Peace Breaks Out Between UAE and Israel

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Peace Breaks Out Between UAE and Israel

How are these apples?

From the White House site:

Joint Statement of the United States, the State of Israel, and the United Arab Emirates

Issued on: August 13, 2020

Quote

President Donald J. Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates spoke today and agreed to the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

This historic diplomatic breakthrough will advance peace in the Middle East region and is a testament to the bold diplomacy and vision of the three leaders and the courage of the United Arab Emirates and Israel to chart a new path that will unlock the great potential in the region. All three countries face many common challenges and will mutually benefit from today’s historic achievement.

Delegations from Israel and the United Arab Emirates will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit.  Opening direct ties between two of the Middle East’s most dynamic societies and advanced economies will transform the region by spurring economic growth, enhancing technological innovation, and forging closer people-to-people relations.

As a result of this diplomatic breakthrough and at the request of President Trump with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Israel will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President’s Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world. The United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates are confident that additional diplomatic breakthroughs with other nations are possible, and will work together to achieve this goal.

The United Arab Emirates and Israel will immediately expand and accelerate cooperation regarding the treatment of and the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus. Working together, these efforts will help save Muslim, Jewish, and Christian lives throughout the region.

This normalization of relations and peaceful diplomacy will bring together two of America’s most reliable and capable regional partners.  Israel and the United Arab Emirates will join with the United States to launch a Strategic Agenda for the Middle East to expand diplomatic, trade, and security cooperation.  Along with the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates share a similar outlook regarding the threats and opportunities in the region, as well as a shared commitment to promoting stability through diplomatic engagement, increased economic integration, and closer security coordination.  Today’s agreement will lead to better lives for the peoples of the United Arab Emirates, Israel, and the region.

The United States and Israel recall with gratitude the appearance of the United Arab Emirates at the White House reception held on January 28, 2020, at which President Trump presented his Vision for Peace, and express their appreciation for United Arab Emirates’ related supportive statements. The parties will continue their efforts in this regard to achieve a just, comprehensive and enduring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  As set forth in the Vision for Peace, all Muslims who come in peace may visit and pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, and Jerusalem’s other holy sites should remain open for peaceful worshippers of all faiths.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan express their deep appreciation to President Trump for his dedication to peace in the region and to the pragmatic and unique approach he has taken to achieve it.

This is a big deal.

Foreign policy-wise, it is up there in importance with the USA decoupling from China.

Happy, happy day...

 

Michael

[Jon Letendre]

I know you will never come forward and acknowledge how wrong you were, but maybe just in your minds all you retards who said World War III under Trump, you can go ahead and raise your little hands now.

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Heh.

Here's a kindly word from a friend. (Actually, I made it up.  )

Right on, Schlichter.

What about the poor arms industry?

They're children of God, too...

Don't they deserve to have their gainful employment protected? Don't they?

We need to re-imagine peace in the a world.

I mean, too much of this peace thing can be bad...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Heh...

I love the barrage of tweets like this out there.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

We knew this would happen, right?

Biden praises Israel-UAE peace deal announced by Trump, credits Obama administration

Is any comment necessary?

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

This is a milestone in history.

and

 

Michael

[Peter]

It will be invigorating to see the Arabic and Israeli regions be at peace with everyone. I think the UAE peace deal is a step that may be matched by other, larger Arabic countries, with no more Yasir Arafat type venom to annihilate the Jewish people . . . except from some Palestinians and the Iranians.  

 Why be civil? Why not just lash out emotionally? Jimmy Wales was the founder of Wikipedia and monitor of the various “wetheliving” groups.

From: Jimmy Wales To: atlantis Subject: ATL: David Kelley on civility Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 08:33:13 -0800, Here's a fairly long quote from David Kelley that is directly applicable to questions about why a civility policy is a good idea on a mailing list which makes an effort to be creative, open, and intensely intellectual.

