Why Support Israel?
It would certainly be easier not to.
By Victor Davis Hanson, author most recently of Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power.
February 4, 2002 8:30 a.m.
The Muslim world is mystified as to why Americans support the existence of Israel. Some critics in the Middle East excuse "the American people," while castigating our government. In their eyes, our official policy could not really reflect grassroots opinion. Others misinformed spin elaborate conspiracy theories involving the power of joint Mossad-CIA plots, Old Testament fundamentalists, international bankers, and Jewish control of Hollywood, the media, and the U.S. Congress. But why does an overwhelming majority of Americans (according to most polls, between 60 and 70% of the electorate) support Israel - and more rather than less so after September 11?
The answer is found in values - not in brainwashing or because of innate affinity for a particular race or creed. Israel is a democracy. Its opponents are not. Much misinformation abounds on this issue. Libya, Syria, and Iraq are dictatorships, far more brutal than even those in Egypt or Pakistan. But even "parliaments" in Iran, Morocco, Jordan, and on the West Bank are not truly and freely democratic. In all of them, candidates are either screened, preselected, or under coercion. Daily television and newspapers are subject to restrictions and censorship; "elected" leaders are not open to public audit and censure. There is a reason, after all, why in the last decade Americans have dealt with Mr. Netanyahu, Barak, and Sharon - and no one other than Mr. Arafat, the Husseins in Jordan, the Assads in Syria, Mr. Mubarak, and who knows what in Lebanon, Algeria, and Afghanistan. Death, not voters, brings changes of rule in the Arab world.
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nationalreview.com
Reply to Judeofascist hack Victor Davis Hanson:
ISRAEL, AMERICA'S ANTITHESIS
haaretz.co.il
Excerpt:
However, all four are convinced that they have no chance of living a full life as Arabs in Israel, even if they fulfill themselves professionally and build a family. "I know that in a Jewish state I won't have equal rights as an individual, that there will always be some place where someone will say: `We give preference to those who have done army service.' I know that even as a nation, we will not realize our collective dream of living in freedom," says Haled. "Maybe it would be possible if we could enter the hearts of the Jewish nation, so that there would be love and peace between the nations, but it is clear to me that the Israeli government wants the Jews to hate us."
None of them pins any hopes on the government. "After more than 50 years in which all the governments did nothing for the Arabs, how can we expect anything?" says Bashara, and Bushara adds: "We have a right to expect a great deal from the government, but we have already learned that we actually have nothing to hope for. If you think that it's possible to receive equal rights, or even fair treatment, in a country that defines itself as Jewish, you are dreaming."
Bashara, who after school volunteers as a youth group leader in a church in I'billin, and plans to be a priest when he grows up, often compares his situation, and that of his friends, with the lives of his cousins in America. "I couldn't even dream to live as they do. They do what they want. They dream whatever they want, and know that they can fulfill any dream," he says. Even his cousin in Haifa lives a freer life. "After school, he can go the community center, to the mall. I go home, to television, to music or to the computer." He defines his life and those of his friends as "isolated." He says that young Jews have no idea how he and his friends live. "Many of them have no idea that there are Arabs in this country. They know what is happening in America and in the Philippines, but they don't know what's going on in their own country."
Bashara and his friends know very well what's happening in the country. They are plugged in to television, to radio, they read newspapers. They follow the clashes in the territories, are familiar with Arab-Israeli politics (and spare no criticism for the internal splits and the rivalries among their leadership). They know about the public campaign to promote the idea of transfer, initiated by late tourism minister, Rehavam Ze'evi. They often speak about transfer. To them it is not a wild idea, but a real threat.
"The truth is that many of us discuss personal transfer," says Haled with a bitter smile. "Many say that they would like to get out of here. I sometimes talk that way, too. Already at age 16 or 17, we understand there is nothing for us here. But I say: We cannot leave our land and our family just because we can't find ourselves here." The other three say they too sometimes consider getting up and leaving, but they have no intention of fulfilling Israel's dream, as they put it, even if they know that they won't be able to fulfill their personal dreams in Israel. "It's that very thing that's keeping us here," says Bushara.
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