Waiting for Szego

Fairfax (ex-Australian Jewish News) columnist Julie Szego on Islam:

"A secular society must reject special pleading for religious dogma. And why should the religion that's at this moment in history the most dogmatic be the one shielded from attack and marked 'fragile'?" (Why Ayaan Hirsi Ali gets up so many people's noses, The Age, 30/3/17)

Given her stance as a fearless defender of secularism against religious dogma, I'm very much looking forward to Szego's next column on these two egregious examples:

"Defense is important and security is important, but the most important thing is the moral claim of Israel. We are committed to go forward with living in our ancient land, land that was given to us not by Google and Wikipedia, but by the Bible." (Communications Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, quoted in Israeli minister: the Bible - not Google - gives Israel moral right to land, Tovah Lazaroff, The Jerusalem Post, 28/3/17)

"Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said there were three quick arguments for placing Area C of the West Bank within Israel's borders, all of which centred around the word 'just,' and then mentioned Israel's victory in the Six Day War. 'It was a just war. It is a just defense. But the most important one, it was based on a just claim. A just claim of the Jewish people on [the Biblical areas of] Beit El, Shechem, Jerusalem and Hebron." (ibid)

Tzachi the Baptist, Bibi Christ & His First Coming

If Superman is faster than a speeding bullet, then  Israel's visiting Superman (Aren't they all?) National Security & Foreign Affairs Minister, Tzachi Hanegbi, is slower than glacial speed:

"Laconic and soft-spoken, Hanegbi nonetheless has a reputation as a hard man in Israeli politics. He gradually has moved from the right to the centre, and is now a passionate advocate of the two-state solution." (Israelis see hope in switch to Trump, Greg Sheridan, 3/12/16)

Thanks for that, Greg,

To begin with, the Palestinian West Bank was occupied in 1967. That's almost 50 years ago.

The Palestinians adopted the two-state solution at the Arab Summit in Fez in 1982. That's 34 years ago.

And again at the Madrid Conference of 1991. That's 25 years ago.

And again at the Oslo Accords in 1993. That's 23 years ago.

And again, at the 2002 Arab League Peace Initiative. That's 14 years ago.

But NOW Hanegbi's "a passionate advocate of the two-state solution"?

Will wonders never cease?

Greg must've been so impressed that he forgot to mention 1) settlements; 2) the West Bank Wall; 3) occupied East Jerusalem; 4) the Jordan valley etc etc.

OK, so William Blake could see "A World in a Grain of Sand/ And a Heaven in a Wild Flower." But what about our Greg? He can see Passion in a Block of Ice!

Just imagine what he's going to see when "the one who comes after [Hanegbi], the straps of whose sandals [he is] not worthy to untie" gets here:

"Hanegbi's visit is a precursor to the planned visit of Netanyahu early next year, which will be the first time a serving Israeli prime minister has come to Australia. Hanegbi believes it will take the relationship into a new dimension of much broader and deeper practical co-operation."

I swear, the fabled Second Coming will be an anticlimax after this!