The British View of Things

Israel has never had much luck with British prime ministers. Whether due to political expediency or the long, much-hallowed tradition of official British anti-Semitism, Britain's leaders have usually been a thorn in Israel's side, from Chamberlain through Churchill to Eden and on. The one exception is Margaret Thatcher but that's because she mostly left Israel along and because of her unique, realistic political outlook in knowing who her true friends and enemies were.

Thus it is no surprise that Tony Blair, both during his term as prime minister and now as a special envoy to the Middle East, has had a distinctive anti-Israel bias to his public pronouncements. Indeed, if one reads between the words, the true attitude comes through loud and clear:

The Arab world truly wants the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved urgently, and many Arab leaders back terms for a permanent accord "very close to what Israel is wanting," Quartet peace envoy Tony Blair told The Jerusalem Post over the weekend.

Yes, this is absolutely true. The Arab world wants the conflict resolved through the destruction of Israel so they can temporarily create a new country, Palestine and then deport all the "Palestinians" living amongst them to this new state. Ask any Arab you meet. The so-called Palestinians are the dregs of Arab society, marginalized and kept in absolute poverty and misery by their Arab brothers. After all, successful integration of these folk would imply acceptance of Israel and abandonment of the absolute imperative to destroy it. No, there's no getting on with their lives for the so-called Palestinians. But after 60 years of failing to destroy Israel, the Arabs are getting tired of the citizens of this pseudo-entity they've created. Now Israel's real sin is forcing them to put up with this permanent underclass.

As for Israel wanting something similar, that's what Blair gets for only listening to those Israelis, like Yossi Beilin and his ilk, who would be very happy to see Israel removed from the face of the Earth tomorrow, if only to assauge their guilty liberal consciences.

"I spend a lot of time talking to the Arabs," said Blair. "I have a genuine belief, and this is not shared by everyone in Israel: The Arabs genuinely want this settled now.

Really? Then why were Israeli delegates at Annapolis treated as pariahs? Why were they not allowed to use the same entrances as the Arabs? Why does no Arab state officially open ties with Israel except Egypt which uses its influence to increase anti-Israel hostility in the Middle East?

Although Blair preferred not to identify which leaders he was referring to

Probably because the only thing these leaders lead is the staff of the 7/11's in Newark where they work.

He faulted Israel for not acting with sufficient urgency to speed up a range of economic projects that could immediately benefit Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza. He also asserted that freedom of movement for Palestinians in the West Bank could be improved without compromising Israeli security.

Once again, blame the Jews. It's Israel's fault that Yassir Arafat stole billions of dollars from his own people and either hid the money in foreign banks or used it to by arms he promised not to when he signed the Oslo discords. It's Israel's fault that he whipped his people into a frenzy of anti-Semitic hatred and built a new society in Yehudah, Shomron and Aza which is defined by its desire to destroy Israel. It's Israel's fault that Hamas has decided that it would rather have the Azans live in mistery than stop the Kassam rockets and let the locals resume a semi-normal life.

The sad truth, which the secular liberal West has never been able to understand, is that the Arabs in Israel are responsible for their misery. Were they to abandon their demands for a second Holocaust tomorrow, accept the fact of Israel's existence, and work to build up their own society, they would be as prosperous as the Israelis. But in the fine tradition of cutting off one's nose to spit on one's face, they continue to huddle their own in sqalid refugee camps. Better mistery in the belief they can destroy Israel than prosperity living alongside it. Of course this attitude is incomprehensible to the soft Western liberal mindset.

After all, the only person that can understand the stubborn Arab is the stubborn Jew.