On the Street Where I Lived

Okay, I lied. I'm posting. But only because I was again struck by something I had to scream about. 

This picture was front page of the New York Times yesterday. I immediately recognized the street as Jericho road, the most direct route from the BYU Jerusalem Center into the Old City of Jerusalem. I've talked to the kids who live behind the white wire gate on the left, and twirled down the street on my way to town-- I walked down this street everyday. I can with certainty tell you that this picture was taken approx. 600 ft away from JCenter property.  Israeli police have barricaded the road now, which is safer for the center, and I've read that starting March 5th students weren't allowed in the Old City (the JC has such good security teams; students are always* safe). 

Why am I screaming? I'll tell you one thing; it has nothing to do with the above picture. It does however have to do with reason #512 of my distate (a mild word chosen merely for politeness) for the current administration, particularly for that woman. Read "Clinton Rebukes Israel on Housing Announcement." The title alone is enough to explain why I'm grinding my teeth, but let me just sum up for those of you who won't bother to read it: with a direct quote from the first article, "Israeli officials say that the Obama administration misread the situation". Let me tell you-- I buy it. 

Israel does not... appreciate... being told what to do. "The Obama administration demanded" was frequently re-worded and reused in both articles. Never fear-- Mrs. Clinton and the Mr. Biden (both who were recently in Jerusalem) assure the press of their “ironclad commitment to Israeli security.” It's just that when they're speaking with the Prime Minister, they complain about Israel's actions and literally spell out what they expect them to do to fix it. Direct quote again: ""On Friday, Mrs. Clinton told the prime minister that the United States expected Israeli officials to take “specific actions”."

But then again-- perhaps the first paragraph of the article really does say it all:

The discord between the United States and Israel over Jewish building in East Jerusalem deepened Tuesday with Israeli officials saying they would reject demands by Washington and expressing anger over the public upbraiding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the Obama administration.

I repeat-- Israel does not appreciate being told what to do. They will not be instructed in how to manage their affairs, and if it comes to it, they'll tell US officials to take a hike. What was that phrase? Ah yes, "reject demands by Washington." 

It greatly bothers me that the current US administration does not seem to understand this, and that they're trying to pull Israeli strings. They're aggravating the Israeli's and jeopardizing our relationship with them.  I'm NOT happy.

*The students are away on a field trip currently, not anywhere near the current disturbances.  Coincidence? Nope. Students at the JC are always safe.