Suggested Answers to the Second Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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Suggested Answers to the Second Short Quiz - The Abraham Accords and Realpolitik


Question 1

Although Henry Kissinger did NOT invent the concept of “realpolitik,” did he preach it so incessantly that it became a “bed rock” concept in the American lexicon?

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Is “realpolitik” a word from Kissinger’s native German that advocates basing diplomacy on realism/pragmatism rather than on ideology?

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

In Kissinger’s case, did “realpolitik” mean most famously his 1973 “Opening to China” to drive a wedge between the Soviet Union and Communist China?

Answer 3

Yes.

Question 4

When Israel proclaimed its statehood on 5/14/1948 IAW United Nations Resolution 181 of 11/29/1947 which “kicked out” the Brits and divided “Palestine” into a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State” based on ownership of land (which per a careful U.N. study of who owned what meant much of each “state” comprised islands within the other “state”), did Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon immediately invade Israel in a War of Annihilation?

Answer 4

Yes.

Question 5

BTW, despite the Brits permitting VIRTUALLY NO Jewish immigration 1917-1943 and ABSOLUTELY NO Jewish immigration 1943-1948, did the U.N. Report on which Resolution 181 was based show that there were only 1,077 thousand Muslims out of a total population of 1,846 thousand – or 58.3%?

Answer 5

Yes.

Two prevalent historical errors are often encountered --

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The Balfour Doctrine

What became Palestine remained part of the Ottoman Turk Empire until it was captured by the British in 1917 as part of World War I.

In 1923, the League of Nations divided the area into four parts – giving France “mandates” to rule what the League created and called Lebanon and Syria, and Britain “mandates” to rule what the League created and called Iraq and Palestine.

However, immediately after the capture of the entire area by Britain in 1917, British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour wrote a letter to the head of the world-wide Rothschild family promising that Jews not currently living in Palestine would be permitted to make it their national home.

This letter (aka the “Balfour Declaration” or the “Balfour Doctrine”) was the basis for Hitler’s claim that Germany had been “stabbed in the back” by international Jewry toward the end of World War I. Certainly its substance, its timing, and the person to whom it was addressed lend credence to Hitler’s claim (though, of course, there is little or no evidence that the international financial-powerhouse Rothschild family actually took any action as a result of the letter from Balfour).

Although the Balfour Doctrine had promised Jews not living in Palestine in 1917 a homeland there, the British following the end of World War I decided that it was more important from the viewpoint of oil supplies to renege on the Balfour Doctrine – which is why there is little or no evidence that the international Rothschild family reacted to Arthur Balfour’s letter since they were probably properly skeptical.

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The 1960 Hollywood Movie “Exodus” Starring Paul Newman Was A Hoax

When Hitler’s concentration camps opened and the international community refused to permit German Jews to immigrate into their countries (including the famous ship loaded with Jewish refugees that sailed around the world and was refused by everyone, including the U.S., to permit its passengers to disembark and eventually had to sail the Jewish refugees back to Germany), Britain announced a policy in 1939 that Jewish immigration in Palestine would be limited to a grand total of 75,000 for the next 5 years (i.e., 15,000/year) and prohibited thereafter.

This policy was strictly enforced. Indeed, the Hollywood movie Exodus starring Paul Newman was a hoax. On July 11, 1947, the Exodus sailed from Sète, France loaded with 4,515 European Jewish Holocaust Survivors. It was intercepted by the British Royal Navy (1) in violation of international law because it occurred on the high seas, and (2) with loss of life including some Americans among the crew. It was escorted to Cyprus where the 4,515 European Jewish Holocaust Survivors were imprisoned briefly.

The movie falsely shows the 4,515 European Jewish Holocaust Survivors (which the movie says numbered only 611), making a daring escape from the British prison back to the Exodus, and engaging in a hunger strike that forced the Brits to permit the Exodus and its human cargo to sail to Haifa.

