And make sure he is sitting down when he reads this:
John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is one of two Americans who have been nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.
Last year, Democrats and a few Republicans refused to confirm Bolton to the U.N. post, forcing President Bush to resort to a recess appointment.
Bolton and Kenneth R. Timmerman were formally nominated by Sweden’s former deputy prime minister Per Ahlmark, for playing a major role in exposing Iran’s secret plans to develop nuclear weapons.
Heads are going to explode.
gratefulcub
My head exploded first.
Steve
I thought we all learned from the Schiavo mess that it is completely meaningless to be “nominated” for a Nobel Prize. Heck, I think Ward Churchill has the power to nominate.
I am sure the usually-reliable CNSNews.com is mistaken when it implies these are the ONLY two Americans who have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
I’m not saying this item isn’t funny, because I did chuckle, but I sure hope no one is letting their head explode over it.
M.A.
Two words: Kissinger. Arafat.
Pb
Wow, sounds like JINSA and the WSJ are thrilled–go neocons! First we’re going to invade Afghanistan, and then Iraq, and then Iran, and then North Korea, and then Syria, and then Cuba, and then Venezuela, and then Saudi Arabia, and then Palestine, and then the US! Yeeargh!
Steve
POTD nominee.
Anderson
In other news, Sweden has been officially dropped from the “Axis of Evil” as announced in Bush’s SOTU address.
Cyrus
If Dean survived BUSH getting nominated, I think he’ll get through this.
Oddly enough, I noticed they were nominated by a Norwegian Member of Parliament. Why do Scandanavians keep nominating our reactionaries for the Nobel Peace Prize? I thought Europe was on our side here – where’s a vast left-wing conspiracy when you need one?
For all we know Bolton really might be one of just two nominees – so far. Of course, the 2004 prize was announced in October, so other contenders have plenty of time to get their feet in the door.
That article says that there were a record 194 nominees in 2004. Apparently 2005 also set a record, with 199. I’ve got a bad feeling that someone, somewhere, figured out that “Nobel Peace Prize nominee” looks almost as good on a résumé as “Nobel Peace Prize winner”, and takes a lot less work to get. Sigh.
Don
Yeah, given the past price recipients – much less nominees – why would anyone even blink?
Pooh
Tookie. Williams.
That is all, carry on.
Pooh
PoTD? POTM front-runner.
p.lukasiak
first off, all nominations have to be in by Jan. 31….
secondly, the Nobel committee does not say who was nominated for any awards for at least 50 years. So there is no way that this wingnut news service that John seems to think is credible can possibly know if those were the only two Americans nominated — and the only way to know if they were nominated at all is if the idiot who nominated them said he did so… the nominees aren’t even notified they’ve been nominated.
Tim F.
Agreed with the above. When Kissinger won the Prize, irony died.
Kimmitt
Nominated != Confirmed, as Ms. Meiers is painfully aware of.
Marcus Wellby
I hope Bolton does win, if only so the retards who piss and moan about Carter winning can suddenly declare what a great honor it is.
Davebo
John
You’ve been taken in yet again by CNSNews. You’ll notice now that the link, like the story, is no longer any good.
Staff of CNS News.. Say, isn’t that perfessor Cole coming around the corner??
Yep, get the net!
If this keeps up we’ll have to set up a season for Cole/Snipe hunting lest they become endangered…
Davebo
The strictly enforced submission deadline for nominations is January 31.[3] Self-nominations are automatically disqualified and only living persons are eligible for the Nobel Prize.
Unlike many other awards, the Nobel Prize nominees are never publicly announced, and they are not supposed to be told that they were ever considered for the prize. These records are sealed for 50 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize
I wonder, is there a slot limit on these babies?
Marcus Wellby
Haha! 68% of CNS News respondants believe the Nobel Peace Prize is a “A U.N. inspired award given only to liberals”. My lord — how sad is must be to live your life with a worldview so warped and twisted with rage and hatred.
http://cnsnews.freepolls.com/cgi-bin/pollresults/535
Tyrone Slothrop
Tookie Williams indeed.
http://allintensivepurposes.blogspot.com/2006/02/found-on-web_08.html
Vladi G
Hey JOhn, did you know that “gullible” isn’t in the dictionary.
