NETANYAHU AND HAMAS: THE ONGOING STERILE WAR

Barely surfacing in the American media is the replay of an annual event where the citizens of Gaza protest against the establishment of the State of Israel and proceed to claim Palestine for the Palestinians. The event entitled “The March of Return” for practical purposes pits Hamas, an internationally designated  terrorist organization, against the Sate of Israel lead by Bibi Netanyahu. The demonstration is always billed as being peaceful but it never is. The movie which has played again and again features the following - violence from the protestors resulting in deaths including those of children, accusations of brutality against the Israeli Defense Force, (IDF) and world wide condemnation of Israel emanating from the United Nations. The 2018 rerun of what is called “Nakba”, which translated means the catastrophe of the establishment of Israel, is sadly more of the same. 

THE SAME OLD MOVIE IS PLAYING AGAIN 

It is all grown so old and the world has grown sick and tired of the futility of it all and the sterile positions of the main dramatis personae. 

The facts are - that the event which is supposed to last six weeks with weekly marches ending on May 15 has already, after a few weeks resulted in 30 deaths and fifteen hundred injured; that the demonstrators have moved closer and closer to the border burning tires, throwing stones and molotov cocktails; that the main agitators have been shown to be fighters of Hamas, even occasioning a very rare public appearance of the leader of Hamas, Yawar Sinwar, who exhorted the crowd to march onto Jerusalem; that there have been accusations of the brutality of the Israelis including a video of a protestor being shot in the back and laughter and guffaws at a sniper picking off of a Palestinian; that the reports have been followed up by the IDF igniting investigations, maintaining that this behavior, if true, contradicts the policies of the army; that motions have been mooted by members of the Security Council condemning Israel while Netanyahu repeats that he has the right to defend Israel: and on and on. 

Evidence that the Palestinians themselves are tired of the banality of it all is borne out by the fact that the number protesting on the third Friday had dwindled to a paltry five thousand from a disappointing thirty thousand, fourteen days earlier, on the first Friday.  

There is enough blame to go around on both sides. What is needed is a rethink by the antagonists who seem stuck in their thinking and destined to continue their policies regardless of the impact that it has on their citizenry.

HAMAS AND THE PALESTINIAN CAUSE

Hamas as a political organization have hit rock bottom. What moneys they have received they have utilized in their terrorist offensive against Israel. In that endeavor they have been thwarted by Israel’s technology, intelligence operations, security blanket and fire power as manifested by the IDF. The tunnels that were a short term success and installed at great expense and utilization of man power have been neutralized. It is not unreasonable to argue that they don’t represent a threat to Israel other than the massive cost of their containment, both politically and economically.

 Hamas are at odds with everyone and anyone. The only deal they can get from Abbas and his Palestine Liberation Movement, which controls the West Bank, is that they hand over all administrative and governmental power to it including taxation, in return for bailing them out from their current bankrupt situation. The Gaza territory has degenerated into a humanitarian crisis. 

The Arab world has long ago deserted them. The countries that used them as a wedge to delegitimize Israel have for the large part either lost interest, abandoned them or outright oppose them. Egypt have cut off the supplies that used to enter Gaza via their country while Jordan are nowhere in sight. The Sunni Gulf States are de facto allies of Israel in their fight against the Shia countries of Iran and Syria. Iran have bigger fish to fry and are not about to waste their resources on “losers”.  So when Hamas come knocking there is no one at home.

All that is left are the United Nations and some non governmental organizations that are still championing their cause. America contributes three hundred and sixty - eight million dollars to the United Nations relief funds and have threatened withdrawal which exacerbates their vulnerability. 

So this latest violent protest effort is all Hamas has to offer. All they can do is make Israel’s life miserable and costly to contain - a price Netanyahu is prepared to pay.

NETANYAHU AND ISRAEL’S POSITION 

Israel’s political and economic position has never been stronger. The country is booming and the international pressure has lessened markedly. Netanyahu has traded on this reality to do nothing with regard to Israel’s most existential problem - a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem. He angers the right by not committing fully to settlement creation and signals to the left what he really feels by expanding existing settlements. That latter behavior has exasperated his greatest benefactor, the American President, Donald Trump, who frustratingly demanded him to answer as to whether he really cares about peace. 

 Netanyahu is a static, his sole objective is to remain in power. Added to his woes is that he is under a criminal cloud that everyone is waiting to burst. His behavior is responsive to pressure from his coalition partners. He backpedals on every issue of principal. He welched on a deal as to the future of Somalia political refugees in the country. He agreed that the Ultra Orthodox had to participate in the army only to back down. He backed a deal with the American Jewry, who aren’t orthodox, to provide them access to the Western Wall and then bowed to pressure to his coalition Religious partners and put it on hold. 

