Marc Prowiser comments on Thomas Friedman’s article in the NY Times
Oh Thomas, Thomas, Thomas, I am warmed by your strong patriotic feelings towards the economic troubles in the US. Even more so how you are sure that once the US stops it $3 billion dollar aid package to Israel, US towns will be a boomin’ all over the US of A. If only Prime Minister Netanyahu would have agreed to another three-month building moratorium, everything would have been all right.
I also appreciate your care and concern regarding Israel’s substance abuse problem, and I agree with you. We are also grateful for you in pointing out that Israel is the reason so many US cities are having budget problems. Yes the 3 billion Israel receives and spends in the US is the core of the problem. I was wondering if you might apply your patriotic feelings to other countries around the world, maybe to the UN also…but I digress.
Do you remember the Yom Kippur war of 1973? You know when Israel came close to being wiped out? Israel’s friend and ally, the US came to it’s aid and sent sorely needed ammo and equipment over and Thank Gd, this joint venture and friendship enabled a different outcome than that which the Arab and Soviet world had hoped for. Did I say Soviet? Maybe you forget, that it was in US interest that Israel existed as a US ally in the region, might I add the only true and stable US ally and friend in the region, something that was paid for in blood, lots of blood.
So when the Soviet Union started powering down in the Mid East, Uncle Sam came in and said to Israel, give ‘em the Sinai, come on we’re friends, don’t worry, I’ll watch your back, I promise. Israel said, but the lives lost defending our country, the oil, the natural resources, the military buffer zone, how could we, they have been attacking us since we declared ourselves a state? Uncle Sam said, tell ya what, I’m gonna compensate you all, it’s on me, you compromise on your defense and resources, pull your people out and we’ll back you up with Military aid and our support, don’t worry, Trust us…and that is just part of the picture.
Never mind the technology that Israel and the US share, the numerous business ventures that benefit both countries and numerous towns and cities in the US, and so much more.
Never mind that Israel is the only true friend and ally the US has in the Middle East, and the only country around there that shares its value and rights systems, and so much more.
Now Israel has been pretty good at listening to it’s friend’s advice and requests, and I would say that refraining from defending itself to its ability against Iraq in the first Iraqi War was proof of that, and so much more. Making offers as you mentioned to the “Palestinians” and having them spit back, continuing in so-called “Peace Talks” while Arab schools teach destruction of Israel…sorry, I digress again.
But as you say “we’re not their grandfather’s America anymore”. You say Israel should jump at anything the US should request, why should you care, you don’t live in Israel, nor does the safety of Jews in Israel concern you, why should it. You believe that the US has bought the right to make the decisions in Israel because of the “bribe” that the US gave to Israel starting some years back…so, you believe the US has the right to decide for others based on money and aid that it distributes…interesting, I guess you mean that the US is bribing the world then, even more interesting… and I thought you were a “liberal”, you closet conservative, you.
It seems to me you want Israel to behave as a whore and do what the US wants because of the “Aid” Israel receives…that’s not friendship.
Dear Thomas, you fail to look at the big picture, you fail to see how the Palestinian Authority spits in the face of the world and dupes you and others like you because of your arrogance and Western elitism and lack of understanding the Arab and Muslim world. While extreme Islam is spreading it spheres of influence, and demonstrations and terror against the West increase daily, you choose to endanger the one true ally and friend that the US has and has always had.
But, guess what, I agree with you…almost. I think it is time that the US backs away from the Israel-Arab problem a bit, it is up to them, both the Israelis and the Arabs living there to figure it out and come to a solution on their own, without outside influence and pressure, and the threat of annihilation.
It is time that journalists such as yourself and peers stop presenting one-sided views and show the whole scene and background so that others might develop informed opinions and not the manipulated ones that you and others wish to show, or maybe you need wikileaks to assist.
I have to disagree with you when you state that you understand the problem, you don’t, and you probably never will because you can’t see beyond your tainted views, your mind is closed, despite how many alternative lifestyles and causes you may support.
Your patriotism and caring for the downtrodden of the US is a breath of fresh air, and I am sure that when you send your children into the US Armed forces to fight for the US, to put themselves in danger, just like the majority of Israeli parents do, and have been doing, they will be proud of you.
I think and agree with you that it is time that the US stops sending so much “Aid” around the world and redirects much of it back to the US and address the problems that you mention and more! One difference, I feel that you are only targeting Israel, which you are, by the way. Of course many of these countries that might not receive any more “financial assistance” will turn on the US quicker than a detonator on a suicide bomber. You can be sure Israel won’t, you know why?
Because, Israel is a true friend.
I’m curious, even if we were to take Friedman’s column at face value, accept his implied point and ADD UP ALL the “aid” we have given Israel for, say the past 50 years. We could do 2 calculations: The 1st one realistic, and would take into account the fact, as many people have mentioned that a large chunk of that aid is constrained by US law to be spent within the USA thus significantly reducing the actual number of money “given” as a type of “free goody.”
