Blog Post 2: Netanyahu and Kerry Peace Talks

Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Secretary of State John Kerry's warning of a growing boycott in Israel.  Israel and Palestine are negotiating over captured land territory in the West Bank from the 1967 Middle East War and Secretary of State John Kerry is conducting peace talks and negotiations between the two nations.  Kerry pointed out to Netanyahu that a growing number of European businesses are withdrawing their investments from Israel as a result of Israel continuing to build settlements in the West Bank.  An example would be Denmark's largest bank, Danske Bank blacklisted Israel's Bank Hapoalim due to its links to settlement construction.  Israel's representatives viewed Kerry's warning as an insult because it looks as if he's not competent with Israel's legitimacy, even though Kerry said he made his claim because he's concerned for Israel's security. 

Secretary of State John Kerry is the rhetor in this case, and it is clear that invitational rhetoric was not used to its full potential because according to "Beyond Persuasion: A Proposal For an Invitational Rhetoric" by Sonja K. Foss and Cindy L. Griffin "In presenting a particular perspective, the invitational rhetor does not judge or denigrate others' perspectives but is open to and tries to appreciate and validate those perspectives, even if they differ dramatically from the rhetor's own" (Pg 5).  Kerry presented his perspective of Israel's economic position and from what he saw happen in the past and in the present he is using that knowledge to advise Israel on what they should do so that the trend would change.  It's hard for Kerry to not sound judgmental about Israel's actions especially since all the evidence validates his claim, like with Denmark's bank and the fact that several businesses are pausing their business relations with Israel.   

I find that this article is also related to Kenneth Burke's "Dramatism," because Burke talks about scapegoats to relive guilt and he mentions that "If order, then guilt; if guilt, then need for redemption; but any such "payment" is victimage" (Burke 168).  So for this article Secretary of State John Kerry is the scapegoat to relive Israel's guilt of establishing settlements in the West Bank, where Israel and Palestine are still negotiating who owns which parts.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is blaming Secretary of State John Kerry for making Israel look bad to the world and for economic reasons, but Kerry was just pointing out the evidence as they are.  So Netanyahu has guilt leading to his need for redemption by victimage, who is Kerry.