RWers reinvent history

An epidemic of RW revisionism seems to be underway today.

First an example from my own comment thread, with the smackdown provided by Charlie Hall

Daganev said: 'The roadmap was invented by Clinton, what do you mean Bush intorduced it???'

Charlie Hall replied: It is amazing how right wingers will do anything to deny facts that aren't consistent with their preconceived notions.

The Road Map was published by the State Department under George W. Bush on April 30, 2003. Clinton had been out of office for over two years. It specifically referred to events that occurred after Clinton left office: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps.../2003/ 20062.htm

I am sure that you believe with perfect faith that George W. Bush does not believe the things he put in the Road Map, that he doesn't support a Palestinian State, that he does not support Israeli withdrawl from occupied territories, that he does not oppose further settlements in the occupied territories. It takes perfect faith to believe that because the Road Map includes all those things. And to believe that, you must believe that he is a liar.

Next we go to Cross Currents where Joseph takes down the always unreliable Yaakov Menken

Yaakov said: ...just a gentle reminder: the majority of Jewish residents of Israel voted against Labor and against the ill-considered peace plan. The liberals drove the process forward, oblivious to the fact that they were only able to do so thanks to the support of Arab Knesset representatives—many of whom have, in the intervening years, openly taken the side of our enemies [DB: Yaakov's link leads to an article about Wasal Taha. Wasal Taha was not in the Knesset when Oslo was debate and accepted.]

Joseph replied: ...it is simply not true that the majority of Jewish residents voted against Labor or against Oslo.

In 1999 Ehud Barak won a direct election of the prime minister with 56 percent of the vote, suggesting very strongly that a majority of Israelis agreed even with those policies of his that may have been influenced by Bill Clinton. Anyway, Barak didn’t run as a candidate from Labor, but as a member of the One Israel Party (an alliance of the Labor, Gesher and Meimad Parties)

The vote on the Oslo Accords was held in the Knesset on Septmeber 23, 1994 in the form of a motion of no-confidence that the opposition brought against the accords and their Labor formulators. (Israeli voters were never given the chance to vote on Oslo) The vote passed 61-50 with 8 abstentions (all 8 were Shas, that’s right, Shas(!) abstained)

There were only two Arab in the Knesset at that time (Abdulwahab Darawshe and Talab El-Sana) so it’s very hard for me to understand why you think that a Labor coalition with Arabs pushed Oslo through.

As for other votes on the peace processs…

The Hebron Agreement was approved by the Knesset on January 16, 1997, by a majority of 87 in favor, 17 against and one abstention. The Knesset also approved the Wye River Memorandum (signed in October 1998 in Washington) within the framework of a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister on November 17, 1998, by a majority of 75 in favor, 19 against, and nine abstentions. Both of these votes took place during the Netanyahu years.

Based on these facts, I fail to understand why you think that Arab support was essential to the acceptance by the Keneeset of the Oslo accords or to the elevtion of Ehud Barak in 1999. I also think you are discounting the two essential agreements (Hebron and Wye) accepted by the Kenesset by very wide margins during the Netanyahu administration.

It seems clear from this that during the 1990s Israelis – Jews, and non Jews alike – supported the peace procees.