He has repeatedly been at odds with his Generals who for generations have held the IDF to a high ethical standard and disagree with him on his political assessments. While there are several examples of this clash between Bibi and the army brass, the saga of Elor Azaria who shot a wounded defenseless Palestinian terrorist serves to make the point. The IDF wanted him to face the full weight of the law. Netanyahu joined the right wing chorus that wanted Azaria pardoned and called Azaria’s parents to offer his support and sympathies. The IDF establishment won out on principle but have to believe that Azaria’s sentence of only eighteen months had to be some sort of a compromise. 

The acid test will come on the issue of the authority of the Israeli Supreme Court which his right wing coalition partners want to legislatively reign in. If the Premier caves on this issue he will lose the right to continue bragging to the world about Israel being the pillar of Western democracy in the Middle East. 

 Netanyahu deflects any criticism of him as an attack on the State of Israel and even as some of his supporters claim “anti - semitism”. His hubris came to a head this month when dual American - Israeli citizen Natalie Portman refused to accept the million dollar Genesis prize to a jewish citizen, “who serves as an inspiration… and is representative of Jewish values”. Portman, who is an Oscar winning entertainment sensation has name recognition of the same order of the Premier. The attack lead by the Premier reached hysterical levels with allegations of treachery and anti semitism being leveled at Portman who made it quite clear that her withdrawal was as a result of her abhorrence of  the award ceremony’s keynote speaker, Premier Netanyahu. She further clarified that she was a great supporter of the State of Israel and did not, as alleged, support the Boycott, Sanction and Disinvest movement which has been struggling to gain traction. 

So Bibi has none of the leadership and flexibility of a  Ben Gurion, a Begin, a Peres or even a Barak. Rather than being a transformative Premier he is a paranoid operator whose only objective is political survival. 

WHAT OF THE FUTURE?

The crisp choice that Israel faces is either they go through the process of a creating a two party solution or they carry on as they are and settle with a single Israeli state with three large constituencies that oppose their existence to a lesser or greater extent. They have yet to come to real terms with the internal Arab - Israeli population which represents twenty percent of the eight million population. They will then have two areas within their boundaries which will have disenfranchised populations that will need constant policing and the presence of walls and fences to contain them. Is this what they formed the State of Israel to effect? It sounds eerily like Verwoerd’s Bantustan apartheid policy.

However, now is the time for leadership. Never have circumstances been more favorable for Israel to effect a two state agreement. Hamas is on its knees and everyone has had enough of them. The European Union have offered to payroll their economic recovery if they give up terrorism. While Trump is still around Netanyahu has an ally in his negotiations who can dangle lots of carrots. If Hamas makes peace Abbas is no longer a sell out if he joins in….

Both sides have to forget their grievances. The fact that Sharon already gave Gaza what they now probably aspire too and that Arafat and Abbas had attained everything they demanded and then unleashed the second intifada is history as is the Palestinian claim that Ben Gurion chased them off their lands. After seventy years it is time to move on.

Concessions will have to be made on both sides. The law of return is a deal breaker on the one side and a failure to do some land consolidation is a no - no  on the other. There is a ton of vacant land on the West Bank which can be cobbled in a compromise. Security will have to be guaranteed by the deal makers like the USA and Russia. The holy sites will be shared, hopefully in a more conducive atmosphere than they are today. Russia has suggested that they will back West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the East will need hard negotiation, bearing in mind that the Arab population in East Jerusalem is not budging. 

However the ball is in the Israeli Premier’s court. He has the backing of nearly his whole military, intelligence and security brass. He will face angry opposition but he has claimed that he wants his legacy to be that he kept Israel secure. He is deluded if he does nothing about resolving the Palestinian issue. His legacy will be that he missed a golden opportunity to increase Israel’s future for his children and grandchildren and passed the buck.

A solution to this issue has taken on some urgency with the rise of anti semitism throughout the world. Israel needs to remain a safe haven for the oppressed and not in a war that is unsustainable and has them labelled as the oppressors. 

THE RELEVANCE OF COMEY THE FLAWED VICTIM

Jim Comey should have not chosen a career as a government justice official which traditionally demands an apolitical demeanour. He lacks the discipline to resist intervening on the world stage. While nobody can question his capability and integrity in honestly pursuing justice they could have reason to question his political judgment. Career public service appointments should never ever allow personal or political opinions or biases to enter into their decision making. 

The current bohaai was occasioned by the publication by the former Head of the FBI’s book, which unambiguously described the President of the United States as an amoral crook unfit to be President of the United States of America. It should not, however, precipitate a debate as to whether one supports Comey or not rather it should focus on whether Trump’s dismissal of Comey is or is not evidence of the Premier’s desire to obstruct justice.

