It is not a wise man (or nation) who bases policy decisions on how others will react to them. Taking the reactions into consideration or preparing for fallout are smart moves, but policy must be decided on the basis of the interest and benefit, not unpopularity or hate.
That’s a tough concept for some, which is why you see ignorance like trying to blame the United States for Iran hating Israel after the Iran deal announcement.
That kind of reaction is abundant today, too, following President Trump’s carrying through on his promise to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which is the capital city of Israel, no matter how much some try to say otherwise. It’s a weird coincidence that blaming the victim comes up so frequently on the left when the Jewish state is involved, don’t you think? Odd, that. Curious.
There has been negative reaction, of course. That’s an understatement. Doing the right thing often has dangerous consequences. You should do it anyway. We did. The president’s move was itself an end, and it stands as a positive one without regard to the inflamed terrorists and terror-kin or the media keen to enable them.
In fact, some of that negative reaction only serves to prove how right this move was.
Turkey, for example, is withdrawing its ambassador from D.C. back to Ankara in protest of the embassy move.
Turkey’s turn away from the West and toward the Middle East in posture, not to mention religious fervor, is hardly breaking news. Erdoğan and the Islamist AK Parti have taken the one-time economic and even military partner of Israel down the sinister path on which they remain, in support of anti-Israel forces and sentiment. The withdrawal of the ambassador not only is no surprise, it’s practically an endorsement.
It wasn’t their only move, though. Following the violence that broke out in Gaza, Erdoğan went on Turkish TV and had a meltdown.
“Israel is wreaking state terror. Israel is a terror state,” Erdoğan told Turkish students in London in a speech broadcast by state television. “What Israel has done is a genocide. I condemn this humanitarian drama, the genocide, from whichever side it comes, Israel or America
“We will continue to stand with Palestinian people with determination,” he added.
Like Erdoğan, the American press is generally treating the news of violence in Gaza the way they always treat news of violence perpetrated against Israel: by blaming Israel. And, of course, the United States.
It would be easy to say they simply want to oppose Trump, but that would grossly understate the degree to which blaming Israel is the first—and often only—reaction of Western media.
The “peaceful” protests that took place in Gaza over the embassy move included people with weapons cutting through the fences. Border checkpoints, where violence is nearly routine and Israeli soldiers face constant threat, were besieged. Molotov cocktails were used. No Israeli soldiers were killed, but hundreds of Palestinians were injured and perhaps a dozen or more killed (52 according to Gaza’s ministry of health).
Hamas, which is a terror group, is behind the protests, of course. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said that Hamas “deployed 12 separate terror ‘cells’ to try to breach the border at different spots, and that they were ordered to confront and try to kidnap Israeli soldiers,” according to a report by the Times of Israel.
As is obviously always the case, there are two parties to every clash. But you wouldn’t know it listening to the unified front from the likes of Erdoğan and the Western press. Read this paragraph, second from the top in a Guardian article just published.
As bodies fell on the border on what became the bloodiest day in Gaza since the 2014 war, US and Israeli officials celebrated the opening of the embassy.
Or this first paragraph, from an AP article literally headlined “55 dead in Gaza protests as Israel fetes US Embassy move”:
In a jarring contrast, Israeli forces shot and killed at least 55 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,200 during mass protests Monday along the Gaza border, while just a few miles away Israel and the U.S. held a festive inauguration ceremony for the new American Embassy in contested Jerusalem.
The best propaganda is that which paints your foe as indifferent to death. In the same article, the AP acknowledges that so-called protesters “hurled firebombs” at IDF soldiers or just indiscriminately over fences and walls. But the blame is on the embassy move, not on the decades of history or the stated Palestinian goal of killing all Jews or on, you know, the people throwing bombs of fire.
It’s better put, more succinctly, I think, by Bethany Mandel.
Here’s a better view of that tweet to which she is referring.
Gaza. (Khalil Hamra/AP) pic.twitter.com/aoGGTCl95G
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) May 14, 2018
Or how about this?
Read this: no fewer than 10 explosive devices targeting Israelis were detonated during today's violent Hamas-led riots at the Gaza-Israel border; gunfire was reported on at least 3 occasions; 17 kites carrying firebombs were dispatched into Israel, igniting 23 fires. (Channel 20) pic.twitter.com/KTwj5XlG8l
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) May 14, 2018
These were not protests. This was a coordinated assault using tens of thousands of Palestinians as cover. An act of premeditated violence. https://t.co/hWrOKNtNeg
— Avi Mayer (@AviMayer) May 14, 2018
The reaction from Erdoğan is indicative of a smart move by the U.S. because his anti-Western, anti-Israel posture means he’s opposed to that which is good for Israel.
The reaction from the press may not be indicative of success or righteousness in the same way, but it serves to demonstrate yet again where their sympathies go first and always. As Nikki Haley has enumerated at length, nearly countless other instances show that same impulse on the part of the UN General Assembly and other nations, too. Being opposed to Israel, and blaming them for violence against them is tres haute.
Deaths in the fight between Israel and those who oppose Israel are not new, they are not one-sided, and they are nothing to celebrate. The fact that Hamas would use this moment to attempt more terror against the Jewish state is no surprise, but it’s not good news. It’s merely confirmation that the enemies of Israel continue to oppose her. It’s all the more reason for Israel’s allies to show their support. Thankfully, the United States (and, in particular, the Trump administration) is willing not just to voice it but to demonstrate it.
Oh, and as for Erdoğan’s hissy fit, it’s an odd choice for a Turkish leader to bring up genocide, don’t you think? I mean, all things considered.
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