A Big Dose of Optimism = An Addiction to Hope = ‘Hopium’
 |
| Rosenberg |
In the December 12 posting of the ‘Hopium Chronicles,’ Rosenberg pointed out that in a Reuters poll, “31% of Republicans say they will note vote for Trump if he is convicted of a felony crime. It’s a reminder of what a risk Trump is for Republicans. He only got 46% of the vote last time, and has more baggage than any candidate in modern American history. Consider what Trump and the Republicans will have to defend in 2024:
·
convicted
for trying to rape a woman in a department store
·
oversaw
one of the largest financial frauds in American history
·
more
responsible for ending Roe and stripping away the reproductive rights of women
than any other person in America
·
executed
what may be the most consequential security breach in American history and lied
about it to the FBI
·
has
taken more money from foreign governments than any politician in American
history, and is without doubt, the single most corrupt politician our country
has ever seen
·
praised
dictators, appeased and partnered with Putin, denigrated NATO and openly
undermined American power and interests around the world
·
oversaw
a party-wide effort to overturn an American election, end American democracy
for all time and is promising to finish the job in 2025
·
led
an armed assault on the US Congress
·
support
for more dead kids in schools, a warmer planet, the stripping of fundamental
rights common throughout the world, taking health care away from tens of
millions, mass deportation…’
To read more of the good news on ‘Hopium Chronicles,’ visit it at https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/by or by CLICKING HERE. It is free, although followers can upgrade to a level where they can participate in the blog, for monthly fee.
Rosenberg
concludes the December 12 posting by reminding us that we must ‘Keep working
hard. We all have a lot of work to do.’ I agree.
JL
* * *
A Bad Move by Israel Strengthened Hamas
Before reading on, let me make it clear that it
is possible for both Jews and non-Jews to oppose the policies of the
government of the State of Israel without being accused of being anti-Zionist
or antisemitic.
And now, let me get this
straight. According to the New York
Times, the Israeli government cooperated with oil-rich Qatar’s generous
financing of the Hamas government on the Gaza Strip over the years to keep
Hamas strong enough to balance the Palestinian Authority over on the West Bank
but not strong enough to create a military problem for Israel. This required a very delicate
balancing act, and one that obviously failed.
 |
| The United States, with its military and intelligence presence in Bahrain, certainly must have known what was going on in neighboring Qatar. |
To review the Times article, visit https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html?action=click&pgtype=Article&state=default&module=styln-israel-gaza&variant=show®ion=BELOW_MAIN_CONTENT&block=storyline_flex_guide_recirc or just JUST CLICK HERE.
Supposedly, the Qatari money would not be used
by Hamas to strengthen its military activities, but even so, Israel ignored the
fact that it freed up other Hamas resources to prepare for its October 7 attack
on Israel.
In my opinion, the Israeli government was foolish
in attempting to encourage and take advantage of the division among Palestinian
groups in their degree of animosity toward Israel as an Israeli strategy
to avoid a two-state solution. Hamas, wanted to eliminate the State of Israel entirely, while the
Palestinian Authority merely resented and hated it. Israel was attempting to play one against the
other to its advantage, using Qatar’s money to bolster Hamas.
With the two Palestinian groups in disagreement, there would be no one single entity to participate in a two-state solution with Israel, thereby providing encouragement to Israeli settlers in the occupied territories on the West Bank to assume that area would eventually be part of Israel in a one-state solution and leading them to behave aggressively toward the Palestinians there.
(This is no piddling number. Israeli sources say there are about 500,000
Israeli settlers living on the West Bank and in other occupied territories
outside of the borders of the State of Israel.
Palestinian sources put that number at 700,000.)
Many Israelis saw the fallacy of this position,
but it still enabled Benjamin Netanyahu to lock in the votes of the extreme
right-wing religious parties in the Knesset, parties that believed in a
one-state solution and an expanded Israel, votes that he needed to remain in
power. Now, a
harshly awakened Israel is attempting to destroy both Hamas’ military operation
and along with it, Hamas’ civilian infrastructure that it foolishly allowed to
exist in Gaza for the purpose of balancing the Palestinian Authority on the
West Bank.
As Hamas’ military is being destroyed in Gaza, Israeli settlers on the
West Bank are becoming more aggressive, and in effect starting to take it over. The present Israeli government
seems content with that for the time being, closing their eyes to the fact that
it is just another solution that will fail.
All that is left for the Palestinians seems to
be Hamas’ philosophy of eliminating the State of Israel, but with no real power
to accomplish that. It doesn’t take a genius to see
that this is resulting in the Palestinians on the West Bank, unhappy with the supposedly
corrupt Palestinian Authority there and subject to increasing harassment by the
settlers, coming together with those supporting Hamas in Gaza in opposition to
the very existence of the State of Israel.
This ‘coming together’ is exactly the opposite of the disunion
among Palestinians that Netanyahu’s bankrupt policies intended to foster.
In a way, it reopens the road to a two-state
solution, but it is a much rockier and boulder-strewn road than it was before
Netanyahu’s dealing with Qatar strengthened Hamas. That road needs repaving.
This is what happens when those
in charge, and this applies to both Israelis and Palestinians, allow extremists
to determine their actions. Right now, neither recognize the eventuality of a two-state solution.
And I repeat, it is possible for even Jews, in
Israel or elsewhere, to oppose the policies of the government of the State of
Israel without being accused of being anti-Zionist or antisemitic.
JL
* * *
Housekeeping on
Jackspotpourri
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Again, I urge you to forward
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JL
* * *
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