What the Betrayal of Czechoslovakia in 1938 Can Teach Us About The World and Israel Today (Unless you are a "progressive" and cannot be made to learn from history).

Barry Rubin  "...Analogies with Nazism and the 1930s are overused today, made even more tasteless and cliché-ridden by the fact that many of those using them know very little about the situations then and now."

Bad cause, good cover story:

The oppressor

Today, many people cannot believe that a humanitarian issue for which a real case can be made might also block understanding of a wider danger and the creation of a worse humanitarian issue.The Palestinians are suffering, they say. The Palestinians want a state. These are problems worthy of a solution, but what kind of a solution? Like saying the proletariat has poor living conditions or bigotry against Muslims is a bad thing, these are true enough statements — but not ones that should overwhelm common sense and a legitimate self-interest.Even the detail of blaming Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s current government has a parallel in the 1938 case: the problem is portrayed as the intransigence of Benes (pictured here), rather than that of Czechoslovakia as a whole. (Incidentally, after 1945 when he returned to power, Benes expelled by law virtually all of the country’s Hungarian and German minorities.)

Resentment for the “troublemaker,” who is just trying to survive:

The oppressed victim

Misunderstanding the enemy’s ideology, means, and goals"

Chamberlain believed that Hitler just wanted dominance over Czechoslovakia, and that there would be no more claims. In the same manner, much of the media, university, government complex (MUG) of today thinks that an independent Palestinian state would be the end of history — after which there would be no more aggression, claims, demands, or crises.

Much more at the link...

Resuming: But that doesn’t mean we can’t learn some important lessons:

– Don’t buy humanitarian explanations for aggressive and radical demands.
– Identify your enemies correctly, and know their ideology, goals, and tricks.
– Don’t be angry at the intended victim, and accept lies about it by your own common adversaries.
– Don’t engage in a process of progressive surrender, in which a chain of unilateral concessions are substituted for standing on principle and demanding one’s own interests be respected.
– Think about whether a proposed solution is really lasting, or is just going to make things worse.
– If you fear to confront an aggressive dictatorship or ideology, you will end up confronting it on worse terms.

"It is forgotten how much antagonism there was at the time against Czechoslovakia"

While we're in this groove, how about this comparison of Obama to the Vichy French?
And here: Brzezinski (from the Carter administration, incidentally) fantasizes about US shooting down Israeli planes  
Also: Obama Defense Dept: We’re Not Going To Attack Iran, And If Israel Tries We Might Shoot Down Their Jets

All this just to show you how cowardice in the face of ruthlessness is reflected in history and how those who yield to it will be regarded. Of course that is after it is too late and millions of innocents have been long dead. TD