Opinion

OTHER VIEWS

Obama's Gold Saudi Medallion

A

lthough I am not a jeweler, I
would estimate that the solid-
gold chain and medallion given
to President Obama by the king of Saudi
Arabia is worth, at least, $500,000. A
token of good will, you say? A gesture of
friendliness? This may well prove to be the
heaviest albatross on the neck of the new
president!
Israel could not afford to give Obama
a solid-gold chain and medallion as the
Saudis did. We do not have oil fields flow-
ing beneath our deserts and cities. We
cannot sink pipelines deep into our soil
and produce millions of barrels of oil a
year. We hardly can find enough water
to provide for our basic agricultural
needs. Yet we have a free society based on
democratic principles, unique in the entire
Middle East. This is the only gift that we
can give to Obama. And if he does not
appreciate this for what it stands for, then
it is his shortcoming and not Israel's.
If the Saudi king could afford to give
Obama a half-million-dollar gift, he cer-
tainly could have managed, during the
past 10 years, to provide, to the fledgling

which resulted in the entire
Palestinian Authority, sufficient
south of Lebanon becoming a
amounts of money to feed its
stronghold for the Hezbollah.
population, build schools which
Rather than building a civilian
provide modern education, and
infrastructure, with a peaceful
provide electricity and sanita-
agenda, they built underground
tion facilities for all of it's popu-
bunkers, concrete strongholds,
lation. There are funds available
missile launching sites and
in the Arab world, from their
smuggling routes for munitions
vast oil revenues, to have built
through the mountains of Syria
a modern Palestinian state in
Dr. Leonard
into Lebanon — "And so we
Gaza and the West Bank 10
Lachover
learned!"
times over.
Community
Similarly, we learned from
Just as there is no end to the
View
Israel's unilateral withdrawal
oil revenues available in the
from the entire Gaza strip.
Arab world, similarly there is no
Not only was the military withdrawn as
motivation in the Arab world to fund the
it was in Lebanon, but also thousands
building of a Palestinian state. In fact, it is
of civilian Israelis who had made their
Israel who has been providing food, elec-
homes
in the Gaza area for decades and
tricity and fuel to Gaza, despite the shell-
who
created
a rich agricultural area, were
ing of Southern Israeli cities. And yet, the
Saudis are demanding "more concessions" forcibly uprooted by the Israeli police
and military forces. The result was the
from Israel as a pre-condition to starting
overthrow of the Abbas government,
peace talks.
militarization of the Gaza area, missiles
If we have learned one thing, it is that
appeasement does not work when you are launched on a daily basis into cities in
southern Israel, and finally the opera-
dealing with the Arab nations. This was
tion Cast Lead, which temporarily put
clear after the withdrawal from Lebanon,

a halt to the daily shelling — "again we
learned."
It is a well-established fact that if we
don't learn from history, we are doomed
to make the same mistakes over and
over again. By virtue of the Palestinians'
own acts and behavior, they have made
it crystal clear that they have no desire
for a peaceful co-existence with Israel. As
tempting as it may be to some, particu-
larly within the Obama administration,
we cannot ignore reality and pretend that
by flowery rhetoric and the wisp of a pen,
a new two-state system is in place. Israel
does not have to provide any good will
offerings or concessions.
We did that in 1947 with the accep-
tance of the United Nations partition
plan, which was turned down by the Arab
world. It is for the Palestinians to prove
that they are ready and worthy of run-
ning their own country, free of terror and
dedicated to the principles of free and
peaceful co-existence with Israel. ❑

Dr. Leonard Lachover is a West Bloomfield

resident.

it Could Have Been Worse

Washington

W bile certainly not the speech
I would deliver, President
Obama's June 4 speech in
Cairo was a lot better than the one I feared
— and I can promise you that leading
Muslims are very upset with several parts
of it.
President Obama's most explosive words
were about women. He called for equal
rights, stressing education and promis-
ing American support for such programs.
There is no theme that is more threatening
to the Middle East misogynist political
and religious leaders. Any real hope for
freedom and democracy in the region
rests with women and their supporters.
Obama grudgingly embraced President
Bush's call for democracy He reminded
his listeners of the enormous success
of America and Americans, and of our
revolutionary heritage. He promised
American support for freedom ... every-
where! Stressing that democracy is more
than elections, he reminded the audience
that a government's legitimacy requires
the consent of the governed. Obama
even got specific, referring to the need

A36 June 18 • 2009

had been driven out of Spain
to respect the rights of Copts
well before. If he meant to ref-
(targeted by Egyptian Muslims)
erence Islam's earlier, so-called
and Maronites (targeted by
Golden Age, "tolerance" is the
Lebanese Muslims).
wrong
word. Non-Muslims
For those who expected
were
permitted
to live, provided
him to put some distance
they submitted to Muslim rule
between the United States and
and paid their rulers, and Jews
Israel, Obama matter-of-factly
were better off in Muslim lands
described the bond between the
than in Christian areas during
two countries as "unbreakable:'
Michael
the Middle Ages. But "toler-
While failing to acknowledge
Ledeen
ance" as it is understood today,
our common commitment to
Special
was absent.
democracy, and sliding appall-
Commentary
He even credited Muslims
ingly into moral equivalence by
for the inventions of others —
comparing the Holocaust with
from the magnetic compass and algebra to
Israel's reaction to Palestinian terrorism,
the president's straightforward, unambigu- arches and printing. Apparently, Rome had
ous support for the Jewish state was exem- to await the Prophet before it could build
plary, as was his call for Israel's enemies to the Pantheon!
Obama's mishandling of Iran was the
abandon violence and accept Israel's exis-
most
troubling part of the speech. He could
tence. He doesn't like the settlements. Lots
have
cited
great Persian contributions to
of American presidents and secretaries of
Western
culture
or credited Cyrus the Great
state have said the same thing, as have lots
for
issuing
the
first
known document deal-
of Israelis.
ing with human rights. He didn't; Cyrus was
On the other hand, Obama's speech was
not a Muslim, after all. Instead, he regretted
rife with historical errors, most aimed at
American meddling in Iran in 1953 and
soothing Muslim sensibilities. He praised
then moved on to assure the mullahs that
Muslim "tolerance" during the Spanish
they were fully entitled to have a peaceful
Inquisition, despite the fact that Muslims

nuclear program. Not a word about Iranian
support of international terror, the dread-
ful repression of the Iranian people or the
frightful consequences if Iran achieves
nuclear capability.
This is the unfortunate byproduct of
Obama's diplomacy-only stance and reveals
the fundamental folly of his approach. No
matter how good (or bad) the words, ulti-
mately, only actions count. The only new
actions announced by the president were
good deeds, from a campaign against polio
to more student exchanges.
Yet there is real evil at work in the
Middle East; and while Obama promised
to fight against Al Qaida in Pakistan and
Iraq, he showed no sign of coming to grips
with the threat from Iran and Syria. Quite
to the contrary, the latest news is that we
are throwing a love fest in Damascus in
coming weeks. The world is simmering in
the familiar rhetoric and actions of move-
ments that seek to destroy us, and others
like us. Our enemies openly proclaim their
intentions, and carry them out whenever
they can and we rarely take them seriously
or act accordingly.

Ledeen on page A37