Medical issues, to start off: so it appears that I have a pinched nerve in my spine as a result of a fall, which is sending pain screaming through my lower abdomen. The doctor has me on oxycodone which is enabling me to function, but it’s scrambling my ability to process coherent thought. But I don’t want to blow off FOF two weeks in a row, so I’ll be working on keeping it together long enough to discuss the latest idiocy. And yes, I will still be attending the Ace convention this weekend, because there’s no way I’m telling my daughter she can’t meet Gal Gadot. I just may not be at my best.
1. Jerusalem of gold. I am really torn on this. On the one hand, Trump’s declaration that Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel is certain to throw a huge monkey wrench into the peace process. On the other hand, there currently isn’t a peace process because the Palestinians still don’t acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, much less for the Holy City to belong exclusively to them. So part of me is saying, “Yes, fine, stick it to the Palestinians, let them squirm for once.” But let’s put cards on the table: it’s going to end badly. Very badly. If I worked in the diplomatic corps, I’d resign before I set foot in a Jerusalem embassy because it’s going to become target number one for every Arab terrorist in the area. I’m sorry, the area? In the world. Protests are already breaking out not only on the West Bank, but in Turkey, Jordan and Malaysia.
Lots and lots of people are going to die because of this decision. We all know it’s going to happen, and everyone cares about that except for the man who made the decision in the first place. And we all know that it has nothing to do with Jerusalem and everything to do with his ego. He basically pointed out that no one else who preceded him in the office has ever done this. The fact that they all have good reasons for it doesn’t even begin to register. He has to get up there and stroke his ego by saying, “I did this first! Look at me!” So the Jew in me is pleased but the common sense American is horrified.
2. Taking it in the teeth.. So it is obvious that Trump wears dentures because they begin to evacuate his mouth when he said “United States.” Aside from admiring the dentures’ comedy timing, I honestly couldn’t care less. He’s a senior citizen with false teeth. Big deal. If he were honest about it, he might actually get props from millions of other seniors who deal with the same issue. What’s hilarious is that he absolutely cannot admit to weakness of any kind. His people are claiming he had a dry throat. No. He didn’t. A dry throat affects volume. It doesn’t impact on articulation. Unless you’re coughing, but he wasn’t coughing. He was displaying a dental slip. For God’s sake, just admit it. Admit to human frailty. For once.
3. Faking it.. As Trump’s opinion polls continue to slide and he pìššëš øff our allies, there is one group of individuals who are flocking to him and following his example: despots. They have embraced his constant chants of “fake news” by brushing off all criticism using the same phrasing. Syrian President Bashar Assad declared that Amnesty International’s report of 13,000 people dying in his military prisons was an example of the “fake news era.” Others have joined in dismissing any criticisms of their travesties, sometimes while standing right next to Trump as he laughs in appreciation. When your closest allies are murderers and despots, well…like seeks out like.
4. Moore or Less.. Remember Roy Moore, the guy that, weeks ago, the GOP was urging to pull out of the race? Well, Trump just soundly endorsed him while simultaneously lying about Moore’s opposition, Doug Jones. And the GOP sent $107,000 in funding to the man who allegedly sexually assaulted underage girls, which last I checked is statutory rape. Why is Trump endorsing him? Because Moore said he didn’t do it. You know: like Nixon said he wasn’t a crook. And Clinton said he hadn’t had sex with that woman. And Jeremy Piven said he hadn’t sexually assaulted anyone and even was cleared by two lie detector tests, but CBS canceled his program. And Al Franken said that some accusations were out and out lies, but he just resigned anyway.
I honestly don’t know what to make of Franken anymore. I found that article that I linked to some days back pretty convincing, depicting his accuser not as a victim at all, but someone involved in the GOP’s desire to distract from Moore and do their usual tactics of, “What about us? Well, what about you!” It is their favorite response to any accusation: accuse the Democrats of doing the same thing as loudly as possible, thus undercutting any moral high ground. Thus they never have to answer for their crimes because in the GOP world, everyone is guilty and thus no one can be found guilty. What does the law matter if everyone ignores it? Deny and accuse, deny and accuse. Trump is now denying that it was his voice on the tape boasting about grabbing women’s genitals, even though he admitted to it months ago. Meanwhile right wing religious nuts are lining up behind Moore and ignoring all the accusations lined up against him. Remember the days when we all thought women would turn against Trump because of his comments because what sane woman would tolerate it? Now we’re finding out.
