# 317 – Freedom & Democracy

December 10, 2017

Starting this while waiting in line at the local post office. (Since email, the P.O. has had to change it’s system. That includes a dramatic reduction of staff, and now it is normal to sit and wait 15-20 mins each time. I come prepared..)

Came here on my bike. The P.O. is next to Tel Aviv university. Over 20% of the students are Arab Israelis, about proportionate with the Israeli population. Just this minute, I rode past an Arab carrying a large Palestinian flag and rolled-up posters. Perhaps coincidentally, the next 4 persons I saw were also Arabs; perhaps nothing at all to do with the flag-bearer.

But, while securing my bike, I noticed some police barriers around the main Uni entrance plaza. Something’s happening today…

Later…Here’s what was happening at the Uni plaza…

Perhaps 100 protesters making a lot of noise…

Hopefully, this event will lead to nothing newsworthy. But, with all the hullaballoo about Trump’s declaration to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and the intention to move the US embassy there, a couple of relevant points come to mind.

Mainly it’s that very freedom and democracy the Palestinians constantly demand. Well, these pictures tell it all. I do not believe such a demo with Israeli flags has EVER happened in another part of the Middle East and Muslim world.

And the other point is the criminal hypocrisy of some of the Arab leaders. I have always criticised the ‘careful neutrality’ of the Jordanians; their English-educated royalty and lovely ‘Western’ wives. Who occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank from 1948 to 1967? Jordan. During that period, who banned the practice of non-Muslim religions in that area, forbidding Jews even to visit the Western Wall? Jordan. Who destroyed all the synagogues in the Old City? Jordan. During that period, how many UN resolutions were passed criticising this illegal occupation? None.

And which ‘friend of the Palestinians’ put down the Arafat-led uprising in (Black) September 1970, and killed many thousands in just a few days? Jordan. Which country is the geographical and geo-political home for the Palestinians? Jordan. (They already are over 65% of the Jordanian population).

The international community really can be quite sickening sometimes…

Look at this – sent to me by an Australian friend as a reminder…26 years ago..

It’s an article from the Peace Arch Times, a local newspaper in BC, Canada – dated March 2, 1991, during the final days of the Gulf War. I was being interviewed as a visiting ‘Tel Aviv resident’. Let me just highlight some of the ‘see, I told you so’ lines…

‘During the Iran-Iraq war, we were being asked in Israel which country we would prefer to win. We voted Iran, because we thought it would be more of a threat too the other Arab countries’.

‘Pohlmann agrees that people get a distorted view of the realities of life in Israel through the media’.

‘The media , by definition, are only interested in reporting that which is interesting.  They’re not interested in the mother and child walking down the street, which is what happens most of the time’.

‘The only success of the Intifada is the reminder that Israel is a democracy. In other countries, such uprisings would be put down’.

‘Is there hope of long-term peace in the region? I bounce from left to right (on the subject)….I think we should talk to the Palestinians today. But when you look at the map, it’s very difficult to move potential enemies closer to your borders. Jordan is ideal for the Palestinians. But we’ve also been thankful for the 2 minutes’ warning of the Scud attacks. If they were located 10 minutes from our population centres, what would we do?’.

And finally, another reason Israel’s such a great country. Look at this image of a neighbour downstairs just a few minutes ago – it’s December 10th!!

Stephen