Stephen Gottlieb

I share many people’s concern about the survival of the state of Israel. The threat of its demise would be tragic, not only to Israel but to the survivors and refugees of the Holocaust and their descendants. Loss of Israel would expose world Jewry to intensification of antisemitism. These are serious issues that go way beyond ordinary international politics.

Like most of you, we will be gathering soon for Thanksgiving. Like many of you I will be giving thanks for a very loving, decent family. All good things in my life have sprung from my wife’s decision to tie our lives together. I have been enormously blessed.

Discussion over Israel and Palestine is largely about blame. There’s plenty to go around – for cruelty, murder, mayhem and stupidity, for refusal to come to the table and refusal to accept the rights and the very existence of others.

Years ago I observed a minor traffic accident in Manhattan. One of the drivers jumped out of his car yelling “You Iranian” at the other. Of course he had no idea where the other driver was from but Iran was the villain of the day.

Machiavelli wrote that a prince had to do hateful things first and quickly so people would forget and get used to a better world. Dribbling out harsh decisions makes people hate princes.

By its deliberate brutality toward noncombatants – men, women, children, even infants – Hamas made clear that it’s not a worthy avenger of legitimate Muslim or Palestinian grievances, but are immoral by Muslim as well as Christian and Jewish teachings and principles. But condemning Hamas won’t stop such massacres, mayhem and murder. How do we stop this and make a better, more peaceful world?

I’d like to talk about some aspects of global warming that I think have not been talked about enough.

The surest path to making America Great Again, the world’s unchallenged number 1, with its strongest economy, would be to support immigration. Immigrants fill jobs going begging now – both skilled and unskilled. They start new businesses, adding to shopping, dining, and entertainment diversity that pull people in to settle, stay and spend.

We can protect our environment and stop global warming in three ways:

Joe Biden’s legislative successes, as The Atlantic summarized, include “funds to fight climate change, a major infrastructure bill, action to lower prescription-drug prices [and even] modest gun reform,” policies that the public approves by wide margins. He’s put people back to work and is clearly trying to do the right things. Despite all the misleading discussion, inflation has been tamed, and we’re headed for the much talked about soft landing. Beyond those legislative victories, Biden has been doing what the constitutional system in Washington allows regarding the environment, equal rights and women’s rights. In other words, Biden has been hard at work taking care of the public’s business – things are under control – while Trump visits the make-up man.