Thomas Friedman takes on a perfectly legitimate and hot potato issue in the New York Times when it comes to the current state of Israel-Diaspora relations following the Western Wall controversy.
But Friedman is clearly incapable of separating that issue from his wider disdain for the Israeli government and specifically PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Is Friedman seriously making an equivalence between the Palestinian president, the representative of his people (currently in the twelfth year of a four year term of office), and a minority of Israeli settlers whose extremist actions are rejected by the majority of Israelis?
While Mahmoud Abbas’s statements in Arabic and failure to condemn terrorism fuel Palestinian violence and extremism and come from the mainstream of Palestinian politics, any criminal acts carried out by a minority of Israeli settlers are the work of fringe extremists.
Since when did the Israeli state support or encourage settlers to carry out acts of terror against Palestinians?
The PA, on the other hand, gives financial support to Palestinian terrorists and their families. And while Palestinian terrorism is unfortunately an all too common occurrence, this level of extremism simply doesn’t exist in the Israeli mainstream.
Why should bringing attention to Palestinian incitement be a “distraction?” On the contrary, Palestinian incitement is a critical factor preventing progress towards peace.
Friedman states that he “won’t waste much time on Bibi’s deft manipulation of President Trump.” Unfortunately, he has done exactly that – wasted our time on a false equivalence that actually distracts from attributing any responsibility on the Palestinians for the current moribund state of the peace process.
(Image via YouTube/Al Jazeera English)
