What's the IOI - "If Only Israel" - syndrome?
It's the misguided notion, peddled in the name of Israel's best interests by some in the diplomatic, academic, and media worlds, that if only Israel did this or that, peace with its neighbors would be at hand. But since it doesn't, then Israel constitutes the principal, perhaps only, real obstacle to a new day in the Middle East. Striking, isn't it? Poor Israel. If only it had the visual acuity of these "enlightened" souls, then all would be hunky-dory. After all, according to them, Israel holds all the cards, yet refuses to play them. The thinking goes: Why can't those shortsighted Israelis figure out what needs to be done - it's so obvious to us, isn't it? - so the conflict can be brought to a screeching halt? Hypocrisy!
Dear Ms. Trine Lilleng, You were an unknown Norwegian diplomat till this month. No longer. As first secretary in the Norwegian Embassy in Saudi Arabia, you recently sent out an email on your office account in which you declared: "The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors from World War II are doing to the Palestinians exactly what was done to them by Nazi Germany." Accompanying your text were photos, with an emphasis on children, seeking to juxtapose the Holocaust with the recent Israeli military operation in Gaza. Clearly, you are miscast in your role as a diplomat, all the more so of a nation that has sought to play a mediating role in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Shame!
There's an interesting juxtaposition this month. As Israel pursues its military operation against Hamas, preparations are under way around the world for Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. The two are not disconnected. Israel's policy should be scrutinized like any other state's, and the loss of any innocent life should be mourned. But some of Israel's fiercest critics go far beyond the limits of what might be termed rational debate. They have obscenely tried to turn the Holocaust on its head, portraying Israel as committing Nazi-like crimes - the ultimate libel against the Jewish state. Take Hamas at its word
There's the story of the mother determined that her five-year-old child should one day be headed for a top college. She decided to pump him with new vocabulary words at every opportunity. When little Charlie came home from school one day, his mother promptly asked, "Charlie, what's the difference between ignorance and indifference?" Totally uninterested, he shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "I don't know and I don't care." At times, that's the sense I get about today's response to Hamas. It's as if there is an ignorance - perhaps a willful ignorance, perhaps just intellectual laziness - about what Hamas, which rules Gaza, really means. No, it is not just another political party in some far-off place, but something far more ominous. Why Israel had no choice
Israel's military operation against Hamas targets in Gaza should have come as no surprise. The handwriting was on the wall. No more than any other country, Israel could not tolerate a terrorist regime on its border that was launching repeated rocket and mortar attacks - 200 in the last week alone - against Israeli towns and villages. Some context is needed. Israel, which entered Gaza in 1967 after a successful war of self-defense, left the region unilaterally in 2005. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon faced down strong domestic opposition, indeed active resistance, to remove Israeli troops and civilians. He announced that Israel had no claims on Gaza and wished to see it become part of a peaceful Palestinian state living side by side with Israel. This was the first chance in Gaza's history for its residents to govern their own affairs - something too many of Israel's detractors conveniently forget. Immediately prior to Israel's presence, Gaza had been under Egyptian military rule for two decades, during which there was never, not for a moment, discussion of independence. Israel at 60: reasons to celebrate
Israel is about to mark its sixtieth anniversary. Some friends say they're in no mood to celebrate. The timing isn't right, they complain. The country's political circuitry is overloaded. Danger lurks on the Gaza and Lebanon borders. Iran's nuclear ambitions - and annihilationist threats - loom large. Disputes over the current peace talks with the Palestinian Authority are daily fare. Israel continues to take a beating in UN forums. The drumbeat of anti-Zionism grows louder. A fractious social climate creates long-term and seemingly insoluble fissures between Arab and Jew, not to mention Jew and Jew. And global market volatility spells trouble for the Israeli economy. All true, perhaps. But the story mustn't end there. Milestone anniversaries offer the chance to step back, however briefly, from the news of the moment and take stock of the larger picture. Top ten good news stories of 2007
Amidst all the Sturm und Drang, some positive things did happen in the past 12 months. They're worth recalling, if only to remind ourselves that the landscape is not unremittingly bleak. Here's my top ten list: First, at long last, the United States Congress passed, and President George Bush signed, a comprehensive energy bill. In this case, better late than never. The bill may not be perfect, but it's a big step in the right direction. America's dependence on imported oil from hostile countries is the nation's Achilles' heel. It undermines national security big time, because our addiction inevitably leads us to kowtow to someone and send massive sums of petrodollars into the wrong hands. This bill alone won't solve the problem, but it serves as a wake-up call for a nation that slept far too long. Its provisions for increasing fuel economy standards and other measures are designed to help wean us from that addiction. Et tu, Mr. Erekat?
Let me see if I get this straight. Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian chief negotiator, summarily dismissed the prospect of recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. His reasoning? "No state in the world connects its national identity to its religious identity." That, of course, is utterly preposterous. What, for example, do Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Comoros, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen have in common? You guessed it. Islam is the official religion, though many, such as Malaysia, have significant non-Muslim minorities. |
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