COMEY’S INTERVENTIONS INTO POLITICS 

On two occasions in the historic election and term of the forty -  fifth American Presidency, James Comey, a lifelong career law officer, intervened thereby impacting on the political system with a vengeance. In the first instance by inexplicably going public, on what normally is sub rosa, he kiboshed the front runner, Hillary Clinton’s chances of becoming President. He admitted that this decision was based partly on political considerations and he acknowledges that he might have contributed to her loss. Lest anyone believe that his intervention by publicly reopening the Clinton e - mail probe was “ a nothing” the current Acting Attorney Rod Rosenstein produced a memo which argued that that his political acts were cause enough for termination. Rosenstein, a career public servant, who acts only on the facts, subsequently appointed Robert Mueller as Special Counsel to investigate the firing of Comey in the light of the suspicious circumstances that surrounded his termination. (It must be made quite clear that Donald Trump’s firing of Comey was, by his own admission, an attempt to halt an investigation into his campaign’s collusion with Russia). 

The second occurrence of political interference Comey effected was by publishing a tell all scathing memoir of his relationship and opinions of Donald J. Trump, the forty - fifth President of the Republic. In so doing he weakened a besieged Trump even further. Comey also provided detail of his contacts with Trump that have provided fodder for an obstruction of justice charge against the President. The release of the book was preceded by a much publicized interview with George Stephanopolous and unprecedented coverage in the media. 

COMEY AND THE RULE OF LAW

Comey’s place in history had already been determined by the fact that his arbitrary dismissal lead to an investigation into Trump that one way or another could lead to his downfall.  The imperfect Comey has become a central figure as America’s democratic tradition hangs by a thread. His pivotal role in protecting the rule of law had long been recognized and was manifested by the fact that nearly twenty million viewers, almost a year ago, tuned to watch his evidence on Trump and the Russian investigation to the Senate Intelligence Committee. This took place in a low viewing time yet the ratings compared favorably with President Trump’s twenty million audience in his prime time Sixty Minutes encounter. 

A fair assessment of the Comey saga was that his downfall was directly as a result of his steadfast refusal to transfer his oath of loyalty from the State to Trump and do the latter’s bidding. Comey’s memoir, A Higher Loyalty, serves to illustrate his commitment to democracy, law and order, his bravery on taking on the newly elected President and his inappropriate penchant to intervene in the affairs of man. It was also an act of revenge and in so doing he did not hesitate to crawl into the gutter with Trump hitting where it hurt the vain leader most - challenging his manhood and omnipotence.

COMEY GETS INTO THE SEWER WITH TRUMP

That the former FBI Head has sacrificed any claim to be an officer and a gentleman is obvious. His references to the salacious components of The Steele dossier, and revelations of the confidences Trump uttered to him about the impact it might have on his wife Melania are more fitting for the pages of The National Enquirer than being the substance of a book written by an impartial officer of the court. This he did well knowing that this smut was not central to the issue at hand. He knew that the unfavorable review of Trump’s looks would anger the President who fancies himself as G-d’s gift to women, so he went for the jugular. Comey by quoting Trump’s rhetorical question as to whether he was the type of person who needed to cavort with prostitutes knew full well that this question was no longer rhetorical and would further lay bare Trump as a lying hypocrite.  Reporting that he let Trump know that his hands were smaller than his, in the context of Trump’s world also would enrage the infantile Commander in Chief. Then there was unedifying tale of Trump allegedly commissioning two prostitutes to pee on the bed that the Obamas slept in - “The Golden Shower” episode. Comey then dismantled Trump’s feeble arguments as to why the episode could not have happened. The former cop’s description of Trump as a Mafia boss had to have hit home especially as Comey had investigated a number of the mob and prosecutions had followed. 

All this was unbefitting for someone who should have merely been intent in laying out the facts of Trump’s attempt at obstruction of justice but served Comey’s purpose of trashing the President.

COMEY SUCCEEDS IN HIS MISSION IN INFURIATING TRUMP

Just in case the anticipation of the Comey revelations weren’t enough to engender widespread interest and commercial success of his forthcoming memoir, the salacious details were leaked to the media days before the book was released. Reviewers somehow found copies of the tome days before the tell all hit the shelves. The prestigious New York Times claimed that it was a very persuasive read. It evoked a predicable response from Trump who on Sunday morning let lose a tweet storm leaving little doubt what he regarded it as the most important news of the week. Of seven tweets Comey was eviscerated in five and “Mission Accomplished” in Syria as well as the raid on his personal attorney, “Attorney Privilege is Dead”, only one each. The Republican Party, believe it or not, had instituted a web site in order to counter the impact of the forthcoming publication entitled “Lyin Comey”. (Incidentally that together with the exit of Paul Ryan provide more and more tangible evidence that the GOP have been taken over by The Donald. 

Inside sources reveal that Trump was taken aback and floored by the liberal references to his own personality and behavior. Apparently he expected Comey to “fight fair” and allow him unopposed free reign to smear unabated and unchallenged. Comey’s yellow press attack represents the first occasion that someone with any top level governmental standing has gone toe to toe in the dirt with him and has taken away Trump’s monopoly in this arena.

