Dear Secretary Kerry,
Imagine if you will, that Mexicans are attacking the US with suicide bombings every day, that our neighbors in all the surrounding countries refuse to acknowledge our right to exist as “Americans”, and that Mexico has in its charter the stated goal of wiping the US off the face of the earth. These same neighbors have launched unprovoked attacks on us over the years, and we have won those skirmishes and taken some land along with it, say, annexing Texas or something like that. Imagine that our conflict with Mexico is based on the differences in our religions, both of which are thousands of years old, and the conflict is nearly that old.
Now imagine that the entire rest of the world is siding with all our neighbors. Imagine that everyone wants us to give Texas back to Mexico, to not build any houses for the Americans now living in Texas. Oh, and if we don’t acknowledge the right of Texas to be its own country and give Texas back, the world will turn against us and declare us at fault for instability in the Americas.
Absurd, no?
Try being Israel.
You expect Israel to negotiate with people who have it in their charter to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, and who refuse to acknowledge its right to exist as a sovereign nation and as a sanctuary for the Jewish people (hello, that was the entire purpose for setting it up after WW2). The conflict over Israel is thousands of years old, yet we purport, in our typical American arrogance, to settle this thousands years old conflict in the historic blink of an eye, to know what's best for everyone, to assume we are right and everyone else is wrong.
We cannot undo in 35 years what has taken thousands of years to evolve. Or perhaps we could, if we ever had such visionaries as Carter, Begin, and Sadat around again. Sadly, we don’t have those 3 men all alive anymore, willing to work together for peace, prosperity and stability for their peoples. We cannot force our ideas on a sovereign nation. We’ve tried – how well did that go for us in Iraq?
For you to
accuse Israel of becoming an apartheid nation – when it is the victim of unprovoked attacks and terrorism every single day of the year, is ridiculous. Israel has every right to protect itself, and should not require the approval of Daddy to do it. We should be backing Israel because it is the only democratic nation in the region. Because it is simply trying to exist peacefully in a hostile environment, where everyone would rather see it disappear as a blip in the footnotes of history. Because we fought for their right to exist as a state in the first place.
If you asked me (which you haven’t because you don’t know me from bupkus), I would tell you that a two-state solution is probably the best long-term outcome for both sides. If you asked most Palestinians or Israelis, they would probably tell you the same. I would also tell you that we cannot force that to happen. When one of those states refuses to acknowledge the right of the other to exist, then a two-state solution is not likely.
Personally, I think Netanyahu is a blow-hard, puffed up, militant asshole. But I completely agree with him that Israel should not and can not negotiate with the PA until they denounce Hamas’ stated goal of eliminating Israel and the Jews from existence. And publicly acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. Without caveats.
In a world where
anti-semitism is growing and hate is becoming more normative than fringe, the rhetoric you used in invoking apartheid on Yom HaShoah is a clear signal to anti-Semites that you will do nothing to stop them, that you give your tacit approval, that you
agree. In a world where to compromise is to lose, sadly there can be no compromising. Because we have taken compromise off the table in Israel. You want Israel to give everything, and get nothing. Unconditional surrender. To terrorists. When extremism is the acceptable norm, there can be no moderation.
Do you maybe remember our response to a single act of terror against us? Hmmm? I'm pretty sure we've been in a war for over a decade because of it. The hypocrisy in our nation's stance on Israel is astounding. (Though maybe not, because we seem to be hypocritical on a lot of things lately). It's ok for us, the mighty United States of America, if
we get attacked,
just once, to start a global conflict that lasts for well over a decade, but when another sovereign nation, who is not us, is attacked on a daily basis, when the entire region in which it lives is trying to exterminate them from existence, we ask - no,
tell - them to use restraint, to "take the high road", to negotiate, to
give up their fight for freedom from terrorism, or else they are impeding the peace process, at fault, practicing apartheid.
You may hope that your harsh words do something to spur both sides back to the table. You may hope that your harsh words shame Israel into doing your bidding. But somehow I doubt that Bibi Netanyahu gives a flying fuck what you think. Nor do I think that Abbas or the PA give a flying fuck what you think. If you want to present the almighty US solution and tell both sides to "
take it or leave it", my guess is they will leave it, because why? Oh yeah, they don't give a flying fuck what you think. And the only reason
I give a flying fuck what you think, is because you are the face of US policy, and in this instance, that's shameful.
Respectfully,
An American Jew
ETA: Ted Cruz, you would grab anything to try and disgrace the Obama administration. Kerry does not need to
resign over this. He just needs to apologize. And mean it.
ETA: If this is legitimate, then I am satisfied.
