reply by
barb
3/15/2002 (20:22) |
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another one Mesmart...
3/15/02 5:46 PM Mountain Standard Time
From: Kramden1019
WHY DOES THE U.S. SUPPORT ISRAEL
Why does the U.S. support Israel? It would certainly be easier not to. The Muslim world is constantly mystified as to why most Americans are sympathetic to Israel.
Some critics in the Middle East castigate our government and excuse 'the American people.' In the eyes of these critics, it just can't be possible that grassroots public opinion is reflected in our official policy. Other misinformed conspiracy theorists spin elaborate yarns involving the Mossad, CIA, Old Testament fundamentalists, international bankers, the Protocols hoax, Jewish control of Hollywood and the U.S. Congress, and so forth.
But the question remains: Why does an overwhelming majority of Americans -- between sixty and seventy percent of the electorate on a consistent basis -- support Israel’s right to exist? And why has this level of support maintained itself after the September 11 suicide attacks?
The answer can be found in values. Not in brainwashing, and not because of an innate affinity for a particular race or creed. The fact is, Israel is a democracy. Its enemies are not.
Much misinformation abounds on this subject. Of course we know that Libya, Syria, Iraq and Iran are brutal dictatorships. But even the less repressive Arab regimes such as Egypt, Morocco and Jordan are sorely lacking in true and free democracy. Their candidates for 'parliament' are either screened, pre-selected, or coerced to toe the party line. Any opposition candidate who dares to speak out is jailed or silenced. Print and broadcast media are
subject to restrictions, censorship or state control. 'Elected' leaders are almost never open to public audit, censure or serious criticism. There is a reason, after all, why in the last decade Americans have dealt with Labor and Likud governments in Israel, but no one other than Arafat on behalf of the Palestinians, the Hashemite monarchs in Jordan, Mubarak in Egypt, the Assads in Syria, etc. Only death -- not free and fair elections -- brings a
change of government in the Arab world.
The 'Arab street' responds that it is the responsibility of the U.S., which gives billions to Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Afghanistan and other Muslim regimes, to use its influence to instill democracy. Yet we rarely have such power to engineer sweeping constitutional reform, despite our troops stationed in the Gulf and our shameful dependency on the Saudi oil barons. True freedom is brought not by external pressure from the U.S., but by the blood
and courage of native patriots, together with at least some modicum of cultural tolerance, widespread literacy, and free markets. Let an Arab George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or Tom Paine rise up against repression. Only then might we see a new birth of freedom in the Arab world.
Moreover, we also give billions to Israel. Yet we have little control over whether they wish to elect a Rabin or a Sharon.
Israel is also a secular state. The ultra-Orthodox do not run the government unless they command a majority of the voters, which is wholly unlikely. Americans have always harbored suspicion of anyone who nods violently while reading Scripture, whether in madrasses, the local church, or before the Wailing Wall. In Israel, however, Americans sense that free speech and liberality of custom and religion are more ubiquitous than, say, in Saudi Arabia,
Iran or Palestine. Thus, Americans surmise that the Jewish state is more akin to the nations of Western Europe than to those of Muslim fundamentalists.
Pluralism exists in Israel, but rarely so in the Arab world. Israel has a dovish peace party, a spirited debate between Left and Right, and strong opinions in favor and against those who have established settlements outside the 1967 borders. Judaism itself is fissured by a variety of splinter orthodoxies, yet we see no gunfights among them. Many Israeli Jews are openly agnostic and atheist, yet they enjoy influence in Israeli culture, politics and
academia. In the Arab and Muslim world, such parallels are rarely if ever seen. Heretical mullahs may be heretical in London, Paris and New York, but not in Teheran or among the Taliban. No Palestinian will dare appear on CNN to call for Arafat's resignation. His opposition rests among bombers, not debaters.
Israeli newspapers reflect a diversity of views, from rabid Zionism to almost suicidal pacifism. The Israeli parliament includes several legislators of Arab descent. Indeed, the Sharon government itself includes two Arab cabinet ministers. Plenty of left-wing Jewish intellectuals openly write and broadcast their views in opposition to the particular government of the day. Is that liberality ever true in Palestine? Can a Palestinian, Egyptian or
Syrian novelist freely write something favorable about Golda Meir or something hostile to Assad or Mubarak? Can a Muslim author craft a satire about Islam? Past experience suggests that such critics would be met with fatwas and assassination attempts at best. Sure, the Palestinian spokesmen can be vocal and unbridled on American television, but only when they are being critical of the U.S. and Israel. Their free-wheeling invective is rarely
directed at Arafat’s authority.
Israel’s free, pluralistic and democratic society extends to all its citizens – Jew and Gentile alike. In particular, over one million Israelis of Arab origin – Muslim, Christian and Druze – enjoy the benefits of Israeli citizenship. Israeli Arabs vote, serve in Parliament and other political offices, own real estate, operate businesses, publish literary works, teach in schools and universities, practice law, medicine and other professions,
and serve in the military and police forces. The Israeli Defense Force includes thousands of proud, loyal Arab citizens of Israel among its ranks. Recently, four Israeli servicemen of Arab origin -- an Army Major, a Sergeant and two enlisted men – were brutally murdered by their Palestinian 'brothers' in an unprovoked attack on the Israel/Gaza border. The four were mourned as heroes and buried with full military honors. One of the four soldiers
was a distant cousin of Omar Souaid, another Arab Israeli soldier of Muslim faith who was kidnapped and executed last year, along with two Jewish compatriots, by the Hezbollah butchers in Lebanon. Hezbollah has cynically refused to turn over the desecrated remains of Lieutenant Souaid to his grieving mother, thereby preventing this fine man of blessed memory from even receiving a proper Muslim burial. So much for 'Islamic solidarity.'
