Oblivious to the Obvious

The 4th of July found me at the American consulate reception in Jerusalem. I have been there before and they didn't disappoint and served Ben and Jerry's, which I ate in embarrassingly copious amounts. They also had a nice kosher table (dairy this year, so I could eat real food AND ice cream) for those of us who couldn't avail ourselves of the shrimps and other delectables that were being passed around by the Arab waiters. Listen, I still pay taxes to Uncle Sam so I felt okay with the birthday gorge. At least on the fiscal level.

It was quite a Jerusalem mix; former MK Menachem Porush was there in a wheelchair, some nuns and men in cassocks, a very colorful crew and medley of languages. I decided to stand far away from arch terrorist Jibril Rajoub and even further from Salem Fayyad, the new Pal PM. Didn't see anyone selling him life insurance either, but I guess it wasn't the forum for that kind of thing. I did see some friends of ours from the medical profession including a psychiatrist, though. Hmmm. Nah, he must have been there for other reasons. The bar, perhaps.

I really wonder if anyone believes in this whole road map/Oslo/peace process anymore or if a lot of people are just too invested to admit the failures and the mess. The consul's speech was very telling. He spoke about the American Civil war and how horrible it had been, till everyone realized that all Americans needed to unite for the common good. (He neglected to mention how Arab slave traders set up that war by kidnapping Africans and bringing them to North America, causing black slavery and the controversy that came from it. Not too politically correct, I suppose.) Anyhow, initially I was confused. Was he referring to Israelis and Arabs? After double checking with the guy from Bnai Brith who was listening, too, I concluded that he was talking to the various 'factions' within Pal society. Did he think, though, this quite intelligent man, that quoting the Gettysburg Address re all men being created equal, and the American mandate for 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" was in any way going to get these guys to knock off their death culture? Can the government of the world's superpower still be so oblivious to the obvious?

Not possible. I guess they're going through the motions, letting people get tanked so that others can fill their tanks, and hoping for the best.

With my own PM letting terrorists out of jail I can't exactly complain that the Americans are entertaining some. They really can't be more Catholic than the Pope. And speaking of the Wholly C, he's now allowing an anti-Jewish liturgy back in their prayers. What a great idea. Now we know who Avrum Burg is advising.

I hope that next year I'll still see cassocks, not Cossacks. But the way things are going I wouldn't bet on it.