Obama’s visit to Israel was annoying – especially with all the excessive yukking over nothing in particular – but there were a few things about it that are worth highlighting.
I was a little surprised at the level of frothy excitement projected by liberal Zionists into the public realm. Their virtual palpitations on Twitter seemed a little over the top – and I was honestly baffled by the reception. But after a while it became clear that the public enthusiasm was an outward manifestation of the insecurity those people feel. Being a Zionist is all about waiting for the next anti-Semitic catastrophe, and a visit by Obama may have allayed some of the tittering nervousness that people like Abraham Foxman express on a regular basis. Attachment theory offers more insight into the relationship Zionists have with American leaders; it may also help explain Israeli aggression and anti-social behaviors. A related and more superficial explanation may be that Obama made Zionists feel cool (like they used to, before celebrities began to distance themselves). That’s not something to be understated.
The second point goes to Obama’s speech to Jewish-Israelis in Jerusalem. Apparently, the guy who wrote it is a young American with a Jewish parent. He imbued the address with more truth than I would have expected (and a whole lot of the usual origin-myth mendacity):
It is not fair that a Palestinian child cannot grow up in a state of her own, and lives with the presence of a foreign army that controls the movements of her parents every single day. It is not just when settler violence against Palestinians goes unpunished. It is not right to prevent Palestinians from farming their lands; to restrict a student’s ability to move around the West Bank; or to displace Palestinian families from their home. Neither occupation nor expulsion is the answer.
That could be an indication of generational differences in what powerful people in Washington are willing to recognize as legitimate Palestinian grievances. But there’s really no way to know right now.
Finally, it’s hard to overstate how dumb people sound when they use the mommy-talkish “Bibi” all the time. That’s true for Obama and everyone else.
It’s as if the Israelis see a glimmer of hope that they will be able to pull off Apartheid, without isolation from civilized international society, rather than their dawning realization that they have already abused the pooch
If Israel feels cool or ‘legitimized’ for a month or few days before reality sets back in, reality like Erdogan quickly coming back and telling Israelis he doesn’t care what their words are any more, because who would trust them, that it would be only their actions as judged by others than themselves that will change things – it will be back to the bad parts of being an Israeli these days
I remember ‘Bibi’ informing us that Isarel could not apologize for the Mavi Marmara because it would ‘demoralize’ the Israeli people – if not he himself and Avigdor Lieberman. It sounded nuts and at the time it could just be taken as a cynical yet ridiculous excuse for not doing it, but I think he actually spoke the truth for what it is like to be an Israeli Zionist, which means never having to say you’re sorry, which gloats at all displays of viciousness as long as it is Israel that is the bully
That Obama on one level didn’t deflate Zionist triumphalism, but seemed rather to do the opposite, just gives Zionists of Bibi’s generation an little extra bit of denial to make themselves irrelevant as current realities continue to overtake Israel. I think many of the younger generation heard something else beyond the overlay of flowery words
For the ones who are deadender Zionists like Bibi, in some weird way Obama was like a mother who says or pretends to her son to ‘love’ her son even though he has been sent to prison for a capital offense, though actually grateful he’s getting locked up so he can’t inflict his mayhem on her and other family members. Kind of dysfunctionally paternalistic.
If this is what Israelis use these day to keep the Zionist hot air balloon afloat for a few more miles – they are going to need Obama to be visiting pretty regularly because the holes in their balloon just keep getting bigger
Quote:
“That could be an indication of generational differences in what powerful people in Washington are willing to recognize as legitimate Palestinian grievances.”
No. U.S. have said the same thing for decades.
Its time to stop being fooled by these statements. These statements have NEVER been followed upon. Aslong as some of us are letting us to be fooled by this rhetoric on Palestine by the US and West in general, palestinians will never get their state.
‘ Being a Zionist is all about waiting for the next anti-Semitic catastrophe’
-hell yeah it is. I think it’s ‘the boogeyman in the darkness’ that keeps their
wheels turning and it’s what motivates tehm. We’re better & smarter and
fraternizing with the ‘others’ will soften you resolve. Fear society, we must,
and remain as mini tribes with a strong network.
Even the liberals are cliquey, as they try so hard to be inclusive with others.
They need their borscht belt or something to latch onto, just like young males
bond over baseball stats.
Baby Bibi needs a bib
His Zionist drooling’s wearing thin,
Obamarama’s too, it keeps Justice askew,
Makes us think neither’s the right fever
To show the Zionist virus is behind us.
Bibi’s got a bib, a big faux lib bib,
And Obama’s stitched it up,
Ditched human health in stealth
Sufficient for Dick and Jane
To keep the US high on Ziocaine.
Bibi’s got a bib, made in US ivy schools,
And this is why, America’s “easily moved,”
Why GI Joe dies, that hillbilly dies,
Why PNAC has the knack to rack up
Dollars for Israeli Jews, but not for your momma.
Finally, it’s hard to overstate how dumb people sound when they use the mommy-talkish “Bibi” all the time. That’s true for Obama and everyone else.
i agree, i think commenters who are too lazy to spell out netanyahu or shorten it to ‘net’ should have their comments cleared,or let them wait for 24 hrs, i’m fed up with it. but then i don’t make the rules.