as I am beginning to suspect through sickening disbelief, the greatest national security threat we Americans currently face. I pray that enough of their leadership come to their senses and make it manifestly clear that such is not the case. They made a mistake, in their haste before the end of the Bush administration, by not cultivating more believable astro-turf before beginning the baying for war with Iran. They stood completely alone, and I, and many other Americans, did not fail to notice.
Hey Colin,
You sound like an English/Asutralian faggot to me.
Can you prove that you're an American?
Hey Bondo, you sound like a scum-sucking transsexual whore from the ASIO. Care to prove me wrong somehow?
Excellent article by James Petras, so far only found on ICH – "Obama, the first Jewish President" – lots in it about Ross & co.
Petras's article is depressing reading. Here's the Chicago Jewish News article that he mentions–
http://www.chicagojewishnews.com/story.htm?sid=212226&id=252218
yes, Kurtzer would probably be the least worst option. Incidentally, whatever the future holds, I think one should always distinguish the 'dormitory' settlements, so-called because their population commutes across the green line into so-called 'Israel proper' every day to work, from the politically motivated and committed settlers further from the green line. I don't mean that I want to leave Maaleh Adumim and Ariel and so on to their beauty sleep at night. I am just saying, the political sociology is different.
Actually, looking at the map, Ariel is half way to the Jordan. Yet in my mind it has a 'dormitory' rather than an 'activist' image, which suggests a more complex problem than I thought. Sorry.
Comments on this entry are closed.