Freedom for Palestine?

With all the intricacies of international diplomacy affecting the Middle East today, who can we turn to who has the skill, the training, the background knowledge to sort it all out and point us in the right direction? One name shines out like a beacon: the band Coldplay! Thanks to Coldplay’s hearty endorsement, a new music video is garnering incredible attention: “Freedom for Palestine.” It features pop singers, a catchy tune, a message of hope, cast against a backdrop of squalid refugee camps and Israel’s “Apartheid Wall.” It hails diversity, while celebrating the “peaceful Palestinians” with singers and dancers, and lots of smiley faces. And I’m looking for a barf bag! 

This is just the latest assault from the “International Palestinian Propaganda Ministry” on common sense and decency. “Tear down the wall!” they all sing. Does anybody really think that carving up this teeny-tiny pice of turf called the land of Israel into two sovereign states is going to bring down Israel’s security barrier? Aren’t fences, walls and barriers exactly what we expect along international borders, especially hostile ones? Why did Israel put up this wall, anyway? Because homicide bombers were infiltrating from the Arab territories, blowing themselves up on city busses in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv and elsewhere, on a regular basis. I wonder how the international community (and the spokes-band for the world’s conscience, Coldplay) would have reacted had Israelis crossed into Arab neighborhoods and started blowing up busses, say, in Nablus. 

Of course it’s a ridiculous hypothetical, but it’s not so hypothetical at all when it comes to the fanatical terrorists who really do populate the region. Having personally lived in tiny Israel for a number of years, I never felt nervous or fearful, until those busses started blowing up. Even after the security barrier went up, it was quite a while before I felt comfortable to ride a Jerusalem city bus. But hey; the wall/ barrier/ whatever you want to call it worked! No more bus bombings; thank G-d/ Allah! 

And by the way, Coldplay, I’m thinking of the lyric line to “Viva la Vida”: “Hear Jerusalem bells a-ringin’…” I wonder how many bells will be heard by anybody after East Jerusalem becomes the capital of the new state of Palestine, aka Hamastan… But who cares about such technicalities? Let’s just pump that music video, “Freedom for Palestine!” Maybe one other Coldplay lyric applies at this point: “Once you go there was never, never an honest word…” Have you really had “A Rush of Blood to the Head,” or maybe a rush of something else? 

Check out this petition! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Coldplay-Petition-For-An-Apology-To-Israel/214773475212050

P.S. Hey, Coldplay, do really want to tear down the wall? Here’s what to do. TEAR DOWN the corrupt Palestinian Authority! Extended Israeli sovereignty over all of the territories, permanently. Enlist the international community to TEAR DOWN the squalid refugee camps and RESETTLE these people in the Arab world. Then, grant genuine Jordanian citizenship to the Palestinian population, who can continue to live in peace and security within Israel. Give them homes, not guns. Then we can tear down the wall! Don’t tell me it’ll never work. Don’t tell me it’s too ambitious. YES WE CAN.