A Jew-hater can’t negotiate Middle East peace

Is it any wonder that the American negotiating team, comprised of J.D. Vance, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff went home empty handed, unable to broker a peace deal?

That’s because the person appointed to be the head negotiator was an avowed Jew-hater!  Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif recently posted the following on X: “Israel is evil and a curse for humanity.” 

Having accused Israel of committing genocide in Lebanon, the defense minister equated the elimination of Hezbollah terrorists with Lebanese civilians who, rather than accurately say were killed in war, claimed they were being slaughtered innocently.

That kind of distorted representation, a/k/a lying through one’s teeth, was an automatic disqualifier when choosing a fair arbiter.  Because anyone who thinks that way has no capacity to honestly appraise the justification of war and why a deadly enemy, who is still launching missiles into Israel with the goal of killing innocents, should be eliminated.

Asif, likewise, lumped in Iran and Gaza as being part of the “innocent citizens” gang.  What part of October 7th did he miss? And why would he try to palm off Hamas and the IRGC as sinless and pure?  

While the prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, might have thought he was being helpful by recommending Asif to mediate between Iran and the U.S., it’s always helpful to choose a person who can judge righteously and knows the difference between good and evil.

In this case, why trust someone who said Israel is a “cancerous state, which exists on Palestinian land,” resulting from a deliberate act of Europe to “get rid of their Jews?” Or what can be made of his wish that those Europeans “burn in hell?” 

The 76-year-old, Pakistani minister, who is serving in his post for the second time, doesn’t seem to have picked up a few tips on how to be diplomatic, because to have posted such virulent hatred, on the world’s most popular social media platform, certainly didn’t leave much room for doubt as to where he stood.

In addition to the role he now holds, Asif also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2017-2018. Originally a banker by profession, in 2002, he was arrested twice on corruption charges by the National Accountability Bureau and eventually released on bail less not long after. 

Also accused of misogyny, in 2023, he called the female opposition leaders “trash and leftovers.” It doesn’t end there. Asif was accused of having rigged the 2024 elections by the independent candidate and mother of the former election rival Usman, Dar.

Ironically, Asif ended up deleting his inflammatory X post after Israel’s prime minister called it outrageous.

Given the heavy baggage that he brought to the table, by way of his personal animus against the Jewish state, how would it have been possible for him to conduct legitimate peace talks that would affect future events in the Middle East?  

How absurd that someone with his opinions would have been appointed as the best man for the job, given that this operation, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, has been co-executed by both the U.S. and Israel.

Asif could have never been trusted to be a fair, unbiased and reliable arbiter of justice, since the IRGC was already viewed by him as “victims” who were being targeted for no reason.  With that logic, he probably also believed that the U.S. has been committing a genocide in Iran while trying to take down their nuclear threat. 

Either way, anyone with even the slightest sense of equity and fair treatment would have to come to the conclusion that Asif was incapable of meting out justice, given his own personal, deep-seated hostilities towards the Jewish state.

Once his disgraceful comments were disclosed, that should have been a huge red flag for the U.S., Israel and Lebanon, all of whom have the most at stake.  Clearly, the risks posed by a head negotiator who could not, by any metric, be described as an honest and sincere seeker of truth, was only headed for failure.  

In light of his vengeful sentiments, Asif should have been roundly rejected as the appointed individual to bring the parties together, because he was so obviously lacking in moral and ethical character.

But none of this was surprising, when taking into account that he comes from Pakistan, a country already embroiled in its own controversy when it comes to Israel which it does not recognize. It also has no formal diplomatic relations with the Jewish State whatsoever.  

History reveals that it was one of the nations which voted against the UN Partition Plan of 1947. Their present position is for an independent Palestinian state to be established based on pre-1967 borders. East Jerusalem is their desired capital for such a state.

In short, Pakistan is in favor of the untenable two-state solution, along with the relinquishing of Israeli land which was fairly taken throughout the many wars that Israel has been forced to fight to maintain her survival.

In the recent past, Pakistan has called for the UN to suspend Israel’s membership, once again, citing their belief that the war in Gaza falls under the category of a genocide. 

With positions such as those, why did anyone agree to sit at a negotiating table with any Pakistani leader, given their inability to identify a justified war from the heinous act of genocide?  

One can only imagine what their idea of fairness would have been when Iran’s opening demand is that Israel immediately stop their defensive actions by implementing a ceasefire. This, at a time when northern Israeli communities have been pummeled day and night, rendering thousands of residents homeless. In essence, their condition for negotiating was for us to give up our right to defend ourselves.

It’s no wonder that these negotiations had fiasco written all over them. Because nothing good could have come from a mediator who already has his mind made up. When you think terrorists are victims and a democratic state defending its people are the barbarians, there’s really no place to go from there.

That is why these peace talks failed to get off the ground after 21 hours between parties who will, apparently, never see eye to eye on the difference between good and evil.