John Kerry still doesn’t get it

A few weeks ago, I wrote an open letter to John Kerry. I called it, Great Men Have Tried. And though I had no doubt my letter would fall on Kerry’s deaf ears, it served a purpose. It was read by a huge number of people. People have stopped me on the street to tell me that they liked it; I’ve heard from people around the globe — Jew and Christian thanking me or praising the article.

In general, I write… and then I post… and then, if I am lucky, I get people to read it and agree. Today it is the same. I heard something that angered me and so here I am again.

In case you didn’t figure it out, I was against Obama for President because I knew… yes, I knew he would be bad for Israel and the US. As I have chosen to live my life far from US borders, I don’t really have the right to claim the knowledge necessary to prove that early feeling regarding his actions in the US. I hear of massive quantities of bullets being purchased by the Department of Defense; of massive manpower cuts in US armed forces. I hear of a health plan that will cripple and hurt many and an economy stagnating under the weight of an ever-increasing national debt.

I hear of cities dying and homes being sold, if anyone will buy it, for a song; of families that owe mortgages larger than the value of the property. I hear that the streets that were not safe for a woman walking alone when I went to school in Manhattan, are becoming unsafe again. I hear of the breakdown of law and order and of mass killings.

Saddened for this reality, I can only say that this is, in part, what I thought would happen. This is all about Obama and America and as much as it pains me, it is not for me to comment. It is not my home losing value, not my life at risk because of his healthcare system.

But…

But when it comes to Israel, I have the right to speak. I will say that just as I cannot speak of what is good for America; American Jews and others have no right to speak about what is good for Israel. To JStreet and others, I will say that it is not your sons on our borders; not your children running from incoming missiles. You do not have to worry about how US pressure and interference will embolden our enemies or trigger more rocket storms like we had last week.

I knew Obama would be bad for Israel and he has been. I knew John Kerry would be bad… and I was right there as well. And so what brings me to this today… on a day where Jerusalem’s streets are filled with clowns and kings and I even saw Snow White this morning?

Despite the magic of the day, John Kerry’s latest comment infuriate me. He says he doesn’t understand why our Prime Minister insists on the Arabs recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. And yet, just nine days before, the hypocrite Secretary of State said that any agreement would have to guarantee Israel’s identity as the…well, he said “a” Jewish homeland.

So Kerry, do you have an evil twin? Are you going senile? Or do you have a master plan that would deny who we are, what we are, and all that we have strived to be?

It is not a mistake to tell the Arabs, from the outset, that accepting Israel in their presence means, by definition, that there will be a Jewish state here.

It is only a mistake, Kerry knows, because this is fundamentally something that the Arabs cannot and will not accept. And so, Kerry and Obama know, the minute this condition is announced as the showstopper it is, the show will… stop. The Arabs have had many showstoppers in the past – freeze settlements, release killers, agree to a two-state solution, on and on… and each time, Israel has caved in. We have one demand — recognize us for who and what we are…and the Arabs are adamant that they will not negotiate this and so Kerry comes back to pressure us.

All along, Abbas has been stringing Kerry along — Abbas’ goal is to get the maximum number of killers and terrorists released from Israeli jails. He has conceded nothing, given nothing, agreed to nothing. We, on the other hand, have released the killers of hundreds of Israelis. We have hurt and angered families already devastated by the loss of loved ones.

What Kerry said on March 4 was true — any peace agreement must, by definition, explicitly identify Israel as the Jewish homeland that it is. What made him change his mind just nine days later?

What Kerry has to understand is that alienating himself in Israel will not gain him much in the Arab world. All his flip flop does, each and every time, is make him that much less relevant to the discussion.

So a final word to John Kerry: Israel is the Jewish homeland. It is the only Jewish land in this world and it will be the Jewish homeland long after you have disintegrated into dust. Nothing you say will change that and your attempt to deny it is lunacy.

Until the Arabs accept three simple facts, there will be no peace:

1. Israel is the land of the Jewish people — by right, by might, by God. By history, by reality, by justice.
2. We are not fooled by English words of moderation — not from Abbas, not from Hamas, not from Hizbollah and Nasrallah, and not from John Kerry or Barack Obama.
3. The same force (and some would say Force) that helped create… recreate… the State of Israel after 2,000 years in exile is still in play today. Israel is forever a creation that defies all conventional thinking. We should not have defeated five Arab nations in 1948, and yet we did. We should not have been able to bring the Arabs to a standstill in 1967, and yet we did. Over 15,000 missiles and rockets and mortars fired at us from Gaza should have hit more, killed more… and yet they didn’t. By right, by might, by God, by history and reality and justice — Israel is not going anywhere.

As for John Kerry… as I wrote last month, greater men have tried but at least they were honest enough to admit from the outset that forcing Israel to the peace table just means we sit there alone.

We’re tired of waiting at the table, John Kerry. We were at the table in 1947 when the Arabs said no and chose war. We were at the table in 1956 and 1967 and 1973, when the Arabs chose war — each and every time. We have been at that table until we are sore in places I won’t mention.

So how about this time, you force the Arabs to the table with a reasonable plan and then give us a call and we’ll be right along.

Oh, and since you want to do this right — don’t forget the flags and the signs. The flag will have the Jewish star of David on it. I don’t know what their sign should say, but make sure ours clearly says:

Israel, Eternal State and Homeland of the Jewish People