The 2nd calculation would be a sort of biased (against Israel) and “worst case” scenario — one may rightly ask, but why even do such a thing? The answer is because I strongly suspect that even if one were to consider Israel a financial “black hole,” and calculate the “loss” to the USA on that (faulty) basis, I strongly believe that still, whatever number one calculates even on that basis, that the aid has ostensibly “disappeared down the Israeli back hole” (I’m being facetious of course) that one would still find that relative… and that’s the key word “relative” to a single program our President proposes today, or “relative” to one single year of say the interest alone that we pay on our US debt, or “relative” to — I’d propose the debt itself, but that would only bring out the “Bush Lied, People died” crowd from under their respective rocks — so perhaps for the last “relative” comparison, something like our yearly delta (change) in GDP could be used — that is, the increase alone(!) in what the USA produces each year – compared to the total ‘Black Hole’ Israeli aid would STILL, I think he yearly growth in US GDP would still dwarf the “biased-calculation of Israeli aid” — I don’t know this, I’m merely guessing this.
The $3 Billion per year (again, under the false assumption that all the aid money simply “disappears”) is then, what == $150 Billion. Now does $150 Billion strike anyone as large or in the relative ball-park of domestic programs being kicked around like Healthcare, Medicare, Social Security, Military spending (a necessity), Police Departments, various bail-outs, Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme alone, many others, and finally we get to…..the:
T S A — G-d only knows what the TSA spends each year, in reaction to a terrorist, not in anticipation of one. The TSA may very well be able to save a good amount of money if they implemented — not at every airport — but at all the International ones. A number of smart college grads held to high standards, tested, and possibly psychologically tested as well would then implement the famed “Israeli” methods at only a few “pilot” programs at International Airports (e.g. JFK in NYC), using Israel’s methods of spotting and questioning suspected terrorists at, let’s say, just the most vulnerable airports (again, the international airports — there can’t be even a hundred of those? — am I wrong?) — or simply those airports that volunteer to sign on, how about that?
No removal of clothes, no taking of shoes, none of that — that would be the trade-off offered to the flying public at those particular airports traded for the “inconvenience” of being questioned for a few minutes at most (typically). If it tuns out that there was any “success” at all at any of these “special” airports in interdicting anything or a person, you can bet the US public would dispense with the “PC” behind the underlying “discrimination” of “high value targets” and pay — I’m serious pay good money, if they had to, to get that program at their airport!
Well, that’s my so-called “Gedankenexperiment” for what it’s worth.
— FF
I’m with Shmuel Halevi. Feel free to “have a go” at us…
I completely agree with this but that is not what Friedman’s column was about.
estoy de acuerdo con el articulo. La intromisión de los EE.UU creo que ya es SUFICIENTE y dejar que los palestinos solucionen sus problemas en Jordania y dejen a Israel en PAZ.
Thomas Friedman frequently and forcefully advocates reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil. This is a critical issue for both the well-being of the United States and Israel. The pro-Israel community in America has been far less involved in this issue than it should be.
The price of oil was below $40 per barrel in 2003 and subsequently rose to over $140. It briefly crashed back to $40-50 range, and now is around $90 per barrel. At $70 or more (perhaps even above a lower amount) Saudi Arabia has plenty of money to fund terrorists as does Chavez in South America. Paying for foreign oil is a huge drain on the American economy. For both national security and economic reasons America needs to substantially reduce its use of oil.
The technologies to reduce oil in the transportation sector are widely available. The only catch is that they add $4,000 to $10,000 to the cost of a vehicle. The roller coaster ride of oil prices outlined above shows that there is no true price for oil – the price is amost entirely driven by demand. Reduce demand the price falls substantially. This means there is a unique opportunity to substantially benefit the American economy by subsidizing the cost differential for oil saving vehicles.
We can whine about the CFR until someone finds a true conservative at the NY Times, or we can do something useful by advocating policies to reduce American dependence on foreign oil.
Laura states
Friedman sees another opportunity to pontificate. Whether it’s guilt about living the comfortable life with name-recognition in the US or that he sees an opportunity to show his NYT friends that ‘we really don’t need Israel’ has been part of his raison d’etre for some time. To summarise Marc , Friedman and the MSM have contempt for these third world Arabs and also find it hard to accept that in 62 years, Israel ahs surpassed every country but the US in most fields.
Annette,
I hope you are not referring to Israel when you say “that evil country that the world will wipe off the face of the earth”. For your sake I hope you don’t mean Israel. If you do mean Israel, you have just squarely admitted to being most uninformed and deceived about the true situation in Israel. You should also know
that Jerusalem, the real capital of Israel, is called the eternal city in the Bible. Therefore the world will most certainly not be wiping Israel off the face of the earth, sorry to disappoint you. Rather, the God of Israel, the only true and living God, will wipe the enemies of Israel off the face of the earth. It is irrelevant what you believe, in the end Bible believers will see truth prevail. Bless Israel and you will be blessed, curse Israel and you will be cursed. Genesis 12:3 That is why I say I hope for your sake you don’t mean Israel. Israel is here to stay and thank God for that because the whole world will one day
soon be ruled from Jerusalem. You better believe it.
Annette dear, you would not like to try to stomp just little ole me, would you?
No, that type spews venom like Shelob but will hide behind anyone that she? may motivate to try.
