As is typical in election years, a huge amount of
nonsense dominates the airwaves and internet. From Trump’s latest Muslim
baiting or immigrant bashing, to the GOP’s continued efforts to make big issues
out of Benghazi and Hillary’s e-mail foul-ups, most of this is truly
irrelevant. Among the issues almost never given the truly serious, sustained
and coherent attention it deserves is our country’s Middle East policy.
If you pay attention to the odd corners of the media, you
will see more and more articles about how the Democratic Party is abandoning
its decades of kneejerk, unconditional support for Israel. In most places, this
development is decried. In reality, it is the best thing that could happen to
both Israel and the US.
The Zionist/AIPAC driven side of the argument desperately
wants to spin this development as a result of week-kneed, misguided liberals
reneging on a historic friendship—that is pure and rather ugly propaganda. The
real issue for progressives, and hopefully for average Americans, is not whether
to stand with Israel, but what kind of Israel to stand for.
Those Zionists pleading for unconditional support are merely helping drive
their country further into the grip of its rising fascist elements.
It appears that this issue may result in a serious
platform fight in the Democratic Party this summer. If that is so, it is just
another thank you that the party owes to Bernie Sanders. A levelheaded reassessment of our alliance
with Israel is long overdue.
As someone who has devoted most of my of his adult life
to studying, living in, working in and travelling in the Middle East, I have
come to realize that America desperately needs a radically new approach to the
region. Since at least 1945, we have been simply stumbling from bad to worse. It
is truly time for a change.
Rethinking US Middle Eastern policy always provokes a
discussion of Israel: for years we have been told that Israel is worthy of
unconditional US support. It is called the region’s “only democracy,” “a
trusted friend” and so on. Above all, it is said to be “our only ally” in the
region. From right to left across our political spectrum, politicians regularly
assert that “we must never waver in our support of Israel.” This is not
strictly true. The US has many strong relationships with Arab regimes in the
Middle East, yet it is a point worth examining in detail. If Israel is an ally,
an ally we truly depend on, then a close examination of our relationship is
surely important.
That said, the idea that we must never reassess or question
or relationship with Israel is both silly and dangerous. It makes it into the
kind of “entangling relationship” that our founding fathers warned against. The
reason is obvious.
During WWII two of our greatest allies were Russia and
China. Our great adversaries were Germany, Italy and Japan. Within two years of
the war’s end, the situation was completely reversed—Russia and China became
mortal foes, Germany, Italy and Japan became trusted friends.
The people of these countries didn’t change overnight—but
there were changes in their governments and their policies. That is what we
look at when we match our policy to our national interest. Worthwhile alliances
are a matter of shared interest and values.
One could argue at length about whether US interest ever
really squared with the Zionist project. Most Americans were certainly misled
to believe they did. But times have changed.
What the pro-Israel politicians of the US have failed to
recognize is that the Israel of early days is long gone—it is now a more and
more fascist regime. This is not my opinion or mere name calling— it is the
considered public opinion of a group of more than 200 Israeli military and
intelligence officers who recently criticized the government for a lack of
action in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The new ruling coalition
in Israel, with Avigdor Lieberman’s hard right Yisrael Beiteinu party included,
is the most right-wing party to ever rule Israel. Lieberman proposes a death
penalty for Palestinians only—Jews would be exempt.
Calling this Israel a democracy is a farce. In the 1980,
the US rightly labeled Meir Kahane’s Jewish Defense League a terrorist group.
Kahane fled to Israel—and was elected to the Knesset. At that time he was
ejected for his extreme views—but not before he inspired American Baruch
Goldstein to massacre Muslims at prayer in Hebron. Ironically, most of the
current cabinet in Israel today espouses views at least as extreme as Kahane’s.
Why are we supporting these people?
Two things are especially noteworthy about the recent
opposition statement.
1. It lays the blame for lack of serious peace
negotiations squarely where it truly belongs—on rightwing Likud-led Israeli
politicians. From Bill and Hillary, to Oregon’s Ron Wyden, to Ted Cruz and
Marco Rubio, the lie that Palestinians are to blame for lack of progress
towards a peace settlement dominates US debates of the issue. Israelis have known that this is a lie since
Ehud Barak walked away from Camp David in 2000. It is Palestine, not Israel,
that can’t find a true partner for peace.
2. The statement was the strongest warning yet that
Israel is in the grip of a rising tide of fascism. Former Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon say the extreme
far-right has taken over Israel. “What has happened is a hostile takeover of
the Israeli government by dangerous elements,” Barak noted. “And it’s just the
beginning.”
Actually, the march towards fascism in Israel had its beginnings long
ago.
Simply do an internet search for names like Vladimir
Jabotinsky, Avraham Stern, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Ariel Sharon and of
course, today’s own Benjamin Netanyahu. You will find that Jabotinsky, the
“father” of today’s Likud party, was a big fan of Mussolini. Stern wrote to
Hitler, telling him they were both on the same page. Zionists cooperated with
Berlin in the notorious “Transfer Agreement.”
Begin and Shamir were both terrorists, guilty of atrocities against
local Arabs, British officials and soldiers, and UN peacekeepers. Sharon was
guilty of the Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon and many other such
“incidents.” None of this is really in dispute.
Behind in the polls in his last election, Netanyahu
finally said openly what all his followers already knew: he has no intention of
allowing a Palestinian state—even though that has been an agreed on pillar of
the joint US/Israeli position towards the Palestinian liberation movement since
1947. No one forced him to that
decision: He had another choice—serious work towards a peace agreement that
would result in real Palestinian autonomy—he chose instead to open the rift
between the US and Israel. Not surprisingly, his choice was entirely in line
with the Likud party charter—which has always been a maximalist document
declaring the Zionist right to control ALL of historic Palestine and which has
always opposed the creation of a Palestinian state. Why even talk about the
Hamas charter? They don’t rule a country—look at the Likud Charter!
