Netanyahu's speech of lies

[dtotire]

Netanyahu's speech of lies

Benjamin Netanyahu promised he would feed us the truth, not another campaign speech, but a test of this promise seems apposite.
By Akiva Eldar

Bertolt Brecht wrote, in his poem "The Necessity of Propaganda," "Even the hungry must admit that the Minister of Nutrition gives a good speech." (Translation from the German, Jon Swan. ) It must be admitted that Benjamin Netanyahu gave a good speech at the UN General Assembly. His English was polished, his hand gestures precise and his body language perfect. His propaganda was sweet as honey dripping from his lips. It improves from speech to speech. But the prime minister promised that this time he would feed us the truth, not another campaign speech. A test of this promise seems apposite.

The real main message that Netanyahu brought to New York was that peace is achieved through direct negotiations between the parties, not unilateral measures like appealing to the United Nations. (By his truth, expanding the settlements in territory whose future is supposed to be determined through negotiation is presumably a bilateral measure. ) As a goodwill gesture to the Arab neighbors, Netanyahu quoted "an old Arab saying that you cannot applaud with one hand." The truth is that the "saying" is actually a distortion of a well-known Zen koan. An innocent mistake, happens to everyone. The lie is in the "moral" of the saying, according to which the problem is the Palestinians' refusal to clap their hands for peace and talk about security.



As a sage providing support for his own truth, Netanyahu claimed that in 2000 Israel "made a sweeping peace offer that met virtually all of the Palestinian demands." It would be interesting to hear the opinion of then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak on this "truth," for example on the Palestinian demands regarding the Temple Mount and the Palestinian refugee issue. Netanyahu also invoked his immediate predecessor, Ehud Olmert, to help substantiate his claims that there is no one to talk to. According to Netanyahu,"Olmert afterwards made an even more sweeping offer, in 2008. President Abbas didn't even respond to it." This is one of those cases where a half truth is even worse than a lie.



more:

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/netanyahu-s-speech-of-lies-1.386720

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[shira]

2. I wonder what Akiva Eldar thinks Israel needs to offer for peace / 2 states. n/t

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. Surrender their homes and familes and march into the sea?

[Violet_Crumble]

6. Anyone who's familiar with Mr Eldar knows that he's a strong supporter of the two-state solution...

His rather extensive writings on the two-state solution are readily available. It might be a good idea to read them...

[Jefferson23]

3. kick. n/t

[holdencaufield]

5. A quote

“There’s always one fox who thinks burrowing should be abandoned
because it makes life so hard on the hounds.” -- P.J. O'Rourke

[Mosby]

7. i read the text of his speech and thought it was quite good

Maybe one of his best ever.

[Scurrilous]

8. 'Netanyahu speech - like Likud pep rally'

New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman criticizes Israeli PM, US president and Palestinian leader's UN addresses, says 'New Middle East' not heading in right direction

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4128886,00.html

<snip>

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "Let's talk dugri" UN speech failed to impress New York Times senior commentator Thomas Friedman, who said Wednesday that Netanyahu sounded like he was speaking at a "pep rally to the Likud Central Committee."