From “Unrugged Individualism: The Selfish Basis of Benevolence”, p. 38: The forms of civility, and the broader realm of manners, are therefore dismissed by some people as arbitrary.  "Why should I confirm to arbitrary social standards?  I am an individualist."  But while the forms are conventional, what is conveyed through those forms is not. If my argument so far has been correct, then it “is” objectively important to acknowledge each other's independence in some way or other, whether by saying 'please,' or ’'s’il vous plait," or by some gesture understood to have that meaning.  It doesn't matter which forms we use to convey this, any more than it matters which sounds we use to express a given concept in language.  But insofar as civility has a communicative function, it does matter that we use the same forms.  Someone who does not practice these forms is rude.  We can assume that his failure to comply reflects indifference to what the forms express (unless he is ignorant, as in the case of a foreigner).

A similar answer can be given to the complaint that the forms of civility are inauthentic.  "What if I don't like the present Grandma gave me and I don't really feel any gratitude?  Am I not falsifying my feeling if I say thank-you nonetheless?"  The purpose of that thank-you is not to convey one's specific feelings about the gift, or the person who gives it.  Its purpose is to acknowledge that it was a gift, from an autonomous person, not something owed one by an underling.  (If Grandma wants more than this, and makes it clear that she really wants to know whether one liked the gift, then one should tell her, as tactfully as possible.)

Civility, then, may be defined as ”the expression -- chiefly through conventional forms -- of one's respect for the humanity and independence of others, and of one's intent to resolve conflicts peacefully.”

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

President Trump's peace achievement just keep piling up.

For example, ex-Yugoslavia.

Serbia and Kosovo normalize economic relations in U.S.-brokered deal

Quote

President Trump announced Friday that Serbia and Kosovo have normalized economic ties as part of U.S.-brokered talks that include Belgrade moving its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, and Israel and Kosovo agreeing to mutual recognition.

The ruling class elitists are not amused.

But the rest of the world loves it.

Michael

[Jules Troy]

On 8/15/2020 at 12:34 AM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

We knew this would happen, right?

Biden praises Israel-UAE peace deal announced by Trump, credits Obama administration

Is any comment necessary?

Michael

Obummer snubbed Israel every chance he got.  US/Israel ties were eroded HEAvilyyyyy under his admisadminmenstration.  Biden go fuck your hat.

[anthony]

56 minutes ago, Jules Troy said:

Obummer snubbed Israel every chance he got.  US/Israel ties were eroded HEAvilyyyyy under his admisadminmenstration.  Biden go fuck your hat.

Could not even have been dreamed of, on Obama's watch. The moderate Arab and Sunni states were most unhappy he was playing footsie with Iran, couldn't wait to see him gone.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

13 hours ago, anthony said:

Could not even have been dreamed of, on Obama's watch. The moderate Arab and Sunni states were most unhappy he was playing footsie with Iran, couldn't wait to see him gone.

Tony,

Taking out Soleimani was how President Trump got the attention and respect of the Sunni world.

Moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem was how he got the attention and respect of Israel.

And he basically said fuck you to Iran. (The government, not the people.)

The rest was simply a matter of deal making.

Obama's way was to condescendingly wag his finger at Arabs and Jews, apologize for America, and stab them all in the back.

People on his side say President Trump is a Nazi when they want to name-call, but given the closeness of Iran to Nazi Germany and given the closeness of Obama to Iran (Valerie Jarrett was born in Iran and speaks Farsi fluently), it's more accurate to say Obama is a Nazi. He is literally closer to Nazism than Trump ever could be.

His Muslim doctrine was to install the Muslim Brotherhood in the Sunni Arab world while supporting the growth of Shiites and Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions. He was cultivating mongooses on one end and a nest of cobras on another. What could possibly go wrong? It's like he wanted to set the Arab world on fire on purpose.

Oh, yeah. He also ignored the "junior varsity" that ended up turning into the ISIS caliphate.

Obama's Arabian legacy is that he managed to restore a legal human slave marketplace in Libya. Do you want a human slave? Go to Libya and buy one. A black one. Then say, "Thank you, Obama. I couldn't have done that without you."

Here in America, people still don't have a correct image of how badly Obama fucked up with the entire Arab world. He has a lot of blood on his hands through sheer incompetence. 

