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Jerusalem Post
Sept 24 2011
Reporter's Notebook: The sound of one hand clapping
By JORDANA HORN
09/25/2011 00:45
`So as Israel's prime minister, I didn't come here to win applause,'
says PM Netanyahu at General Assembly. `I came here to speak the
truth.'
NEW YORK - The impact of the General Assembly addresses by
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu at the UN on Friday could be gauged easily. One
could do so without hearing a single spoken word.
Had a celestial `mute' button been pressed, and no sound at all
emanated from the mouths of the world leaders from the podium,
watching the reactions of the General Assembly would in itself speak a
thousand words.
The UN, which Netanyahu called a `theater of the absurd' in his
speech, was derided by many over the course of the week for its
commemoration of the anti- Israel Durban conference. But the UN is a
place where representatives of 193 nations convene. And as such, its
General Assembly floor is a mirror held up to the faces of the world,
for better or for ill.
As the president of South Sudan, the newest member of the United
Nations, spoke from the podium, there was a palpable excitement in the
air. The seats in the hall filled with delegation after delegation of
suited diplomats assuming their proper places. Anticipatory chatter
bubbled from the desks and the aisles.
The next speaker - Abbas - was clearly the main event of the day, if
not the entire week.
And then, surprise: The president of Armenia was called to be escorted
to the podium by protocol to speak. The announcement was greeted by
the ruffling of papers and a rumble of mumbled confusion. There had
just been a change in the order of speakers - Abbas would be next. The
excitement continued to mount on the floor of the GA, completely
impervious to the words of the Armenian.
When Armenia finished, there was a rustle in the air comparable to
that of a curtain going up on a stage. There was standing room only in
the observer's gallery. And as Abbas walked up to the podium, the vast
majority of the delegates applauded thunderously, jumping up as though
yanked from their seats by the strings of an invisible puppeteer.
The holdouts were conspicuous. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, in the
United States' seats in the front row with her team, remained seated
and not clapping. The Israeli team did not clap either - and, in fact,
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor
left, making it clear that they had taken their seats only to leave
them.
Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein left
shortly after the speech began, when Abbas began to condemn Israeli
settlements. Everyone else stayed, waiting to hear the promised bit of
history dangled before them. They cheered lustily at the mention of
deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. They nodded in agreement as
Abbas threw out barbed words like `ethnic cleansing,' `racism' and
`apartheid' directed at Israel, speaking for the benefit of his
Palestinian as well as UN audience. The remaining Israelis sat
silently.
And finally, when Abbas brandished a copy of the Palestinian
application for statehood above his head like the winner of a relay
race holding a baton, the crowd once more leapt to its feet in
applause. They had seen what they had come to see: a historic moment,
a symbolic triumphal gesture.
As the next speaker, Japan, came to the podium, the energy and
concentration of the assembled diplomats dropped precipitously. Groups
of diplomats left, not listening as Prime Minister Yoshihoko Noda
spoke of the tragic earthquake that had befallen his country, and his
land and people's attempts to pick themselves up from horror and
disaster.
After Bhutan, Netanyahu approached the podium like the less-favored
fighter coming into the ring. The room that had been so full of
energetic anticipation for Abbas seemed sapped of energy, spent. The
prime minister began by extending the hand of Israel in peace, and
continued on to denigrate the body before which he stood. He denounced
those UN delegates who had listened to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He
castigated the body for its inordinate attention to Israel above all
other states. He expressed disbelief that Lebanon, a Hezbollah-run
state, could chair the Security Council.
All this and more, he said, rendered the international body a `theater
of the absurd.'
As applause rang loudly from Israel supporters in the gallery, the
collective delegate response came closer to a perfunctory golf clap.
The prime minister referenced applause at least twice in his speech.
`So as Israel's prime minister, I didn't come here to win applause,'
he said with the defiant tone of a child confronting a schoolyard
bully who knows that he's going to get pummeled in response. `I came
here to speak the truth.' While Netanyahu's truth resonated with the
Israel supporters present, others seemed comparatively impervious to
it.
`There's an old Arab saying that you cannot applaud with one hand,'
the prime minister said toward the end of his speech. `Well, the same
is true of peace.' The hall fairly resonated with the sound of one
hand clapping.
There are those who deride the UN as a circus, or even the `theater of
the absurd.' It is certainly a place where, for a week, dictators are
chaperoned around town in black cars and decry evil in other parts of
the world than their own. But whether or not the UN is the theater of
the absurd, the drama portrayed on its stage is one that stays with
someone who has seen it, long after the show is over.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=239353
Sept 24 2011
Reporter's Notebook: The sound of one hand clapping
By JORDANA HORN
09/25/2011 00:45
`So as Israel's prime minister, I didn't come here to win applause,'
says PM Netanyahu at General Assembly. `I came here to speak the
truth.'
