This Ongoing War: A Blog: 14-Sep-22: Seeking justice: A conversation with Jason Greenblatt (AUDIO)

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

14-Sep-22: Seeking justice: A conversation with Jason Greenblatt (AUDIO)

Jordan's King Abdullah II (center) sits with White House adviser Jared Kushner
(4th from left) and US special envoy Jason Greenblatt (3rd from left) in Amman
on May 29, 2019 [Image Source: Royal Palace/Handout via Reuters]

There's a podcast audio below we hope you will find the time to listen to. But first...

If you follow this blog, you will know how careful we are to explain how, throughout the years of battling with unresponsive officials to get our child's Jordanian killer - the FBI Most Wanted fugitive terrorist Ahlam Tamimi - brought to trial in Washington, we are frustrated and disappointed equally by both sides of American politics, the Democrats and the Republicans.

We have been open here, as well as in published speeches and opinion articles, that nothing of what we experienced in the years of the Trump presidency gave us a reason to change those views.

One good illustration among too many: "19-Nov-20: Putting justice back on the agenda" about our utter-waste-of-time efforts with former Secretary of State Pompeo.

A July 2022 backgrounder in Jewish Insider, written in connection with a newly-released Jason Greenblatt book, throws some light on the significant role he had in the Trump administration:

Opining about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a cottage industry in Washington, D.C. There are analysts galore, academics, former peace negotiators, think tankers — many appearing as talking heads on TV and writing sharp op-eds on how to resolve the intractable conflict.
And then there was Jason Greenblatt, fresh from the Trump Organization’s legal team and with no political experience recruited by former President Donald Trump to help bring peace to the Middle East. Now, the ultimate outsider, who served for almost three years as Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, has gotten the last word over Beltway experts in the form of a new memoir, which hits bookstores today.
Unlike other Trump memoirs packed with lurid details about a sometimes chaotic administration, In the Path of Abraham: How Donald Trump Made Peace in the Middle East — and How to Stop Joe Biden from Unmaking It describes a level-headed policy process and skips juicy anecdotes for a reasoned explanation of Trump’s decisions...

Against that background, Arnold Roth accepted Jason Greenblatt's recent invitation to discuss the Tamimi/Jordan issues with him for his podcast on the Newsweek platform.

The Diplomat, hosted by Jason Greenblatt, is inspired by his work in foreign affairs with the intent of fostering candid conversations on a wide set of global and domestic issues. The Diplomat will veer away from personality-driven political disputes and instead bring nuance and depth to hot topics. Using his diplomatic skills, Greenblatt aims to get at the root of the issues and attempt to find common ground where it exists, rather than sow further division.

Their conversation went to air on September 7, 2022 via Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Twitter. Click below to hear the 33-minute audio:

Here's how the conversation is described over on the podcast's home page:

His Daughter Was Murdered in Jerusalem. Now, He's Seeking Justice (featuring Arnold Roth) | Jason speaks with Arnold Roth about his daughter, Malki Chana Roth who, at age 15, was murdered in an act of terrorism in the heart of Jerusalem. Fourteen others died in the attack, but one of the masterminds of the Sbarro Massacre still walks free in Jordan. | Connect with Arnold Roth: https://twitter.com/arnoldroth | Connect with The Malki Foundation: https://twitter.com/MalkiFoundation

Three quotes from Arnold Roth's part of the discussion to highlight:

"If weak leaders like King Abdullah in Jordan are allowed to be the tail that wags the dog, much as the South Vietnamese were in the mid 1970's as they dragged America deeper and deeper into the quagmire... they are constantly saying "catch me because I am going to fall"...
"I actually have nothing to say to the Jordanians... I have been ignored by every conceivable level of Jordanian official to the point where not a single one has ever engaged, not a single one has ever said a thing to me. It doesn't matter to me. Jordan is not an actor in any of this. It's entirely the United States. Jordan cannot survive a day after the point at which the United States says "We want her on the four o'clock flight this afternoon and we will not take any questions." That would be the end of all of this. It would produce an immediate result...
"Jordan has much more antisemitism than gravity and physics would serve to justify... Why is that an issue? Because I don't know a single thing that [Jordan's] king has done to ameliorate, to in any way modify, the enthusiastic embrace of antisemitism of his people. And this I don't understand... [Jordan's] king does not deserve in my view the kind of deference he gets from the American political system."

Again, we hope you will give it some attention. It's a good podcast.

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About us

THIS ONGOING WAR is not part of the activity of the Malki Foundation which was founded by us, Frimet and Arnold Roth of Jerusalem, on September 11, 2001. But it is inspired by the same tragic circumstances. The Malki Foundation (also known by its Hebrew name: Keren Malki) is a memorial to the life of our daughter, Malki who was murdered at the age of 15 in a massacre in the centre of Jerusalem carried out by Hamas.

Beyond its function as a remembrance of a beautiful life, the foundation provides tangible, concrete, invaluable support daily to several thousand Israeli families from every part of the religious and socio-economic spectrum: Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Druze and others who care at home for a seriously disabled child.

Reach us at thisongoingwar@gmail.com

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If you care to make a positive and constructive contribution to the care of Israeli children with special needs - whether they're Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Druze or unconnected to any particular faith community - you can't do better than direct your donation to the work of the Malki Foundation.

It's the charitable organization we, the bloggers who produce This Ongoing War, established in 2001 in memory of our murdered daughter. Her name is Malki.

Keren Malki (in Hebrew, Keren means 'foundation' or 'fund') is efficient, effective, non-sectarian, non-political and unique in the good work it does. Thousands of families from every part of our richly diverse society here in Israel have benefited in concrete and meaningful ways. Donations to Keren Malki are tax-effective in Israel, Canada, UK and the United States.

There's also plenty of background at www.malkifoundation.org as well as on the Malki Foundation Blog.

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