Despite Not Being Jewish, Is John Karls Unfairly Pro-Israel?

[solutions]

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---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: Despite Not Being Jewish, Are You Unfairly Pro-Israel
From: Solutions
Date: Sun, November 26, 2023 8:47 am PST
To: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
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Dear John,

I have just finished reading the Suggested Answers to the Short Quiz “Palestine/Israel From Roman Times to The Present and The Israeli ‘Way Forward’.”

They strike me as being extraordinarily Pro-Israel when contrasted with most of the information purveyed by the Mainstream Media in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

I know you often claim to be a good historian because you were married for 33 years to the Co-Author of the nation’s best-selling high-school world-history textbook (McGraw Hill with National Geographic Illustrations) and that one of your three simultaneous careers was reading annually in your spare time 12-15 thick history tomes & bios to uncover overlooked nuggets for possible inclusion in the next edition, of which there were six during the 33 years.

That’s 500-600 tomes/bios by the time the gavel went down 23 years ago and you always say the total today is well over 1,500.

Nevertheless, aren’t your Suggested Short Quiz Answers somewhat slanted?

After all, they don’t address such things as the 1956 Suez-Canal War, the 1967 Six-Day War, the Intifadas (1987-1993 and 2000-2005), etc., etc., during which Israel didn’t necessarily look like the world’s best-behaved nation.

Your friend,

Solutions


---------------------------- Original Message -----------------------------
Subject: Re: Despite Not Being Jewish, Are You Unfairly Pro-Israel
From: ReadingLiberally-SaltLake@johnkarls.com
Date: Sun, November 26, 2023 11:49 am MST
To: Solutions
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Dear Solutions,

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

The short answer to your question is no, the Short Quiz Suggested Answers are NOT slanted.

The long answer???

The so-called “Short Quiz” is only intended to cover the important reasons for why the Arab-Israel conflict is where it is today and where it is likely to go in the future.

And the so-called “Short Quiz” already set a record with 49 questions and answers.

Yes, much more could have been said, most of which would NOT have affected where the conflict is today and where it is likely to go (even though both sides have a lot to say about each event that was not addressed) --

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(1) The 1956 Suez-Canal War

It was launched by Britain and France against Egypt which, immediately following full independence, had nationalized the Suez Canal which was owned by Britain and France.

Israel joined the war because following full independence, Egypt had immediately begun preventing Israeli ships from passing through the Straits of Tiran at the southern end of the Gulf of Aqaba leading to the Red Sea. This meant that Israel’s port of Eilat at the southern tip of the Negev Desert and the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba no longer gave Israel access to the Indian and Pacific Oceans without going around Africa.

In other words, Israel’s casus belli and resulting participation in the war were a minor irritant in the overall Arab/Israeli conflict.

And the 1956 Suez War was quickly shut down by Pres. Eisenhower for a variety of reasons including (1) his disgust in trying to condemn the Soviet Union crushing the 1956 Hungarian Revolution while France and Britain were engaged in a similar action in Egypt, and (2) Soviet threats to rain nuclear missiles on Britain, France and Israel.

Although Britain and France vetoed resolutions in the U.N. Security Council, Eisenhower took the issue to the U.N. General Assembly which created the first U.N. Peace-Keeping Force.

Eisenhower also threatened Britain and France economically to force submission (which was effective since neither had fully recovered from World War II).

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(2) The 1967 Six-Day War

It began with a military attack by Israel and ended with Israel taking over Gaza from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan.

And yes, there were a lot of interesting legal arguments over the “Right of Self Defense” in the United Nations Charter because Egypt, Syria, et al., were massing their military forces for an attack on Israel and the issue was whether “self defense” could only occur after an attack, or whether “self defense” could include a pre-emptive protective action.

HOWEVER, your recitation of my credentials didn’t include one of, for me, the most important.

