They warned us. The geniuses at Peace Now warned us. The brilliant diplomats warned us. The think tanks warned us. Even the Arab dictators warned us. For decades now, they have been warning us that if you want "peace in the Middle East," just fix the Palestinian problem. A recent variation on this theme has been: Just get the Jews to stop building apartments in East Jerusalem and Efrat. Yes, if all those Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem would only "freeze" their construction, then, finally, Palestinian leaders might come to the table and peace might break out.
And what would happen if peace would break out between Jews and Palestinians? Would all those furious Arabs now demonstrating on streets across the Middle East feel any better?
What bloody nonsense.
Has there ever been a greater abuse of the English language in international diplomacy than calling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the "Middle East peace process?" As if there were only two countries in the Middle East.
Even if you absolutely believe in the imperative of creating a Palestinian state, you can't tell me that the single-minded and global obsession with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the expense of the enormous ills in the rest of the Middle East hasn't been idiotic, if not criminally negligent.
While tens of millions of Arabs have been suffering for decades from brutal oppression, while gays have been tortured and writers jailed and women humiliated and dissidents killed, the world -- yes, the world -- has obsessed with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As if Palestinians -- the same coddled victims on whom the world has spent billions and who have rejected one peace offer after another -- were the only victims in the Middle East.
As if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has anything to do with the 1,000-year-old bloody conflict between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, or the desire of brutal Arab dictators to stay in power, or the desire of Islamist radicals to bring back the Caliphate, or the economic despair of millions, or simply the absence of free speech or basic human rights throughout the Arab world.
While self-righteous Israel bashers have scrutinized every flaw in Israel's democracy -- some waxing hysterical that the Jewish democratic experiment in the world's nastiest neighborhood had turned into an embarrassment -- they kept their big mouths shut about the oppression of millions of Arabs throughout the Middle East.
They cried foul if Israeli Arabs -- who have infinitely more rights and freedoms than any Arabs in the Middle East -- had their rights compromised in any way. But if a poet were jailed in Jordan or a gay man were tortured in Egypt or a woman were stoned in Syria, all we heard was screaming silence.
Think of the ridiculous amount of media ink and diplomatic attention that has been poured onto the Israel-Palestinian conflict over the years, while much of the Arab world was suffering and smoldering, and tell me this is not criminal negligence. Do you ever recall seeing a UN resolution or an international conference in support of Middle Eastern Arabs not named Palestinians?
Of course, now that the Arab volcano has finally erupted, all those chronic Israel bashers have suddenly discovered a new cause: Freedom for the poor oppressed Arabs of the Middle East!
Imagine if, instead of putting Israel under their critical and hypocritical microscope, the world's Israel bashers had taken Israel's imperfect democratic experiment and said to the Arab world: Why don't you try to emulate the Jews?
Why don't you give equal rights to your women and gays, just like Israel does?
Why don't you give your people the same freedom of speech and freedom to vote that Israel does? And offer them the economic opportunities they would get in Israel? Why don't you treat your Jewish and Christian citizens the same way Israel treats its Arab and Christian citizens?
Why don't you study how Israel has struggled to balance religion with democracy -- a very difficult but not insurmountable task?
Why don't you teach your people that Jews are not the sons of dogs but a noble, ancient people with a 3,000-year connection to the land of Israel?
Yes, imagine if Israel bashers had spent a fraction of their energy fighting the lies of Arab dictators and defending the rights of millions of oppressed Arabs. Imagine if President Obama had taken one percent of the time he has harped on Jewish settlements to defend the democratic rights of Egyptian Arabs -- which he is suddenly doing now that the volcano has erupted.
Maybe it's just easier to beat up on a free and open society like Israel.
Well, now that the cesspool of human oppression in the Arab world has been opened for all to see, how bad is Israel's democracy looking? Don't you wish the Arab world had a modicum of Israel's civil society? Would you still be worrying about "stability in the Middle East?"
You can preach to me all you want about the great Jewish tradition of self-criticism -- which I believe in -- but right now, when I see poor Arab souls being murdered for the simple act of protesting on the street, I've never felt more proud of being a supporter of the Jewish state.
Follow David Suissa on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SuissaOlam
Should we have been ceased operating a double standard from the start? Certainly
Palestinian leadership has never been weaker and Israel has an opportunity to achieve the best product they will ever get from a settlement. But wait another generation, ignore the Palestinian population, and see how much Israel likes playing the democracy game with the Palestinians when they out-vote them. How much are the Palestinians going to like being served a "two state solution" then when they'd kill for one now.
Stop using game theory like a child and you come to realize that exploiting the other 'prisoner' is less beneficial in the long run than going with scenario #2
think hard and beware of september when the Palestinians, frustrated with Bibi's unwillingness to even draw a map, declare a state with borders far more expansive than what they offered at the negotiating table.
The preeminence of Israel’s security has come at the expense of the freedom and liberty of tens of millions of people in the Arab world.
Egyptians have endured 30 years of living under brutal dictatorship so that 6 million Israel's could feel secure without having to pay the price of occupation.
Israel chose the unsustainable option, along with Washington, to maintain a cold peace via bribing a tyrant.
And now, Israel finds itself in a position where the US ability to sustain Israel’s security interests are severely compromised.
If that wasn't bad enough, Israel found itself alone (alongside Saudi Arabia no less), calling for Mubarak's regime to be protected. Strange bedfellows indeed.
As if the entire Arab world is a brutal mess of dictators because of Israel. Egypt was run by a dictator long before its peace with Israel. There is not yet one Arab democracy and there never has been. To say that is because of Israel is obsessive and delusional.