There was no escape or hunger strike in Cyprus. The Brits did sail Exodus to Haifa, where the Brits re-loaded the 4,515 European Jewish Holocaust Survivors onto three more sea-worthy vessels. The Brits then sent the 4,515 human cargo back to France. It was at Port-de-Bouc near Marseilles that on August 2, 1947, the 4,515 European Jewish Holocaust Survivors refused to disembark and engaged in their 24-hour hunger strike. In response, the French refused to force them to disembark. So the Brits sailed them to Hamburg located in the British occupation zone of Germany, from which the Brits transported the 4,515 European Jewish Holocaust Survivors to be imprisoned in the Pöppendorf Concentration Camp at Lübeck, Germany which was also in the British occupation zone.

Question 6

Did the 1967 Arab-Israel War comprise another attempt by Israel’s Arab neighbors (primarily Egypt, Syria and Jordan) to annihilate Israel?

Answer 6

Yes.

Question 7

BTW, did the 1967 Arab-Israeli War result in Israeli occupation of the West Bank (which had been part of Jordan) and the Gaza Strip (which had been owned by Egypt)?

Answer 7

Yes.

From the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War until the 1967 Arab Israeli War –

(1) The West Bank had been an integral part of Jordan which had annexed the West Bank and made its residents Jordanian citizens; but

(2) The Gaza Strip was simply occupied/owned by Egypt which did NOT annex it and did NOT make its residents Egyptian citizens.

Question 8

Did the 1973 Arab-Israeli War comprise yet another attempt by Israel’s Arab neighbors (primarily Egypt and Syria) to annihilate Israel?

Answer 8

Yes.

Question 9

Did Pulitzer-Prize winner Seymour Hersh's “The Samson Option: Israel’s Nuclear Option and American Foreign Policy” (Random House 10/27/1991) describe –

• Israel’s nuclear-weapons program as of the 1973 War?

• How prior to the 1973 attack by Egypt, Israel had a policy that if it ever had fewer than 24 hours to go until annihilation it would fire its nuclear missiles which incidentally were AIMED AT RUSSIAN CITIES RATHER THAN ARAB CAPITALS?

• How the Israeli cabinet believed they were within 24 hours of annihilation by Syria during the 1973 war because Israel had been rationing its ammunition vis-à-vis which Henry Kissinger had been refusing to re-supply Israel for 12 months?

• How the Israeli cabinet decided to fire their nuclear missiles AFTER firing a telex to Kissinger giving him a “heads up” on what would be “going down” within a matter of minutes?

• How Kissinger responded immediately that the Israelis should begin firing their conventional ammunition “as if there were no tomorrow” and that American re-supply planes would take off at dawn?

• How, as a result, the Israelis did begin “firing as if there were no tomorrow,” the Syrian lines stabilized, and Israel did not become the answer to a trivia question (What WAS Israel???)???

Answer 9

Yes to all parts of Q-9.

Question 10

Did President Jimmy Carter successfully negotiate the 9/17/1978 peace agreement and normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt?

Answer 10

Yes.

Question 11

Did President Bill Clinton successfully negotiate the 10/26/1994 peace agreement and normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Jordan?

Answer 11

Yes.

Question 12

Did American foreign policy prior to President Trump call for a “two-state” solution pursuant to which Gaza and the West Bank would become an independent Arab state?

Answer 12

Yes.

Question 13

In 2000, was President Clinton successful in negotiating a “two-state” solution with Israel and Yasser Arafat (Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian National Authority)?

Answer 13

Yes.

Question 14

However, did Yasser Arafat renege on the agreement because, in his Arabic speeches to his Palestinian followers, he had always promised undying enmity toward Israel and promised to never rest until Israel “was thrown into the sea” and, when he returned to Palestine, he found that he hadn’t prepared his followers sufficiently to accept his Peace Plan and that he would be deposed?

Answer 14

Yes.

Question 15

Did Israel unilaterally pull out of Gaza in 2005, including the forced repatriation by the Israeli Government of all Jewish “settlers” back to Israel?

Answer 15

Yes.

Question 16

Has Israel been rewarded for unilaterally giving Gaza its independence in a partial or first-step “two-state solution” with sporadic missile attacks from Gaza, many of which have been intense?

Answer 16

Yes.

Question 17

Is this surprising in view of what Gazans and Palestinians have been taught for decades in their schools? In other words, is democracy meaningless without citizens having accurate information?

