We Can or We Can't

The phrase "YES WE CAN" caught the imagination of the American electorate. The following article applying this to the conflict in the Middle East, perhaps should cause Obama to read the following:-

YES WE CAN – hold on to Cuban territory (Guantanamo Bay), and refuse the demands of the Cuban administration to return the area – yet at the same time demand that Israel transfer Abu Dis (a neighborhood in East Jerusalem) to Palestinian Authority control BEFORE negotiations are even begun.

YES WE CAN – incarcerate Iraqi and Afghan POWs in inhuman conditions – stating that because Guantanamo is not on U.S. soil, the prisoners have no rights under the U.S. Constitution, and, at the same time, demand that Israel release Palestinian terrorists as a gesture of goodwill to Abu Mazen.

YES WE CAN – send U.S. military forces to fight against any regime deemed to endanger U.S. interests – Vietnam, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. – yet, in the same breath, demand that Israel relinquish Judea and Samaria without receiving any security guarantees.

YES WE CAN – treat the Israeli Prime Minister like the chieftain of an Indian reservation who has come to visit the White House.

YES … YOU … CAN – because you are a Great Power, for which everything is permitted and justified.

But let's point out what YOU CAN’T…

NO YOU CAN’T – understand the Middle East mentality. You are unable to understand this different culture; you cannot comprehend that as long as the Palestinian Arabs believe that the State of Israel can be destroyed, there is no reason for them to enter true negotiations on coexistence and a two-state solution.

NO YOU CAN’T – influence the Palestinian Authority to change its Charter, calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.

NO YOU CAN’T – influence the Palestinian Arabs to recognize that the people of Israel have the inalienable right to live within the 1967 borders.

NO YOU CAN’T – influence the Palestinian Arabs to accept the fact that the Jews have a centuries-old attachment to the Land of Israel.

NO YOU CAN’T – prevent the Palestinian education system from teaching hatred and jihad – holy war – against Israel.

Only if – and when – you are able to change the NO YOU CAN’T's into YES WE CAN's, will I believe in the U.S. commitment to the continued existence of the State of Israel.

Even Palestinian Journalist Can't Report What They See

Last week a delegation of journalists from the West Bank and Gaza met with Israeli journalists in order to try to build bridges. The atmosphere was very friendly but there were natural differences of opinion. The Palestinian journalists commented on their lack of freedom of movement particularly in Gaza and also significant censorship by Hamas.

Thus an initiative created some dialogue where there had been none in the past.

Within a few days of this meeting, the same Palestinian journalists have now been condemned as "collaborators". They now face expulsion from the Fatah controlled Palestinian Journalists Syndicate on charges of promoting normalisation with Israel. This syndicate is to meet in the coming days to discuss punitive measures against any journalist who defies the ban on normalisation. The incident has been defined as a "tragedy" .

And the Western media persists on quoting reports from such journalistic organisation in Gaza and the West Bank, perceiving them as the "truth".

A total lack of objectivity in reporting on the Middle East is propagating the Anti Israel feelings around the world and creating an even greater concensus within the country.