Jon Stewart was really funny last night, and then he wasn’t. On the first night of Passover, after giving Obama some matzoh advice, he lambasted him, mocking the president’s Jerusalem speech and his appeal to Israelis for a Palestinian state.
An American president sketching out a path to an Israeli state, a Palestinian state. Why did no one think of this sooner?
Haaretz explains:
He went on to show footage of former U.S. presidents making similar assertions, including Geroge W. Bush Jr. in 2007, Bill Clinton in 1998 and George W Bush Sr. in 1991, before shouting out “We are f***ng powerless,” and pulling out a one dollar bill with a talking George Washington also repeating the two-state message.
“The point is this: Talk is cheap, and we have done that for years, so call me when there is actually some diplomatic progress,” Stewart said
I loved the talking money!
Alas, in the following segment, Stewart’s humor comes at the expense of nine human rights activists, 8 Turkish and 1 American, whose lives were brutally cut short by an Israeli attack on board the Mavi Marmara in 2010. Prior to Stewart’s humorous exchange with comedian Barack Atah Adonai he played a news clip that characterized Netanyahu’s apology to Turkey as “mistakes that lead to the death of activists on a flotilla.” The execution style killings that led to their deaths were not merely a matter of unintentional “mistakes.” A lost opportunity indeed. Instead of picking up on this sinister twist of logic Stewart completely brushed off the killings and offered his audience a startled deer in the headlights expression with subsequent remarks suggesting no one had ever even heard of events on board the Mavi Marmara. “Wait, what? Obama brokered a peace agreement between Israel and Turkey, two countries no one knew was fighting?”
We knew Jon, and yes it is still a big deal.
(Hat tip Mondoweiss commenter Citizen)
Here’s how Haaretz ‘headlined’ it in the paper…..lol, so appropriate.
“We are f***ing powerles: Jon Stewart takes aim at Obama’s Israel visit”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/we-are-f-ing-powerless-jon-stewart-takes-aim-at-obama-s-israel-visit-1.511892
On Power
Dedicated to all those hopefuls who believe that there is a way to save Palestine or Israel without the forceful use of overwhelming ‘Power’. ..by someone anyway…….but it sure won’t be by Obama, and if we ever get a US Adm that will use US power on I/P…..it will, 1000 to 1 odds, be too late.
http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/03/25/empty_words
Empty words
Posted By Stephen M. Walt Monday, March 25, 2013 – 1:30 PM Share
(excerpts)
But there is another broad family of IR (international relations)theories — the realist family — and it maintains that what matters most in politics is power and how it is applied.
No matter how well-written or delivered, a speech cannot divert whole societies from a well-established course of action. Policies in motion tend to remain in motion; to change the trajectory of a deeply-entrenched set of initiatives requires the application of political forces of equal momentum.
For realists like me, in short, halting a colonial enterprise that has been underway for over forty years will require a lot more than wise and well-intentioned words. Instead, it would require the exercise of power.
Because power is more important than mere rhetoric, it won’t take long before Obama’s visit is just another memory. The settlements will keep expanding, East Jerusalem will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank, the Palestinians will remain stateless, and Israel will continue on its self-chosen path to apartheid.”
I thought it was HILARIOUS.
Maybe nitpicking about the Mavi Marmara. Hasbara won’t fall in a day. Stewart said things that would not have been possible 10 years ago.
Zionism is so ripe for satire. Such a crock of artificiality.
Yeah, well, I already posted a link to Jon Stewart’s last show on a bunch of threads here on MW. It’s important, which is why I posted it. Perhaps Annie didn’t see my comments. Anyway, Jon Stewart concluded “Talk is cheap,” as Annie said the Israeli news pointed out, and–if you see the last moment of his subject show, he asked, what is any POTUS ever going to actually DO about those illegal Israeli settlements?
Jon Stewart was indeed very amusing!