All of this brings us to the real
point—the broad context in which the narrow, essentially racist Zionist
policies of Likud play out. That is the wider Middle East and the US role in
it.
The truth is, we cannot effectively fight ISIS, Al
Quaeda, and other real terrorist groups in the Middle East unless and until we
have a coherent policy for the entire region. We cannot have a coherent,
affordable and effective strategy that promotes democracy, social justice, and
stability as long as we continue AT THE SAME TIME to support occupation, ethnic
cleansing and apartheid theocratic fascism in Israel and what remains of
Palestinian territory.
There are no buyers for this level of hypocrisy. Even if
Americans remain ignorant of the history, Arabs are not. Theirs is a culture
where history matters.
The awful fact is that the whole concept of Zionism was
based on 19th century racial moonshine, closely entangled in the
same 19th century colonial imperialism and the primitive pseudo
scientific premises that were a foundation for German National Socialism
(Nazism). This is the same ugly soil in which Israel’s current ruling Party and
its head—Benjamin Netanyahu—have their roots.
German anti-Semites believed 3 things: 1. Jews were
fundamentally different from other people because of their “blood” (early code
for genes or “race”). 2. Because of their “blood” they were incapable of
assimilation (could never really become loyal citizens of other countries), so
they needed to be isolated in a home of their own. 3. That home was
Palestine—because the Bible said that is where they had come from. (And
naturally the early anti-Semites who preached this creed didn’t care that lots
of Arabs already lived there…that little fact was the least of their problems,
and anyway, Arabs are Semites too… )
And even though the vast majority of European Jews of the
19th century aspired to become citizens of their countries of birth (German,
English, French, etc.), the then embryonic Zionist movement preached
exactly the same story as the Anti-Semites. Theodore Herzl even
described anti-Semitism a disease that was carried by Jews—but triggered by
their contact with non-Jews… Talk about self hating. That kind of nonsense
takes the cake. The only twist for them was that Jews, not Aryans, were the
chosen people. In his Zionist screed “Der Judenstatt,” Herzl also made one
thing perfectly clear—the people who lived there at the time (Palestinians)
would have to go.
It is this ugly ideology that rears its head again today
in Israel.
All this has been said before. But there is one other
point about Zionism that is seldom made. Zionism was the idea that only a state
of their own would make world Jews safe from anti-Semitism. That was the whole
point of Zionism. As a goal it was a laudable one. If it had any chance of
working I would probably support it (if it didn’t deprive some other people of
their land and rights to security.) But it doesn’t.
Zionism was born in the late 19th century. It
was only a decade later that 50 years of sustained warfare and political unrest
led to horrific violations of almost every national border in Europe, the
collapse of three major empires (Russian, Austrian, and Ottoman) and the
debacle of Nazi domination of Europe.
Through all this the nascent Israeli homeland did not save the Jewish
people. Nor can a disputed over-lordship over a thin slice of Palestine
guarantee Israeli security even now. At its very core, Zionism is a dead idea.
Security for all people will come when there is an international
order that truly values the rights of diverse people, regardless of religion or
race.
The Middle East would be a great place to begin this
project, but American power cannot be exerted to that end while it
coddles an Israeli regime that is diametrically opposed to a just and peaceful
outcome (that includes Palestinians).
In the absence of a
credible US policy to address the gross injustices to which Palestinians are
daily exposed, the BDS movement has increasingly gained ground. The movement is
targeted at ending Israeli occupation. It encourages a boycott of companies
that support the occupation. Participation in the BDS movement is a purely
voluntary act of conscience. As such it is grassroots and democratic.
Pro-Zionists claim that
BDS is anti-Semitic—mostly on the grounds that it “singles out” Israel—the only
“Jewish state.” This is an absurd
argument. BDS “singles out” Israel because it is the only government occupying
Palestine. That’s the basic rule—if you want to stop a specific crime, you
target the specific criminal who is perpetrating it—you don’t target their
neighbors or some other crime instead. End of debate.
Likewise, to call a real
fascist a fascist is just telling it like it is. The fact that the fascist in
question happens to be Jewish, does not make the statement of fact an act of
anti-Semitism.
Every day now the
Lebanese national defense force known as Hezbollah pours resources into
fighting America’s new nemesis, ISIS. Every day Israel helps ISIS by stabbing
Hezbollah in the back. Every day, Hamas and the PLO try to ward off penetration
by ISIS and other extremists—and every day Israel takes more Palestinian
land—embarrassing the Palestinian leadership, the US and all other moderates in
the region. And every day, while President Obama’s policies give new strength
to Iranian reformists, Netanyahu’s Israel strives to undo that work with
rhetoric and actions that strengthen Iranian extremists. Israel today isn’t a very laudable or useful
ally.
There are many problems
in the Middle East for which the US has no solution and on which it has little
leverage. Israel is a rare case where US pressure can be decisive—in fact,
where it is the only solution.
If we truly want to
support democracy in Israel we must make the current misguided regime fully
accountable for its ugly ways. That is the only thing that can clear the way
for a more enlightened Israel to emerge.
Given the urgency and
gravity of this issue, I urge all Americans, but especially democrats, to do
some research and think about all this. I hope, having done so, they will join
me in urging the Democratic Party in their area to make an issue of Israel in
the coming democratic convention.
It would be good for our
party, even better for our nation, to start reexamining this whole issue. I
hope those who read this will forward it as widely as possible.