When the Palestinian Authority “unilaterally” joined Interpol – that is, without the Israeli master’s consent – it was framed here as a “diplomatic defeat” on the right, and, shockingly, in the center and the left as well. What reason in the world could there be for people who support the establishment of a Palestinian state to thwart construction of infrastructure and democratic institutions on the Palestinian side?
The minister for environmental protection, who is also minster of Jerusalem affairs, Zeev Elkin, said that “Israel cannot show restraint in the diplomatic war that the Palestinian Authority leadership is waging against us.” Begging your pardon, Elkin, but what does “diplomatic war” mean? The sick logic that has seeped through Israeli political discourse has enabled the appearance of oxymorons like “diplomatic war” and “diplomatic terror.” Diplomacy, after all, is the polar opposite of terror. Those who oppose violent struggle – that is, terror – champion diplomacy. But in Israel, that is also considered terror these days. So what the blazes do Israelis consider legitimate struggle? According to that same superficiality of metaphor with which the concept of terror is treated, we can call what the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians “logical terror”: Palestine is not qualified for membership in Interpol because it is not a state, and we’ll never let you be a state. [...]
A historic moment? Don’t make the Israelis laugh. Do wild animals have historic moments? “Fake reconciliations,” Netanyahu disparagingly called the event. “This isn’t Palestinian reconciliation, but rather Abu Mazen [Abbas] cozying up to a murderous terror organization,” Education Minister Naftali Bennett said, as expected. He is a great expert in transferring funds, as the teachers in Israel realized this week. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. That is, it will do everything in its power to prevent the establishment of another democracy.
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