Will Anyone Ever Look in the Mirror?

I am not a huge fan of Daniel Ayalon, who has been the pet of Avigdor Lieberman since this coalition came to power, which is what one would do if one were the Deputy Foreign Minister and the other the Foreign Minister. But this Foreign Ministry's efforts have been marked by a bastardization of statecraft and the deterioration of relations with the rest of the world as Lieberman pushes his agenda despite the fact that it was Netanyahu's coalition to ruin. Even more ridiculous is that Ayalon is a career diplomat in the Israeli Foreign Service, having been Ambassador to the US from 2002 until 2006, but the chain of command has led him to do a lot of stupid stuff, like put the Turkish Foreign Minister in a small chair and mock him in Hebrew as relations between the allies deteriorated, and refusing to see Congressmen visiting Israel on a tour with J Street.

But Ayalon's article on Foreign Policy's website show that he still has the skill for statecraft and can write about the misuse of the UN that leads to criticism of Israel while other states operate without hearing a single word in response to their disgusting acts. Somehow, while on the Human Rights Committee, Libya even had a report filed to demonstrate how free and transparent they are. The report mentions that people were allowed free speech until it became harmful to the state. But who would notice all those secret detentions? Gaddafi's delusions were pushed to the margins because so many others are, like him, Muslim and Arab, so why should we really care? Instead they focus on the actions of one small group that makes up less than 1/1000th of the world population. It is true that Israel has committed violations of human rights, and it irks me that this admission continues to not enter the official position of the Israeli government, as it is a necessary step towards normalizing relations. Especially when in this context, where Ayalon seems to play Israel off as an archangel of human rights.

Let's run through the highlight nations of human rights abusers on the Human Rights Council (Note: I remember the Nakba and other events that affected the Palestinians, it's just that I aim to show how bad everyone else is too):

Saudi Arabia: Yes, you can still get the death penalty for numerous offenses, including anti-government rhetoric (which I would assume doesn't have too high a bar to jump over), adultery, theft, and homosexuality.

Cuba: Where technology can't be introduced until the government figures out how to control it. And even after the introduction, people are scared to use them.

Pakistan: Two government officials have recently been killed in Pakistan: one for trying to protect a Christian woman from being convicted of blasphemy, the other for being a Christian.

Bahrain: They're essentially engaged in the same situation as Libya, except with less fighter jets bombing their people. Of course, the Human Rights Council would never condemn one of its own members until Libya was suspended.

China: The worst one but with the most economic clout, so who really cares? Critics of the government get to enjoy house arrest and harassment from police. Also, does anyone remember the suppression of Tibetan activism and assault on Buddhist monks and how the Chinese started to censor foreign singers from criticizing their imperialism?

United States: Name one state that hasn't violated human rights. Even as an American, a balanced lens is a patriotic lens when looking at the history of your own country. Remember when we deposed Saddam Hussein and catalyzed a civil war in Iraq? How about Grenada? What about the occupation of the Philippines for 48 years and the violent putting down of any insurrection against American rule or independence from it? And what about using those atomic bombs at the end of World War II? Were they really necessary?

How does the UN think it can uphold human rights to its standards when there is no accountability on the committee that decides who has violated these rights? Or let a conference on racism turn into a pseudo-academic pursuit of claiming that Zionism is racism? The UN is extremely messed up, and it will continue to be because it requests no accountability within nations, only that they show up to the General Assembly and pay their dues. This is why I could never get enthused about Model United Nations, because it was pipe dreams of an effective international body that can never exist in the real world.

Separate is NEVER Equal, Avigdor Lieberman's Megalomania Begins to Catch Up, and a Disgusting Act in Tel Aviv

It's been tough to get this blog updated recently, mostly due to a lack of internet connection in my new digs, so now as I wait for a warm laffa with chicken among other treats inside, I update you on the important stuff since the last time I posted.
The biggest thing for me this week was watching this video on youtube and trying to put it into a context that Americans would understand:

As an American, the first two Supreme Court cases I learned about were Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, which set precedents for segregation and integration of African-Americans respectively (African-Americans are still not completely integrated, as is any minority in any country due to the fact that racial/religious majorities will always be scared of an uprising that destroys their rule).
Palestinians are looking at a comparable situation, where the Israeli government evicts them from their homes in order to give them to Jewish families.
Palestinian statehood is a necessity to mollify these problems, but as I continue to say, Israel needs to help. Arab states are known for not being major financial donors in aiding Palestinian development, so Israel must help. For the security wall to work, for Abbas to have real power in the West Bank and possibly have it translate to Gaza, Israel needs to help Palestinian development by improving services such as hospitals and transportation along with basic infrastructure so that there isn't need for people to oppose the state and it can flourish.
This brings me to my next topic: the possible coming fall of Avigdor Lieberman from power. After the US response to the evictions, Lieberman decided to fight back against international opinion by advising the Foreign Ministry to circulate pictures of Hitler and and the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who had met with Hitler to help devise a plan for exterminating the Jews of the Middle East. Lieberman is essentially using the photo to blackmail Western countries into ceasing demands of stopping settlements and condemning the evictions.
This is all a nice distraction, since the Israeli police recently came out with a plan to indict Lieberman for some financial dealings that allowed him to pocket around 10 million NIS while serving in Knesset and as Foreign Minister. Lieberman was reportedly usually careful to not leave a paper trail behind him, but this time was unsuccessful. He had plans to avoid any sort of charges that he got with his deal to join Netanyahu's coalition by getting the Ministries that deals with legal matters under his party's control, but a minister from his party let it continue. So now Lieberman looks like he may be on the way out. Moshe Katsav never thought anything would happen to him, and now he sits as a blacksheep somewhere out of the public eye (probably better for him).
Also on Saturday, a man wearing black attacked a Gay and Lesbian center in Tel Aviv where a support group was meeting, killing 2 and injuring others. Netanyahu and Shimon Peres have come out deriding the incident (still haven't heard from National Religious or Shas, because they probably would say something extremely stupid). And this is definitely a hate crime. I will not pin blame on anyone, but this person was not that mad and blind, he obviousl had some sort of plan to terrorize innocent people who were in the process of coming to grips withtheir identity.
I was in the Golan this weekend, and I have to say, it is a beautiful place. I can't imagine what it would be like under Syrian control, as the Syrians loved to use the advantage in elevation to terrorize Israelis living in the North. But it has such great scenery and awesome hikes that have been incorporated so well into the Israeli National Park system. All I can say is
העם צריך להיות עם הגולן-The nation needs to be with the Golan.