During my 33 years of marriage to the Co-Author of the nation’s best-selling high-school world-history textbook and the 23 years of continued tome/bio reading since the “gavel went down,” I did NOT focus inordinately on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

IN CONTRAST, I have always been “laser focused” on nuclear diplomacy.

Learning at the foot (at least initially) of the master, Henry Kissinger -- as a result of which I have probably read everything written by him and most erudite offerings by other experts in the field.

The reason for the claim -- “learning at the foot (at least initially)”???

When I was a student at Harvard Law School 1964-1967, Henry Kissinger was a Professor in Harvard’s Political Science Department. I’ve forgotten whether it was my first or second year at HLS, but a seminar on Nuclear Diplomacy was offered jointly by HLS and the Political Science Department. At that time, Prof. Kissinger was the world’s recognized expert on nuclear diplomacy, having already authored the definitive book in the field -- “Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy” (1957) -- as well as authoring books on subjects that were tangentially related -- “A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh, and the Problems of Peace 1812-1822” (i.e., in the wake of Napoleon) (1957); “The Necessity of Choice: Prospects for American Foreign Policy” (1961); and “The Troubled Partnership: A Re-Appraisal of the Atlantic Alliance” (1965 – which was available pre-publication for our course in working-copy form). Although I couldn’t take the course for credit because the first- and second-year curricula for HLS in those days permitted no elective courses, I attended every session of Prof. Kissinger’s course and probably spent more time on it than the rest of my courses combined. And never looked back!!! Probably reading everything ever written by Henry Kissinger and most erudite offerings by other experts in the field.

THE REAL STORY OF THE 1967 “SIX DAY” WAR???

ITS GREATEST SIGNIFICANCE WAS AS A “PROXY WAR” BETWEEN AMERICA AND THE SOVIET UNION TO ASCERTAIN WHICH HAD THE BEST CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS – ISRAEL ARMED WITH AMERICAN WEAPONS AND THE ARAB COUNTRIES WITH SOVIET WEAPONS.

AND YES, THE AMERICAN WEAPONS WERE FAR SUPERIOR, WHICH IS WHY (EXCEPT FOR THE 1973 “YOM KIPPUR” WAR), THERE WERE NO FURTHER ARAB/ISRAEL WARS UNTIL THE CURRENT HAMAS/ISRAEL WAR – ONLY RESISTANCE SUCH AS THE INTIFADAS OF 1987-1993 and 2000-2005 AND OCCASIONAL RELATIVELY-SMALL-SCALE ARAB ATTACKS.

BUT THE “REAL STORY” OF 1967 EXPLAINS 1973.

First, Kissinger was in many respects, just testing American and Soviet conventional weapons -- so he had no interest in permitting Israel to push its advantage. Which is why, when Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan began “feeling his oats,” Kissinger imposed his ban on re-supplying Israel with ammunition for its conventional weapons.

But Kissinger didn’t mean to overdo it by destroying the existence of Israel.

Second, it explains why during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel’s long-standing policy had been that if it ever reached the point of fewer than 24 hours to go to complete annihilation, it would (before “turning out the lights”) fire its 7 nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union’s 7 largest cities -- in recognition that it was the USSR that had been stoking Arab hatred of Israel in an attempt to evict the U.S. fom the oil-rich Arab Gulf (NB: please give me credit for not using its historical name – Persian Gulf – which never failed to irritate Arabs).

This was much like Hitler who left only token forces at Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad in his mad race to reach the oil fields of the Middle East!!!

So yes, the 1967 Six-Day War was really a U.S./USSR proxy war in which the Arabs and Israel were mere pawns and which had little impact on where the Arab/Israel conflict is today and where it is going.

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(3) The Intifadas

Please see the brief analysis of the Intifadas in Sec. 2’s analysis of the 1967 Six-Day War which occurs in the second paragraph of the sub-section headed by "The Real Story of the 1967 'Six Day' War."

Yes, the Palestinians were stuck with inferior Soviet weapons so all they could do was "take to the streets" in protest.