The Arabian world knows it, too.

Obama is so clueless and incompetent that, to this day, he has no idea how much they despised him in both Iran and in the Muslim Brotherhood, both of which he propped up.

Michael

[anthony]

Ah, Michael, But we mustn't overlook how shrewd was Obama's long term plan pallying up to the Iranians which brought about this turn of events! Apparently in Biden's mind, anyway.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy. Leftists have a determinist streak I've noticed. The economy took off after Obama - therefore because of Obama.

 

[anthony]

Next follows Bahrain, and some interesting ramifications. It is clear that the moderate Arab states have long been tired of the Palestinians - who predictably are mighty upset at these 'betrayals' - for holding out of a peace accord. Next that with Iran's threat to the region, they'd rather side with Israel. And - the timing of these diplomatic moves: just shortly pre-US elections, shows they are openly throwing in with and supporting President Trump, for whom this is a feather in his statesman cap so bettering his chances for re-election. (Maybe, also gaining the USA as a potential ally).

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Tony,

President Trump has been nominated TWICE for the Nobel Peace prize due to these efforts. 

One came from Norway and another came from Sweden. And I believe there will be more nominations as more and more Arab countries jump aboard.

Even if President Trump does not win the prize (which is not so valuable anymore), we get to watch some in the fake news media have epileptic fits--ones so bad, even other fake news media laugh at it.

The Atlantic magazine is slammed for publishing an op-ed saying the Nobel Peace Prize should be canceled - because Trump was twice nominated

Talk about porn for Trump supporters...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

What a beautiful sight.

Just to prolong the moment...

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

More beauty.

This one gets to me.

Think of all the blood spilled to get to this point.

May it last and the bloodshed stop...

Michael

[anthony]

"Make deals not war"?

Do you think the peaceniks (or ARI) will give the Prez an iota of credit?

 

https://gatestoneinstitute.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ae44aaf3f07dbffc928ba7cb5&id=3a787cda17&e=454b6dbddc

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

On 9/13/2020 at 7:22 AM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

President Trump has been nominated TWICE for the Nobel Peace prize...

The mainstream media is not talking about this yes, but...

Trump Gets 3rd Nomination for Nobel Peace Prize

The subliminal message is that President Trump is awesome and the mainstream press sucks.

It's really obvious in this case.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

In case anyone missed it, President Trump is continuing to change the world for the better.

From the White House site:

President Donald J. Trump Brokers a Historic Peace Agreement Between Israel and Sudan
FACT SHEETS | FOREIGN POLICY | Issued on: October 23, 2020

Quote

"They are choosing a future in which Arabs and Israelis, Muslims, Jews, and Christians can live together, pray together, and dream together, side by side, in harmony, community, and peace."
-- President Donald J. Trump

STRIKING ANOTHER HISTORIC AGREEMENT: President Donald J. Trump has brokered a peace agreement between Sudan and Israel – the third such agreement between Israel and an Arab-Muslim nation in less than three months. 

• Today, Israel and Sudan have agreed to make peace and to normalize their relations in another landmark agreement brokered by President Trump.
• In the coming weeks, the two countries will begin negotiations on cooperation agreements in agriculture, economy, trade, aviation, migration issues, and other areas of mutual benefit.
• This historic peace agreement follows similar agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Israel and the Kingdom of Bahrain.
  • The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan are the first Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel in over 25 years.
• The expansion of the Abraham Accords to include Sudan is a significant step that will further enhance Israel’s security and create opportunities for Sudan and Israel to deepen their economic ties and improve the lives of their people.

BEGINNING A NEW ERA FOR SUDAN: This agreement is a historic step forward for the people of Sudan and the new transitional government.

• After decades living under a brutal Islamist dictatorship that supported terrorism, the people of Sudan are in charge and democracy is taking root.
• The Sudanese transitional government has demonstrated tremendous courage and commitment to combating terrorism, building its democratic institutions, and improving its relations with its neighbors.
• The United States welcomes this important progress and stands ready to support the people of Sudan as they work to build a better future for themselves and future generations.

