Secretary of State Clinton,
It is apparent from the words you uttered at the Saban Forum on November 30, 2012, and from your silence in response to my appeal several days later (please see my original letter to you, below this one), that you require an education about Israel and her hate-filled enemies, about history and legal and human rights, and about fairness and truth.
The following are links to two magnificent, emotion-filled videos featuring performances by singer, musician and songwriter, Yedida Freilich, from Israel. As you listen to Yedida’s beautiful voice and the songs’ exquisite melodies, I urge you to pay close attention to the passionate, affecting lyrics. It is more than a shame that world circumstances motivate lovely Yedida to sing about such evil, instead of the wonders and beauty of Israel and the Universe.
Most sincerely,
Buddy Macy
Dear Secretary of State Clinton,
During the Q&A session following your speech at the Saban Forum Opening Gala Dinner on November 30, 2012 in Washington, DC, you were asked the following follow-up question:
QUESTION:
And I wonder, when you look upon those two decades, and you try to explain to yourselves and to us what is it, in the psyche of Israelis – and you have this warm sentiment, and you have this rich dialogue what is it in our society, in our fears, in our historic traumas, that somehow makes us so suspicious? And can it be dismantled? Have you ever sensed that you are close to it?
And, here is the first half of your response to the above question:
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, look, I think Israelis have good grounds to be suspicious. And I would never be one who tries to rewrite or dismiss history. The Palestinians could have had a state as old as I am if they had made the right decision in 1947. They could have had a state if they had worked with my husband and then-Prime Minister Barak at Camp David. They could have had a state if they’d worked with Prime Minister Olmert and Foreign Minister Livni.
Now, would it have been a perfectly acceptable outcome for every Israeli and every Palestinian? No. No compromise ever is. But there were moments of opportunity. And I will also say this. When Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to a 10-month settlement freeze I flew to Jerusalem. We’d been working on this. George Mitchell had been taking the lead on it. And when Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to a 10-month settlement freeze, it wasn’t perfect. It didn’t cover East Jerusalem, but it covered much of the contested area in the West Bank.
And I stood on a stage with him at 11 o’clock Israelis always meet late at night, I don’t understand it laughter) but 11 o’clock at night, midnight, and I said it was unprecedented for any Israeli prime minister to have done that. I got so criticized. I got criticized from the right, the left, the center, Israeli, Jewish, Arab, Christian, you name it.
Everybody criticized me. But the fact was it was a 10-month settlement freeze. And he was good to his word. And we couldn’t get the Palestinians into the conversation until the tenth month.
So, look, I’m not making excuses for the missed opportunities of the Israelis, or the lack of generosity, the lack of empathy that I think goes hand-in-hand with the suspicion. So, yes, there is more that the Israelis need to do to really demonstrate that they do understand the pain of an oppressed people in their minds, and they want to figure out, within the bounds of security and a Jewish democratic state, what can be accomplished.
And, here is the video of you stating the paragraph directly above about which my following comments pertain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBONzCBI0eM
Sec. Clinton, you and your department refused to grant a visa to Gheorghes Exantus of Haiti, the amputee who had been trapped under the remains of his former home for three days following the earthquake on January 12, 2010, who received miraculous medical treatment from the Israelis both in Haiti and Israel, and who, less than two years later, was dancing professionally again.
You denied Gheorghes the opportunity to celebrate his triumph of the human spirit at the annual Israel Day Parade in New York City and to thank the Israelis for the truly blessed work they had done (continue to do) for Gheorghes and thousands of others of his fellow suffering countrymen. You refused to do so in order to avoid having Israel seen in a positive light! How can you speak of generosity and empathy!?!
Regarding the phrase, “oppressed people,” I agree with you: the Arab-“Palestinians” have been oppressed by THEIR OWN Arab leaders and people for many generations. They could have had their own state numerous times, as you had pointed out during your remarks at the Saban Forum. Additionally, during the 19 years that Judea & Samaria was under Jordan’s control, not one move was made by the Jordanians to settle the “Palestinian Homeland.” So, Sec. Clinton, your statement incorporating “oppressed people” was dangerously, and hopefully not, purposefully, misleading.
And, as for understanding the pain of an oppressed people, I am having a difficult time keeping myself from inserting expletives here. For starters – the destruction of both of the Great Jewish Temples, the nearly complete genocide by the Romans, the waves of anti-Jewish pogroms and expulsions from the countries of Western Europe during the last centuries of the Middle Ages up to and including the Spanish Inquisition in 1492, the pogroms in Russia from the 1880’s thru the Stalin era, the pogrom in Hebron (in JEWISH Palestine!) in 1929 by rioting Arab mobs led by a primary collaborator and planner with Hitler and Eichmann of the Final Solution – Haj Amin al-Husseini – and, the Holocaust…not to mention Israel’s five wars for her very survival with her Arab neighbors, hundreds of terror attacks and thousands of rockets launched from Gaza into Israel. WE DON’T UNDERSTAND THE PAIN OF AN OPPRESSED PEOPLE?????
So, Sec. Clinton, my question to you is, may we expect a public apology from you for your statements, or, shall I view you as an evil person full of hate and vile prejudice? I anxiously await your reply.
Most sincerely,
Buddy Macy
P.S. And, speaking of generosity and empathy, why have you not fought for Jonathan Pollard’s release from Butner Prison in North Carolina with President Obama, as Jonathan has served more than a decade more than any other American convicted of spying for an ally. After all, it is obvious from the facts that he is being kept in prison because the ally was Israel, and because he is Jewish!
[Ed. note: Jonathan is very ill. He has just returned from the hospital, where he underwent a series of tests. He is still waiting for the results. The cruelty of numerous American Administrations in their refusal to grant Jonathan Pollard his due release has been nothing but sadistic.]