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(4) Your “Etc., Etc.”

If you think any other aspect of the Arab/Israel conflict deserved more attention in the so-called Short Quiz OR IF YOU THINK ANY INCLUSIONS/OMISSIONS BETRAY A PRO-ISRAEL BIAS, please let me know – I know you aren’t shy!!!

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(5) Pre-Emptively Addressing A Possible Issue in Your “Etc., Etc.”

Two days after the October 7 Hamas attack, I suggested during the weekly Zoom Chat of members of my Harvard Law School Class of 1967 (the Zoom Chats usually include such luminaries as former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, Stu Eizenstat) that perhaps the best denouement, based on what Gazans since 1967 had been taught in their schools and encountered in Gazan media, would be the expulsion of Gazans into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula where the international community would presumably be willing to provide them with new homes, infrastructure, etc., and where Egypt could be held responsible for policing their behavior.

Two things about my nearly-spontaneous reaction.

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(A) Hamas is an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian Branch. And Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi faced extreme difficulty in ousting in 2014 the Muslim Brotherhood from its rule of Egypt ever since the Muslim Brotherhood had been installed in 2012 by Hillary Clinton’s “Arab Spring.”

[You may recall that Hillary backed the British/French attempt to capture the Libyan oil fields under the guise of “The Arab Spring” and then, feeling her oats, installed the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and then really “feeling her oats” collared Defense Secretary Gates into accompanying her to Saudi Arabia to instruct them on what to do in Saudi Arabia and what to do vis-à-vis the uprising that was occurring just off-shore in Bahrain. And you may recall Saudi called a halt to Hillary’s “Arab Spring” by sending Saudi troops into Bahrain to stabilize its government and then telling Hillary and Gates that their plane, which was airborne enroute, was NOT welcome to land in Saudi Arabia!!!]

So yes, during the first 48 hours, I had forgotten the Egyptian experience with the Muslim Brotherhood and how Egypt would probably view its Hamas progeny.

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(B) I was NOT bright enough to conceive the Dermer/Netanhayu idea of occupying Gaza for a considerable number of years like the U.S. had occupied Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan for a considerable number of years in order to transform their societies.

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(6) Our 10/14/2009 Marshall-Type Plan For Palestinians

Yes, my heart breaks for the Palestinians, particularly in the wake of what they have been taught since 1967 in their schools and media.

And this goes back beyond our 10/14/2009 “Six-Degrees-Of-Separation E-mail Campaign” which I conceived and succeeded in having adopted, and which implored all of us AND ALL OF OUR FRIENDS IN AN UNENDING CHAIN to send to http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ -

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President Barack Obama

Dear Mr. President:

Re: American Policy Toward Palestinians = The Key to Middle-East Peace

Thank you very much for all of the tireless efforts being exerted by you and your team!

To assist, I would like to offer a suggestion regarding the Arab-Israeli peace process.

For the last 60 years, the focus has been on "land for peace" - in other words, an attitude toward the Palestinians that "You can have your own country if you stop bothering everyone else."

But that won't solve the real problem which is the economic plight of the Palestinians.

The web site for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency which runs the Palestinian refugee camps, reports that the number of refugees has grown from 750,000 in 1950 to 4.6 million today. The U.N. refugee camps are located in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank and the refugees live in abject poverty.

[For the remainder of this petition to President Obama and the remainder of John Karls' e-mail to Solutions, please see the immediately-following so-called "Reply" to this post.}

[solutions]

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[Continuing the text of the 10/14/2009 "Six Degrees of Separation Email Campaign" to President Obama]

Indeed, the CIA's web site discloses that 683,484 of the total population for the West Bank and Gaza of 4,013,126 live in the U.N. refugee camps, and that the standard of living of the entire population (including non-refugees) is the equivalent of trying to live in the United States on $2,900/person/year - 6% of the U.S. standard of living and 10% of the Israeli standard of living.