At any rate, it is a waste of time to address unJews like Kissinger, Baker’s Jew boys, Friedman and other such, so it is even more of a waste to consider the various and sundry “annettes”, out there lurking.
Vert tzezetzt, annette.
Notice how Thomas Friedman uses the PA’s (PLO’s) inflated demographics of 2.5 million Palestinian Arabs when Americans Bennet Zimmerman, Roberta Seid and Michael Wise put the current Palestinian-Arab population of the West Bank at 1.4 million and Gaza 1.1 million, for a total of 2.4 million, instead of the 3.8 million reported by the Palestinian Authority Central Bureau of Statistics (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49214). (We will have a one-state solution. Israel will have inside its belly 2.5 million Palestinians without the rights of citizenship, along with 1.5 million Israeli Arabs. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/opinion/12friedman.html?_r=1&ref=thomaslfriedman)
Tommy Friedman should talk be the one to talk about being Israel being on the dole, when he has been for his entire career on the dole of the sinking rag “The New York Times”.
Bland, it was speaking about Israel as that “evil country that the world will wipe off the face of the earth”.
Why doesn’t Friedman and other like-minded people ever mention aid to Egypt or Pakistan, the latter of which then turns around and aids the taliban and al qaeda. That is truly throwing our money away as well as endangering America and our soldiers in Afghanistan. The “aid” provided to Israel at least comes back to America since it is used to buy American military goods. So those who speak of the burden of foreign aid and only mention Israel, are exposed as complete frauds. Their concern is not about the strain on the American economy which is scant, but rather their real agenda is to agitate against Israel. These people are so easy to see right through.
Annette,
It’s not clear who you mean by the “evil country”. If you mean the US, don’t worry. The ruling clique in the Council on Foreign Relations (Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Bill Cheney, George Soros , Joe Biden and many more — just check the Wiki article on them) do not foresee a truly sovereign USA in the future. They see a super-government with them in charge: a conglomeration something like the EU. They might even have a common currency, like the Euro; but with North America in with the mix, it might be called the “Neuro”. Brain chips, anyone?
I must say I have to agree with every thing Marc has written. He just expresses it so much more eloquently than I ever seem to be able to!!!
Tom Friedman has been an Israeli apologist for his entire adult life. The fact that now he’s saying that Israel is out of control and killing America (9\11 anyone?) is not good news for Israel. America is its only friend and Israel stabs it in the back. Soon Israel will be alond and that’s when the world will step in to wipe this evil country off the face of the earth.
Marc: great article, and I agree with the points that you were bringing across, except one. Thomas Friedman is not a conservative by any stretch of the imagination. You couldn’t find a true conservative at the NY Times if you looked for a year. I believe that a true conservative supports Israel, at least this one does.
Excellent! This should go out as a mass mailing to all the leftists who denigrate our friend – especially since the denigration is for the purpose of boosting the existential evil of islam, as Obama does. I would hope that he’d read it, but I have a very strong feeling the man is not a reader.
Oh and by the way, I like Prowiser’s style… all of it.
Oat,
If you want to see things written refreshingly bluntly, I urge you to take a look at some of Takuan Seiyo’s essays down the left column of Gates of Vienna. These are very much the tip of Seiyo’s iceberg.
Let’s consider Tom Friedman’s employer:
There is increasing chatter on the Internet about all the above groups — so much so, that familiarity may soon breed contempts, and people will soon ignore the fact that there is a small clique of people in or close to ALL centers of power in the US and Europe, who are pursuing an agenda of their own at our expense. That agenda, which should come as no surprize to anyone, is to concentrate power into fewer and fewer hands, and, ultimately, into their own.
From comments put forth by these people, it is apparent that they consider this ambition to be justified, on the basis that they are the truly “talented ones”, who are the most “fit” to control the fate of mankind (i.e. of you and me, the “lesser, ordinary beings”). They have so well inculcated this image among the major mass decision-makers, that the CFR and other groups associated with this clique are the first place new Presidents, etc., go to supply the needed “expertise” to man the sprawling apparatus of the US Executive Branch. In this way, the clique feeds itself: It continually endeavors to create a larger and larger governing apparatus, which in turn is ever more dependent on the type of “expertise” the clique supplies.
The idea that this clique is a nucleus of “talent” in the world is illusary, though. 5-year memberships in the CFR, for instance, are obtained not through talent, but through being inducted by three serving members of the group. It is nepotism, therefore, and not talent, that keeps this beast going. The parallels to the British nobility that so vexed America’s forefathers is unmistakeable.
Tom Friedman is a prominent member of this “inner society”, promoting the interests of the group. It’s foolish to think that he, or any other entrenched employee of the New York Times, can have the interests of Israel — or, for that matter, of the United States, at heart. His interests, like the others in his “ruling society”, are ultimately with a trans-national, ATHEIST (i.e. inherently non-Jewish) government consisting of the leaders of major powers controlled by the clique: countries such as the US, UK France, Italy et al.
As I said, familiarity breed contempt, and most will refuse to accept the obvious: Thomas Friedman, essentially, is not Jewish, not Israeli and not American. He is “Groupie” with a capital “G”.