Washington Post columnist warns that Palestinian statehood initiative could keep Gaddafyi and Assad in power

by on August 15, 2011 7
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I do not know of a better example of blaming the victim than the Washington Post's Jackson Diehl's screed against the Palestinian statehood initiative for allegedly threatening to throw the Middle East into "violent upheaval." The initiative is a "desperate gambit," Diehl says, as it will be accompanied by Arab-spring-style protests that could produce a third intifadah. As if the Arab spring is supposed to convulse every Arab society but Palestine. As if any people should take Jim-Crow-status lying down. As if the world's promises of a state for Palestine over the last 63 years have produced one iota of self-determination, even as Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, Uzbekistan, East Timor, Pakistan, etc get their states without a peep out of the Washington Post.

When Diehl says that the initiative will produce no jobs, I think of our own revolution. We didn't want an economic peace. We threw the tea into the sea. Remember? But no protests for Palestine... Diehl's warning:

[Palestinians say the Arab-spring-like] rallies will be carefully policed; they will be restricted to West Bank towns, far away from Israeli soldiers and settlers. Officials around Abbas say they recognize that if the demonstrations turn into a “third intifada,” they will be the losers: They will be swept from power by a more militant group of leaders.

Israelis, too, know they have much at stake. “Ten bodies could change the Middle East,” said the senior Israeli official I spoke to, who also said that Israeli army and police officials are engaged in intensive preparations aimed at avoiding violent clashes.

It’s not hard to imagine what could go wrong in a “third intifada.” The embattled dictatorships of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Moammar Gaddafi in Libya could get a saving break as Arab attention focused on a new Israeli-Palestinian fight. Syria and Iran could promote new marches on Israel’s borders from the Golan Heights and Lebanon. Extremists in Egypt could use anger against Israel to whip up support in crucial elections scheduled for November. And so on.

About Philip Weiss

Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.
Posted in Israel/Palestine

{ 7 comments... read them below or add one }

  1. Kathleen says:
    August 15, 2011 at 10:39 am

    your link to Diehls screed is not working

  2. Kathleen says:
    August 15, 2011 at 10:47 am

    Went over to Washington Post
    Ouch
    link to washingtonpost.com
    Posted at 09:00 AM ET, 08/15/2011
    Can Rick Perry break through in New Hampshire?
    By Jennifer Rubin

    Texas Gov. Rick Perry is touching base in the key early primary states. This weekend he was in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Iowa. So far it doesn’t appear that he is going to concede any of the early states. His campaign spokesman on Sunday told me, “Governor Perry will campaign vigorously in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.”
    ——————————————

    The radical right “let’s kick Iran’s ass” crowd seems to be pushing for Perry. With Iraq war criminals Douglas Feith, and Bill Luti heading Perry’s foreign policy team…who knows they could be getting closer to their agenda with Iran

    link to raceforiran.com
    “ForeignPolicy.com reports, see here, say that Perry’s foreign policy and national security briefings are being organized by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and feature such Iraq war masterminds as Doug Feith and Bill Luti. Dr. Paul has his work cut out for him.”

    • DICKERSON3870 says:
      August 15, 2011 at 4:34 pm

      ALSO SEE: Radical Christian group believes Gov. Perry will lead U.S. to godly government, By Eric W. Dolan, 08/10/11

      (excerpts) Forrest Wilder of the Texas Observer appeared on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show to discuss the New Apostolic Reformation, a evangelical Christian group that sees Texas Gov. Rick Perry as their chance to overtake the U.S. government.
      Wilder previously reported that members of the religious movement told Gov. Perry that Texas was “The Prophet State,” which would to lead the United States into godly government, with the governor playing a special part.
      “The theological basis for the New Apostolic Reformation movement is about taking control of the ‘seven mountains’ — government, media, family, arts and entertainment, so on and so forth,” he explained…
      …Watch video, courtesy of MSNBC – link to rawstory.com

      SOURCE – link to rawstory.com

    • DICKERSON3870 says:
      August 15, 2011 at 4:35 pm

      AND SEE: Governor Perry’s trip to Israel in question ~ WeAreAustin(dot)com, 11/23/09

      (excerpt) The city of Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and it has a new defender: Texas Governor Rick Perry.
      In August, Perry was given the “Defender of Jerusalem” award. So Perry and his wife flew first class to Israel at more than $5,000 per ticket. The governor’s security detail of four Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers was also along for the trip.
      They all took the 7,000 mile journey to accept the award at a time when the governor was asking everyone else in state government to cut back on travel. During a speech in Houston, Perry directed state agencies to “curtail taxpayer funded travel.”
      According to state documents, the taxpayers’ bill just to take Perry’s security officers on the 5-day trip was more than $70,000. The breakdown includes $17,000 for rooms at the swanky King David Hotel, nearly $13,000 for food and more than 350 hours of overtime…

      SOURCE – link to weareaustin.com

  3. PeaceThroughJustice says:
    August 15, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    Here’s the correct link to Diehl’s article–
    link to washingtonpost.com

    By the way, as Deputy Editorial Page Editor of the Washington Post (under boss Fred Hiatt), Diehl is in charge of all foreign policy positions on the editorial page.

    from Wikipedia:

    “Diehl joined the Washington Post as a reporter in 1978. From 1982 to 1992, he worked at the paper’s foreign bureaus in Buenos Aires, Warsaw and Jerusalem. As an editor and columnist, Diehl advocated the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the Post’s early tenor of approval for the war has been attributed to his influence.”

    He is of course Jewish.