CREATING THE CONDITIONS FOR PEACE: After decades of instability and crisis, nations across the Middle East and Africa are increasingly working together to build a more peaceful, prosperous future.

• Since taking office, President Trump has worked to rebuild trust with our regional partners and identify their shared interests, moving them away from the conflicts of the past.
• Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the Middle East and Africa are experiencing the most rapid geopolitical transformation in over a generation.
• As more countries normalize relations with Israel, the region will become more stable, secure, and prosperous.
• The United States will continue to stand with the people of the region as they work to build a brighter, more hopeful future.

Michael

[ThatGuy]

1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

In case anyone missed it, President Trump is continuing to change the world for the better.

From the White House site:

President Donald J. Trump Brokers a Historic Peace Agreement Between Israel and Sudan
FACT SHEETS | FOREIGN POLICY | Issued on: October 23, 2020

Michael

And yet there are people who are convinced that this signals the worst. I tried to share this news with a coworker as good news, but she wouldn't have it, and is convinced that Trump is a madman. (She is originally from Africa who still returns home periodically, and was telling me about some military base there and soldiers killed, etc...of course, she couldn't give me specifics as to where, etc. I tried to mention Biden and China/Ukraine, but just wouldn't hear it. But she is also orthodox Christian, who believes the Biblical prophecy that peace in the Middle East is a sign of the AntiChrist.)

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

50 minutes ago, ThatGuy said:

But she is also orthodox Christian, who believes the Biblical prophecy that peace in the Middle East is a sign of the AntiChrist.)

TG,

That's your ticket into her head. It takes time and has to go in small steps, but you have to step into her story if you wish to lead her out and into yours.

The trick is to take a truth with you when you go in, something that is true in her story. One of the most effective for hardcore Christians is a thought about Satan and seduction rather than Satan and confrontation. This later goes to the saying that Satan's greatest trick was to convince people he didn't exist. Then that leads to asking if she is sure Satan is not fooling her when she thinks she is looking at him when, in fact, she might looking where he has convinced people--including her--that he doesn't exist. There are lots of great metaphors about animals walking into traps, quicksand that looks like normal ground, and so on.

People in O-Land want to use reason on everybody and get perplexed why it doesn't work. They don't think in terms like I just mentioned.

There's a really good book I read a while back on how to make changes in people's lives (I can't remember the name right now--I'll see if it comes to me later). They were funded by the US government, of all things, and were dealing with behavior like smoking. But the process they laid out is sound.

These were science-oriented people, so they had their protocols, etc. In the middle of their experiments, they discovered that people have 4 stages they go through to make lasting change and here's the kicker. The things that are relevant to them in one stage are not relevant to them in another. Here are the stages (I paraphrase).

Stage 1 - Does not know they have a problem.
Stage 2 - Knows they might have a problem, but has not decided to do anything about it yet.
Stage 3 - Knows they have a problem, and has decided to fix the problem, that is, preparing to fix it.
Stage 4 - Enters into the fixing the problem mode.

There is a fifth stage of maintenance after fixing the problem, and a sixth stage for relapses. But that's almost a different discussion.

In smoking, if someone is in the first stage of not even realizing they have a problem (they tell themselves they can quit anytime they want, for example), telling them about lung cancer doesn't make a dent. Discussing strategies on how to give up smoking (Stage 3) is irritating to a person who just stopped and is going nuts at times with craving (Stage 4). And so on.

Shifting this structure over to religion and ideology, it works with stories and reason, too. The lady you are talking about is in Stage 1. She doesn't even know she has a problem. In the stories she tells herself, there is no problem. None. Nada. She already has it figured out. So how are you going to reason her out of that? You can't. Ever. She has to do it herself. But you can make her uncomfortable with inconvenient questions and observations using her own standards. And, over time, that will likely get her into Stage 2, if she is still talking to you.  

Until cracks appear in her certainty, she will never move to the next stage (Stage 2) of doubt where she will start doing her own looking at things, research and private mulling things over. 

