I should probably let you all in on a serious bias of mine. I'm hopelessly Pro-Israel. I am prepared to debate all comers on this subject, but if you care to engage, I urge you to read your history. I urge you to become familiar with the creation of the State of Israel, and how the original UN mandate also created a Palestinian state. I urge you to read about the war that followed, as neighboring Arab states fought to destroy Israel rather than accept it as a cost for a Palestinian state.
I am well-informed as to the Zionist movement of the late 19th Century, and I know all about the activities of Zionists throughout the early 20th Century. That said, if the authority and legitimacy of the UN is to mean anything, the creation of the State of Israel was legal and legitimate.
The Palestinians have made a living out of victimization. Let's face it; calling entire cities with walls, streets, sewers, water and electricity "refugee camps" sixty years after their creation begs credulity. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ladies and gentlemen, are the spoils of war! When Jordan, Syria and Egypt ganged up on Israel in 1967, they relinquished the right to complain when Israel annexed these lands to guarantee its own security.
Israel is a thriving democracy amidst a cesspool of craven dictators and plumed scions of lines long gone fallow. Anyone complaining about the influence of "the Jewish Lobby" on politics in the US simply doesn't understand US voters. The Jewish Lobby has no impact on me. Suicide bombers in pizza shops do.
That said, I am troubled by this latest move by Israel. I support a Palestinian state, achieved by Israeli remittance of lands taken in the Six Day War. I support such a state ONLY with serious signs by the Palestinians and other neighboring Arabs that Israel is legitimate and is not threatened. The only hope Israel has of achieving these goals is to cease building settlements in the occupied territory, moves which only serve to inflame the situation. I realize there are domestic Israeli politics afoot here, but this ceased to be an Israeli domestic question 60 years ago.
If the Palestinian question were solved today, the Arab world would quickly fall in on some other grievance to justify their cultural and political stultification.
Friday, July 25, 2008
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2 comments:
I think your final sentence aptly sums the prevailing attitude in Israel. If it came down to simply trading land for a guarantee of peace/legitimacy, Israel would have done so a long time ago. But every time they cede land for the faint promise of peace, Hamas can be counted on to pee in the punchbowl.
Perhaps you could shed light on an observation that vexes me. Why is it American Jews continue to vote overwhelmingly democrat, when republicans (and republican administrations) have been among Israel's most staunchest supporters?
Good question, GG. I think there are a couple of reasons. First of all, let's be honest...Dems have been pretty friendly to Israel and American Jews over time...Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton both made this conflict huge parts of their personal foreign policy portfolio. Republicans have come to this a little late, as two trends emerged: one is the fascination American religious conservatives have with Israel, chosen people and the Holy Land. US religious conservatives have made common cause with Zionism, especially as Israel's enemies closely resemble our own. Secondly, the Dems (liberal dems) have begun to see the "plight" of the Palestinians more as a humanitarian issue, which is very attractive to them.
I think there is also an historical Marxist/socialist/unionist tie among Jewish intellectual elites and what grew into the party of these interests in the US...the Democratic Party.
All in all, the relationship between American Jews and the Democratic Party is strong, but not as strong as it used to be.
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