The Washington Post reports that at a
meeting last week, American Jewish leaders advised President Obama that if he really wants to press a re-set button with Israelis, he's going to have to acknowledge Israel's historical claim to the land of Israel. Leo Rennert wonders
whether the President is capable of doing that.
So
it would seem that Obama finally could be on the right historical track
if, during his Jerusalem visit later this month, he substituted the
Bible for the Holocaust as the real genesis of Zionism.
Well,
not quite. Pointing to the Bible as the fundamental undergirding of
Jewish nationhood would be a big step forward for Obama. But as
history, it would still fall short -- at best a single or a double, to
use baseball jargon. If Obama were aiming to score a homer, he would
have to add evidence more attuned to secular minds in the 21st century. And there's plenty of that as well -- especially in Jerusalem where archeology and the Bible validate each other.
Or
Obama could point as far as Rome and the Arch of Titus with its frieze
of Roman legionnaires returning triumphantly from their destruction of
the Jewish Temple, carrying the Temple's golden seven-branch menorah.
That happened 2,000 years before the Holocaust.
Why
is all this crucial as addenda to the Bible to support Jewish
sovereignty? For one thing, from Mahmoud Abbas on down, Palestinians
keep denying any historic Jewish ties to Jerusalem, clinging instead to
the anti-Jewish Ahmadinejad formula that Israel is a recent colonial
implant. For another thing, physical archeological evidence is as
crucial as -- if not more so than -- biblical accounts in an
increasingly secular world. If non-believers shrug off biblical
evidence, they cannot avert their eyes from a profusion of graphic
empirical evidence.
When
Obama delivers his major address in Jerusalem, it will be interesting
to hear whether he realizes the huge errors of his 2009 Cairo speech and
how far he is willing to go to give the world a full account of
Israel's sovereignty claims -- backed up not only by the Bible, but also
by irrefutable empirical evidence.
In other words, will Obama finally deliver a historically kosher speech?
I wouldn't bet on it. I think he'll just skip the Holocaust reference and try to fudge it.
As far as Obama's concerned, Israeli history begins on June 5, 1967. Nothing that occurred before that matters. And the rest of the world agrees, even the Brits (and the French) who were in the Middle East and were part of the history, don't acknowledge that it exists in any meaningful way.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Obama's concerned, Israeli history begins June 5, 1967. Nothing prior to that has any relevance to him. In that way, he's no different than most of the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteYou think he even remembers the Cario speech? I don't.
ReplyDeleteHe will talk about how now is the time to make peace.
What he should do is say what he really feels ... Why don't still you stinking Jews just go into the sea already? We know how he feels about Bibi.
I hope there are ppl there to throw shoes. Would be so fitting, imho.