Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Five Norwegians and the Inventor of Dynamite

 A former colleague recently wrote to me:

“My family has been having a big debate about Trump’s work on these peace deals in the Middle East.  I mentioned that I was confident that you still don’t consider Trump a friend to Israel and would not be voting for him.  My siblings want to know why.  No matter what he does it doesn’t change who he is, which in my mind is a very bad man with no morals or ethics.

I was hoping you wouldn’t mind giving me some insight on these peace deals and if you still feel Trump is not a friend to Israel.  I thought maybe you would blog about that as well as Trump being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oh my gosh I can’t believe how divided our country is even in my own family.”

Here is my answer, with some additions and modifications:

I’ve sometimes wondered why so much prestige is attached to the Nobel Peace Prize, a prize awarded by a committee of five Norwegians, population 5.4 million, and named after a guy who invented dynamite and who donated money for a peace prize after reading a premature obituary that criticized him for making money as an arms dealer.

Not helping me feel warm and fuzzy about the award is the fact that the International Red Cross has won the award three times, including in 1944, in the midst of its arguably willing impotence in the face of the Holocaust and after its complicity in the whitewashing of the Theresienstadt Ghetto.

That recognition was arguably topped with awarding (and never revoking) the award to Yasser Arafat, the man who made modern terrorism successful and popular.

The final straw was granting the award to President Obama at the outset of his presidency.  Not that he did anything to tarnish the award.  The problem is that he hadn’t  yet done anything.  He had barely found the White House bathrooms when the call came.

It was somewhat similar to when my kids gave me a shirt proclaiming me “World’s Greatest Saba (Grandpa)” before my first grandchild was born.  It was on a whim and prayer.  But at least I had bounced some nephews and nieces on my knees, giving some hint that I might someday deserve the honor.  No prize money, however.

So when a far-right Norwegian parliament member nominated President Trump to receive the award, my response was a chuckle and a yawn.  Hey, why not?  It will be good for SNL and Colbert. 

 (To continue, https://www.edelsteinrandomthoughts.com/2020/09/a-former-colleague-recently-wrote-to-me.html)   

Five Norwegians and the Inventor of Dynamite

 A former colleague recently wrote to me:

“My family has been having a big debate about Trump’s work on these peace deals in the Middle East.  I mentioned that I was confident that you still don’t consider Trump a friend to Israel and would not be voting for him.  My siblings want to know why.  No matter what he does it doesn’t change who he is, which in my mind is a very bad man with no morals or ethics.

I was hoping you wouldn’t mind giving me some insight on these peace deals and if you still feel Trump is not a friend to Israel.  I thought maybe you would blog about that as well as Trump being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oh my gosh I can’t believe how divided our country is even in my own family.”

Here is my answer, with some additions and modifications:

I’ve sometimes wondered why so much prestige is attached to the Nobel Peace Prize, a prize awarded by a committee of five Norwegians, population 5.4 million, and named after a guy who invented dynamite and who donated money for a peace prize after reading a premature obituary that criticized him for making money as an arms dealer.

Not helping me feel warm and fuzzy about the award is the fact that the International Red Cross has won the award three times, including in 1944, in the midst of its arguably willing impotence in the face of the Holocaust and after its complicity in the whitewashing of the Theresienstadt Ghetto.

That recognition was arguably topped with awarding (and never revoking) the award to Yasser Arafat, the man who made modern terrorism successful and popular.

The final straw was granting the award to President Obama at the outset of his presidency.  Not that he did anything to tarnish the award.  The problem is that he hadn’t  yet done anything.  He had barely found the White House bathrooms when the call came.

It was somewhat similar to when my kids gave me a shirt proclaiming me “World’s Greatest Saba (Grandpa)” before my first grandchild was born.  It was on a whim and prayer.  But at least I had bounced some nephews and nieces on my knees, giving some hint that I might someday deserve the honor.  No prize money, however.

So when a far-right Norwegian parliament member nominated President Trump to receive the award, my response was a chuckle and a yawn.  Hey, why not?  It will be good for SNL and Colbert. 

 (To continue, https://www.edelsteinrandomthoughts.com/2020/09/a-former-colleague-recently-wrote-to-me.html)