Doug
I think it’s their idea of a little joke. The days are pretty short up there just about now.
LITBMueller
Ahhh….good. Davebo and lekusiak have already spotted the bullshit! Dr. William Hammesfahr, who probably went to the VHS Videotape School of Medicine along with Bill Frist, got caught in this particular lie last year during the whole Schiavo Debacle.
I bet Bill Kristol spread this rumor around just for kicks.
Clever
New linky to above article:
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=%5CPolitics%5Carchive%5C200602%5CPOL20060208b.html
Bonus link:
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=60668
at which you’ll find the source of the nomination:
I’ll let you guys do the rest.
Steve
Good work, Clever. By the way, that same quote is right there at the top of the page in John’s blog post.
Clever
Yeah, noticed that. Didn’t click until that article tho.
Lines
This is like nominating Protein Wisdom as the best humor blog on the internets.
BadTux
Per Ahlmark is an ardent supporter of Israel who regularly criticizes members of other political parties who are not ardent enough about defending Israel to the last Swede. John Bolton is an ardent supporter of Israel who regularly criticizes members of other political parties who are not ardent enough about defending Israel to the last American. So Per Ahlmark would be a good candidate for nominating John Bolton for a Nobel, except for one slight problem: he has not been a member of the Swedish parliament since 1978, and does not have the power to nominate anybody for a Nobel Prize.
I smell something here, and it ain’t roses… hmm… lemme give you a hint: “MooooOOOOO!” (SPLAT!).
Snort!
– Badtux the Amused Penguin
Tom
I hope Bolton does win, if only so the retards who squeal and clap about Carter winning can suddenly declare how worthless it is.
BadTux
Hmm, a little more Googling, and it appears that Mr. Ahlmark has a long history of claiming that he has nominated various right-wing politicians for a Nobel Prize. He reminds me of the guy I saw ranting on a street corner in San Francisco who claimed that the CIA was sending mind control rays into his brain. Amusing, yet demented…
— Badtux the Laughing Penguin
Nikki
Methinks that ol’ Per ain’t qualified to nominate anyone.
chefrad
“Bolton has been nominated . . .”
And I can summon spirits from the vasty deep.
Dedgeorge
Nobel Peace Prize??
What IS a Nobel Peace Prize?
Oh!!!
Do you mean that award which the conservatives have been characterizing as a joke and proof of a worldwide liberal plot to help destroy American values ever since Jimmy Carter won it???
That Prize???
On the off chance that Boltiing Bolton wins, how long do you think it will be before the Rethugs begin extolling the virtue and value of the Nobel Peace Prize in the international mise en scene??
The Other Steve
I’ll tell ya what.
If John Bolton can convince Iran not to pursue Nuclear Weapons, without launching some sort of war… I’ll make certain Howard Dean hands him the Nobel Peace Prize myself.(Because as we all know, since I can post diaries on dKos, that means the DNC listens to me directly)
John Cole
I am not sure why some of you think you are so damned clever, and I am just a dolt, but I am fully aware how the Nobel nomination works. Additionally, we covered this during the Schiavo affair.
Regardless, partisans on the left are going to freak out at the Bolton nomination. I merely find it amusing.
Paul Wartenberg
The thing that tipped me off about this ‘nomination’ being a fake is that Bolton was being ‘honored’ for revealing the Iranian nuclear program. Revealing a secret nuclear program doesn’t mean squat for the Peace Prize: negotiating a peaceful resolution so that Iran pursues solar or wind energy instead would garner a nom. And Bolton can’t negotiate a horse manure sale let alone any treaty (number of treaties Bolton delayed/upheld/sank = 5 and counting: number of treaties Bolton resolved = 0).
Paul Wartenberg
Wait. I met that guy once when I was there for the 2001 ALA convention. But…but that tinfoil hat he sold me was working so well…
If I were the Nobel Prize committee, I’d sue these ‘nominators’ for false representation early and often just to shut em up.
BadTux
Why would people in the reality-based community freak out about Bolton being “nominated” by a known flake, John? C’mon, curious penguins want to know!
