For the nth time in the last few decades, there’s conflict again in the land known as Judah Assyria Babylonia Persia Judaea Palaestina Syria Palaestina Jund Filastin Kingdom of Jerusalem Eyalet of Damascus Vilayet of Beirut Mutasarrifiyet of Jerusalem Palestine Israel. At the moment, our gummint is uncritically in lockstep with the Israeli government, our President-elect is maintaining that he shouldn’t say a word because “there should only be one president at a time” (regardless of the fact that he certainly has found the courage to speak up on a whole lot of other topics), and people all over, on and off-line, are rehashing the same arguments, ranging from the emotional to the logical, and often somewhere in between.
I could devote an entire post, or even a year’s worth of posts, to the background of this war, and where I stand and why. I’m not going to, for a large number of reasons. I will say this: both sides are wrong. Hamas is wrong to continue bombing Israel, and Israel is wrong for imposing collective punishment on the Gaza Strip. There are no absolutes on either side: no black and white here, no angels and demons. Both sides have valid points, and both have actions to answer for.
This tit-for-tat attitude will not resolve anything; Israel will kill and destroy, is killing and destroying, but there’s no real way to “win” here. Hamas will probably come back stronger than before, and a whole new cadre of potential recruits will strengthen their sympathies for and with the Palestinians. Right now, halfway across the world from here, there is a terrified child whose internal anguish and anger will explode ten or fifteen years from now against the people who have destroyed his home and killed or wounded people he knows and loves. That anger the grown child unleashes will in turn terrify and solidify hatred in another child on the other side of the fence (and there is a fence, unfortunately). Thus, the cycle continues, without a seeming end to the madness.
But does this mean that we here in the United States need to go along for the ride? I don’t think so. My personal feeling right now is a pox on both the Israelis and the Palestinians. We do not need to be involved in their struggle, but as long as we continue to blindly, uncritically support Israel, we will be involved in this.
I doubt this will happen, but what I’d like to see occur as soon as possible is this: the withdrawal of our foreign aid to Israel (or at least some serious strings attached)– we hand over without any conditions a substantial amount each year. In this report by the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA), we taxpayers have dumped more than $84 billion into the Israeli treasury (this figure is from 1949-1997, and doesn’t take into account foreign/military aid to Israel over the last ten or so years!). What have we gotten in return for it? Not a whole lot. As you can see in this more recent news article, our military support to Israel has increased over the last few years (while our non-military financial assistance has shrunk): we are handing out more than 2 billion a year to Israel to pummel and suppress the Palestinians. In this USAID report for the most recent year available [2006], you can see the number one country receiving military aid is Iraq (no surprise there, given recent events of the last few years), and number two is Israel.
This is military welfare, people. It’s a handout, with no strings attached, for Israel to fight a war using our money, using American-made weapons, and with the tacit support of our government. We have no constitutional obligation to hand over taxpayer money; indeed, we have no real ethical, moral, or financial obligation to do so. If we have to hand out money like that, it should be for humanitarian purposes, not used to kill and maim others. Ideally, I’d like to see that money (and most foreign aid in general) retained so we can spend it here where it’s needed.
The second thing I’d like to see happen is the repudiation of Zionism by the Israeli government. One can be pro-Jewish and be anti-Zionist at the same time. There is nothing anti-Semitic about admonishing Israel for its behavior over the last sixty years; there is nothing anti-Arabic or anti-Palestinian about admonishing the Palestinians for their behavior over the last few decades. Israel and Palestine are states, political constructs. Any such political entity is fair game for criticism, and a lot of people over the years have been unfairly tarred with the accusation of being “anti-Semitic.” I’d like to see that end as well, and both sides engage in a mature discussion (that includes here as well, if anyone decides to comment!). Nationalism has been over-hyped and overplayed in an era where nationalism should be far more muted than it is. Unfortunately, from Pakistan and India to Israel and Palestine, there are far too many emotionally overcharged fools in control.
The third is for our country to remove itself from the stage for now; this is where I’m hoping Obama will make some headway, even if it’s nowhere near what it should be (unfortunately, I’m so far not encouraged by his silence; silence, Mr. Obama, speaks volumes, and right now your silence tells me that we won’t be seeing a whole lot of “change,” at least not where Israel is concerned). We have not been neutral, and we need to be. There needs to be far more international involvement and a more global hands-on approach to resolving this ongoing problem by others (including the United Nations, which hasn’t done much the last few weeks except handwringing), and I’m not seeing any nation, government, or leader really trying to be effective. This is where we are all to blame, not just the United States. Britain, for example, is as much (or really, more) to blame for what has happened. Absent the Balfour Declaration, a lot of what has unfolded since might have happened differently. The roots of this conflict, and of many other problem spots in the world right now (Zimbabwe, anyone?) lie in the actions of imperialist governments of the 19th and early 20th centuries. So I’d like to see other nations step up to the plate; perhaps a country that hasn’t financially and emotionally invested itself in the Middle East as much as the United States has can do a far better job of negotiating and playing referee. We’ve been doing so for decades, and not accomplishing much of anything.
As the Iraq War has shown, our real interest in the Middle East is oil, and this is one of the primary reasons why our government continues to support Israel and interfere in Middle Eastern affairs. If there weren’t any genuine economic interests for our transnationals in the region, we wouldn’t be shelling out so much money, expending so much time and energy, and sacrificing so many lives. So I guess the final thing I’d like to see happen is a move from our dependence on petroleum and a new focus on alternative fuels and sources of energy.
I doubt any of these things will happen anytime soon. In the meantime, I’m watching what’s happening in Gaza with deep revulsion, and sympathy for civilians on both sides.
Update: Since I published this, it appears that a joint French-Egyptian plan for a cease-fire was submitted; so far it hasn’t been unconditionally accepted by either side. So I must admit the international community is trying to do something– I just wish these efforts were far more forceful and influential than they have been.
