Thursday, April 30, 2009
Went this evening to a "dialogue" sponsored by the Newton Human Rights Commission between Israeli Consul General Nadav Tamir and the PLO's man Husam Zomlot entitled "Prospects for Peace Between Israelis and Palestinians." Brutal to sit through. Here are some quick impressions of how it went:
Tamir: I'm not here to make accusations or look backward. We need to look forward and I am optimistic that peace can happen. We are all friends. [Forward thinking, positive, but a man with sufficient excess of power to afford the luxury of graciousness.]
Enter the victim, stage right.
Zomlot: (I swear Adam Sandler studied this guy for his Zohan character) Occupation. Victimized we are. As poor unfortunate, impoverished, uneducated people, we can't be responsible for anything we do...not that we do anything. We were hopeful many times, but...occupation, bad Israelis. I'm pessimistic, but you can't blame me...for anything. Occupation?!
Questioner: What about those rockets those people keep launching from Gaza? I mean, there were soldiers out in the open but they just launched rockets over their heads at hospitals. What's up with that?
Zomlot: Occupation. We can't be responsible or criticized. We are occupied and starving. [Never address or even mention the word "rocket". Never admit any fault.]
Tamir: We are hopeful. Let's look forward.
Questioner: What about your support for Hamas? Have you read what they say about Jews in their charter?
Zomlot: Occupation. There wasn't always an H...thingy...people. We need to include everyone in a democratic process.
Questioner: What about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism? How does that figure in for prospects of peace?
Zomlot: What's wrong with people getting in touch with their religion? (Seriously.)
Tamir played it "above the fray" and never took on any of Zomlot's many distortions and many, many omissions.
Was that the right strategy? Largely tonight I doubt it mattered. Most of the packed house was well decided (and mostly pro-Israel). There were two International Relations students from UMass sitting in front of me who were nodding their heads off every time Zomlot played the "We can't be responsible, we're poor victims" card. Take that as you will.
Zomlot was also quite optimistic that the way things are in Europe politically will, sometime soon, be the direction things go in this country as well. Take that as you will, too.
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Cause he sure isn't going to be with the Israeli Foreign Ministry long, at least if this description of a three-page letter he sent to Netanyahu's office is accurate. Tamir is our local Israeli Consul, last seen in...uh...discussion (I wouldn't... Read More
What's a Nice PLO Boy Doing Aiding the Gaza Flotilla? Husam Zomlot has been the toast (Visiting Fellow) of Harvard's Center for Middle East Studies for some time now. He is best buddies with Sara Roy, the Hamas apologist,... Read More
You are misrepresenting what happened by making it sound like: "Lie. Distort. Lie. Distort."
It was more like: "Tell a joke. Lie. Smile affably. Distort. Warmly engage the audience. Lie. Tell another joke. Distort. Smile affably again."
As for was it the right strategy? On one hand, I wish Tamir had addressed some specific facts. But I think if he had spent his time doing that it would have made him look defensive, and as it stands I think he looked much more positive, and most importantly, more willing to move forward than Zomlot.
In particular, he had the last word at the end of the day on the ridiculous question about the U.N., and that answer played very very well - I even saw some propals clapping for what he said.
ANM
Tamir is a wimp and a poor representative for Israel. When confronted with the Iranian threat a couple years ago, his biggest concern was for the travel and tourism industry in Israel, lest people be too worried about the threat and stay away from the country.
I was there too. Pretty accurate summary, I would say. Zomlot is clearly a smart guy, but he loses credibility by (a) not answering questions; and (b) denying ANY responsibility to Palestinians for anything. No wonder he's pessimistic.
I thought Tamir was excellent, he's a great face for Israel.