It's All Our Fault (Not!)

Almost a year ago, I had the opportunity to comment on the above syndrome. In that context, I related the following true story:

This did remind me of a true story that a dear friend and colleague once told me. At the time, this person was teaching at an institution of higher learning in New York City. One day, a fellow faculty member was carried in beaten within an inch of his life and bleeding, after having been mugged on his way from the subway to the campus. Yet all he could say was, ‘It’s all our fault.’

I was prompted to invoke this story after hearing an otherwise distinguished professor suggest that if Israel would only give Syria the Golan and agree to a Syrian presence on the Kinneret, we could detatch Syria from Iran and life would be wonderful.

In other words, it's all our fault. The trouble is that the distinguished Professor has what in Israel we term a 'conceptsia' problem. He cannot believe that you can't make a deal with Assad (or Arafat or Nasrallah. Johnson thought he could deal with Ho Chi Minh. Right.) Well, people, you can't. It's not because Assad is irrational. It's because Syria defines itself as the legitimate ruler of Lower Syria (including Israel). So after the Golan, there are plenty of other claims to use.

So, it really is our fault. It's our fault because we're alive. We're fighting to stay that way, despite the best worst efforts of Messers Olmert, Peretz, Halutz and Ms. Livni (whose father must be spinning at 50K RPM's). God save us from these wimply leaders.

God Save Us. Period. (See previous post. It's the first time I ever hoped people in power would read Haaretz)