Yet it’s also become clear that Franken did indeed slap women’s buttocks on several occasions. This news, which wouldn’t even register on the GOP hot line of assaults, has forced him to resign. The reason is obvious: the Democrats cannot go after Roy Moore if/when he gets elected if they have Franken hanging around their neck. The fact is that he ultimately brought these problems on himself, and now he has to pay for it, even though if he were a Republican, he’d still be serving and having the entire party lining up behind him. But the Democrats don’t line up behind anyone because they attempt to hold their members to a standard that the GOP has long ago tossed aside. The GOP cares about power and power only. Not serving the people. Not adhering to a standard of truth. Not the ethics of their people. Just power, period.
This country used to stand for something. Now it stands for anything.
PAD
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Geez, PAD, don’t know what the treatment for your condition is, but I hope you feel a lot better soon. Sounds horrible.
Any person who votes for Roy Moore should be ashamed of themselves. Then again, I thought no one would vote for Trump after the Access Hollywood tape and many did. Not a majority, mind you, but many. And even many women, including the woman who first accused Franken.
Hey, you forgot to add what Trump did right this week! Just kidding.
Not even a plurality.
Sorry to hear about your back problems. I have similar issues so can really sympathize. Hope you feel better soon. When I heard about Jerusalem I was a bit confused for a minute because I thought it already was the capital of Israel then remembered it is Tel Aviv. I am not Jewish or Muslim but I am Christen so Jerusalem is special to me too. I have no problem with it being the capital of Israel or any other country but I just wish we could all stop fighting over this or any other piece of land. It is all so pointless and I am sure not what our shared God would want. I could appreciate what someone said on a Question Time last night that the treat of violence should not deter anyone from doing what is needed but when you know it is going to cause all these issues why is it so important to declare Jerusalem should be the capital rather than Tel Aviv?
ITEM: Feel better soon!
ITEM: It would seem that Roy Moore hasn’t screwed himself up enough, and apparently claims that the last time America was great was during the era of slavery. Crazy on top of insane…
ITEM: The worst thing is that when Franken resigned, he showed character and integrity. Accused GOP’ers don’t even understand these concepts, and in fact seem to go out of their way to avoid them. So the balance is sliding the wrong way, towards the scumbags and deplorables… sheesh.
Mr. David,
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I’m sorry to read about your troubles and hope that matters improve in the near future.
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As to to Trump and Jerusalem and being the first guy to move it there. It’s my understanding that Congress passed some insane law in the Elder Bush Admin that statutorily placed the U.S. Embassy there, but gave the President the option not implement for reasons of national security. Every president since that time has made the sane decision to say that it’s not safe to move the Embassy there…until now. I guess now that Trump has brought peace to the Middle East, it’s just fine!
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As to him needing to be first…well there’s a joke about prodding him into a “Hold my beer” situation, but, on reflection, I think I’ll let that go.
Having just read Sen. Franken’s book, ‘Giant of the Senate’ (I’d been waiting for a digital loan awhile); the scandal book-ended my reading and I am saddened by his leaving. I had been heartened by his hard work on questioning appointees like Justice Gorsuch (autocorrect as ‘grouch’) as well as others that were highlighted in the text. His B.S. detector had been honed by his research for ‘Lies and the Liars Who Tell Them’ which I could hold up as a primer for critical thinking or debate. I commend the book to you or your readers to enjoy the entire book even if SNL holds no interest. His experiences of friends and family and actually listening to constituents greatly informed his service to his state and to ensure everyone had a chance to advance in live and not be shakled by their status.
By the way, Peter, your move to digital for New Frontier books (with fair pricing) along with Gerrold’s Mega-pack (offered publicly th9is week) has prompted my move to purchase a Nook for portable web access and book reading with library loans, currently. I call it a PADD(TM) after ST:TNG because they had them first. Hope you don’t sue them for infringing on your initials!
