With "friends" like Thomas Friedman, a revered columnist for the New York Times, Israel hardly needs any enemies. In his latest advice column "It's Time for the US to Give Israel Some Tough Love," this author advises the only democracy in the Middle East to sue for peace with Yahya Sinwar and Hamas, under the following conditions:
"…total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, in return for all the Israeli hostages and a permanent cease-fire under international supervision, including US, NATO and Arab observers. And no exchange of Palestinians in Israeli jails."
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And what, pray tell, does this worthy contemplate would then occur? Hamas and its leader Yahya Sinwar, might exult initially, but then would pay a very hefty price.
I am now going to quote Mr. Friedman on this matter, and then, again, a second time. In the latter case with a few substitutions.
Here is the first draft:
"Israel should just get out and let the person who started this terrible war, knowing but not caring that it would lead to the death and destruction of thousands of innocent Gazans, manage the cleanup. And that is the Hamas leader, Sinwar. The best way to discredit and destroy Sinwar is for Israel to leave Gaza and make him come out of his tunnel, face his people and the world, and own Gaza's rebuilding on his own.
"I can tell you from experience what I think will happen. On the first day, Sinwar will strut around the rubble of Gaza like a peacock, declaring how he and his men inflicted terrible damage on the Jews, and supporters will carry him on their shoulders, shouting 'Allahu akbar.'
"On Day 2, with the Israelis gone, they will scream at Sinwar publicly and privately: What were you thinking? Who gave you permission to launch this war? Who is going to repair my home? Who is going to bring back my loved ones? How are you going to get any help rebuilding Gaza if you keep on lobbing missiles at Tel Aviv?"
Here is how this material looks with but a few substitutions:
"The United States should just get out and let the person who started this terrible World War II, knowing but not caring that it would lead to the death and destruction of thousands of innocent Germans, manage the cleanup. And that is the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler. The best way to discredit and destroy Hitler is for America to leave Germany and make Hitler come out of his bunker, face his people and the world, and own Germany's rebuilding on his own.
"I can tell you from experience what I think will happen. On the first day, Hitler will strut around the rubble of Germany like a peacock, declaring how he and his men inflicted terrible damage on the French, Poles, English, and supporters will carry him on their shoulders, shouting 'Seig Heil' and 'Heil Hitler.'
"On Day 2, with the Americans gone, they will scream at Hitler publicly and privately: What were you thinking? Who gave you permission to launch this war? Who is going to repair my home? Who is going to bring back my loved ones? How are you going to get any help rebuilding Germany if you keep on lobbing missiles at the Allies?"
In other words, the "punishment" for this junior would-be Adolf, Yahya Sinwar, is not execution. Nor is it life imprisonment. No, justice requires that he remain in Gaza, as its chief executive, and try to rebuild that territory. Is Friedman a graduate of Harvard, MIT , or U Penn?
To employ the words of this wordsmith once again, "I can tell you from experience what I think will happen" if Friedman's plan is implemented.
Yes, this editorialist has the first day of reinstituting Hamas leadership down pat alright; there will be a lot of congratulatory "Allahu Akbars" heard all over the place. But, on the second day, if any Gazan dares criticize Yahya Sinwar or any other Hamas leader, as mentioned by Friedman as occuring, he will be shot. On the third day, Sinwar and his fellow terrorists will start once again building and rebuilding those tunnels in preparation for the next invasion of Israel. On the fourth day, the dictator of Hamas will once again start placing rocket launchers in hospitals and schools. On the fifth day , Sinwar will raise money from Qatar, from the other wealthy Arab countries, and from left wing "progressives" like Thomas Friedman. On the sixth day, he will give a speech at the UN, blaming Israel for war crimes. He will rest on the seventh day. And on the eighth day, he will do his best to once again emulate the atrocities for which he was responsible on that day of dishonor, October 7, 2023.
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