I'm not sure if J.J Goldberg deserves a tap on the wrist or a kick in the crotch for the misstep he takes in his great piece in the current Forward.
The article's premise is Netanyahu's response to the events of last week have been tone deaf and diplomatically detrimental. As he writes:
Israelis rightly complain when Palestinian leaders express regret for attacks on Israelis, but then hedge it with excuses or trash-talk about what’s wrong with Israel. The second part undoes the good in the opening words. Israelis should know better than to do the same thing.
The Palestinian public feels, much as Israelis do, that an attack like the arson murder in Duma village is an attack on all of them. Palestinians need, just like Israelis at such a moment, to hear from the other side that it understands and shares their grief. Statements like Netanyahu’s — which boil down to “It’s too bad but it’s not our fault and anyway you’re worse” — don’t cut it. The moment calls for solace, not insult.So far so good.
J.J is also on firm ground when he bludgeons Netanyahu for the little lie, often repeated by the P.M and other Jews, about how "we" put murderers on trial, while "they" name public squares after them.
The fact is many, many Israeli streets are named after assassins, terrorists and murderers. J.J gives us a list that includes Lord Moyne's assassins, Hersh Lekert, who tried to kill the governor of Vilna, and Sholom Schwartzbard who gunned down a Ukranian rebel leader on a Paris street.
Are we blaming Grynszpan for Kristallnacht? Grynszpan was a pretext. The Nazi rampage was planned long before Grynzpan walked into the embassy and shot Ernst von Rath. Had Grysnzpan not provided the fake reason, the Nazis would have manufactured something else.
NEXT POST: How do we make a distinction between the Jewish terrorists J.J mentions and the Arab terrorists who also have streets named in their honor? And is Herschel Grynspan really a terrorist? If you can't shoot a Nazi, who can you shoot?
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