What other state receives more foreign aid from the US? What other state is guaranteed diplomatic immunity by the US at the UN? What other state is protected to such a degree that the US bribes tyrants like Mubarak ( and keeps him in power) just because he agrees to Israel demands?
There's no point complaining about the attention Israel receives when it commits a crime, when it demands to be so indulged otherwise.
And I wouldn't say that I am complaining. I am simply pointing out the rank hypocrisy of someone who claims to care about "human rights," yet only raises ire about alleged violations by Israel. What about all the widespread human rights abuses throughout the world, which I will add are far far far far worse in many countries then in Israel? Either they do support human rights and are unaware of other human rights violations around the world or there is some particular reason why they choose to focus nearly all their energies on Israel. You tell me.
And as we say no to Antisemitism, we say no to Antiarabism.
Isn't that saying YES to antisemitism?
[BAZ SEZ:]..and when exactly did “they”warn “us”?
A recent variation on this theme has been: Just get the Jews to stop building apartments in East Jerusalem and Efrat. Yes, if all those Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem would only "freeze" their construction, then, finally, Palestinian leaders might come to the table and peace might break out.
[BAZ SEZ:] The “Peace process” is not only about a settlement freeze. It’s about the illegal and oppressive occupation of seized lands.
Fanned.
Freedom House, an NGO that monitors civil liberties and policital freedom around the word states "
Israel remains the only country in the region (middle east and North Africa) to rank as Free and qualify as an electoral democracy."
So non of the other 21 countries are free, yet how many of them are "propped up" by Israel.
The irony is that the Alan Singer type's are always amazingly nubile at overlooking or forgiving the Arabs pathological inability to create functional socieities that provide civil liberties for their own people.
Yet when the only country in the region which has managed to do so shows any percieved imperfections in its democratic institutions they pounce gleefully and unmercilessly ranting about Israel's undemocratic ways.
I do agree that Israel has played a role in the democratic impulse that has swept Egypt and other Arab countries in the region in one respect, as a model. When palestinians were polled on what country's political system they would like to see adopted by a independent Palestinian state, they cited Israel electoral democracy.
So maybe it is Israel's fault after all.
In addition to these, there are at least another half dozen or more dicators that the US suports, including he Saudis.
Contrary to your false claim, Alan Singer type's does NOT overlook or forgive the Arab states ruled by these tyrants, because for singer and his type, there are no exception to when democracy is suitable and when it's not.
It's a good thing that tyou aknowledge that Israel has played a role in the democratic impulse that has swept Egypt. Maintaining a vice like grip on the pro democratic impulse (as Israel has done) had only made it stronger. The degree to which Israel has corrupted and distorted US policy has also weakened the US and mortally wounded it's influence.
So three cheers for Israel.
It isn't Israel.
It isn't the United States.
Saddam Hussein was armed by Russia, China and France - not Israel, not the U.S.
You are free to hate Israel but you really do need to see the facts.
Are you kidding! Another case of pathological need to link everything malady in the region to Israel and the US or both. What kind of goverment did Egypt have before the US became its main benefactor in the late 70s. Lets see there was Anwar Sadat, Mubarek's predecceor and mentor who ruled Egypt
as a strong man much as Mubarek. His predeccesor Gamal Abdel Nasser came to power through a military coup in the early 50's and ruled as a anti-Israel demagogue. Nasser and his fellow officers were preceeded by a monarchical goverment led by King Farouk who was preceeded by his father KIng Faud. Never was there anything that came close to true democracy and civil liberties.
Or lets look at other countires in the region today. Certainly the US and Israel do not "prop" up Syria which is, like Egypt, is a dictatorship under the rule Al-Assad (who inherited power from his father). Where is the democracy there? Or how about Iran, certainly not propped up by Israel or America, but nevertheless a theocracy where, as we have seen recently, any manifestation of democracy is simply a sham and public dissent is crushed brutally.
Sadat and Nasser were popular leaders ms neither ruled for 30 years.
Liberal democracies were still a rare concept in much of the world. Most European countries did not become liberal democracies until after WWII and of course, the Warsaw pact ensured that democracy remained elusive in the Eastern Europe.
It's also worth remembering hat the British had occupied Egypt for at least 70 years, and as with India, they were not too keen on the idea of the natives exercising self determination.
"Or how about Iran, certainly not propped up by Israel or America"
Are you serious? Did you completely miss the fact that the US overthrew their democratically elected leader in 1953 and replaced him with a dictator?
Mosaddegh was not exactly democratically elected at the time of his removal. In 1951, he was selected as prime minister by the Parliament of Iran. In 1952, he resigned and was replaced by Ahmad Qavam. After five days of protests, the Shah of Iran dismissed Qavam and re-appointed Mosaddegh.
If the people of Iran were so outraged by the dictatorship of the Shah, why did they replace him with a religious fanatic dictator?
The people in Egypt want a different government, because that government has been kept in power as a reward for participating in the brutalization of Palestinians.
They want a different government because the one they have is not democratic and not serving their interests. Why is irrelevant. And it is obvious that the US does not have the power to keep an unwelcome government in power (nor should it)
That's been the case for 30 years, but they haven't had any luck removing him, because he has a powerful police amd military aparatus (care of the US taxpyer) that has enabled him to rule with an iron fist.
"And it is obvious that the US does not have the power to keep an unwelcome government in power"
Not anymore, but they did have for 30 years.
Did Mr. Suissa manufacture them, or do they spring up rom the lightly fertilised fields so gently nutrtured by the Israel MFA?
Sad, I know, but I felt a compulsion to count them!