NEW YORK - The impact of the General Assembly addresses by
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu at the UN on Friday could be gauged easily. One
could do so without hearing a single spoken word.
Had a celestial `mute' button been pressed, and no sound at all
emanated from the mouths of the world leaders from the podium,
watching the reactions of the General Assembly would in itself speak a
thousand words.
The UN, which Netanyahu called a `theater of the absurd' in his
speech, was derided by many over the course of the week for its
commemoration of the anti- Israel Durban conference. But the UN is a
place where representatives of 193 nations convene. And as such, its
General Assembly floor is a mirror held up to the faces of the world,
for better or for ill.
As the president of South Sudan, the newest member of the United
Nations, spoke from the podium, there was a palpable excitement in the
air. The seats in the hall filled with delegation after delegation of
suited diplomats assuming their proper places. Anticipatory chatter
bubbled from the desks and the aisles.
The next speaker - Abbas - was clearly the main event of the day, if
not the entire week.
And then, surprise: The president of Armenia was called to be escorted
to the podium by protocol to speak. The announcement was greeted by
the ruffling of papers and a rumble of mumbled confusion. There had
just been a change in the order of speakers - Abbas would be next. The
excitement continued to mount on the floor of the GA, completely
impervious to the words of the Armenian.
When Armenia finished, there was a rustle in the air comparable to
that of a curtain going up on a stage. There was standing room only in
the observer's gallery. And as Abbas walked up to the podium, the vast
majority of the delegates applauded thunderously, jumping up as though
yanked from their seats by the strings of an invisible puppeteer.
The holdouts were conspicuous. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, in the
United States' seats in the front row with her team, remained seated
and not clapping. The Israeli team did not clap either - and, in fact,
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor
left, making it clear that they had taken their seats only to leave
them.
Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein left
shortly after the speech began, when Abbas began to condemn Israeli
settlements. Everyone else stayed, waiting to hear the promised bit of
history dangled before them. They cheered lustily at the mention of
deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. They nodded in agreement as
Abbas threw out barbed words like `ethnic cleansing,' `racism' and
`apartheid' directed at Israel, speaking for the benefit of his
Palestinian as well as UN audience. The remaining Israelis sat
silently.
And finally, when Abbas brandished a copy of the Palestinian
application for statehood above his head like the winner of a relay
race holding a baton, the crowd once more leapt to its feet in
applause. They had seen what they had come to see: a historic moment,
a symbolic triumphal gesture.
As the next speaker, Japan, came to the podium, the energy and
concentration of the assembled diplomats dropped precipitously. Groups
of diplomats left, not listening as Prime Minister Yoshihoko Noda
spoke of the tragic earthquake that had befallen his country, and his
land and people's attempts to pick themselves up from horror and
disaster.
After Bhutan, Netanyahu approached the podium like the less-favored
fighter coming into the ring. The room that had been so full of
energetic anticipation for Abbas seemed sapped of energy, spent. The
prime minister began by extending the hand of Israel in peace, and
continued on to denigrate the body before which he stood. He denounced
those UN delegates who had listened to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He
castigated the body for its inordinate attention to Israel above all
other states. He expressed disbelief that Lebanon, a Hezbollah-run
state, could chair the Security Council.
All this and more, he said, rendered the international body a `theater
of the absurd.'
As applause rang loudly from Israel supporters in the gallery, the
collective delegate response came closer to a perfunctory golf clap.
The prime minister referenced applause at least twice in his speech.
`So as Israel's prime minister, I didn't come here to win applause,'
he said with the defiant tone of a child confronting a schoolyard
bully who knows that he's going to get pummeled in response. `I came
here to speak the truth.' While Netanyahu's truth resonated with the
Israel supporters present, others seemed comparatively impervious to
it.
`There's an old Arab saying that you cannot applaud with one hand,'
the prime minister said toward the end of his speech. `Well, the same
is true of peace.' The hall fairly resonated with the sound of one
hand clapping.
There are those who deride the UN as a circus, or even the `theater of
the absurd.' It is certainly a place where, for a week, dictators are
chaperoned around town in black cars and decry evil in other parts of
the world than their own. But whether or not the UN is the theater of
the absurd, the drama portrayed on its stage is one that stays with
someone who has seen it, long after the show is over.
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=239353