Posts
WHILE THERE IS SO MUCH THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS NOT HANDLED WELL WITH RESPECT TO THE OIL SPILL, THE IDEA THAT B.P. SHOULD ESTABLISH A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR ESCROW FUND IN ANTICIPATION OF PAYMENT OF DAMAGES IS A BRILLIANT IDEA.
This is a win-win idea that British Petroleum should take seriously. In fact according to a NYTimes News Alert, B.P. has agreed to such a fund. At the present time, unless it's financial picture is a house of cards (not impossible given the 21st Century genius of smoke and mirror accounting practices), then British Petroleum already has the financial resources to make such a fund immediately feasible. By establishing such a fund, it should be obvious that the payment of reasonable damages by B.P. then has a tangible and significant opportunity to mitigate the suffering of those in the Gulf in real time. What may be less obvious is that by setting aside an escrow fund, based on the appearance of a reasonable finite number with respect to anticipated damages, should ease stockholder fears of open-ended risk and restore a positive public relations image for B.P. from both the public and the stockholder perspectives.
Kudos to President Obama for this idea. Kenneth Feinberg, who presently is the TARP Special Master, and who previously directed the Compensation Funds Program for Nine-Eleven victims, will reportedly be in charge of the Gulf Compensation Fund. There could not be a better choice to head this fund. Let us hope that the word "tentative" (used by the NYT to describe the agreement for the implementation of the fund) does not imply "temporary for a short term public relations lift, until such time as B.P. may back out of the agreement, leaving Obama and the USA in the lurch."
TODAY IS DAY 1475 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.
Showing posts with label PRESIDENT OBAMA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PRESIDENT OBAMA. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
PRESIDENT BARAK HUSSEIN OBAMA CAN STAND UP AND SET HISTORICAL PRECEDENT WITH THE NAME HIS FATHER GAVE HIM.
FIRST, CORRECT THE LEXICON IN THE CONTEXT OF WHICH THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT IS DISCUSSED; THEN, REALITY MAY HAVE SOME CORRESPONDENCE TO THE TERMS OF DISCUSSION. BOTH JEWS AND ARABS ARE PALESTINIAN. IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG TO EXCLUDE JEWS FROM THE PALESTINIAN IDENTITY. SIMILARLY IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG TO DEFINE THE CONFLICT AS AN “ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN” CONFLICT, WHEN IN FACT IT IS AN “ARAB-ISRAELI” CONFLICT.
Once the terms are properly defined, once the distortion of incorrect ‘prescription glasses’ is removed, the reality of the conflict may come into focus. That reality has far greater implications than the world conversation has embraced in the past several decades. Ever since the decisive wars of 1967 and 1973, the world has believed that the scale of the Arab-Israli Conflict no longer ranged outside Israeli controlled borders and that therefore a final peace with the local Arab population could only be a few moments away. The world chose to call the Arabs within Israeli controlled borders “Palestinian”.
“Palestinian” is a term given by the Ancient Roman occupation of the middle east to all the inhabitants of that geography — Israeli, Arab, and everyone else. The British and French and Germans (Modern Romans) applied this Roman lexicon to the middle east, when in modern times they themselves occupied these lands and subjugated these middle eastern Peoples. There never existed a People or a State called “Palestine” except as a subjugated territorial entity of the Romans and the Modern Romans. [Today's Arabs from that geographical area are not identifiable with the "Philistines", although it has been a convenient myth with which the Arabs and Jew-haters propagandize in order to falsely claim an historical claim to Gaza.]
Jews have lived in Israel/Palestine dating back to the times of ancient Egypt. There has been continuous Jewish life in Israel/Palestine throughout history, even during the most decimating occupations by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, Modern Romans….
The vast majority of Arabs are Muslims, not Christians, and if at street level most people are not motivated by militancy, there are two powerful minorities that are married to militancy. These are the Jihadists, who wage their terrorist utopian Holy Wars; and then there are the Governments of the many Islamic nation-states, who rule by terror and by diversion of attention away from their own repressions by scapegoating Jews and the West; too often they find common cause with the Jihadists.
Israel has no peace with the Arab population within Israeli controlled borders because the Arab Governments don’t want peace with Israel and to this day refuse to make peace with Israel, the well-paid semi-exceptions being Egypt and Jordan. When the world at large understands that the Arab-Israeli Conflict is like a giant iceberg, and that the localized violence that is visible in Israel is visible in the same way that the tip of an iceberg is visible, perhaps then the world can become constructive in the seeking of real solutions. Denial just means ’shipwreck after shipwreck’ and a steady rise in ‘maintenance and insurance costs’.
If President Obama has the courage to stand up to reality, and not just be team leader in a never ending Washington game of “Capture The Flag”, he may make the most of the name his father gave him, declare himself to be the first American Muslim to be President of the USA, and establish a worldwide Muslim precedent demanding worldwide recognition of the State of Israel inclusive of Judea-Samaria (commonly referred to as the “West Bank”); he should suggest the creation of a world fund to support the voluntary emigration and resettlement from Israel of all willing Arab residents living within Israeli controlled borders, who cannot stomach the idea of living in a Jewish State, to the nations of their choice.
