Search This Blog

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

THE INHERENT EGOTISM OF VP BIDEN AND AMERICAN POLICY TOWARDS ISRAEL:

PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY THEY HANDLE SURPRISES.

People are responsible for their own actions and reactions. This is especially true of public figures, and is crucial to diplomats.

VP Biden's reaction in Israel was personal, when and where it was most important that he react intelligently, thoughtfully, and not personally.

Israel's announcement, that it would proceed with the planning and construction of 1600 new housing units in the Arab Quarter of Jerusalem, could have been responded to very differently.

Imagine, if instead of interpreting the announcement quite publicly as an insult, VP Biden had instead said something like, "No doubt the Arabs aren't happy about this, and this will be one more axe to grind on the negotiating table; nevertheless, I'm here in Israel today on behalf of President Obama to urge re-engagement of peace talks between Israel and the Arabs. That is what I am here to do, that is what I shall proceed to do to the best of my abilities, and I urge Israel, the Arabs, and the media to focus on peace talks. And, speaking of peace talks, the unconditional release of Gilad Shalit might go a long way towards getting those peace talks started."

Instead VP Biden's thoughtless reaction placed the entire US Administration into the role of choir, as President, Secretary of State, et al could do nothing but publicly repeat the same judgement. There is even talk that General Petraeus wants to police "the occupied territories".

It might help mitigate some of the "bull in the china shop" mentality of American policy towards Israel, if the USA would discipline itself to avoid loaded propaganda terms, such as "settlers' or "illegally occupied Arab territory", when speaking about Jews building homes in their homeland, even if that territory is still a matter of legal, political, and military dispute.