SALES SOAR 

All this will add to the commercial success of “A Higher Loyalty”. It is already the number one best seller on Amazon as a result of preorders. To give some idea of the demand the book engendered, eight hundred and fifty thousand copies have been printed. When one considers that the most recent biggest seller, also a sensational Trump expose, Michael Wolf’s Fire and Fury, first printing was a hundred and fifty thousand, it gives a perspective of the potential impact. The success of Fire and Fury serves as a foretaste as to the country wide interest there is in a book of this nature. Bookstores throughout the country reported that they were sold out almost immediately with Fire and Fury. No doubt these retailers are not making the same mistake in their estimates at what the appeal might be in a book written by a famous prosecutor, who was responsible, for the investigation of the Trump campaign.

Comey will not be doing the usual book tour to promote his book. Rather there will be appearances in large auditoria where there will be an admission charged to listen to the sales pitch. In Chicago for example the large Auditorium Theater has sold out and tickets on the black market are going for a thousand dollars each.

POTENTIAL POLITICAL AND LEGAL IMPACT 

There are many audiences that the memoir will reach and the search for the sexy tidbits will ensure a larger public than a straight legal and factual exposition of the Trump case might have engendered. The fact that the New York Times deems the Comey argument to be “persuasive” will help educate those who to date have just been caught up in the rhetoric of accusations and denials. Bearing in mind that the majority of Americans still want the Mueller enquiry to do its work and that Comey is a key witness cannot augur well for Trump.

There is the point of view that Comey may have weakened his case by stooping to Trump’s level. Certainly many of his supporters are unhappy that he hasn’t adopted a choir boy approach or a stoical Mueller like demeanor. But Comey’s legal relevance isn’t on personality it is about the facts and those that are leaning towards the fact that his dismissal amounted to obstruction of justice will now have further reason.  Trump’s legal defense is not helped because Comey is focusing on the dirt in The Steele Dossier.

Trump’s true supporters are not about to be persuaded by anything said by anybody nor are they likely to be offended that Comey is behaving like Trump. There is little doubt that a reasoned first hand account detailing the events that lead to Comey’s firing are going to be supportive of Trump’s own admission that the intent and motive behind it was, ‘“The Russian Thing” .Mueller has a ton of corroborative evidence that Comey’s side of the story is the believable one. All Trump has are his denials. Also at the end of the day Mueller will ignore the allusions toTrump’s hands, whether or not he is the type of man who would cavort with prostitutes or whether The Golden Shower really occurred. He will stick to the facts and leave The National Enquirer fare to Trump, Cohen and now Comey. The Special Counsel is likewise disinterested in the former FBI head’s political judgements such as Trump is morally unfit to be President and that his Presidency is a forest fire

To those who believe that all this could compromise the Mueller investigation they can be reassured. Comey revealed no facts on that matter that weren’t in the public arena, he merely added detail to lend credibility to what he had previously revealed to the Senate. His new contributions were the smears and the interpretations of Trump and his Presidency. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

It has nearly been a year since the former FBI director called the President of the United States a liar before a Senate investigating committee. He is still alive and kicking with an ever bigger audience focussed on him and claiming that the forty fifth President of the United States could be the subject of blackmail by the Russians. What is more this is just the start of a titanic struggle between Trump and Comey. The book and the accompanying speaking tour are still to come.

 What Comey has done is put another nail in the Premier’s coffin. In Comey, Trump has met his match. It is not for nothing that Comey rather than Syria or Cohen is the main focus of the Premier’s attention. Trump after all is the street fighter who has had seven decade’s experience and acts out where he reckons his real danger is. 

While this feud might make for good entertainment the real issue is whether or not the rule of law will prevail and Mueller be allowed to proceed with his investigation so that the country will be able to assess real evidence as opposed to a reality show. Comey’s book must inevitably increase attention to the legal proceedings at hand.

One final point to digest - Comey isn’t just any old disgruntled fired employee, he is the former head of the FBI who has gone out on a limb likening the President to the Head of the Mob, as morally unfit to lead and an inveterate liar. This he did with the knowledge that Trump takes no prisoners and fully aware that by his actions he has just moved himself into the numero uno enemy spot. So maybe this former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation knows a thing or two. He has two possible sources, himself and secondly he better than most can read the omens. Pertinent to the latter is the search of the residences and office of Trump’s personal lawyer and long time consiglieri. This turn of events has lead legal commentators to gasp as they mused as how compelling the evidence must have been for a Federal Judge to assent to this drastic course of action. 

Comey appeared not at all apprehensive when he pronounced his judgements - perhaps he had good reason not to be. 

EMBATTLED TRUMP GOES IT ALONE PUTTING AMERICA AT RISK

Donald J. Trump the forty - fifth President of America has thrown off what limited restraints he had in his first year of his Presidency. He has dispensed with anybody who vaguely filtered his unpresidential invective and behavior. In the WhiteHouse Trump, surrounded by sycophants and weaklings, is unimpeded at "Being Trump". He lives in his own world of denial and revels in his own fantasies. He has simplistic solutions for complex problems. His unparalleled histrionic salesmanship and demagogic skills allow him to appear genuine to the disillusioned, vulnerable and gullible. His ignorance, simplicity and telling it how he sees it has allowed him to connect. It is all so eerily like Peter Seller’s Chancey Gardner in his prophetic movie “Being There”, where a straight talking simpleton is naively regarded as a political genius. 

