I have just finished reading, "The Road to Nowhere" By Tony Judt, in the "New York Review of Books", and the subsequent exchange of letters resulting from that Feature Article. , (What are they doing with "Features" in a Book Review?). I now understand your fascination with Judt. Those of you here who have not read it will find it at nybooks.com, and I highly recommend that you read it, as I am sure you would, John. Here is an excerpt from Judt's article
....The problem for the rest of the world is that since 1967 Israel has changed in ways that render its traditional self-description absurd. It is now a regional colonial power, by some accounts the world's fourth-largest military establishment. Israel is a state, with all the trappings and capacities of a state. By comparison the Palestinians are weak indeed. While the failings of the Palestinian leadership have been abysmal and the crimes of Palestinian terrorists extremely bloody, the fact is that Israel has the military and political initiative. Responsibility for moving beyond the present impasse thus falls primarily (though as we shall see not exclusively) on Israel......
I now see where your "Colonialism" argument is coming from. The beauty, to Judt, of using it, is that it ties in with the "Post Colonialism" approach of the left, here and in Europe, and allows them to "beat" Israel over the head with all of the rhetoric they have built up against "Colonialism."
By using this approach, They set the Israelis up as a bad guys, and the Palestinians as the good guys who are at the mercy of the evil colonialists, and the Palestinians therefore deserve to win out because they are the "Victims."
Great way to win your argument. Get that "Straw Man" set up!
The "Review" printed a few letters in reply to Judt's Feature Article. Inquiring minds will find them at: nybooks.com along with Judt's reply. Again, I strongly recommend that everyone here at least "Browse" these exchanges. Here is an excerpt from one of the replies.
.....It would be hard to believe the insanities of Judt's latest article if one were not already familiar with them. It's just another rehash of the endless anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda of the European left (and some of the American left). Instead of offering your readers such analyses as this, would it not be simpler just to use the press releases helpfully supplied by the PLO propaganda office? We hear again that Israel is a "colonial" power (a particularly mindless perversion of well-known historical facts). Sharon is responsible for the "impasse" in the "peace process," for the terrorist campaigns, for the murder of moderate Palestinians by the PLO, and even (for God's sake) for creating anti-Jewish sentiment in the Arab world...... |
