Monday, June 26, 2006
Issue Not Talked Enough About
Other than on Altercation I don't see much written about the Palestinian / Jewish conflict on the blogosphere...........may just be the blogs I'm reading regularly. Anyway, in light of the connection of this conflict to the rise of Islamoextremism it is certainly a topic worthy of greater coverage. There is perhaps no greater example of religious intolerance than the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. On both sides. Americans generally have a natural affinity for the state of Israel. This is not simply because of the large Jewish population of the US and any undue influence that a powerful Jewish lobby purportedly has over the policies of the US government. Of course our common religious traditions play a big role as well in our affection for and support of the Israelis.
I think this support also comes down to an American willingness to pull for the little guy. The small state of Israel is surrounded by a sea of Arabs and has fought at least 4 major wars against them, often against overwhelming odds. Americans love an underdog, and early on in the existence of the Jewish state this was certainly the case. Not only this, but one could also say that the history of the Jewish people post-WWII is also perhaps the greatest comeback story of all time. After being almost eliminated by a genocidal maniac in Hitler the Jewish people were able to come together and arise from the ashes of ruin like a phoenix. Anyone who has read Exodus can not but help to admire the Jewish people and their difficult struggle for survival.
Yet the American love affair with Israel is also one that is fraught with difficulty. The neoconservatives who pushed for the war in Iraq did so at least in part because they believed that it would benefit our Israeli ally. However, the Iraq War could actually prove to make things worse for the state of Israel. While Saddam Hussein may have paid for terrorists to blow themselves up on Jewish buses, his state was not really a threat to the existence of Israel. The continuing US presence in Iraq and the impact that this is having on recruiting for the Islamofascists could prove to be a longer term threat.
Also, in gereral the US support for Israel continues to be a problem in our dealings with the Arab/Muslim world. While I am not advocating that the US should abandon its support for Israel it is essential that we do more to support a peaceful negotiation of the differences between the Israelis and Palestinians. Given the nature of American politics anyone questioning support for Isreal will quickly be ostracized. Somehow we have to get beyond this. The US government must be more forceful in convincing the Israelis to work out a negotiated settlement before it is too late..........if its not already. Things seem to be going in the opposite direction, especially the last few years under the Bush administration. All parties share some blame in this but it is time to move beyond the "blame game." My big concern is that a Democratic administration might not do much more to push the Israelis toward a peaceful settlement. Here is where the politics of the Jewish vote in the US unfortunately does make a difference. I don't know the answer to this delimma but I do know that as long as the state of Israel basically treats the Palestinian territories like Bantustans and the US doesn't at least seem to do something about it, our relations with the Muslim world will not improve and Islamic extremism is likely to continue to grow.
I think this support also comes down to an American willingness to pull for the little guy. The small state of Israel is surrounded by a sea of Arabs and has fought at least 4 major wars against them, often against overwhelming odds. Americans love an underdog, and early on in the existence of the Jewish state this was certainly the case. Not only this, but one could also say that the history of the Jewish people post-WWII is also perhaps the greatest comeback story of all time. After being almost eliminated by a genocidal maniac in Hitler the Jewish people were able to come together and arise from the ashes of ruin like a phoenix. Anyone who has read Exodus can not but help to admire the Jewish people and their difficult struggle for survival.
Yet the American love affair with Israel is also one that is fraught with difficulty. The neoconservatives who pushed for the war in Iraq did so at least in part because they believed that it would benefit our Israeli ally. However, the Iraq War could actually prove to make things worse for the state of Israel. While Saddam Hussein may have paid for terrorists to blow themselves up on Jewish buses, his state was not really a threat to the existence of Israel. The continuing US presence in Iraq and the impact that this is having on recruiting for the Islamofascists could prove to be a longer term threat.
Also, in gereral the US support for Israel continues to be a problem in our dealings with the Arab/Muslim world. While I am not advocating that the US should abandon its support for Israel it is essential that we do more to support a peaceful negotiation of the differences between the Israelis and Palestinians. Given the nature of American politics anyone questioning support for Isreal will quickly be ostracized. Somehow we have to get beyond this. The US government must be more forceful in convincing the Israelis to work out a negotiated settlement before it is too late..........if its not already. Things seem to be going in the opposite direction, especially the last few years under the Bush administration. All parties share some blame in this but it is time to move beyond the "blame game." My big concern is that a Democratic administration might not do much more to push the Israelis toward a peaceful settlement. Here is where the politics of the Jewish vote in the US unfortunately does make a difference. I don't know the answer to this delimma but I do know that as long as the state of Israel basically treats the Palestinian territories like Bantustans and the US doesn't at least seem to do something about it, our relations with the Muslim world will not improve and Islamic extremism is likely to continue to grow.