— Badtux the Snarky Penguin
jg
Because if the situation was reversed the right would freak out about it so it follows that the left certainly wouldn’t first check the facts.
this is so weak there aren’t even any rabid dem-hating right wingers fooled by it enough to drop into this thread.
jaime
No, partisans on the left are going to know that this “nomination” is a bunch crap and not be outraged in the least at a non-story. We’ll still consider you a dolt.
Steve
Yeah, all the left-wing partisans who read CNSNews are really going to flip out. Look at me, I’m flipping out right now! How dare they! Nuke Sweden!
Pooh
John was delinquent in meeting his corporate masters’ quota of “I can’t wait until the loony left does X” posts in January, and is trying to bang out his February parcel in a few days. Al Maviva, do Seahawks fans count as Loony Left Liberals? Al? If so, I’d say you’re home, heckuva job Cole-y. I bet Dan Rather knows who you are. Please return us to our regularly scheduled
lugubriousnessprogramming about how said you are about your voting record, yet how unwilling you are to change because a Snarky Penguin made fun of you on the intrawebs.And now I’ve used up my quota of anti-John snark for the month as well.
Perry Como
Senator Feinstein is doing the tinfoil thing now? It explains the hair…
The Disenfranchised Voter
Oh please, get back to me when Bolton actually wins the damn thing. You call this news-worthy? Aren’t you forgetting that Tookie Williams was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize?
Oh, how soon we forget.
ppGaz
Pooh is an interdigitator.
Pooh
What does that mean?
Pooh
Is it like JJ giving the Carolina fans the dreaded double shocker?
Pooh
er, link
Clever
Its either interdictor, but digital, or “one who interlocks like fingers of folded hands“.
I think the former would be cooler.
Nikki
But…wasn’t that the point of this post?
ppGaz
The correct response was, “Oh yeah?”
Bob In Pacifica
I was keeping it a secret, but what the hell. I nominated DougJ.
When you live in a world where Wolfowitz is head of the World Bank all bets are off.
Pooh
Oh Yeah?
Richard Bottoms
I don’t think even Ed McMahon could have delivered a better setup.
Par R
The Nobel prize has been so devalued what with its award to such assholes and fuckheads as Arafat and Carter that one rather supposes Bolton would reject in the highly unlikely event that he would win it.
Andrew J. Lazarus
I wasn’t real impressed when Tookie Williams was nominated, either. I’ll save the hysteria for when he wins.
Paul Wartenberg
What is CNS news anyways? I’ve never noticed them until now. From what I’m gathering there the version of FOX News that doesn’t even use a single factchecker…
Paddy O'Shea
Cole’s desperate attempt here to gain control of the debate on his own blog is just kinda sad.
Let’s discuss something a little more reality based, shall we?
Exclusive Emails: Jack Abramoff Describes Relationship With President Bush
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/08/exclusive-abramoff-emails
Fibs the Chimp. Busted again.
jaime
CNS is basically a spin-off of Brent Bozell’s Media Research Center. It works closely with GOPUSA which is connected to Jeff Guckert/ Gannon’s Talon News.
Like the World Net Daily, it’s where right wingers go so they can be lied to.
RonB
What Jaime said, they were most recently heavily involved at re-Swiftboating Jack Murtha before his 60 Minutes appearance.
Steve
CNSNews is where they break the story every few months that the WMDs have finally been found. I’m not joking.
Stormy70
I love Bolton and his mustache. I like the fact that he’s keeping the anti-semitic UN on its toes. He calls them out on their constant BS. He’s almost McDreamy.
The Disenfranchised Voter
ALL CRITICISM OF ISRAEL IS ANTI-SEMITIC. IF YOU CRITICIZE ISRAEL YOU ARE ANTI-SEMITIC!
KC
Who cares?
Steve
Well, uh, let’s not whitewash some of the shadier aspects of the UN. There is a long history of the Arab nations introducing resolution after resolution to condemn Israel (usually for retaliating against terrorist attacks) and only through the US’ veto power have they been blocked. Mind you, somehow we managed to do so all these years without John Bolton in place.
