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Politics : The Arab-Israeli Solution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (398)	4/27/2001 5:46:54 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2279

Re: We know you have some kind of anti-semitic grudge with the Jews. But personally, I try to look at it objectively based upon the events at the time... And here comes the deathblow.... Anti-Semitism! Well, I guess you know how the saying goes --Why be holier than the Pope? I believe the adage ideally suits the Israeli problem: as being neither Jewish nor Arab, I think that, while I'm respectful of both Israelis and Palestinians' views, I have to assess their geopolitical hotbed from an objective standpoint. First things first: people precede fetish, whether the latter is territory, or money, or some other fool's paradise.... Now, such a basic principle brings us to the root of Zionism: after centuries of (mostly European) persecution, the international community --as of 1947-- agree upon granting the Jewish people a homeland. The snag is that, although Europeans were the sole culprits of the Nazi genocide, reparations for it were devised at the expense and to the detriment of a third community, namely the Palestinians. Again, two wrongs don't make a right... Yet, it made perfect sense at the time since --post-WWII-- the world was still divided between the U.S.A., a few European hegemons, and their colonies. India was still the jewel of the British Empire; in China Mao had yet to wind up his Long March; and the whole of Africa and the Middle East was split among Europe's colonial powers. Hence, when it came to carving out a Jewish homeland, it never crossed the Western lords' minds that tiny Luxembourg or New York's Manhattan island might fit the bill.... Better to accomodate the Jews at the expense of some subservient people. And that's how the state of Israel rests upon two outdated props: colonialism (ie full-fledged citizens vs. second-class scroungers) and 19th-century nation-state. As a resident in Belgium, I can bear witness to Israel's Nemesis: Belgium, like Israel, can also be sorted out into two conflicting peoples --the Flemings and the Francophones (Walloons + Brussels dwellers). The Flemings, like Israel's Jews, claim the upper hand over each and every (national) matter and share a common "persecution complex" with the Jews, that is, no matter how big their wealth and power have grown, they'll always whine about their past hardship... However, Flemish jingoism works just the opposite of Zionism: the Flemings want to get rid of the Belgian state! So far, they've relentlessly endeavored to turn it into a shell state of sorts, grabbing as much devolution as they can on the one hand, and, on the other, relying on the EU's supranational oversight. Bottom line: the Flemings don't identify their destiny with a doomed nation-state, an ill-starred fetish of the 19th century. Perhaps the Jews should take a leaf out of the Flemings' book... Notwithstanding the flawed tenets of the Jewish state --which state can boast a flawless origin, anyway?-- there's a much more fundamental issue at stake: the real, secret challenge for the Arab world is actually to cater for a Jewish state in their midst.... I mean, think about it: Islam is a worldwide religion; moreover, its main contender is not Judaism but Christianity --both faiths summon up to hundreds of millions of believers whereas Jews amount to 13 million souls worldwide. Now, the crux of the matter is this: IF the Muslims could reach a peaceful settlement with the Jews as regards the state of Israel then the fallout on Islam would be invaluable. The prestige and appeal of Islam will be boosted immensely because, however harsh the Israeli-Palestinian war was, Islam eventually ends up as the only faith/culture that offers the Jews a homeland around one of its most sacred cities (Jerusalem), whereas Christianity gets the booby prize: the faith/culture that routinely proved anti-Semitic and unable to peacefully coexist with the Jews, a religion prone to pogroms --a hotbed of fascism.... Gus.