Considering the alternatives

I am currently typing this article on a computer that I loathe.  My old laptop died about a month ago and I have since been anxiously awaiting my shiny new, Windows 8-loaded, HP ultrabook. Unfortunately, the new computer was not ideal for my needs. I dislike Windows 8, there is almost no memory (100 GB total!) available on the hard drive and don’t even get me started on what is happening to my music library!

The reason I purchased this laptop without properly vetting it was simple: My old computer crashed, I was in desperate need of a new one and this particular model was available for purchase and shipment right away.  It appeared to pass the briefest of eyeball test, but truthfully I felt I had no alternative, so I ordered it hastily without a second thought. I opted for something I did not know enough about because I felt as if I had very few other viable options. This was a costly (literally and figuratively) decision.

For those of you who feel like they may have accidentally stumbled onto Techcrunch.com instead of the Jerusalem Post let me assure you that you are in the right place.

Last Thursday the Palestinian Authority was upgraded to non-member observer state at the United Nations. Many on the left of the political spectrum have trumpeted this ‘accomplishment’ as a tremendous boon to the peace process. Among those is former Prime Minister and current convicted felon Ehud Olmert. If you haven’t been following Israeli politics lately here is a brief catch-me-up on Mr. Olmert: Since being convicted of breach-of-trust in July the esteemed former head-of-state has been indicted yet again on corruption charges while simultaneously playing a game of will-her/won’t he return to politics that statistically no one in the state of Israel cares about.

The general anathema of the people to his involvement in any part of the public sector hasn’t slowed him down one bit however. Speaking at the Saban Forum in Washington DC on Saturday Olmert sharply criticized the Netanyahu government for responding to the UN vote with the authorization the of 3,000 housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. “Olmert accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu''s government of ''not being dedicated to the peace process in a realistic way that will bring peace.''"

Furthemore, Olmert inevitably found himself discussing perhaps his most preferred topic…himself and his (obviously highly-successful) policies while in office. “Discussing his own efforts to make peace with Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, Olmert said that agreeing to concessions on Jerusalem was ‘the most difficult moment’ of his life. ‘It was very very painful,’ Olmert [said], ‘and yet I knew there was no alternative.’”

The honorable US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined in on the fun as well. The great humanitarian “called on Jerusalem to bolster the Palestinian Authority, even as she disagreed with the Palestinians’ decision to seek unilateral recognition at the UN. ‘These activities [approving E1 construction] set back the cause of a negotiated peace.’”

Why, Madame Sectary, should Israel do so? Because “we also need to see that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank still offers the most compelling alternative to rockets and permanent resistance,” she added.

Such is the terrifying mindset of the Chamberlain-like liberal. They hold that we must do things that appall us because there is “no alternative”. The liberal in today’s peace-process wants the people to feel helpless and hopeless. They know that it is the only way the majority of the population would accept the ludicrous and essentially suicidal proposals they shamelessly put forth day-in and day-out.

I did, in fact, feel helpless this week. On Saturday night, a mere 48 hours after the PA vote took place, and I fired up the Jpost app and these were the headlines that greeted me:

 

Mr. Olmert and Mrs. Clinton, dealing with people as irresponsible with their words and actions as the Palestinians are is far from our only choice. In fact, it is the irresponsible choice, not just for Israel’s sake but for the world. All of these actions are unfolding on the world stage and with each appeasment tyrants world-wide are becoming more and more emboldened. There must be a correlation between responsible and proper conduct and the treatment given by the leaders of the globe.

We must never feel like there is no alternative no matter how many times the modern-day liberal tries to pound it into our psyche. There is always an alternative. Doing nothing is an alternative. Saying no is an alternative. We must not be rattled into an agreement that is detrimental to our very existance. How many times have the liberals cried “think of the alternatives” before the pragmatists prepared for war?! Now, with the tables turned, we must adhere to the idea that there are no other options?! The modern day liberal agenda is nothing but an ideology of organized hypocrisy.

In his critically-acclaimed book “The Case for Democracy”, Natan Sharansky, a man with a tremendous amount of first-hand knowledge of the horrors of tyranny, wrote “over the years, I have come to understand a critical difference between the world of fear and the world of freedom. In the former, the primary challenge is finding the inner strength to confront evil. In the latter, the primary challenge is finding the moral clarity to see evil.”

When the people who dance in the streets after a bus is blown up in Tel Aviv are rewarded with a higher level of international respect, that action is cowardly and immoral. We will not SETTLE for giving up parts of Jerusalem because we are under continuous physical and emotional peril. We must, instead find the inner strength and moral clarity to see them for the evil that the PA as well as Hamas represents.

It is not the moral high ground to force an agreement down Israel’s throat in the name of humanitarianism. It is not a sign of strength to insist upon supporting an organization that systematically disseminates propaganda, such as the outrageous ‘intentional AIDS infection’ claim, because peace must be reached at all costs. Morality, true morality, not the pathetic blatherings of the Hillary Clintons (whose family is certainly qualified to lecture others on morality!) of the world, is about doing what is right, not doing what is available to us.

I will learn from my mistakes. As I search for solutions to my laptop problem, I will be sure not to make the same mistake twice. If possible, I am hopeful that I can still return it thus eliminating the problem. The Jewish state must learn from its mistakes going forward as well if there is to be any hope. The land of Israel is far too important to be treated like the pawn of political correctness it has tragically become. The left is hopeful that they can return it like an unsatisfactory electronics product, but unlike my new HP, this will hardly eliminate the problem. It will more likely just eliminate hope.