What is necessary is a good education for the Palestinian children and training for the adults so that they can handle jobs that would go with economic development (construction, irrigation, manufacturing, etc.). Following a careful assessment of the comparative strengths that Palestine would possess.

The U.S. began providing Egypt and Israel with $6 billion/year of economic aid when they signed their 1979 Peace Agreement. It would seem a comparable amount would be a small price to pay to provide a real solution to a conflict that has festered for 60 years and, with nuclear arms soon to permeate the area, could soon produce a nuclear holocaust that might lead to "the twilight of the humans"!

Thank you for your consideration.

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Unfortunately, President Obama was the only decision maker over our 18 years of existence who always studiously ignored our advice.

Even the Presidents of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks were willing to be tutored by us regarding the true cause of the 2008 Economic Meltdown in order to avoid a 2018 Economic Meltdown that would have resulted from precisely the same cause – please see viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1685&sid=9b89353bb ... dc66e31633.

Indeed, you will probably recall that Sections 3 and 4 of www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org document how President Obama studiously ignored three requests to file a routine (for his Administration) Amicus Curiae brief with the Supreme Court where the “Question Presented for Review” was –

“Can state court judges order their decisions which they know are diametrically-opposed to well-settled law, not to be published or cited (a strategy labeled ‘the segregated toilet’ in correspondence with 51 inner-city clergy who represent the 10 million inner-city children who have been disclosed from the outset as the ‘real parties at interest’ in this law suit) in order to flush away the rights of the 10 million inner-city children without disturbing the rights of first-class American citizens -- without violating the ‘Equal Protection of the Law’ requirement of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?”

Even though President Obama and several key members of his Administration knew that the case involved $84 billion of private funds that had long-since been pledged in legally-binding fashion to provide tutoring and mentoring for 10 million inner-city children with a guarantee of their college tuition pursuant to a program that routinely transformed typically SINGLE-DIGIT INNER-CITY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATES to more than 90% - SINCE THERE WERE A DOZEN SUCH DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS ON CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA WAS A “COMMUNITY ORGANIZER” THERE.

You may recall that we have often said – “Although long may he live, his epitaph should read –

Barack Hussein Obama
America’s First “Token” Black President
He “Knew His Place” on The Establishment’s “Plantation”
He Condemned 10 Million Inner-City Children to “A Fate Worse Than Death”


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Thank you again for your e-mail – even though it “turned my stomach” yet again to be reminded of President Obama.

Your friend,

John K.


PS –

Upon re-reading the foregoing, it occurs that you might mis-interpret the last section which follows the 10/14/2009 plea to President Obama as motivated by pent-up anger –- similarly to an unhealed wound whose scab has been knocked off.

On the contrary, it is simply sorrow for what could have been.

You may recall that in the wake of Oprah Winfrey’s 10/19/2006 show when she interviewed Barack and Michelle Obama -- AND ON THE SPOT NOMINATED OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT, I proposed that we select his two autobiographies as our focus books.

And after we read them, how ecstatic I was over the possibilities.

So please recall my surprise and remorse when he spent the opening months of his Presidency on his worldwide “apology tour” -- which over the course of his 8 years in office seemed to foretell his desire to destroy America rather than improve it.

And now to recall how he seemed to hate Palestinians as much as he hated American inner-city children (I knew quite a few members of his Administration who confirmed his hatred of America and his contempt for our proposals regarding both groups).

Which doesn’t even take into account how he single-handedly destroyed the 1976-2008 public-financing of Presidential campaigns and made it the private playground of billionaires – please see our plea to the Co-Hosts and Producers of ABC’s “The View” to champion the restoration of public financing at viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1910&sid=8dfedb49a ... 0b9f870327.

In my lifetime, every President has seemed to be a decent person who wanted to make America and the world better (whether or not I agreed with their choices for doing so) -- except Obama.

What could have been if he had been a decent human being!!!