MODERN TIMES
Art Hobson
ahobson@uark.edu
NWA Times 17 January
2009
Failure in the
Middle East
The
tragedy in the Gaza Strip calls on us all to ponder the Palestine/Israel
problem. The discussion needs to
have a larger context than simply the latest aggravation. It's at least a 60-year-old problem and
it's been a thorn in the planet's side most of that time. It's clear by now that, left to
themselves, Israelis and Palestinians will never solve it short of
annihilation.
The
U.S. has failed in its self-assigned task of trying, from the outside, to
resolve this issue. The proof is
in the pudding: The problem has
festered while we pour in money and diplomatic effort that seem to have mostly
negative effects. Israel and Egypt
have for years been the number one and number two recipients of U.S. military
and economic aid, to the tune of about $3 billion and $2 billion per year,
respectively. The Bush
Administration has devoted little attention to the issue, other than sending
money. Previous administrations
devoted more attention, but with no discernable beneficial effect. Perhaps Obama will try something new,
or perhaps it's time for us to admit failure and encourage others--the
Europeans, the U.N.--to resolve this issue. It's certainly high time for Americans to question the
effectiveness of military aid to Israel and Egypt.
All
parties must recognize the overarching moral realities. Israel has a right to exist. Palestinians have a right to a separate
homeland. Both parties have a
right to live free of terrorist threats, military checkpoints, barriers,
fences, rocket fire, suicide bombers, and settlements populated by hostile
foreigners. One problem is that
the news media and diplomacy are too often side-tracked by short-term
aggravations, to the detriment of long-term results on these issues.
Distant
history must be accepted. Israel
was born out of humankind's supreme moral failure to protect the Jewish people
during the Hitler madness. The
need for a Palestinian homeland separate from Israel was a tragic consequence
of the Jewish people's quest for a homeland following the holocaust. We can argue about the historical
rights and wrongs of this history, but the results--the existence of Israel and
the need for a Palestinian homeland-- must be accepted if the suffering on both
sides is ever to end.
Political
realities must be recognized.
Palestinians cannot expect to return to their ancient homes in Israel,
because to do so would destroy the Jewish foundation of Israel. Such religious underpinnings are found
throughout the Middle East and are in fact the deeper reason for this and many
other world problems. However
desirable it might be, we cannot expect Israel to immediately reject its Jewish
foundation any more than we can expect, say, Saudi Arabia to reject its Islamic
foundation.
For
the same reason, both parties must share their ancient religious center,
Jerusalem. Again, we can argue
"Why not Tel Aviv and Hebron?"
Such a solution might be possible later in this century as humankind
comes to its senses about religion, but such rational solutions won't work
today while the Middle East remains in the swamp of religious extremism.
Israel
cannot expect to live at peace with its neighbors so long as its
"settlers" occupy portions of the West Bank. Again, fundamentalism raises its ugly
head as many settlers are motivated by extreme religion. Israel did a good thing when it
forcibly ejected its settlers from the Gaza Strip. Now it must eject its settlers from the West Bank. All settlements, roads, internal walls,
and internal check points must be vacated, or negotiated in exchange for
Israeli land. Just as Israelis
need freedom from rockets and suicide bombers, Palestinians need freedom from
settlements and check points.
Now
there's an ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
We can all surely agree that Hamas rockets exploding on Israeli
territory are intolerable. But
these rockets are not the whole story; nothing is ever the whole story in this
60-year conflict. Hamas was victorious in Palestinian elections in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip in 2006.
Because the extreme fundamentalist Hamas movement rejects Israel's right
to exist, Israel and the West rejected this election result. Since mid-2007, Israel has enforced a
blockade on the Gaza Strip, stopping nearly everything except medical aid. The U.S. backs this blockade. Hamas smuggles supplies, including
weapons, around the blockade.
Israel and Hamas exchanged rocket fire during 2007 and 2008. A fragile ceasefire took effect in
mid-2008 while Israel's blockade and Hamas' smuggling continued. In this situation, it was fairly
predictable that the cease-fire would break down later in 2008 as Israeli
attacks and Hamas rocket fire again picked up.
Now
we are all properly anguished over the war. But it would have been more helpful if we had been similarly
anguished earlier, over Hamas' rocket fire and Israel's blockade.
Again,
one can argue over this history, but it seems clear that Hamas' demand that the
blockade cease, and Israel's demand that the rockets cease, are both
justified. Both must be granted if
there is to be a durable cease-fire.
Israel needs security, while Palestinians need freedom from Israeli
control. Surely there's a way,
using international observers, to allow the free flow of non-military goods
into the Gaza Strip while preventing weapons that could threaten Israel.
In the longer run, the international community must pressure both sides to come to a two-state solution. The United States and Europe must make serious negotiations, and dismantling of Israeli settlements, a condition for aid to Israel, while Arab and European nations must exert similar pressures on the Palestinians. The world must demand an end to this poisonous problem.