This is a great system, but it takes time. The good news is that it works. I know. Looking over my past at artists I have produced, I used this sequence without even knowing about it. And this is exactly how I got out of my previous addictions.

EDIT: I just found the book. The jargon is different than my paraphrase, but the conceptual framework is the same. Changing for Good: A Revolutionary Six-Stage Program for Overcoming Bad Habits and Moving Your Life Positively by James Prochaska, John Norcross and Carlo DiClemente. (That's an affiliate link. The Amazong gods say I have to say this now and I might make 25 cents or so if anybody buys this sucker. Yay...  )

Michael

[ThatGuy]

2 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

The trick is to take a truth with you when you go in, something that is true in her story. One of the most effective for hardcore Christians is a thought about Satan and seduction rather than Satan and confrontation. This later goes to the saying that Satan's greatest trick was to convince people he didn't exist. Then that leads to asking if she is sure Satan is not fooling her when she thinks she is looking at him when, in fact, she might looking where he has convinced people--including her--that he doesn't exist. There are lots of great metaphors about animals walking into traps, quicksand that looks like normal ground, and so on.

I'm usually not that good at that sort of thing. But I'll say that your method has rubbed off on me a bit. Even though I'm atheist, I'm respectful of her beliefs (and she's a very sweet lady, as it is, so I don't like being confrontational with her, as it is.) . I did bring up with her (as I have in previous conversations) the situations with the churches being shut down. Her own church, in which she's active, just reopened only last month (with restrictions, of course). I mentioned the situation in California and Michigan, where they're still shut down, or forbidden to sing, etc. (I try to mention that they're democrat-led states, to "plant the seed", as you say.) Also mentioned what's going on in NY with the synagogues and Jewish community (including today's news about the police shutting down a gathering in a private home). Don't know how effective I am, but you got me thinking of that approach, at least, so thanks.

[ThatGuy]

"Then that leads to asking if she is sure Satan is not fooling her when she thinks she is looking at him..."

Well, that's sounds like a "turtles all the way down" quagmire...or the Vizzini logic in picking the poisoned chalice in THE PRINCESS BRIDE...

Some people are just convinced that the devil IS real, and is in the form of Orange Man Bad.  As to Trump/Antichrist re: peace in the middle east and Revelations, don't know how I can penetrate that fear, especially when even someone like Pat Robertson just came out and said that "God told him that Trump will win, and it will start the End of Days..." How can I compete with the prophets? lol. Sigh. (Of course, he's been saying that for how many decades, now, even before Trump?) That's when I just say "well, the Bible also says that the we can't predict the end times (or something like that), and leave it at "time will tell; we'll see...so hows are those TPS reports?" or something similarly mundane...
 

(ah, it's Matthew 24:36: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father." That's usually sufficient to segue out of the topic... )

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

23 minutes ago, ThatGuy said:

(ah, it's Matthew 24:36: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father." That's usually sufficient to segue out of the topic... )

TG,

I am always able to break the ice and get a Christian to relax with me when I throw Proverbs 31:6-7 at them:

Quote

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

Michael

[Peter]

I don’t feel like looking up the original quotes from years ago but Iran’s leader said when they get the atomic bomb they will immediately and utterly destroy Israel, promised Jewish genocide, and then Iran will nuke America. Peter   

From Fox News in May, 2020 . . . The leader, in 25-unthreaded tweets, compared Israel to a "cancerous tumor" and the coronavirus, as he called for the nation to be "uprooted and destroyed." The ayatollah, who wields complete control over the regime, made similar comments Friday in an in-person speech, according to the Times of Israel . . . "Some argue that the Zionist regime is a reality that the region must come to terms with," the Khamenei said in one tweet. "Today the #Covid_19 is a reality; should it be accepted or fought?! The long-lasting virus of Zionism will be uprooted thanks to the determination and faith of the youth. #Covid1948." . . .  The remarks, which were made on the ayatollah's English-language Twitter account – Twitter has a policy that it does not block world leaders or remove their "controversial tweets" – came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Khameini of making threats "reminiscent of the Nazi 'final solution' plan for the destruction of the Jewish people" on Wednesday.