The Rear-Ending of and by Bill Clinton

Barry Rubin comments on Bill Clinton's Yale remarks, noting

Clinton also reveals his (and the dominant) underlying philosophy when he states:

"The Haitians are rather like the Palestinians. They are only poor in their own back yard and they deserve a better deal and a chance to build a better future for their children and I think we can give it to them." The students applauded.

Well, they do have one important thing in common: in both cases, these people are dominated by a bad and corrupt leadership. Yet there is an all-important difference: the Haitians live in a traditional dictatorship, one that has no particular ideology but is just engaged in stealing money to protect its privileges.

With the Palestinians there is a second level, too: they overwhelmingly support their rulers and have an ideology seeking total victory. In short, the Haitians are, to a larger extent, hapless victims, the Palestinians are, in general of course, indeed shaping their own fate by supporting a radical movement and political behavior that makes solution of their problems impossible.

Reading Bill's words dovetailed so well with another headline I caught on the former President (and husband of US Secretary of State) Clinton's visit to Yale University:

Bill Clinton rear ended in car crash

But, being serious, while Barry is not wrong, I would suggest that there is more wrongheadedness in Clinton's words. What does he mean by "their own backyard"? They are poor because they have been kept and allowed themselves to be be kept in refugee locations (there really are no 'camps' but urban sprawl spaces). But not all are poor and in fact, the economic situation in the Palestinian Authority territories is improving - all due to the relative calm. The more terror, the less money. Shouldn't the Arabs be smart enough to figure that out?

Or, as Barry rightly emphasizes, it is a conscious decision on the part of Arabs who consider themselves "Palestinians" do relegate all other aspects of life to their struggle to deny the Jews their own national identity and rights.

In that speech, Clinton spoke of:

"A non-zero sum game is when both parties can win....If you want it to change, you have to find a way for everyone to win."

And that is: the Pals. purposefully (after all, this has been going on at least since the 1920 riots the Arabs initiated to overthrow the policy based on the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Conference decision to reconstitute the Jewish national home) have subjugated their existence to the goal of promoting a non-existence of the Jews as a people in their land.

Theirs is one big minus.




P.S.:

Clinton remarked on the students dress. On Class Day, they traditionally wear creative head gear. Clinton said he only had a Yale handkerchief and if it was a little bigger, “I would have turned it into a do-rag and felt right at home.”

A do rag is also reminiscent of a 'mitpachat': an Israeli style of head covering worn by Orthodox Jewish women. It can be a variety of colours and fabrics, but often it is longer than the average do-rag and tails down the back of the neck. Women who wear the do-rag style mitpachot often cut their hair short in accordance with Jewish law that stipulates that a woman's hair must be covered once married.