It’s true, conservatives do play stupid games with accusations of anti-Semitism (have you heard the one where “neocon” is actually a euphemism for “dirty Jew”?), but let’s not pretend like the Arab nations are making reasoned criticisms of America’s foreign policy vis-a-vis Israel or anything like that. They are, in fact, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.
Pb
Stormy,
Kudos–that was pretty funny. :)
(Or, if true, pretty creepy.)
Richard 23
Well, if Bolton doesn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize, perhaps he’s still in the running for a medal of freedom….
The Disenfranchised Voter
Sorry, I have to disagree with you, Steve. I’ve been called both bigotted and anti-Semitic, merely because I said we should reevalute our relationship with Israel.
Pooh
TDV, that was just Stormy’s way of flirting.
Steve
You’re not disagreeing with me, TDV.
Gary Farber
“Heads are going to explode.”
Only if they’re heads of ignorant idiots.
It also seems odd that you don’t note the meaninglessness of “nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.” A perfectly reasonable reading of that is that you yourself don’t know what it means, although I know you must. But when people assert that you obviously don’t know, as obviously some will, you’ll have no viable defense for not having noted it in your post, beyond, at best, deliberate disengenuousness, or some form of “oopsie.” Seems an odd choice to me, but enjoy.
Sirkowski
Meh, Bush was nominated last year. There’s always a few bullshit nominations.
The Disenfranchised Voter
LOL.
BadTux
I think it’s clear that the Arab nations are anti-Israel. It is less clear that the Arab nations are anti-Semitic. Indeed, that’s rather a contradiction in terms, since Arabs are Semites and a majority of Israeli Jews (the Ashkenazi) are of mixed Khazar/Semitic blood (i.e., aren’t pure Semites, as compared with Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern origin, who are). Prior to the founding of the state of Israel, Jewish communities had lived in relative peace in the Muslim states for close to 1,500 years, years during which Jewish communities in Europe were subjected to repeated pograms, slaughters, and their near-extermination by the Christian Germans.
So while it is clear that the Arab nations (and Iran) desire to destroy Israel due to what they percieve as evils done to the Arab people by the founders of Israel, it is less clear that they are interested in exterminating the Jewish race. Indeed, they have never done so in the past, and I’m not aware of any cultural changes over the past 60 years that would make them do so in the present. Remember, it was the Christian Crusaders who made the streets of Jeruseleum flow with the blood of Jews when they took the city during the Crusades. The Jewish people of Jeruseleum had lived for close to 500 years peacefully under the rule of Arabs, but all that ended at the tips of Christian swords. Indeed, it is Christians, not Arabs, who have a history of genocide against Jews. There is nothing in the history of the Middle East that would support the notion that Arabs want to commit genocide against the Jewish people, though it is clear that they want the state of Israel gone. They didn’t commit genocide against Jews during the first 1500 years that they had control over large Jewish populations, and there’s no reason to think they’d start now.
– Badtux the History Penguin
Steve
Well, they sure do fake it pretty well.
The Disenfranchised Voter
While you’re right Steve, we need too settle the features…
We need to calm down…
RonB
Badtux, while it is obvious you have strong command of the subject, I think you may be conflating anti-Semitism with a genocidal impulse towards Jews. Arabs and the Iranians are most certainly prejudiced towards Jews, eagerly latching on to any piece of odious propaganda they come across to vilify them.They are victims of expulsion from Arab countries. Arabs scapegoat Jews, took the side of the Nazi regimes in the leadup and execution of WW2, there’s plenty of room to say Arabs are anti-Semitic, regardless of whether they technically are Semitic themselves-the term anti-Semitic is universally understood to be hatred or prejudice of the ethnicity of the Jew.
One final point, just because it isn’t in someone’s history doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I’m not saying it will, I’m just saying that history is a guide, but no crystal ball an any given situation.
Tequila
Actually, I doubt anyone will care. Does anyone care about nominations for Peace Prizes?
ape
erm..
Tookie Williams murdered families. He got nominated every year.
I nominated my cat.
Davebo
Actually I doubt many will ever know.
Except for those poor souls like John who for some reason added CNSNEWS.com to their favorites.
Faux News
End. Of. Thread.