However The Donald is coming to the end of his lollipop as his problems mount and he is out there on his own. His twin stump promises getting even with China and building a border wall are all that remains resulting in them being the focus of his attention. Also he needs to get even with Bezos of Amazon for the success of The Washington Post for tearing his Presidency apart. 

His current tweets on China and the wall do not reflect policy as much as they do his ego. What matters is that once again the believers of Chancey Gardner stand around and interpret his tweets like they are profound insights and carefully thought out and researched policies. Particularly dangerous is his outright attack on China which can have grave consequences. Also his delusion that an attack on his attorney is an attack on the country has to be a signal that he is closer and closer to attempt to make himself above the law. 

THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY AFTER FIFTEEN MONTHS

Trump’s legal troubles mount daily. He has the unedifying revelations in Stormy Daniels’s litigation which place him and his fixer lawyer in legal jeopardy - the latter has already had his offices searched by the FBI, an earth shattering event.  Then the courts have finally allowed an emoluments case to proceed against him which can explore what money he has made from his Presidency. Most serious is the Mueller probe that relentlessly soldiers on. 

His WhiteHouse is in a shambles while his Administration, whose personnel go in and out the revolving door, is directionless - he currently needs ratification of three new Cabinet Secretaries. He daily attacks his Justice Department and ignores the fact that he promised to drain the swamp and is instead deepening it. His Republican Party has quietly deserted him - having allotted a billion out of the twenty - five billion he needs for his crazy wall. Many of the GOP legislators are voting with their feet - a record number of them retiring from Congress. The leaders of the Party are openly vying for superlatives to describe the looming defeat they face in the midterm elections using terms such as a "blue wave" or "tsunami". Mitch McConnell, leader of the Senate is fearful that they may lose the Senate as well as the House. This has been felt to be an impossible outcome as twenty six Democrats are defending their seats, ten of which are in States Trump won. Only nine Republicans are up for re-election and most of these are in States that Trump won with a resounding victory.

All this plus one freak outlier poll that put his support at about fifty percent finally emboldened Trump to go it alone. 

CHINA WARFARE

In this environment, seemingly out of nowhere, Trump shot off tweets which have started a de facto Trade War with China. Now everyone knows that China are the bad guys and are ostensibly robbing us blind and ruining our economy. However everyone is happy with the economy and by Trump’s admission it is in the greatest shape ever. Also by Trump’s admission a Tariff war with China will result in “some pain” and drop in the stock market. (The latter rise to date he has used as the indicator of his great economic success). As the consequences unravelled and China revealed its first tit for tat, Trump instructed his "Trade People" to see how they could soften the losses to his farmers. It is difficult to understand how subsidizing or giving the farmers handouts versus them bringing in currency is “Good for America”. Soya beans are the biggest agricultural product that China imports but America can easily be replaced by Brazil that currently has a glut. Boeing is another potential loser and their orders can likewise be filled by Airbus.

Also the whole business of manufacturing has taken on a global perspective. Chinese companies are in America in towns such as Allentown. Geely, a Chinese company that has a big share of Volvo, is opening a car factory in South Caroilna. So the Chinese are becoming more and more responsible for American jobs. The goods made by China here need to be transported to American harbors and then shipped, all adding to employment and income. One wonders whether Trump has instructed his “trade people” to look into what that will cost the economy and the impact on the job market.

Donald Trump tweeted that America’s tariff on Chinese made cars is two and a half percent while China levies a twenty five percent tax on an American made cars entering China. However, very few American cars get into China in that fashion. They are in fact manufactured in China and not subject to tariffs. Ford for example is moving its production of Fusion to China and is heavily involved in the production of electric cars in that country. China can get rid of that tariff in a heart beat and appear to have made a major concession when for practical purposes they would have made none. The reason for getting rid of the car tariff is also self serving. Xi Jinping wants Tesla to export into China as he is heavily into the concept of electric vehicles. He regards that company as the leader in the field.

Xi Jinping when announcing this liberating of Chinese trade laws, which he has done on previous occasions, coupled this with an announcement that he has instructed his State Intellectual office to step up enforcement of the law. The latter is America’s biggest bone of contention - the insistence by China for American companies to share intellectual property with China in return for doing business there. (So Tesla beware!)

It is common cause that tariffs will increase the cost of products to the consumer, the Chairman of the Fed confirmed it lest there was any doubt. This is bound to create inflation which to date has been kept in check. Inflation means interest rates go up with all that entails to capital expenditure, construction, cost of living not to mention the stock market. What research has gone into that? 

