Cue the Everly Brothers and Spot the Camel

Rabbi Donniel Hartman is one of those Israeli dreamers who wears blinkers that block out the jihad, and who can therefore foresee a day when Israel and Palestinians will be able set aside their differences and live side by side in peace. (To which those sans blinkers might say: Ha! How is that to occur when, on the one hand, Israel wants to remain sovereign and Jewish, and on the other hand, Palestinians want all of Israel "back" because, according to Islam, once a land has gone 'Rab, the land you can't grab--or something like that?) Here's a portion of Rabbi Hartman's open letter to Obama, advising the president what to say and how to act when he's in Israel this summer if he wants to coax Israelis to hop back on his peace train:

You and the United States are and have been great friends. Israeli society, however, doesn’t know you, and as a result doesn’t fully trust you yet. I hope that your primary mission will be to speak to us Israelis. Show us that you understand. Show us that you care. Show us that you know that what has been a seemingly intractable problem will not be solved on a short timetable. If you do so you will find us Israelis to be a true partner and willing players in daring and bold initiatives. The citizens of Israel have never rejected a potential peace treaty, and I believe we never will. The Herzlian proverb, "If you will it, it will become a reality," is built into the DNA of this country. The same pioneering and courageous spirit which enabled the building of this country against impossible odds will serve as the engine and foundation for what will hopefully be a new era in the Middle East.

How can he show that he understands and cares when all evidence points to the contrary--that, in fact, he neither understands nor cares about Israel's right to its singularity? How could he, when he spent twenty years with his backside every Sunday in one of Rev. Wright's pews, and hangs out with the likes of Bill Ayers and Rashid Khalidi? And let's not even go into his being named for the Prophet Muhammad's wingéd steed. (It's safe to say that, unlike Hartman, Israelis "understand" Obama and what makes him tick all too well.) But, oh, how comforting to imagine--to dream, dream, dream--that some sort of (fake) display of "understanding" from the famously icy Obama, Mr. Sang Froid himself, could, no, will, make all the difference.

There's dreaming about overcoming seemingly impossible odds. And then there's the jihad and the sharia imperative, something Israel and the rest of the West can't possibly dream about overcoming without first removing the blinkers and acknowledging the massive, immovable dromedary named Jihad standing imperturbably in the front parlor.