Pakistan Times | Op-Ed: In America: The Enemies Within (Part

LET'S not mince words. Today, the American policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is insane not because the advocates of a perpetual war on Islam consider that the U.S. is doing nothing. It is insane exactly because the U.S. has done far more than casting vetoes and sponsoring occupation.

The only issue that helps the warriors on Islam add some objectivity to their bias upon bias is their admitting the indefensible Israeli crimes against humanity. They tell the unavoidable truths with a grain of salt and then expect a certificate of impartiality for it.

“Israel must get out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip as soon as possible and evacuate most of the settlements” sounds encouraging from Friedman’s mouth. However, the “idea” loses its worth when it is proposed in defense of Zionism, not in favor of justice.

Friedman writes in his January 8 column: “Israel should withdraw…not because Israel is wrong, but because Zionism is a just cause.” When “occupation is not wrong” and Zionism is a “just cause,” let both the US and Israel fight these causes till the last breath.

To the advocates of endless war with Islam, Zionism may not be racism,[1] but their shallow criticisms of US policy and proposal for Israeli withdrawal is also not worth a dime because the proposal is only to stem the tides of history turning against Israel.

Partial withdrawal is now suggested only as a tactical withdrawal to avoid a minority from the precious shame of enslaving a majority in its own land. In Friedman’s view, “it is now an urgent necessity” simply because “the Jewish state is in peril” — not because the Palestinians are suffering. They are simply “gripped by collective madness,” not Israel’s oppression. Great “idea.” More to come.

The major factor that makes Israeli withdrawal “a necessity” is to strengthen pro-American Arab moderates” and “America's influence in the Muslim world.” So the little surrender in Palestine is a “necessity” for winning the overall clash with Islam under the banner of war on terrorism and ideas.

This is not a guessing game. The “ideas” are coming directly from the most reverend journalist in the US, who tirelessly advises policy makers through his columns and talks in Washington. It clearly shows how occupation of Arab lands has been used to cow Arabs for all these years and how a symbolic withdrawal is now envisaged for fully occupying the rest of Muslim lands and mind.

After aiding and abetting Israeli atrocities for all these years, Friedman suggests with a sense of urgency that Israeli withdrawal “can't happen too soon, and the U.S. should be forcing it.” Why? Because he is scared of the “three dangerous trends” which will make it happen regardless of the U.S. wishing or forcing it.

The trends identified by Friedman are: “population explosion” which will shatter the myth of their following democratic ideals; “the worst interpersonal violence ever between Israelis and Palestinians” showing determination of the Palestinians not to cave in to occupation despite all peace ploys and atrocities for making it acceptable, and “an explosion of Arab multimedia — from Al Jazeera to the Internet,” propagating the reality behind cooked up reports.

The alternative sources of information are the real force that has made the advocates of perpetual war lose their monopoly over opinion making. It is not that Arab media explosion and internet is feeding biased images. It is that New York Times, CNN, etc can no longer conceal the fact that the biggest threat to human existence is Zionism.

The proposed Israeli withdrawal will not be a cure-all simply because it would not be in good faith and despite hinting to Clinton’s deal, it is highly unlikely that any of the five Israeli “nos” for a peace treaty with the Palestinians will change to yes: no withdrawal to the pre-1967 boundaries; no (full) withdrawal from East Jerusalem; no (complete) dismantlement of Jewish settlements; no right of return for Palestinian refugees and no additional army west of the Jordan river.

So, the proponents of a clash with Islam are racing against reality. On the one hand, they are making tall claims of pluralistic democracy for justifying Iraq’s occupation and to the contrary desperately trying to preserve Jewish identity of Israel.

If Friedman is so much for “a decent, pluralistic, self-governing entity”[2] in Iraq, why is he losing his sleep over the thought that “Israel will become a non-Jewish state”?[3] It is a marked contradiction in two consecutive pieces of the same series published just two days apart. It smells of the cleverly hidden racism in the veins of the promoters of the “war of ideas.”

Just as land for peace deception was used in 1991 to ensure Muslim support for an armed coalition and repealing a UN resolution, a symbolic Israeli withdrawal is once more on the cards to achieve strategic gain in the war on Islam. In Friedman’s view it “will strip the worst Arab leaders of an excuse not to reform” and disarm completely.

To think America would wash away its record of hypocrisy with little concessions on the Israeli front and win the clash with Islam is a truly dangerous fantasy.

Notes

[1] For a comparison of Zionism to Nazism, see excerpts from the book "The Kingdom of Zion". http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/prophecy/23/Essays/Zionazi.htm Also see “Why Zionism Is Racism” by Rabee' Sahyoun — a rebuttal to Gil Troy’s (a Professor of History at McGill University) article in Montreal Gazette April 26, 2001: http://www.albalagh.net/current_affairs/zionism_racism.shtml) For further details refer to the following:

a) Heading toward apartheid in Israel
By Richard C. Hottelet Christian Science Monitor
[http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/11/28/fp11s1-csm.shtml]

b) APARTHEID in Israel
http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/maps1.htm

c) Apartheid Laws in Israel - The Art of The Obfuscatory Formulation
Excerpts from an article by Uzi Ornan, published the Israeli daily Ha'aretz 17 May 1991 ( Hebrew)
http://codoh.com/zionweb/ziondark/zionrac03.html

d) Israel Prepares The Ground for An Apartheid Autonomy in The Territories
by Frank Collins (Washington Report)
http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1095/9510010.htm

e) Doves of War: Those who feel 'disappointed' by the Palestinians should try facing a rifle with a stone
by Jeremy Hardy from the Guardian of London
http://www.commondreams.org/views/102100-101.htm

f) "Put our moral house in order" by an Israeli in Jerusalem Post [http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/02/17/Opinion/Opinion.2810.html]

g) Israeli Apartheid And Terrorism
by Edward Herman
http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/may94herman.htm

h) The Specter of Peace: U.S. Diplomacy and Israeli Apartheid
by Alan Shihadeh in MIT based Newspaper
http://www.mit.edu:8001/activities/thistle/v9/9.07/5specter.html

i) Christians say non-violence is the key to struggle against Israeli "apartheid"
by Alexa Smith [Presbyterian News Service]
http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/01084.htm

j) Norton Mezvinsky. "Rabbi Elmer Berger, 1908-1996." [Washington Report; http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1196/9611025.htm; Rabbi Berger also wrote "Why I am a non-Zionist" to expose the racist nature of the Zionist ideology.]

k) For Jews Only: Racism Inside Israel - An Interview with Phyllis Bennis

[From Colorline magazine on issues of Race, Culture, Action;

http://www.arc.org/C_Lines/CLArchive/story_web00_04.html]

l) Stefan Goranov, "Racism: A Basic Principle of Zionism" in ZIONISM AND RACISM. Proceedings of an International Symposium. THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION. New Brunswick. North American, 1979. 262p.]

[2] Thomas Friedman, “War of Ideas, Part 3,” the New York Times, January 15, 2004

[3] Thomas Friedman, “War of Ideas, Part 4,” the New York Times, January 18, 2004.

The writer is a Canada-based noted analyst and author of 'The End of Democracy' and 'A War on Islam?' He is affiliated with Independent Centre for Strategic Studies and Analysis (ICSSA) and is a regular contributor to 'Pakistan Times.'
E-Mail: abidjan@sympatico.ca
© 2004 Abid Ullah Jan

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