Then there are the international implications. China is desperately needed as an ally in the North Korean dispute. This attack is hardly a lesson in how to win friends and influence people. China also holds a huge chunk of American debt which it could offload creating havoc to the dollar. America is about to sell a large number of treasuries to pay for the income tax reductions and China is usually the big purchaser. Xi Jinping can devalue his currency again making its goods even cheaper.

Also China has its pride. They are sitting in the pound seats and they are not going to be humiliated. Xi Jinping has just been elected for life and hasn’t the same electoral pressures that Trump has and if necessary can tell the electorate they have to take bitter medicine

Too much has been read into the Chinese Premier’s announcement. This speech was scheduled long before Trump’s throwing down the gauntlet having been presented at an economic summit equivalent to the West’s Davos. Those least impressed were the participants of the Boas Forum in Asia - the consensus was this talk of opening up China was more of the same. Also ignored in the premature euphoria is that on the same day as the speech China laid a complaint against America with the World Trade Organization challenging Trump’s already instituted tariffs on steel and aluminum.

THE DEFENSE OF TRUMP

Initially the Trump apologists were all over the show, Secretary of the Treasury Minuchin did not deny that a Trade War might have already started and the Finance people such as Peter Navarro appeared ignorant as to what was going on. Trump’s special advisor on economics Gary Cohn had resigned over the issue so it was left to smooth talking incoming advisor Larry Kudlow to tell us what Trump really meant in his tweets. He once again stressed how bad the Chinese operators were and that something really had to be done. He played down the impact that the Trump tweets had. In addition he was optimistic that this would be sorted out between Peking and Washington. He implied that talks were going on - a fact that was flatly denied by the Chinese and initially not confirmed by the Trump team. He reassured that tariffs, if it ever came to that, would not go into effect for months. 

What really helped calm the waters is that Kudlow is a free trader and in the past was dead against such actions. The fact that he now saw the necessity of this was a balm to the fiscal community. If good old Larry thinks that Trump is Chancey Gardner then he must be. So till the next tweet fears have been allayed.

Trump is already declaring victory as a result of the Chinese Premier's speech at the economic summit.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Thus far there has been no facts or figures to support the economic rationale for this blunderbuss approach to international affairs. All that has emerged is that it was executed because what China is doing is wrong. Now either this highly complex subject that has ramifications up the ying yang has been lengthily researched as to the impact and the moves and counter moves to China’s response or it hasn’t. Jay H. Ell believes that there is far more evidence that Trump is winging it than he has put into place a deep well thought out rationale and plan for this action. China’s wrongdoing has been around for decades and Presidents from both political parties, who were more responsible than Trump, obviously felt that righting the Chinese wrong was less important than risking turning America upside down.

WHY THIS IS JUST TRUMP’S EGO

During the presidential election Tony Schwartz who co authored Trump’s Art of the Deal revealed all that he had learned about Trump’s personality in the two years that he observed him. One story sticks out in Jay H. Ell’s memory. Schwartz related a phone call that Trump had where he shouted, screamed and threatened someone in an attempt to get him to do his bidding. He then placed the receiver in the cradle and turned to his co author and pensively enquired, “Do you think it will work?” 

This whole episode smacks of the Trump real estate m. o. and is an effort to take control of a situation where he is becoming more and more isolated, out of his depth and less and less in control. So a tariff war, sending the National Guard to the border to thwart an imaginary invasion by Mexicans, attacking Mueller and Sessons and the rethinking yesterday’s decision to pull out of Syria are all being deployed to hold Donald’s fragile ego together. But maybe Jay H. Ell’s is being too pessimistic. Maybe Larry Kudlow can put this all together on the fly and get a satisfactory solution to the Chinese - Trump impasse. However, as Jim Cramer has pointed out it is Trump’s Art of the Deal that is up against the centuries old, Suntze’s Art of War and Jay H. Ell fancies the latter.

UK ROCKED BY LABOUR PARTY ANTI - SEMITISM

While America obsesses about Trump and the chaos that surrounds him, allegations of anti - semitism created a storm in the United Kingdom. Even in a world which has seen an upsurge in anti semitism, the current crisis facing the United Kingdom, (U.K.), represents, for many reasons, the most serious revitalization of this millennial old scourge. While there have been disturbing Eastern European political movements in the renaissance of the racist phenomenon these have emanated from right wing groups. The source of the U.K. anti semitism is said to arise from the left wing Labour Party, (LP), which has long had Jewish support. The LP is not a fringe entity - according to opinion polls they have an almost equal chance of being the next U.K. Government. Most significant in all of this is that the leader of the LP, Jeremy Corbyn, has been singled out as the perpetrator in chief of the pervasive anti - semitism that his Party stands accused of. Corbyn, much like Trump, hijacked his Party to the dismay and over the opposition of the elected parliamentarians - his support came from the base of the Party.  Finally, of all the European countries Britain has the most stable and integrated Jewish community which consists of approximately three hundred thousand individuals, which is less than 0.5% of the U. K. population.

