Phyllis Chesler; Substack . . ." A self-described "rescuer" in Spain, (I will call her B), did get a number of our women and their families out and into remote rural areas of Spain where they were funded for only one year. After that, they were informed that it was time for them to take care of themselves. But, long before that happened, this woman promised that if we could get some of the remaining Afghan women out to a third country e.g. Pakistan or Iran, she would bring them to Spain.
"Well, she lied. Or rather, she overreached. She was yet one more person who wanted to be lauded and funded for her altruism--oh, there are so many. She wanted publicity first in order to first get funded, and when that did not happen--our Afghan women, almost penniless, sometimes without male protectors, some with brothers and children, remained stuck in Teheran, Meshad, or Isfahan. They kept begging for help--and then they stopped, they became quiet.
"I wondered if they had gone back to horrendous lives under the Taliban or whether they'd managed to marry an Iranian. Now, I must wonder whether they were among those whom Iran forcibly exiled or worse, whether any of them were among the hundreds of Afghan refugees whom Iran executed over the last year.
"Muslim on Muslim hatred, Shiia on Sunni hatred. The Iranian oil fields, their nuclear sites, their torture chambers--all, all protected by American foreign policy. The same America that pulled out of Afghanistan in an unbelievably incompetent way, leaving billions of dollars of military equipment behind for the Taliban--and, more important, leaving human beings many of whom had become Westernized, some of whom had worked with American and European organizations--at the mercy of Hell."
More from Ms. Chesler: Thomas Friedman is A Big, Fat, Jerk . . ."Oh dear. Friedman lives in his own diabolical dreamworld. He believes that C.I.A. director, Bill Burns can effect "coercive diplomacy" by explaining to Iran that their terrorist imperialism will soon bring them down; that America will find ways to make this happen, and if Burns simply lays it all out in words, that Iran will "define its western border and declare that everything beyond it is for the Lebanese, Syrians, Yemenis, Iraquis," etc.
"But to Friedman, Iran and Israel are the same, are morally and demographically equal.
"Thus, according to Friedman, Burns must also demand that Israel "withdraw from southern Lebanon and Gaza" and, dreaming aloud, Friedman recommends that "the Lebanese Army and a credible, lethal, international force will replace Hezbollah, and an Arab peacekeeping force will replace Hamas." Assuming that Israel withdraws entirely. Burns will also "encourage Israel to limit any retaliatory strikes against (Iran)."
"While Friedman does not tell Iran what it must do in its own sovereign country, he holds forth on sovereign Israel's internal affairs. "We must not be in the business of making Israel safe so that a radical messianic government can annex the West Bank...Bibi needs to purge the settler lunatics" and "open talks with credible leaders...on a two state solution." If Israel does not do as Friedman orders, America will not keep "resupplying Israel with missiles and missile systems."
"Has Friedman and my good friend completely forgotten the history of all the British and Israeli offers to Arabs for a second Palestinian state? (Jordon is the first one). Forgotten that Arabs rejected all these offers? Forgotten that Iran and its terrorist proxies want to genocidally exterminate the Jewish state? That international police keeping forces have been totally ineffective, corrupt, violent, indifferent, anti-Zionist, and invariably fail their missions?
"Has Friedman not noted that even more menacing messianic maniacs than the West Bank "settlers" rule Iran, mullahs who exile, torture, and execute dissidents, women, homosexuals, and refugees without the UN censuring or stopping them, without America calling them to account?
"Finally, nowhere in this piece does Friedman mention 10/7, nor does he call for the release of the American or Israeli hostages who still remain in terror tunnels in Gaza."
Ms. Chesler isn't finished with Friedman yet: NYT's Thomas Friedman is consistently wrong about Israel "In the rigorous world of journalism, credibility is paramount. Yet, Thomas Friedman, a prominent voice for The New York Times, seems to have a recurring pattern of misjudgments, particularly concerning Israel.
"One could call it an “obsession.” "If Israeli and American leaders were to shape foreign policy based on Friedman’s recent and past columns – both countries would have been less safe today and peace in the Middle East would have remained an intangible dream. Thankfully, they didn’t." . . .
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