Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Thomas Friedman, "Goodbye to All That": More Venomous Bullshit

Again, for the umpteenth time, I support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I would be delighted to see a prosperous democratic Palestine arise beside Israel.

Yeah, I know, good luck with that.

In his latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Goodbye to All That" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/24/opinion/friedman-goodbye-to-all-that.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss), Thomas Friedman is back to writing bullshit. Lamenting the April 13 resignation of Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Friedman writes:

"President Mahmoud Abbas, frustrated by the right-wing Israeli government’s refusal to strike a land-for-peace deal, decided to seek recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations."

Needless to say, Friedman doesn't mention that in 2008, the centrist government of Israeli Prime Minister Olmert offered Abbas an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 lines with agreed upon land swaps, including Palestinian control of east Jerusalem. Abbas refused.

Why did Abbas refuse? Because if he were to acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state along agreed upon boundaries, he would end up dead. Sadat, who made peace with Israel after Israel returned the Sinai, was murdered. Jordan's King Hussein, who also made peace with Israel, was the target of numerous assassination plots.

With Fayyad's departure, Friedman concludes:

"Add another nail in the coffin of the two-state solution."

Yes, I'm also sorry to see Fayyad go, but there's not going to be a two-state solution or any solution whatsoever with an Israeli right-wing or left-wing government, until Abbas, or some other Palestinian leader, is prepared to acknowledge Israel's right to exist.




1 comment:

  1. Well, say what you want about Friedman, at least we now know that the attacks in Boston weren't perpetrated by Al-Qaeda after all. As reported by CNN, according to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the motivation stemmed out of the US involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq.
    I think we call all take a deep breath now and relax...not!

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/23/us/boston-attack/index.html

    ReplyDelete