And hopefully John’s smirking too.
skip
BTux: “[Jews] are victims of expulsion from Arab countries. ”
Am I reading this wrong, or have we foregone all recent history?
And, if we have, then who do you suppose the Canaanites were?
John S.
An ancient race of people that died out thousands of years ago.
Just like the Philistines, whom the modern day Palestinians borrow their name from.
Only problem is, they haven’t been around for a few thousand years either.
Egyptians may have the same name as the ancient flavor that built the pyramids, but that doesn’t make them the same people.
U.R.A. Dolt
John Cole Says:
I am not sure why some of you think you are so damned clever, and I am just a dolt, but I am fully aware how the Nobel nomination works. Additionally, we covered this during the Schiavo affair.
Regardless, partisans on the left are going to freak out at the Bolton nomination. I merely find it amusing.
February 8th, 2006 at 5:47 pm
Ehhh, Mr. Dolt – er, I mean, Mr. Cole – the Bolton nomination is bogus. If you think the “left” is going to “freak out” over a bogus story – then you are a dolt.
The Disenfranchised Voter
WTF?
Steve, pay no attention to me when I’m drunk.
I have absolutely no idea what the hell I was trying to say with the post above.
But I still do think we need to reevaluate our relationship with Israel.
Pb
RonB,
A minor point:
A lot of people were fine with the Nazis in the leadup to WW2, in the US and elsewhere. The same goes for the execution, or at least some of it. In their defense, it took a while for most people to figure out what Hitler was all about. Also, formally, I don’t remember any Arab nations actually being part of the Axis powers.
Zifnab
Isrealis have been persecuted and routed from Arab countries far more recently than in biblical times, to be fair. Before there was an Isreal, there were Jews living in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morrocco, Jeruselam, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia… all over the Middle East. Much like their Palestinian cousins. The fact of the matter is that these Jews were treated in much the same way that blacks were (and arguably still are) treated in the deep South. Much like the Kurds in Iraqi and Turkey or the varying ethnic groups in the former Yugoslavia, they were excluded from politics, scapegoated in society, and persecuted by the law all purely for their religion.
Isreal was formed as a safe haven for Jews in the Middle East just as much as for the refuges of Europe. Of course, to say that the Jews are the only persecuted minority in the region would be laughably naive – just ask the Shi’ites and Sunnis, or the various islamic offshots in Iran and Saudi Arabia, or the Kurds, or the Albanias, or whomever you please. The Mid East is a hotbed of racism and religious conflict that’s been seething since time began.
RonB
You’re right about the formal participation in the axis alliance. But the informal relations with the Nazis was one redolent with Jew-hate, and the common bond between them, which was my point.
StupidityRules
Before linking to any stories about Prescott Bush and his dealings with Nazi Germany you probably should check that President doesn’t read this blog since these stories might hurt his feelings.
skip
“Two words: Kissinger. Arafat.”
Three words: wo words: Kissinger. Arafat, Begin.
Stormy70
Call me when Mien Camp falls off the Arab’s best seller list, or when they quit running the Protocols of Zion on TV for general entertainment purposes.
Bolton called out the UN when they had their party and used a map that excluded Israel from it, even though Israel is a member nation.
Why should we throw over Israel and align with terrorist-supporting nations, who believe the US is the Great Satan? Why appease their hatred? I think Europe may be learning that lesson this week, with the drummed up Arab Sreet, who look like the biggest bunch of morons I’ve ever seen. Not all critism of Israel is anti-semitism, but I find it interesting how quickly an anti-semite will turn any situation into another excuse to bash Israel. They are quick to blame Israel, and quick to excuse Arab terrorism. I find that exposes something very dark at the core of their arguments.
Steve
There is a great cartoon that runs on one of the conservative blogs (maybe someone can help me find it again), where the President of Iran is like, “We will wipe Israel off the map!” and one of his advisors says, “Psst, Israel isn’t even on our maps.” And the president is like “Those crafty @%@&(% Jews!”
I have a friend who grew up in Saudi Arabia (her father is in the oil business) and her mom tells the most fascinating stories about life over there. One day, she went to the store to buy the kids an atlas to learn from, and when she got home, she found that every single map had Israel literally blacked out with black magic marker.
