Most troubling to me is Netanyahu’s explanations of why the pseudo-apology. His explanation is right out of the Oslo PR playbook for justifying concessions to Arafat (because peace is good for Israel). Yes, Netanyahu is surely right that good relations with Turkey would serve a host of Israeli interests. The problem is that this sort of political theater does not actually improve relations with Turkey, while it has produced several undesirable effects, such as providing good PR for Turkey.
It is extremely troubling that Netanyahu is foolish enough either to (a) believe that this “apology” is going to fix Erdogan’s hostility to Jews and the Jewish state or (b) believe that publicly accepting partial responsibility for Turkish hostility is good for Israel. I hope the latter is the nature of his mistake, rather than the former, but either way, it doesn’t say much good about Netanyahu.
If this was all a sop to Obama, it would have been much smarter to pitch the whole thing as part of the Israeli interest in cooperation with the US. Let Obama end up with egg on his face after Erdogan launches his next attack on Israel or Jews.
n open letter to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Prime Minister of Turkey
Dear Mister Prime Minister:
On behalf of all of the people of Israel, I would like to apologize to you for the cowardice and fathomless idiocy of the Prime Minister of Israel. As you know, this weekend Benjamin Netanyahu sent you an "apology" for Israel having defended itself against the genocidal terrorists who attacked Israeli soldiers armed only with paintguns when they boarded the terrorist "flotilla" ship that you sent out to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas enclave in Gaza. Netanyahu spoke only for himself when he apologized to you for Israel's defending itself and its people, this two generations after the Holocaust. He does not represent anyone at all in the country when it comes to this "apology." No one else in the country, except for some anti-Israel radical leftists with tenure at the universities, agrees that Israel owes you an apology for defending its people.
Actually, on behalf of all REAL Israelis, I would like to apologize to you for the fact that ONLY nine terrorists were killed by Israeli troops on the flotilla ship when Israeli soldiers were savagely attacked by Turkish and other terrorists. I would like to apologize for the fact that Israeli did NOT torpedo and sink the terrorist ships trying to break the blockade and bring in aid to the Hamas Nazis. I would like to apologize for the fact that Israel has a Prime Minister who is so clueless, insensitive, and divorced from Jewish history that he would consider buying a few moments of diplomat calm with a Moslem aggressor by shaming his entire country with an "apology" to Turkey, exhibiting one of the most disgraceful acts by a Jew in all of history, and all this just hours before the Jewish holiday of national liberation, Passover.
Beyond that, I really do think that Israel owes an apology for NOT having done much more to draw the world's attention to the illegal occupation and destruction by Turkey of the jewel of Cyprus, the city of Famagusta. Israel sat by while Turkey conquered 40% of Cyprus and transferred tens of thousands of its own people as illegal settlers to the island. And for that I apologize. And since you have spent so much time in recent years denouncing Israel as an occupier, I think Israel owes an apology to the world for not helping to end the illegal Turkish occupation of the great ancient Greek capital of Constantinople, now under an illegal Saracen occupation that has continued for far too long. It is high time that Constantinople be returned to its true heritage and its legal owners, the Greek people. It is less than a hundred years since the city, along with Smyrna and other Greek homelands, was almost liberated by the Greeks, who were only to be blocked by the Turkish military aggressors, the mass murderers of the Armenians.
So Mister Prime Minister, as you see, I am afraid that Israelis DO owe the world quite a few apologies.
On behalf of the non-pusillanimous citizens of Israel, I remain
Not to mention crimes against the Kurdish nation...
ReplyDeleteMost troubling to me is Netanyahu’s explanations of why the pseudo-apology. His explanation is right out of the Oslo PR playbook for justifying concessions to Arafat (because peace is good for Israel). Yes, Netanyahu is surely right that good relations with Turkey would serve a host of Israeli interests. The problem is that this sort of political theater does not actually improve relations with Turkey, while it has produced several undesirable effects, such as providing good PR for Turkey.
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely troubling that Netanyahu is foolish enough either to (a) believe that this “apology” is going to fix Erdogan’s hostility to Jews and the Jewish state or (b) believe that publicly accepting partial responsibility for Turkish hostility is good for Israel. I hope the latter is the nature of his mistake, rather than the former, but either way, it doesn’t say much good about Netanyahu.
If this was all a sop to Obama, it would have been much smarter to pitch the whole thing as part of the Israeli interest in cooperation with the US. Let Obama end up with egg on his face after Erdogan launches his next attack on Israel or Jews.
n open letter to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
ReplyDeletePrime Minister of Turkey
Dear Mister Prime Minister:
On behalf of all of the people of Israel, I would like to
apologize to you for the cowardice and fathomless idiocy of the Prime
Minister of Israel. As you know, this weekend Benjamin Netanyahu sent
you an "apology" for Israel having defended itself against the
genocidal terrorists who attacked Israeli soldiers armed only with
paintguns when they boarded the terrorist "flotilla" ship that you
sent out to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas enclave in
Gaza. Netanyahu spoke only for himself when he apologized to you for
Israel's defending itself and its people, this two generations after
the Holocaust. He does not represent anyone at all in the country
when it comes to this "apology." No one else in the country, except
for some anti-Israel radical leftists with tenure at the universities,
agrees that Israel owes you an apology for defending its people.
Actually, on behalf of all REAL Israelis, I would like to
apologize to you for the fact that ONLY nine terrorists were killed by
Israeli troops on the flotilla ship when Israeli soldiers were
savagely attacked by Turkish and other terrorists. I would like to
apologize for the fact that Israeli did NOT torpedo and sink the
terrorist ships trying to break the blockade and bring in aid to the
Hamas Nazis. I would like to apologize for the fact that Israel has a
Prime Minister who is so clueless, insensitive, and divorced from
Jewish history that he would consider buying a few moments of
diplomat calm with a Moslem aggressor by shaming his entire country
with an "apology" to Turkey, exhibiting one of the most disgraceful
acts by a Jew in all of history, and all this just hours before the
Jewish holiday of national liberation, Passover.
Beyond that, I really do think that Israel owes an apology for
NOT having done much more to draw the world's attention to the illegal
occupation and destruction by Turkey of the jewel of Cyprus, the city
of Famagusta. Israel sat by while Turkey conquered 40% of Cyprus and
transferred tens of thousands of its own people as illegal settlers to
the island. And for that I apologize. And since you have spent so
much time in recent years denouncing Israel as an occupier, I think
Israel owes an apology to the world for not helping to end the illegal
Turkish occupation of the great ancient Greek capital of
Constantinople, now under an illegal Saracen occupation that has
continued for far too long. It is high time that Constantinople be
returned to its true heritage and its legal owners, the Greek people.
It is less than a hundred years since the city, along with Smyrna and
other Greek homelands, was almost liberated by the Greeks, who were
only to be blocked by the Turkish military aggressors, the mass
murderers of the Armenians.
So Mister Prime Minister, as you see, I am afraid that Israelis DO
owe the world quite a few apologies.
On behalf of the non-pusillanimous citizens of Israel, I remain
Most sincerely yours,
Prof. Steven Plaut