Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Thomas Friedman, "Lessons from Tahrir Sq.": Tom Didn't Do His Homework

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Lessons From Tahrir Sq." (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/opinion/25friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion), Thomas Friedman dazzles us with a display of naiveté, and we can only pray that Friedman is not advising Obama, as was recently reported by Martin Peretz of The New Republic (see: http://www.tnr.com/article/tel-aviv-journal/88563/obama-middle-east-zakaria-friedman-israel).

Writing from Cairo, Friedman lectures us that both the Palestinians and Israelis "have been untouched by the Arab Spring" and that they "could actually learn something from Tahrir Square". He suggests to the Palestinians:

"Announce that every Friday from today forward will be 'Peace Day,' and have thousands of West Bank Palestinians march nonviolently to Jerusalem, carrying two things — an olive branch in one hand and a sign in Hebrew and Arabic in the other. The sign should say: 'Two states for two peoples. We, the Palestinian people, offer the Jewish people a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders — with mutually agreed adjustments — including Jerusalem, where the Arabs will control their neighborhoods and the Jews theirs.'

. . . .

Crazy, I know. Bibi is reading this and laughing: 'The Palestinians will never do that. They could never get Hamas to adopt nonviolence. It’s not who the Palestinians are.'

. . . .

How about you, Palestinians, especially Hamas? Do you have any surprise in you? Is Bibi right about you, or not?”

Was it Friedman who foolishly advised Obama to include the reference to the 1967 lines -- lines resulting from the 1949 armistice, not borders, as Friedman would have us believe -- in his Mideast policy speech last week, which ruptured relations with Netanyahu on the eve of his visit to Washington?

Be that as it may, Friedman has now taken it upon himself to advise Hamas, whose charter, inter alia, calls for the murder of all Jews, not just Israelis. Yes, Tom, that includes you.

But what about the "Arab Spring" and events at Tahrir Square?

• We know that Egyptian Muslims are still murdering Christian Copts.

• We know that women are still subject to vile abuse, as evidenced by the "Million Women March" from Tahrir Square, which was poorly attended, degenerated into a violent shoving match, and ultimately was dispersed by the police. Note also that not a single woman was appointed to the Egyptian committee assigned to draft constitutional amendments following the overthrow of the Mubarak regime.

• We know that in the southern Egyptian city of Qena, protesters have been sitting on train tracks, taking over government buildings and blocking main roads in order to impose Islamic law.

• We know that leading Egyptian presidential candidate Amr Mousa is telling us that the Camp David Accords signed between Egypt and Israel have expired, thereby paving the way for another war.

Better yet, note what another Egyptian presidential candidate, Mohamed ElBaradei, has to say about Egypt following events at Tahrir Square (http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=221660):

“'Right now, socially, we are disintegrating,' ElBaradei said on CNN’s 'Fareed Zakaria GPS,” . . . . 'Economically we are not in the best state. Politically it’s -- it’s like a black hole. We do not know where we are heading.'

. . . .

'People do not feel secure,” ElBaradei said. 'They are buying guns' to protect themselves, he said.

. . . .

ElBaradei said the Egyptian economy is suffering from no investment, inflation, a budget deficit and lack of tourism."

Palestinians and Israelis should "learn something from Tahrir Square"? What lessons derive from the "Arab Spring", which is fast becoming the "Arab Winter"? Perhaps it's time for Tom to go back to school and do his homework.

1 comment:

  1. It is like Moshe Feiglin said recently in a video address to "Mr. Obama." He predicts that the "Arab Spring" will blossom into manic fundamentalism, not democracy. Advises Obama to look to Israel to secure the region, if anything can. He points out that people with no legacy of democracy have no basis for establishing progressive institutions. They will fall back on what they know--fundamentalism, tribalism, dictatorship.

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