Thanks for all the words on the page. All your books are keepers; even enlightening novels of board games. Your knowledge of comics makes those novels delightful, too. Sadly, I picked up a non P.A.D. FF4 sequel novel by mistake only to discover I was reading a modified screenplay that told me only what folks were doing rather than thinking. The first great novelization was for ‘The Abyss’ which not only delayed publication to record the actual dialogue film rather than first drafts, they prefaced the story with one chapter for all three protagonists, letting us know their motivation.
I had also just finished reading Franken’s “Giant of the Senate” and am deeply saddened that he felt he had to resign. He was a dedicated and effective Senator and I can’t help but feel another very good man has been brought down by ants.
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We’re a lesser nation today than yesterday.
“The doctor has me on oxycodone which is enabling me to function, but it’s scrambling my ability to process coherent thought.”
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Might not be a bad thing. When writing about Trump you’re already trying to understand somebody’ss incoherent thoughts. 🙂
“Lots and lots of people are going to die because of this decision.”
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I get what you’re saying. I do. But my immediate reaction was that a lot of people are not going to die because of the decision. But that they’re going to die because somebody who doesn’t like the decision will use it as a reason to murder people who didn’t make the decision. Let’s not take responsibility for any violence away from the people who actually commit it.
Screw that oxycodone. Get áhøld of some medical marijuana CBD ointment and apply it to your back. It doesn’t affect your mental ability and you won’t get high.
I had really hoped that instead of resigning Franken would have announced he was switching parties and becoming a Republican (albeit in name only).
First, do whatever you can to get better. Do what you feel you need to do this weekend, but also try to take it easy whenever you can. Pinched nerves along the spine (especially in the upper back area) are really easy to aggravate.
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Now….
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“Lots and lots of people are going to die because of this decision. We all know it’s going to happen, and everyone cares about that except for the man who made the decision in the first place.”
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I wish that were true, but it’s not really everyone who cares. A large number of Trump supporters are thrilled because they can’t comprehend that Trump declaring such things “Winning!” doesn’t make it so and haven’t the faintest understanding of (or, likely, the ability to comprehend) how complex a matter this actually is and has been. All they know or care about is Trump said it was great, so Trump did great. Any actual facts about the consequences are irrelevant to their thought process and would just confuse them anyhow.
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And when the inevitable bill comes to be paid and people die over this? Well, that’ll all be Obama and Hillary’s fault for making the world so dangerous before Trump was able to come in and make us “Great!” and “Winning!” again.
Peter David: The doctor has me on oxycodone….
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Luigi Novi: Kinda like Rush Limbaugh’s maid.
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Peter David: …which is enabling me to function, but it’s scrambling my ability to process coherent thought.
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Luigi Novi: Kinda like Erik Larsen when he’s sober!
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Okay, seriously….
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If you acknowledge that Trump’s decision is going to cause a lot of people to die, then why should the Jew in you feel any different from the common sense American in you?
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Peter David: And Jeremy Piven said he hadn’t sexually assaulted anyone and even was cleared by two lie detector tests….
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Luigi Novi: Polygraph tests. Not lie detector tests. There is no such thing as a lie detector test, since no known technology exists to detect lies. Polygraphs physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity, but the notion that this indicates truth or mendacity is pseudoscience.
Except if he’d failed them, critics would instantly take that failure as proof positive. They dismiss results that indicate the accusers lied but would have embraced the contrary as absolute.
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PAD
And indeed, I would’ve dismissed those results for the exact same reason.
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Neither he nor anyone else should ever take one, since aside from blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity, the polygraph’s ability to measure isn’t worth a warm squirt of piss.
But Luigi, it was invented by the man who created Wonder Woman! He couldn’t have been wrong!
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(Where’s that lasso when we need it?)
If Gal Gadot wants to be the one to tie me up with it, then I’m amenable to that. 🙂
Besides, dudes, seriously, it’s simply commonly used terminology.
What terminology?
Definition of terminology
plural terminologies
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1 : the technical or special terms used in a business, art, science, or special subject
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2 : nomenclature as a field of study
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— terminological play \-mə-nə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\ adjective
— terminologically play \-ji-k(ə-)lē\ adverb
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First Known Use: 1770
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https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terminology
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If you consider it a special subject or, as it once was, a science, it’s the special term used when most people refer to a polygraph test.
