Appeasement seldom works. When one side makes concessions to avoid conflict, the other side will often require even more concessions. Some background on appeasement might be informative in this regard.
In the days before WWII the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, made the most striking example of appeasement in modern times. His opponent, the evil genius. Adolf Hitler, rose to power by stages during the 1930s. First, he built up his military in violation of the treaties established after WWI. Then his first conquest was the annexation of the Rhineland--a relatively small area between France and Germany which had a significant German population. The allies made all sorts of excuses not to interfere. Hitler then turned his focus on Austria. In a speech during March 1936, he said "Germany neither intends nor wishes to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, to annex Austria, etc." But two years later Hitler invaded Austria, breaking his earlier promise. The French and Chamberlain (who wished history would remember him as "The Great Peacemaker") declined to intervene.
The next event in this saga was the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The German inhabitants of that country, with Hitler's encouragement, had formed a local Nazi party which created unrest. They were located in the heavily fortified Czech region closest to Germany. The French and British Cabinets were both agreed that there would be no consultations with the Czechs. Neville Chamberlain took it upon himself without informing his allies to fly on three occasions to meet Hitler in Germany.
On the third visit in September 1938, he met Hitler in Munich. Chamberlain made the concession that Hitler was seeking, namely granting the Fuerer the division of Czechoslovakia. Hitler then said this was the last of his territorial ambitions in Europe. So, Chamberlain had the Fuehrer sign a document that said all future disagreements between the two countries would be solved by "the method of consultation," and the two countries would never go to war with each other again. Hitler readily signed this statement. On returning to his English airport, Chamberlain waved the signed piece of paper saying it was "peace with honor. I believe it is peace in our time." Before long, however, Chamberlain's appeasement had failed, and Germany's subsequent aggression started WWII.
Fast forward to today. Following the horrific Hamas invasion of Israel last October 7 in which over 1,400 were barbarically killed including 31 US citizens, Joe Biden flew to Israel. At that visit on October 18, he said: "Israel is not alone--and with US support it will remain a safe, secure, Jewish, and democratic state today, tomorrow, and forever." The Israeli PM Benjamine Netanyahu replied to Biden: "Thank you for standing with Israel today, tomorrow, and always." Sounds good, doesn't it?
But a few weeks later Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Mich) said: "we will remember in 2024. Joe Biden supported the genocide of the Palestinian people." She quoted "From the river to the sea," which she said was an inspirational song for Palestinian freedom. But Debbie Wasserman Schulz quickly replied that it was a call to eradicate Jews in Israel from the Jordan to the Mediterranean. Again, this year Rep. Tlaib hinted that voters would make Biden pay for his Israeli support at the ballot box. She called Netanyahu a "genocidal maniac." Tlaib was joined by the far left "Squad," especially Rep. Omar of Minnesota, who is also a devout Muslim.
According to Pew Research the population of the USA is about 327 million with about 2.4% being Jewish. In New York it is much higher at 9.1%. The US Muslim population is just over one percent, but in the swing state of Michigan which Tlaib calls home it is 2.75%. In fact, Dearborn has 54.5% of residents whose ancestry is middle eastern or north African, and Hamtramck, Michigan has both a Muslim mayor and a Muslim city council.
This last spring many college campuses were overrun by students who advocated support for the strident Palestinians. Far left agitator George Soros financially supported many of these uprisings. Biden did little to oppose them. Democratic senator Chuck Schumer in the delicate state of New York tried to straddle the fence by saying Netanyahu should call for new elections. Further, all reference to antisemitism was struck from Biden's State of the Union speech in March.
In the last few weeks Biden, in a further attempt at appeasement, has restricted some of the munitions which should have been sent to Israel. One Jewish voter in Michigan said: "How could any Jew vote for a Democrat?" They would likely vote for a third-party candidate, or not vote at all. The president's concessions risk losing the Jewish vote in many parts of the country. Will his appeasement work? Will the Muslim voters follow through with their boycott threat? It will be interesting to see Biden's reaction when the anniversary of the great massacre comes around next October 7.
Peter Gilderson, Madison.
