9/22/24

 Sunday, September 22, 2024

Autumn equinox at 7:43 a.m., sun altitude at 11°

u78

6t5

445

In bed at 9:30, awake at 4:00, and up at 4:15.  I opened the door for Lilly at 4:45, but it was drizzling outside and she chose to stay in.  It's predicted to be a rainy day.   

Prednisone, day 131, 7.5 mg., day 10.  Prednisone at 5:15.  Cabbage borscht at 5:30.  Morning meds at 5:50.  

The Balfour Declaration and U.S. support.  I read a lengthy historical analysis, THE FORGOTTEN TRUTH ABOUT THE BALFOUR DECLARATION, by Martin Kramer in the magazine MOSAIC on the background of the Balfour Declaration.  It revealed that all the Allied Powers in World War I essentially 'signed off' on the Balfour Declaration before it was issued on November 2, 1917.  That included U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.  Indeed the Declaration was incorporated into the preample of the League of Nations document creating the Palestinian Mandate for the UK.  Furthermore, U.S. Congress essentially ratified the Balfour Declaration unanimously in 1922 and President Warren Harding signed it on September 21, 1922.

I have more than once remarked in my journal writings about the great similarities between the State of Israel and the United States, including the notion in each state that it is "exceptional" in the sense of not being subject to the rules that govern the behavior of other nations.  My thought receives support in Marin Kramer's article:

And what of the other claim, that the Balfour Declaration disregarded the Palestinian Arabs? Balfour was not ignorant of objections to Zionism. Its critics, he said in a 1920 speech, invoked the principle of self-determination, claiming that if applied “logically and honestly, it is to the majority of the existing population of Palestine that the future destinies of Palestine should be committed.” Balfour thought there was a “technical ingenuity” to this claim.

But, looking back upon the history of the world, upon the history more particularly of all the most civilized portions of the world, I say that the case of Jewry in all countries is absolutely exceptional, falls outside all the ordinary rules and maxims, cannot be contained in a formula or explained in a sentence. The deep, underlying principle of self-determination points to a Zionist policy, however little in its strict technical interpretation it may seem to favor it.  

Of course, Great Britain also thought it was 'exceptional,' not subject to the same rules of other nations because of its extensive empire, which at its height included about one-quarter of the land mass and population of the world.  All great empires consider themselves "exceptional," including the American empire.  I think that this theory comports with the central idea of Niebuhr's Moral Man and Immoral Society, that men are more likely to sin as members of a group, particularly powerful groups, than as individuals.  it also comports with Lord Acton's theory that "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  Lastly, I think it comports with the wise advice Yeshayahu Liebowitz gave to the Israeli government after the Six Day War, i.e., not to maintain a military occupation of the Arab lands seized because of its corrupting influences within Israel itself.

Related note: Israel has shut down Al Jazeera's offices in Ramallah for 45 days and seized its computers, etc., accusing the organization of threatening Israel's national security and encouraging "terrorism."  This is part of the apartheid regime's campaign to exclude foreign news coverage of what Israel does in the West Bank and in Gaza.  

David Brooks in The Atlantic.  He has a very long essay titled How America Got Mean.  Clearly, he put a lot of thought, research, and preparation into this one.  It pretty much sums up his philosophy of life as he analyses what has gone so wrong with America that we have ended up where we are now, to which he adverts in one telling sentence: "After decades without much in the way of moral formation, America became a place where more than 74 million people looked at Donald Trump’s morality and saw presidential timber."  There is so much food for thought packed into this essay that I can't begin to write about it without spending some time in reflection, not only about what he says about our society but also about how his thoughts reflect on me, my moral or character development, my failings, my hypocrisy, "not a day but something is recalled, my conscience or my vanity appalled."  In the 4th stanza of Yeats' poem, he uses the words "weigh me down" twice.  Responsibility 'weighs me down' and things said or done, or not said or not done, 'weigh me down.'

Related:  In the September 9, 2024 New Yorker, there is an article by Manvir Singh titled "Are Your Morals Too Good to Be True? Scientists have shattered our self-image as principled beings, motivated by moral truths. Some wonder whether our ideals can survive the blow to our vanity."

Diary, journal, notebook, blabberbook, jottings?   Losing it?