pointless statement of the day

In anticipation of the Annapolis conference in which Ehud Olmert is expected to offer much of the Land of Israel to the lowest bidder, the Association of Rabbis for the People and Land of Israel (I have never before heard of this association, which means nothing) held a conference yesterday to come out with a joint decision and statement of position regarding what Olmert is expected to effect in Annapolis.

Rabbi Dov Lior said, according to Ynet, "We must cleanse the country of Arabs and resettle them in the countries where they came from, If this means we have to pay them, we will. Without doing so, we will never enjoy peace in our land."

This statement of his is coming under the usual criticism. He is a racist. He is guilty of incitement. he should be investigated. etc.

Statements put out by this and any other right wing organization can and will be largely ignored. They will only be used as fodder for accusing the right wing public of being racist. No statement they can ever put out will ever be taken seriously or considered seriously, and therefore such conferences and association are pretty much worthless.

I am not sure what the appropriate arena for right wing activism is. We have already seen the ineffectiveness of any and all groups to thwart or derail or even just draw away support for left wing policy. No amount or type of protest swayed Ariel Sharon, none will sway Olmert, and the general public continues to imbibe the press statements put out by Olmert's spin doctors and media advisers as of they were holy writ and everything else should be ignored.

The country has become one that is controlled by Public Relations experts and actual policy debate with content is abandoned. As a result we had Ehud Olmert putting out conflicting statements in the weeks leading up to Annapolis.

According to one Annapolis is just a simple meeting - nothing more than that and nothing will happen. Then he puts out a statement how this is the most exciting breakthrough in recent past giving us a true chance for peace.

Then he puts out statements how Ramon's plan to divide Jerusalem is just that - Ramon's plan; Ramon has no authority and his plan has not been accepted by the government and when Ramon talks about it he represents nobody but himself. Then he puts out a statement saying we can and should split Jerusalem for reasons x, y and z.

Then he puts out statements how Annapolis is really nothing big and nobody should be concerned, it is just a way to get talks going... etc.

Olmert gives out nothing of substance and no real information. He only says things his media people allow him to say considering how it will affect his standing in public opinion, world opinion, his image, his investigations, how coalition, etc.

Do we really have any idea what Olmert is planning to do in Annapolis? No, because he has put out so many conflicting statements we really have no idea. he probably does not even know. When it happens he will decide what is best and then he will tell us what he wants to tell us. And his media advisers will formulate exactly what needs to be said and how it should be said, and they will sell it based on their decision.

So right wing debate and trying to deal with the actual issues is pointless because the public buys what Olmert's media advisers sell them. After that anybody who wants to disagree is either an unrealistic right wing fanatic or somebody who is racist and borderline treasonous.