The whole crisis came to a head when a group of Jewish L P supporters registered a protest outside of Parliament and were joined by some sixty LP parliamentary members.  The gathering was organized by the normally conservative, usually collaborative, British Jewish Board of Deputies. The protest theme fittingly was entitled,“Enough is Enough”. The fumes of anger were flamed when Corbyn appeared to back a small group of counter protesters and seemingly did nothing to support the participating LP legislators who were attacked because of their involvement.

CORBYN’S HISTORY

Corbyn finally agreed to an interview with the Jewish media which he had refused for the past three years as allegations  of anti semitism have been simmering against the Labor Party for some time. In this interview his decades of actions, which had been interpreted again and again as being anti Jewish, were revisited. He apologized arguing in some instances that he had been wrong and in all instances he was merely being anti racist. As the litany of occurrences were detailed his plaintiff cry that he was not an anti semite sounded less and less convincing.  The many allegations included that there was support of FaceBook groups who made their anti semitic objectives clear, the backing of an Arab Israeli who had incited racial animosity and was subsequently convicted of same, the endorsement of an artist’s work that depicted a scene from the infamous Jewish libel, The Protocols of Zion, association with an anti semite who claimed that the Rothschilds harvested organs for gain, the involvement with Holocaust deniers and then on Holocaust Day failing to mention the slaughter of six million Jews.

Corbyn referred to an in house LP investigation, the Chakrabarti report, that delved into this “problem”. He said he would make it a priority to see that it’s recommendations were enforced. This did not really wash as the latter has been seen more as a cover up then as a solution. His explanations that his apparent endorsements of Hamas and Hezbollah were an attempt at Middle East Peace are not being taken seriously by anyone. The consensus was that Corbyn’s defense was not “good enough”. There is ongoing criticism of the leader who to the frustration of his retractors met with anti - Israeli groups during the passover.

So as matters stand the perception is that Corbin and a chunk of his Party are anti semitic. The implications of  a major political party, being accused of perpetuating the bigotry, in a country that, more than any other, saved the world from a fascist tyranny which was responsible for the genocide of six million Jews, are vast.

WHO ARE THE JEWS?

 Jews represent about 0.2 percent of the world’s population - fifteen  million of about six billion. The population of the Romani or Gypsies is estimated to be at least ten million and they are as scattered as the Jews are. The Bahai peoples are said to number about five or six million and also are a group that have their own unique beliefs and value systems. No - one bothers much about these two groups. So why the Jews?

There is little doubt that if you are born a Jew you are regarded as such whether you like it or not. Of course you can assimilate but even that has met with mixed success. Historically there are certain characteristics and behaviors that Jews exhibit whether they are religious or secular. They have a distinct religion but more important from a sociological point of view they have a  value system with certain characteristics. Also the religious diaspora has always regarded themselves as part of a nation and for two thousand years they have prayed - “Next year in Jerusalem”. 

Their value system places a great emphasis on education, family life, community, assisting others, charity and care for the stranger, (“because remember you were a stranger in Egypt”). So the family and community units have always been strong assisting one another to this day. This behavior makes Jewish communities a cohesive and an easily recognizable group. The obsessive emphasis on education has not only social benefits but economic ones as well. So as long as the society allowed them to educate themselves they became wealthy, and a disproportionately large portion of the professional, business and intellectual class. Their desire to help others lead them into politics and activism. In short in democratic societies they inevitably exhibited an influence and wealth far above their numbers. They are vocal and visible and in any social movement they are invariably disproportionately represented. 

For the moment let us accept that everywhere Jews are a distinct and easily identifiable minority. They thus could easily be labelled, attacked and scapegoated as the cause of whatever were the problems of society throughout the ages. Added to that the Hebrew bible, that was also part of the Christian religion, claimed that they were “the chosen people”. (The fact that that was in the context of spreading  G-d’s word was not understood. In addition converts to the “chosen” are regarded highly and the religion dictates that the Messiah will arise from the lineage of a convert, Ruth, whose line also included King David).

HOW  AND WHY DOES ANTI - SEMITISM MANIFEST?

Anti semitism according to former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has morphed through time. The Jews were just another different nation up until their expulsion from Jerusalem by the Romans at the beginning of the first millennium. With the emergence of Christianity, whose G-d the Jews refused to acknowledge and then Islam, who claimed Abraham’s true son was Ishmael not Isaac, they became an enemy religion. So religion became the basis of anti semitism. Sustained attempts over nearly two millennia were made either to convert them, expel them or murder them. In the twentieth century they were persecuted because of their race so there was no escape and the Holocaust was the outcome. Currently their central sin is the formation of the State of Israel. Most anti semitic attacks are now couched against Zionism for which all Jews are blamed for whether they are Zionists or not.

