For John, BLUF: When there is no common ground there can be no negotiations.
Egypt seems to be a recurring theme on this Blog. An important nation because of its geographic location and because of its past history and because of the role it is playing today in the transition of the Near and Middle East, and North Africa, toward a liberal democratic approach to government.
On the other hand, sometimes its past has a strong pull, as when an aide to President declares that the Holocaust is a myth, invented by the Americans. "Invented by the Americans" means that it is a fiction foisted on the rest of the world by us here in the US, including us here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts—we do have our own holocaust Memorial, down in Boston.
“The myth of the Holocaust is an industry that America invented,” Eddim said, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.Not everyone sees the past the way we do.Eddim, who is reportedly responsible for appointing editors for the country’s state-run newspapers, asserted that 6 million Jews actually moved to the United States during World War II.
I would think that if Egyptians do not accept the Holocaust, the Shoah, then they can not understand the pain that informs the Jews living in Israel. Until each side is able and willing to recognize the pain of the other sides this confrontation in the Near East will continue and will continue to be a possible fuze to a larger war, involving more than just the nations in the local area. It might even involve nuclear weapons.♠
Regards — Cliff
♠ The problem if it goes nuclear is not the hundreds of thousands to millions who will die, immediately or soon thereafter, but the fact that it might convince the rest of the world, as my wife noted, that it is "safe" to employ nuclear weapons. That is to say, their employment does not mean the end of the world.