Maybe there’s nothing surprising about that but it must be weird to see it for real. “That’s someone’s job,” she said to me. “Someone actually gets paid to go through every atlas that enters the country and make sure Israel gets blacked out!” Heck of a way to make a living.
Faux News
Mein Camp? LOL. Outstanding! My Dear you are in RARE form today! DougJ is beaming with pride that his newest apprentice is doing so well!
Keep up the good work. I give this post an 8/10.
Stormy70
It is spelled wrong on purpose, Faux. Some people don’t like it spelled out, similar to the Pron effect. Why bring the bastards to your door, or so the thinking goes.
Wait, I can’t believe I am addressing someone who’s name indicates they are afraid of a news network. Carry on {Tim Gunn voice}
Faux News
My Dear, Faux means “fake” not “fear” :-)
Lines
Ah, Stormy is correct, but her Faux Outrage at the UN is suspect.
http://www.eyeontheun.org/view.asp?l=21&p=142
The Other Steve
Huh?
Do you just make this shit up as you go along?
Pb
Similarly, you won’t find Palestine in the CIA World Factbook–in fact, it looks like they now have separate entries for the Gaza Strip and for the West Bank. Maps are used as political tools. Don’t even get me started on China.
Pooh
Funny, I just thought that was a West Wing episode. I can see how dear lass could confuse them when she gets into her cups, though. I voted for Barlett in ’04 myself…
The Other Steve
Interesting. That looks like a very old map. There is signifigant damage along the edges.
Wait… interesting… along the top of the map just below the title is a date. It appears to say 191 and the last digit I can’t make out. Looks like an ‘A’. The British received that area in 1918, following the collapse of the Ottoman empire, but it’s my understanding that they didn’t divide it into Palestine and Jordan until 1922. But this map is clearly showing the area of Palestine as established in the 1922 borders.
Doesn’t look very good for Kofi. But then I’m not surprised to see moonbat’s like Stormy try to make more out of this than there is there.
It’d be nice to have a transcript of the remarks, rather than some moonbat’s rantings.
The Other Steve
I was reminded of that. Considering the date on the map, that does appear to be what’s happened here.
Krista
Oh Stormy….no, honey! Bad Stormy!
He shares the same last name as a no-talent assclown cheesy singer, and has a mustache that gives the porn industry frissons of delight.
It’s wrong, I say.
Lines
It sounds plausible, according to Newsmax (I know, I know) the map was from 1918. Bolton threatened to pull all US funding from the UN if they don’t stop “anti-Israel” type actions like this.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/1/16/105136.shtml
I hate Newsmax, so I’m not sure how real this is, but its real enough for Stormyex.
CaseyL
Stormy, you have absolutely appalling taste in men. I mean, never mind McMustache’s ideology, are you really into semi-public orgies with strangers?
(If you’re under 25, I take back the question.)
RonB
Where does one get a link to an Arab bestseller list? No, really. I’m curious.
They turned it into a TV SHOW? Hey, you have got to show me where you get this information, this is fascinating.
It’s a pre-’47 map, so it’s not so much that Israel is excluded but nonexistent at the time of print. But I do agree that this type of diplomatic tapdancing is really beneath adult discourse. Arabs have GOT to accept the reality of Israel. That meeting needs a better prop/centerpiece.
jg
Removing Israel from globes is nothing, check out what they teach their children in school.
Since Arabs didn’t hate Jews unitl roughly 1948, any chance this jew hatred is just a wedge issue thats grown out of control?
http://muttawa.blogspot.com/2006/01/give-me-child.html
Don Surber
Anyone can nominate anyone, but I love the fact that he is nominated for doing something Nobel worthy
Pb
The Other Steve,
What, you want to look at what really happened, as opposed to what an anti-UN organization says happened? Well, knock yourself out, looks like it’s all there…
BadTux
I wouldn’t say that Arabs ever particularly liked the Jews, just that, historically, they did not participate in genocide against them, unlike Christians.
