The More Things Change . . . .

I have never been one for blogging, but the events of the past few weeks have compelled me to put my thoughts into the world, and to do so in a format that allows me to use more than 140 characters.

This past week's events at the UN were a complete travesty.  Not one word in the speech that Abbas made to the General Assembly on Thursday was true.  Abbas accused Israel of war crimes and tried to portray himself as a peace-seeker.  In doing so he apparently feigned amnesia over the ten-month settlement freeze in 2010, which was intended to be a window for peace negotiations, and which he squandered away.  He completely ignored the events of 2000, when, at Camp David, the Israeli Prime Minister offered Palestinians statehood in 90% of the West Bank and 100% of Gaza, with a capital in East Jerusalem, and compensation for displaced Palestinians "refugees," which offer was refused in favor of the beginning of the Second Intifada.  He completely ignored the fact that, after the failure of the 2000 offer, Israel unilaterally left Gaza, allowing Palestinians self-rule there, only to have Gaza taken over by Iran's proxy Hamas, and used as a launching pad for years' of military assaults on Israel's south.  He referred to the UN's own 1947 vote to partition the land into two states as "Al-Nakba" -- the disaster.

He received a standing ovation, and a tremendous majority of votes.  Many of the same nations that only a few days ago affirmed Israel's right to self-defense either abstained or voted for his position, in spite of his speech labeling Israel as the aggressor in the most recent Gaza conflict.  138 nations voted to allow Abbas, as ostensible leader of the Palestinians, to claim statehood in the West Bank and Gaza, without regard to the fact that Abbas's party, Fatah, was violently kicked out of Gaza by the rival Abbas now claims solidarity with, Hamas, and without asking him or his party to renounce violence or to recognize their neighbor, Israel.

It seems that not much has changed since 1939.  Jew-haters make up lies about Jews, use those lies as justification to kill Jews, and the world stands by and does nothing.  For the first time I feel that we Jews are on our own.  If we are not for ourselves, who will be for us?  The answer to that is clear.