The Blue (Helmet) Litmus Test

There has been much to catch up on since my wife and I returned from Israel almost two weeks ago, so I haven't been posting.   I have already done two out-of-town excursions since then (home in time for late dinner), and a few more are planned for me in the coming weeks, and my wife is out of town today for the day.

For reasons not yet appropriate for discussion, the litigation I am conducting has taken a subtle but interesting twist, even as I work on writing the legal memo for the Judge.

And today is my first day back to teach for the semester, with its usual attendant first-day-of-the-semester dysfunctions (which, thankfully, have been quite minor thus far).

Though I have some very strong opinions on the events now transpiring in Israel and in the world, most of those views have been more than adequately expressed by others elsewhere, and will not now be given the "me, too," other than to give a perfunctory "me, too."

And the one matter I do, at this moment, feel a strong compulsion to comment upon, does not warrant much in the way of comment because it speaks for itself:

The detention/kidnapping of 48 U.N. "peacekeeper" troops in the Golan by Muslim terrorists.

If the UN does nothing, then it (A) shows the futility of depending upon UN "peacekeepers," and if the UN uses force then that  leaves a wide opening for Israel to do likewise, in spades – if Netanyahu has the baytzim to act.

And it really cannot be said that the UN is a "neutral" in this conflict because a UN agency, UNRWA, is allowing its schools in Gaza to be used as safekeeping facilities for Hamas rockets.

So if the blue helmet does not guarantee the safety of the peacekeeper soldier, it is because the UN is not the neutral party it is touted to be.

The "That was 10 years ago" Dhimmi

Discussion, en passant, at shul this evening: Obama's nomination of Samantha Power as his next UN Ambassador.

Guy No. 1 (who, whatever his many other issues may be, is an unabashed Jewish nationalist):  "She's bad news!  She said that Israel should be invaded by America."

Guy No. 2:  "Come on!  That was ten years ago!"

Me:  "Hey, Hitler was 65 years ago!  Why don't we ignore him also?"

Guy No. 2:  What does Hitler have to do with Samantha Power?  The President has nominated her we should accept his decision.

[The Rabbi walked in, so the conversation ended.].

Some people are more accepting of enslavement than others!

Auf Wiedersehen, Österreicher

Not surprisingly, I have been quite busy, and expect to be well occupied for the next few weeks.  This has curtailed my blog posting activity, and will likely continue to do so.

Given the spike of military-like activity in the immediate vicinity, the government of Austria has decided to pull their 300-troop contingent from the UN peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights.

So let's get this one straight:  Austria is willing to participate in the peacekeeping effort, but only to the extent that the situation is peaceful to begin with.

I have mixed feelings about the UN peacekeeping forces in Israel.  On one hand, they do put a damper, to some ever-diminishing extent, upon violent activities, inasmuch as there still remains some sort of social taboo against shooting at the Blue Helmets.  This utility, of course, is actively in the process of eroding.  Even when I visited Israel 30-something years ago, the UN was not seriously regarded by the local populace as exerting too much effectiveness in its supposed mission.

Moreover, the Blue Helmets, when they are not wearing their blue helmets (and sometimes when they are), spend their pocket cash at Israeli business establishments, thereby contributing to Israel's robust economy.

On the other hand, there are things which the Israeli military cannot really do with impunity when the Blue Helmets are around.

And if the lessons of history are to be effective, there is, at best, some irony in the notion of Jews depending upon organized official groups of Austrians or other Volkdeutschen for protection.