Americans also admire Israeli ingenuity – both technological and cultural. Israel’s achievements are not reflective of genes, but rather of the culture of freedom. Surely there are thousands of brilliant, educated and talented Palestinian Arabs. But in the conditions of the Middle East, they have little opportunity for free expression or to operate a business or profession without government bribes or tribal payoffs. The result is that even
American farmers in central California are constantly amazed by Israeli drip-irrigation devices, sophisticated water pumps and other ingenious agricultural appurtenances. We see no such inventiveness from the citizens of Algeria, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
There is also an affinity between the Israeli and Western militaries that transcends mere official exchanges and commercial arms sales. We do not see goose-stepping soldiers in Haifa as we do in Baghdad. The troops in Tel Aviv do not wear hoods or strap plastic explosives to their clothing. Nor do Israeli presidents carry sidearms to the United Nations, strut around in plastic sunglasses, or pin to their chests the cheap, tawdry medals reminiscent
of Stalinist Russia. Young, rank-and-file Israeli men and women enjoy a familiarity among one another, and their officers are more akin to our own army than to Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Iraqi Republican Guard.
The Israelis also far better reflect the abject lethality of the Western way of war. Here perhaps lies the greatest misunderstanding of military history on the part of the Arab world. The 'Arab street' foolishly believes that sheer numbers and real estate – two hundred million Arabs, a billion Muslims, a century of oil reserves and millions of square miles of seemingly impenetrable territory – will result in ultimate military victory. Yet
history teaches us that war is rarely so simple. Instead, victory is determined by the extent to which a nation’s military has become westernized. The western militaries are technologically advanced due to the fruits of secular research. Their group discipline is more cohesive, thanks to a consensual society. Their superior logistical efficiency derives from free market capitalism. And their flexibility is the dividend of constant public audit
and private individualism. No Arab military enjoys such advantages, despite advantages in numbers and natural resources. If the Arabs truly desire military parity with Israel, they should establish their own research programs immune to corruption, religion or political censure, and ensure that their students are mastering calculus rather than just the Koran.
We Americans are not ignorant of the recent past. Our nation was never a colonial power in the Middle East. Rather, we developed ties there as a reaction to, not as a catalyst of, the region’s complex history. No one doubts that Israel was created in large part as a reaction to events in twentieth century Europe. Yet it is Europe, not the U.S., which stands ready to abandon Israel at its moment of greatest need. The twentieth century has
taught Americans that some Europeans, given the opportunity, would gladly assist in annihilating millions of Jews, Gypsies and others. Many more Europeans would prove unwilling or unable to act against those who perpetrated the holocaust. We Americans therefore sensed, correctly, that the first three Arab-Israeli wars were fought not to return the West Bank, but to finish off what Hitler could not. And we now suspect that, while hundreds of
millions of Arabs of good conscience would accept a permanent Israel within its 1967 borders, a few million would never do so. And those few would not necessarily be restrained by those who did ultimately accept the existence of the Jewish state.
Somehow, we in the American heartland sense that Israel, by virtue of its economic success, its free society and its liberal press, is a wound to the Arab psyche. Israel does not threaten the material condition of the Arab world. Israel did not murder Kurds and Shiites – Saddam Hussein did that. Israel does not butcher Islam’s children in Algeria – the repressive and undemocratic Algerian government did that. Israel did not kill over a
million young Iranian men on the Iran-Iraq border – Khomenei did that. Israel did not erase from the face of the earth entire villages and their living inhabitants in Syria – Assad did that. Israel did not turn parts of Cairo, once a gleaming city of great historical importance, into virtual open sewers – the corrupt, incompetent Mubarak regime did that. Yet both the victims and the perpetrators of these crimes against Muslims answer
'Israel' to every problem. But Americans, more than any other people in history, live in the present, not the past. We loathe scapegoating, and we abhor the cult of victimization. We are tired of those, both here and abroad, who increasingly blame others for their own self-induced pathologies.
Europeans are far more cynical. Tel Aviv may reflect Europe’s liberal values far more than Cairo or Damascus. Yet we hear little from London, Paris or Rome that is not calibrated in terms of financial gain or avoiding trouble. In that sense, Israel is simply a very bad deal for them. Europe’s Middle Eastern policy is based upon little more than naked self-interest. If Israel were wiped out tomorrow, Europeans would ask for a brief moment of
silence, then sigh with relief, and without a blink would roll up their sleeves to get back to business.
America’s idiosyncratic support for Israel says something about ourselves rather than just our ally. Maybe the Europeans are right that there is nothing much to gain in a tangible sense from aiding Israel. By helping a few million, we may sacrifice the friendship of a billion. When we offend the Israelis, they snub us. But when we offend the Muslim world, terrorists engineer mass slaughter in Manhattan. Despite occasional disagreements with
the Israeli government of the day, no American fears that a frenzied Israeli will hijack an American plane or murder hundreds of Marines in their sleep with a truck bomb. No Jews ever complain of the billions we have lavished upon Mubarak, Arafat and the Jordanian monarchy. And Israel, which lacks the cash reserves of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, does not go on buying sprees in the U.S. or import entire American industries. So our reasons for choosing
whom to support says a great deal about Europe and the United States.
Instead of voicing despair about American support of Israel, Palestinian Arabs should see in America their greatest hope. Our support of Israel is based upon disinterested values with the capacity to evolve, rather than upon static considerations such as race, religion and language that lack the ability to ever change. If the Palestinians wish to even the score with Israel in American eyes, they can do so – with regular, free and fair elections,
a free and unfettered press, broadcast media free of government control, an open and honest economy, and religious tolerance of Jews, Christians and others in their midst. Implementation of these measures would accomplish much. Suicide bombers and a duplicitous terrorist leader will accomplish nothing.
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