Answer 17

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 18

So how does REALPOLITIK now figure???

Answer 18

Please read on.

Question 19

Has Iran been, according to the U.S. State Department, the “No. 1 State Sponsor of Terrorism” since 1984 – threatening all of its neighbors and, inter alia, conducting a “proxy war” against Saudi Arabia?

Answer 19

Yes.

Question 20

Does the Obama Administration’s “Iran Nuclear Deal” guarantee Iran nuclear weapons by 2030?

Answer 20

Yes.

Question 21

So is it any wonder that the “Gulf State Six” (aka The Gulf State Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates) would exercise realism/pragmatism and turn to Israel’s “nuclear umbrella” since Israel shares the same existential threat from Iran?

Answer 21

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 22

Are the “Abraham Accords” peace agreements and normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco?

Answer 22

Yes.

Question 23

Is Benjamin Netanyahu correct that the “Abraham Accords” could not have been achieved without the tacit approval of Saudi Arabia over which Israel obtained commercial overflight privileges to reach the UAE and Bahrain?

Answer 23

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 24

Were all four “Abraham Accords” reached in 2020 after strenuous efforts by the Trump Administration?

Answer 24

Yes.

Question 25

And hasn’t President Trump claimed on multiple occasions that many other countries, including Saudi Arabia, were on the brink of reaching their own “Abraham Accords” with Israel and would have done so early in a second Trump Administration?

Answer 25

Yes.

Question 26

Isn’t President Trump a hero, if not a Deity, in Israel not only because of the Abraham Accords but also for moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognizing Israel’s ownership of the Golan Heights, etc., etc.?

Answer 26

Yes.

Question 27

Are the “Abraham Accords” named for God’s Covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 – “I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee”?

Answer 27

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 28

BTW, is God’s promise to bless them that bless Israel and curse him that curseth Israel the reason why most Christians and virtually all Evangelicals support Israel? And support Donald Trump for his support of Israel?

Answer 28

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!



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Addendum – The NY Times’ Dec 17 Editorial Board Comment on Benjamin Netanyahu’s Nov 1 Election Victory

Question 1

Did we note on the face of the next section of this website entitled “Reference Materials” that we traditionally post in that section book reviews of our focus book from the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post – BUT THAT THE NY TIMES HAD SHIRKED ITS DUTY?

Answer 1

Yes.

Question 2

Within 48 hours of our “twit,” did the NY Times post on Dec 17 an Editorial Board Comment on Benjamin Netanyahu’s Nov 1 Election Victory which is available at viewtopic.php?f=722&t=2286&sid=8f509525 ... a5538e9f17?

Answer 2

Yes.

Question 3

Is the main theme of the NY Times Editorial Board Comment that the Palestinians must still be given their own state IAW the so-called “two-state” solution featured by American foreign policy for more than half a decade?

Answer 3

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 4

Does the NY Times Editorial Board ignore the fact that in 2000 all Yasser Arafat had to do was say “yes” to the “two-state” solution that he had negotiated with Israel and President Bill Clinton?

Answer 4

So it would appear.

Question 5

Does the NY Times Editorial Board ignore the fact that in 2005 Israel unilaterally gave Gaza its independence for which Israel has been rewarded with sporadic but intense missile attacks?

Answer 5

So it would appear.

Question 6

Why doesn’t the NY Times recognize that the Arab countries have moved on BECAUSE REALPOLITIK DICTATES THAT THEY MUST MAKE COMMON CAUSE WITH NUCLEAR-POWER ISRAEL AGAINST THEIR COMMON EXISTENTIAL THREAT – A NUCLEAR-ARMED IRAN WHICH THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT HAS DESIGNATED “THE NO. 1 STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM” SINCE 1984?

Answer 6

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 7

Why does the NY Times think it is entitled to gamble with the future of Israel and the Arab countries on behalf of a group that just couldn’t bring itself to say “yes” in 2000 or in 2005???

Answer 7

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 8

What makes the NY Times even think the Palestinians want a “two-state” solution rather than Yasser Arafat’s long-proclaimed undying enmity toward Israel which he always claimed would NOT permit him to rest until Israel “was thrown into the sea”???

Answer 8

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!