Throughout the two millennia all manner of atrocities and evils were ascribed to the Jews. These alleged behaviors rationalized the persecutions. They were either capitalists or communists. They were either too poor and were parasites on society or too rich and exploited it. They killed children so they could use their blood to make the unleavened bread for Passover. Evidence that the Jews planned to take over the world was provided in the form of a diatribe entitled The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Written in the nineteenth century it is still quoted to this day. It purports to be the minutes of meetings as to how the Jews would dominate the world and form a single state. It has been shown again and again to be a forgery but is still the bible of the haters and is being translated into several languages. 

The current rationale is to delegitimize Israel as an abuser of human rights, an aggressor  and a violator of international standards. This justifies anti - semitism of all jews, religious or secular whether they are in the diaspora or Israel. Even the murder of Jews in the diaspora as was the case in France was because of the Israeli "occupiers". The main forum for this argument has been the United Nations where Israel has been condemned in half the resolutions passed by the Security Council in the past five years. The General Assembly has an even better batting average on condemnation. The last Secretary General of United Nations, Ban Ki - Moon claimed that the United Nation’s undue bias against Israel was the reason for its inability to be effective.

Another rationale is to argue that Israel and Jews, in general, have fabricated the Holocaust. The importance of Holocaust denial is to take away any moral right the survivors had to return to the British mandate. A common criticism is to equate racism with Zionism in addition to regarding Israel as the greatest threat to world peace. While many Jews in and out of Israel legitimately disagree with the current government’s policies few if any would agree with Hamas and the PLO that the Jews do not belong in Israel and should return to their supposed countries of origin. The argument for the latter supposition being that the Europeans didn’t want the Jews so they gave them Israel. 

IS CORBIN AN ANTI SEMITE?

In terms of the modern manifestations of anti - semitism Corbin is the real deal. You can tick of all the elements in his resume. He has supported and validated terrorist movements that have sworn to destroy Israel and drive all the Jews out, he has been associated with Holocaust deniers and depicters of The protocols of Zion and on and on. This he has done over decades and as noted in his extensive interview his explanations as to his actions just did not fly.   

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?

Corbyn has moved into damage control mode. He has axed close ally Christine Shawcroft from the LP National Executive Committee on the basis that she allowed a holocaust denier to retain his party membership. Shawcroft falling on her sword, claimed that all the attacks of anti -semitism on the Labour Party were merely designed to weaken Corbyn. Corbyn utilized the Passover holiday to send his “warmest  regards” to Jewish Communities in Britain. He further claimed that he had always been moved by the Israelite escape from enslavement. In the light of the current controversy the response, at kindest, sounded paternalistic. The Jewish Board of Deputies have only agreed to meet with the LP leader on condition that meaningful steps were taken to eradicate anti semitism in his party. They apparently believe that Corbyn’s moves so far fall short.

The Labour Party need to axe Corbyn. This appears as unlikely as the Republican Party cutting Trump adrift. The issue then moves to the electorate. Early polling seems to indicate that this episode may cost Corbyn and his Party at the hustings. The fear at present is how deep the anti semitic attitudes have pervaded the LP and whether they are representative of the base.

However whatever the outcome British and world jewry has been jolted. Past history has taught us that the accuser defines who is a Jew and who isn’t. Karl Marx whose father converted to Lutherism is often exhibit number one when anti semites point to the pernicious influence of the Jews. Whatever the outcome, British jewry, who seemed the least likely to follow the French example of mass immigration to Israel, are in shock. 

RECENT GAZA VIOLENCE AND ASYLUM SEEKERS TO ISRAEL

Whatever the merits, facts and outcome of the recent clashes between the Israeli Defense Force, (IDF), and the march organized by Hamas to reclaim Israel, the event will be used for anti - semitic attacks. If for example, it is found that undue force was used by the IDF then it is that that needs condemnation of the perpetrators and not world jewry as a whole or that the alleged illegality automatically delegitimizes Israel’s existence. Incidentally it has not passed unnoticed that an urgent Security Council meeting was called following the 17 Palestinian deaths while the Assad and Russian genocide continues unabated in Syria. The Security Council’s latest intervention on that conflict was on February 24, 2018.  This followed days of Syrian bombing of a Damascus suburb where hundreds of civilians were killed. The Security Council called for a thirty day cease fire as a result.

 There has been an outcry at Netanyahu's welching on his deal to facilitate a sanctuary for the African asylum seekers in Israel. Opposition leaders have labelled him as spineless. There has been wide spread support both within and without Israel for the victims. Once again Netanyahu has illustrated that he has no leadership qualities whatsoever. If he expels them he will be defying the Israeli Supreme Court. The condemnation should be heaped on the Premier and his inner caucus for their duplicity and lack of humanity.

PAUSE FOR REFLECTION

 Theodore Herzl on viewing the vast anti semitic Dreyfus spectacle pioneered the modern day Zionistic movement. The secular Herzl till then had believed that assimilation was the answer to anti semitism. However, he concluded that if this could occur to a patriotic Jew who had risen in the ranks of France’s military other solutions were needed. He believed that if the Jews had their own state there would be no anti - semitism!  Little did he know that would just provide another reason for blaming all Jews for all the world’s problems.