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I probably should have said it was the commonly used name for the device, but it’s habit from work. When cadets and rookies call it a lie detector, the frequently heard response is someone saying to them, “It’s not a lie detector, it’s a polygraph. Get your terminology right.”
“And yes, I will still be attending the Ace convention this weekend, because there’s no way I’m telling my daughter she can’t meet Gal Gadot.”
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An excellent example of the risk and sacrifice a good father undertakes for his daughter.
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You’re a stout man, Peter David, a mensch.
I should have said “stout fellow”, that would have conveyed what I meant better. You’re still a mensch, though.
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Aside from admiring the dentures’ comedy timing, I honestly couldn’t care less. He’s a senior citizen with false teeth. Big deal. If he were honest about it, he might actually get props from millions of other seniors who deal with the same issue.”
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Probably not. There is in our culture a prejudice, a bigotry against those with dental disease. It isn’t noticed because it’s so ingrained that it’s like water to fish or air to birds.
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Who has dental problems? The cast of Hee-Haw. The cast of The Beverly Hillbillies. Sgt. Snorkle. Ma Hunkle. Snuffy Smif. Figures of comedy and/or ridicule and/or disdain. L. Ron Hubbard was described as being so “lazy” in his last years by a biographer that his teeth “were rotting out of his head,” a nastily pejorative description which had nothing to do with either Dianetics or Scientology.
If Tom Baker’s “teeth and curls” were closer in shade the way actual bone is to brown hair, would that description have been used in dialog? If Freema Agyeman hadn’t had her teeth artifically bleached to blinding whiteness would she have been seen as attractive as she was?
Why was Gabby Hayes comedy relief? Because he had no teeth. In an episode in which the First Doctor had a toothache, it was played for comedy (“The Gunfighters”)
What is television visual shorthand for being homeless? Missing teeth.
There are nasty dentists who shame patients as a habit, blaming the dental disease on them (as if they wished it) and not on bacteria. I know this from personal observation.
Dental implants are more expensive then dentures far out of proportion to their actual cost? Why? Because with them you can’t be shamed in public as Trump just was. (Yes, that’s opinion and supposition, not fact. But it fits the facts as I know them.)
False teeth are something to which most men will not admit outside the home or medical contexts for the same reason nobody admits to needing Viagra or one of the similar drugs, with the exception of Hugh Hefner, and he had a bevy of blondes living with him to belie that image.
It’s an admission Trump could never and will not ever make, for the same reason as his debates claim of “large hands.”
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“Aside from admiring the dentures’ comedy timing, I honestly couldn’t care less. He’s a senior citizen with false teeth. Big deal. If he were honest about it, he might actually get props from millions of other seniors who deal with the same issue.”
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Probably not. There is in our culture a prejudice, a bigotry against those with dental disease. It isn’t noticed because it’s so ingrained that it’s like water to fish or air to birds.
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Who has dental problems? The cast of Hee-Haw. The cast of The Beverly Hillbillies. Sgt. Snorkle. Ma Hunkle. Snuffy Smif. Figures of comedy and/or ridicule and/or disdain. L. Ron Hubbard was described as being so “lazy” in his last years by a biographer that his teeth “were rotting out of his head,” a nastily pejorative description which had nothing to do with either Dianetics or Scientology.
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If Tom Baker’s “teeth and curls” were closer in shade the way actual bone is to brown hair, would that description have been used in dialog? If Freema Agyeman hadn’t had her teeth artificially bleached to blinding whiteness would she have been seen as attractive as she was?
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Why was Gabby Hayes comedy relief? Because he had no teeth. In an episode in which the First Doctor had a toothache, it was played for comedy (“The Gunfighters”).
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What is television visual shorthand for being homeless? Missing teeth.
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There are nasty dentists who shame patients as a habit, blaming the dental disease on them (as if they wished it) and not on bacteria. I know this from personal observation.
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Dental implants are more expensive then dentures far out of proportion to their actual cost? Why? Because with them you can’t be shamed in public as Trump just was. (Yes, that’s opinion and supposition, not fact. But it fits the facts as I know them.)