One of the things that makes it hard to figure out what’s going on in the Middle East is that everybody talking about events over the past 60 years in that region has an agenda and lies through their teeth. For example, the Israelis claim that the Arabs expelled via ethnic cleansing from the territory that would become Israel left voluntarily. But contemporary news accounts show nothing of the sort — they show a lot of frightened civilians fleeing paramilitaries and conflict, then not allowed to return to their homes once the fighting was over. Similarly, the Arabs claim that they didn’t expell the Jews from Iraq and etc., that the Jews left voluntarily because Israel promised them free housing and land and more rights than in Arab states… while the Israelis claim that the Arabs expelled the Jews. Unfortunately, since the Arab states did not (and still don’t) have a free press (unlike Palestine, where in 1947 the British press was operating quite freely), it’s impossible to independently corroborate either story about the migration of the Sephardim to Israel.
Similarly, the Palestinians (Arabs expelled from the British Mandate during the waves of ethnic cleansing that surrounded the founding of modern Israel) claim that they are owed compensation for the lands and homes that the Jews took over after they didn’t allow the Arabs to come back to their homes. The Israelis, on the other hand, say that the Palestinians are owed nothing until the Arabs compensate the Jews who were expelled to Israel. The Arabs, on the other hand, say that the Jews voluntarily left and sold their property in an orderly manner for fair-market-value before leaving, so no compensation is necessary on their part, or alternately say that the Jews expelled the Arabs first so the Jews should compensate the Arabs first.
Then there’s the whole issue of right-of-return. Here, the Israelis quite blatantly say sorry, even those who owned homes and land in the British Mandate cannot return unless they are Jews. And from the Western states you hear this about this blatant religious discrimination… [crickets]. The Western states are so consumed by guilt for exterminating millions of Jews that they’re afraid to say anything at all, for or against, for fear of being called either “anti-Semitic” or “pro-ethnic cleansing”, or, worse yet, being called upon to compensate those ethnically cleansed from Palestine due to their implicit complicity in the expulsion.
My personal solution to the “Palestinian Question” would be to tell the Palestinians, “Israel exists, and that’s that. Here’s money to compensate each of you for your losses when you were expelled from the British Mandate, now go find a place to live and quit bothering everybody.” But nobody has ever proposed actually compensating the victims of ethnic cleansing in the Middle East. All they do is make excuses as to why they shouldn’t, or, in the case of the Western nations, run and hide and pretend they didn’t hear anything whenever someone brings up the issue of, “If Israel exists because you exterminated Jews or allowed Jews to be exterminated, shouldn’t *you* be the ones responsible for paying off the Arabs expelled in order to make room for Israel?”.
So in the meantime all these lies just swirl and fester, and nothing happens. That’s why it pisses me off when politicians lie. Lies are toxic to the body politic, whether it is lies about the Arabs voluntarily leaving Israel in the aftermath of the founding of the State of Israel, or lies about fictional weapons of mass destruction. You can’t even begin to figure out the proper course of action unless you have the truth. And when it comes to the situation in the Middle East, nobody tells the truth — nobody. Not the Israelis, not the Arabs, and certainly not the Western nations, who run and hide from their own complicity in creating the mess there like a toddler running screaming from a scary clown.
– Badtux the “What a mess!” Penguin
Lines
That horrible, horrible Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People celebrates a barbaric race that is bent on the destruction of Israel through overwhelming strategic paper-airplane strikes.
Snark aside, I see Kofi Annan was pushing the US plan for the Roadmap to Peace (copyright pending). That anti-American basterd must be doing something nefarious and planning on using the Roadmap to Peace to make Bush look bad.
yeah, thats the ticket!
The Other Steve
Man, these guys are tricky. They hide right out in the open where you don’t see them. :-)
And ummm… I’m not finding much anti-israel stuff here.
Stormy… Talk about someone making a mountain out of a thimble.
The Other Steve
Badtux – I thought I saw somewhere that the Palestinian Authority received about $1 billion a year in foreign aid.
They’ve received quite enough. You should not become wealthy by starting a war and then whining when you lose the war. That sets a bad precedent which will end up being made into a book or movie like the Mouse that Roared.
Bruce Moomaw
Everybody’s right SOMETIMES.