More than 1500 years of Muslim expansion in the world has created no shortage of possible destination homes for the Arabs today living within Israeli controlled borders; by nation of origin they may be identified in fact as mostly Egyptian, Saudi, Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian, and Turkish.
All should remember not only the decimations of Hitler; Hitler had many allies including the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and a Muslim world that raped, murdered, and exiled Jews all the way from Afghanistan to Africa and from Russia to Iran. Israel remembers, and yet despite this history 20% of Israel’s voting citizens today are Arabs…. At what point must Israel’s idealism gove way to Israel’s survival needs as a tiny ‘island’ Jewish State in a vast ’sea’ of Muslim States?
President Barak Hussein Obama can make a profound difference and set positive democratic precedents in the solution of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Israel is already a democracy with two-million Arab citizens. This reality can be preserved and can be a precedent towards liberalization of Arab States to become inclusive and tolerant of non-Muslims. Anything less is a profoundly anti-Israeli, anti-democratic double standard that the world must reject on principle.
Once the terms are properly defined, once the distortion of incorrect ‘prescription glasses’ is removed, the reality of the conflict may come into focus. That reality has far greater implications than the world conversation has embraced in the past several decades. Ever since the decisive wars of 1967 and 1973, the world has believed that the scale of the Arab-Israli Conflict no longer ranged outside Israeli controlled borders and that therefore a final peace with the local Arab population could only be a few moments away. The world chose to call the Arabs within Israeli controlled borders “Palestinian”.
“Palestinian” is a term given by the Ancient Roman occupation of the middle east to all the inhabitants of that geography — Israeli, Arab, and everyone else. The British and French and Germans (Modern Romans) applied this Roman lexicon to the middle east, when in modern times they themselves occupied these lands and subjugated these middle eastern Peoples. There never existed a People or a State called “Palestine” except as a subjugated territorial entity of the Romans and the Modern Romans. [Today's Arabs from that geographical area are not identifiable with the "Philistines", although it has been a convenient myth with which the Arabs and Jew-haters propagandize in order to falsely claim an historical claim to Gaza.]
Jews have lived in Israel/Palestine dating back to the times of ancient Egypt. There has been continuous Jewish life in Israel/Palestine throughout history, even during the most decimating occupations by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Turks, Modern Romans….
The vast majority of Arabs are Muslims, not Christians, and if at street level most people are not motivated by militancy, there are two powerful minorities that are married to militancy. These are the Jihadists, who wage their terrorist utopian Holy Wars; and then there are the Governments of the many Islamic nation-states, who rule by terror and by diversion of attention away from their own repressions by scapegoating Jews and the West; too often they find common cause with the Jihadists.
Israel has no peace with the Arab population within Israeli controlled borders because the Arab Governments don’t want peace with Israel and to this day refuse to make peace with Israel, the well-paid semi-exceptions being Egypt and Jordan. When the world at large understands that the Arab-Israeli Conflict is like a giant iceberg, and that the localized violence that is visible in Israel is visible in the same way that the tip of an iceberg is visible, perhaps then the world can become constructive in the seeking of real solutions. Denial just means ’shipwreck after shipwreck’ and a steady rise in ‘maintenance and insurance costs’.
If President Obama has the courage to stand up to reality, and not just be team leader in a never ending Washington game of “Capture The Flag”, he may make the most of the name his father gave him, declare himself to be the first American Muslim to be President of the USA, and establish a worldwide Muslim precedent demanding worldwide recognition of the State of Israel inclusive of Judea-Samaria (commonly referred to as the “West Bank”); he should suggest the creation of a world fund to support the voluntary emigration and resettlement from Israel of all willing Arab residents living within Israeli controlled borders, who cannot stomach the idea of living in a Jewish State, to the nations of their choice.
More than 1500 years of Muslim expansion in the world has created no shortage of possible destination homes for the Arabs today living within Israeli controlled borders; by nation of origin they may be identified in fact as mostly Egyptian, Saudi, Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Iranian, and Turkish.
All should remember not only the decimations of Hitler; Hitler had many allies including the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and a Muslim world that raped, murdered, and exiled Jews all the way from Afghanistan to Africa and from Russia to Iran. Israel remembers, and yet despite this history 20% of Israel’s voting citizens today are Arabs…. At what point must Israel’s idealism gove way to Israel’s survival needs as a tiny ‘island’ Jewish State in a vast ’sea’ of Muslim States?
President Barak Hussein Obama can make a profound difference and set positive democratic precedents in the solution of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Israel is already a democracy with two-million Arab citizens. This reality can be preserved and can be a precedent towards liberalization of Arab States to become inclusive and tolerant of non-Muslims. Anything less is a profoundly anti-Israeli, anti-democratic double standard that the world must reject on principle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