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False teeth are something to which most men will not admit outside the home or medical contexts for the same reason nobody admits to needing Viagra or one of the similar drugs, with the exception of Hugh Hefner, and he had a bevy of blondes living with him to belie that image.
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They’re an admission of age, of loss of virility, of power.
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It’s an admission Trump could never and will not ever make, for the same reason as his debates claim of “large hands.”
I have to say, the crazy times we live in have made me reconsider a few of my long-held political convictions.
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I’m not Jewish, but I have always been a huge supporter of Israel. In this, I’ve been closer to the typical right-wing position, than the typical leftist position for non-Jewish folks (who tend to side with the Palestinians).
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But 2017 changed this. Charlottesville changed this. Trump changed this.
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I was astonished to see the Israeli government refusing to condemn Trump for cosing up to white supremacists again and again. I’ve been VERY astonished to see Israeli officials saying things that are essentialy the same as the stuff said by the American alt-right regarding Charlottesville, even as the alt-right includes Neo-Nazis that hate Jews! Surely there must be a limit to how “realpolitiks” you can go? I was perhaps naive to believe Israeli officials would draw the line at minimizing and accomodating neo-Nazis. Silly me.
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Suddenly, it hit me that the lefties have been right all along about Israel. Israel, at least under Netanyahu, really is an ultra-nationalist ethno-state. No wonder they identify with the American alt-right and their paranoid nativism. And support for Israel as a state is completely separated from sympathy for jews as a people. And so it’s totally possible for right-wingers, even the alt-right, to support and try to emulate Israel while hating Jews, and for leftists to love Jewish people and culture and condemn Israel.
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I love Jewish people and culture, but as of 2017, I have a much more critical view of the Israeli government and their policies.
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I’m not ready to go as far as some radical lefties who compare Israel to Apartheid South Africa, because I still think Israel has a lot more reasons to mantain their segregated society than South Africa, but neither do I still believe such comparisions are insane.
There was a time when liberal politicians would have to say they did not partake of marijuana when they were in college. Congratulations Republican Party, you have found your own insane version of the “I did not partake” story, though we may yet discover that the reason Roy Moore fled that child brothel in Vietnam is that they didn’t offer white girls.
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What a sorry spectacle. If I were reading a novel written by a Liberal writer and they created a character like Roy Moore, I’d say they were a bad writer, creating such a lazy strawman stereotype of a Conservative. Now this guy is going to the US Senate.
No, thankfully he’s not.
Remember Roy Moore, the guy who lost the election yesterday?
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Of course, the hosenoses will try to steal it on a recount … but Jones won by slightly more than 1.5%, which is going to take some truly herculean prevarication and obfuscation for them to get away with it.
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{There were 20,000 write-in votes.}
Rather than steal it (which they know they won’t be able to do ) they’ll try to delay it.
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Like the did when Franken was first elected, they drew out a foregone conclusion for as long as possible (8 months that time) to keep the Democrats from having another crucial seat in the Senate.
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They want to get their tax plan through and will fend off another Democrat being seated for as long as possible.
And it doesn’t stop :
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/cdc-gets-list-of-forbidden-words-fetus-transgender-diversity/ar-BBGNo02?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=U007DHP
1984 much ?
The Palestinians have recognized Israel’s right to exist. Netanyahu has moved the goal posts. Instead of recognizing Israel they now have to recognize Israel as Jewish state. The problem is that the Israeli government can’t what exactly that is.
“What has yet to be fully recognized is that the single most significant impact of this “Jewish state” demand is that it effectively dismisses and reverses the 1993 Palestinian recognition of Israel. This concession made it ridiculous for anyone to argue that the core of the problem was Palestinians’ refusal to recognize Israel. But now, hey presto, it is once again possible to present Palestinian recognition of Israel as a major issue, because it wasn’t recognition of Israel as a “Jewish state.”
It doesn’t matter that no one ever asked the Palestinians to do so until 2007, or that there are a great many complications, ambiguities, and grave difficulties associated with it. It has become a mantra of much of the pro-Israel constituency the world over that the 1993 recognition of Israel by the PLO is all but irrelevant, and that until Palestinians recognize Israel as a “Jewish state,” their intention to end the conflict and live in peace remains very much open to question.”
read more: https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.579701