A Further Perspective
It Isn’t About the Middle East Conflict
The War on Terror should not be confused with resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As the U.N. gathered for its annual General Assembly meeting in New York last month, U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian National Authority head Mahmoud Abbas. Obama has been pushing the two sides to restart peace talks and reach a two-state solution within the next two years.
With that backdrop, the international community has also been abuzz about Richard Goldstone’s recently issued report on Israel’s Operation Cast Lead into Gaza. The Goldstone Mission was highly critical of Israel, accusing its officials and soldiers of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and even deliberately killing civilians. It also failed to report on Hamas’ use of human shields and civilian and humanitarian objects for military purposes.
The Mission, which was established by the UN Human Rights Committee, was a sham from the start, and its conclusions have been cheered by states, organizations, and individuals who love demonizing Israel.
After the report’s release, Daniel Levy — who refers to himself as “a friend and supporter of Israel” (aren’t they all?) — penned an op-ed in the U.K. Guardian titled, “Israel must now heal itself.” Levy wrote that “[t]he relationship of power is crucial…” and “[t]here is no military solution.” His view represents a common one, and one, unfortunately, that is shared by many Jews. However, he is profoundly wrong, and his statements reflect a misguided internationalist view about what occurred in Gaza last December and January.
Operation Cast Lead was not about the “Middle East Conflict.” It was about the War on Terror. In the War on Terror (and it is a war, not an Overseas Contingency Operation, as President Obama refers to it), power dynamics are not important in the moral sense. There is freedom and there is totalitarianism, and totalitarianism must be destroyed…completely.
Of course, that battle is not a costless one. And Operation Cast Lead, like any battle against terrorism, is not cost free. There were civilian casualties, and there will be more in the future. But to suggest — as the Goldstone Mission does — that Israel should remain shackled by restraint as Hamas orchestrates terror attacks and lobs rockets into its cities is preposterous.
Israel, as it often does, took even greater precautions than required by international law. It refrained from attacking military targets, like Hamas’ base in Shifa Hospital, due to the risk of civilian harm, and its military used extraordinary efforts to warn Gaza residents and avoid unnecessary deaths. Yet, Goldstone’s report, and others similar to it, consistently refers to Israel’s response as “disproportional.”
But morality and international law do not require a tit-for-tat response. Quite the contrary, when one is attacked — especially by organized terrorist groups — they are permitted to respond in such a way as to eliminate the attacking threat. In fact, U.N. resolutions 1368 and 1373 require states to “[e]nsure that any person who participates in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts or in supporting terrorist acts is brought to justice.” And there is no justice like a dead terrorist.
However, critics of Israel, and those who believe that terrorism is in the eyes of the beholder, often reference “power dynamics” to obfuscate these moralities and apply different standards of conduct. The Arab League’s “Independent Fact Finding Committee,” headed by Israel enemy, John Dugard, issued a report on Cast Lead that used the same approach, saying about Hamas, “there are a number of factors that reduce their moral blameworthiness,” such as the fact that “Palestinians have been denied their right to self-determination by Israel and have long been subjected to a cruel siege by Israel.” That is the same logic that post-colonial and multi-cultural liberals use to assign blame to the U.S. for September 11.
There is a place for political discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are appropriate times and venues for discussing a possible two-state solution and for applying fairness as one of the criteria. But not in the context of the War on Terror. In that fight, there are forces of freedom and democracy and ruthless agents of terror who seek to take innocent life. That enemy must be destroyed. Successfully resolving the Middle East conflict will depend on defeating terrorism, and we do the world no favors by confusing the two.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (34) | Leave a comment
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Ken (Old Texican)| 10.5.09 @ 10:53AM
Brett
Thank you for buttoning up the issue. You cut to the chase and connected the dots about as succingtly as can be done.
Pingback| 10.5.09 @ 11:30AM
Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : It Isn't About the Middle East Confl links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
KyMouse| 10.5.09 @ 12:01PM
Thank you, Mr. Moshpe, for your valuable observations.
When I was throwing out some old magazines last weekend, I came across an old Jerusalem Post from August 2003, which had an article entitled "The Fruits of Gaza." That date, of course, was two years before Israel pulled out of Gaza.
It said that "the Gaza Strip settlements export at least $25 million worth of produce and products annually, with revenues of close to $33 million -- about two-thirds from agriculture and one-third from industry. Not bad for a population of less than 10,000.
"A large part of the produce is grown in Gush Katif's 3,500 dunams of greenhouses...The main produce includes peppers (green, red and yellow), tomatoes (cherry and regular), and geraniums. Gush Katif's greenhouses also churn out approximately 90 percent of the bug-free produce in Israel, which is in great demand by Orthodox Jews for halachic reasons.
"The region holds several No. 1 positions in Israeli agriculture. It is the largest exporter of geraniums, the largest exporter of organic produce (controlling 65 percent of the market), and the largest producer of house plants...[I]n addition, the Moshav Katif dairy produces close to 4 million liters of milk annually...Two of Israel's five factories for pre-cut vegetables are also in Gush Katif...
"Gush Katif's industries provide jobs not only for its own residents, but also for more than 150 from the hard-pressed Negev. In addition, approximately 400 Thais and 1,500 Arabs work there."
As the time for the Gaza pullout grew near, Jewish donors in America raised $14 million to buy some 3,000 greenhouses from departing Jews and transfer them to the Palestinian Authority. It was an act of far-sighted generosity.
However, as soon as the Jews left Gaza, many of those valuable, high-tech greenhouses were smashed and looted, leaving not much more than broken glass and tangled wire.
As has often been said, the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. For far too many, hatred of Jews trumps every other consideration, including their own welfare. That mindset leads to destruction, as evidenced in the saga of the greenhouses, and makes the destroyers very bad neighbors.
Wally| 10.5.09 @ 2:53PM
Okay, so lemme get this straight. Even though every single terrorist organization in the planet says Israel's treatment of Palestinians is one of their prime motivators to slaughter innocent people, there is no connection between the two. Um.... okay. Sure Joshpe. Is this kind of like the Bush doctrine that other people can bother with reality based policy but he did not like to? And then have a bunch of wingers say "brilliant!" You guys need to drink more Guiness.
George True| 10.5.09 @ 3:27PM
Wally: Get real! What does Islamic terrorists kidnapping and slaughtering non-jewish people in the phillipines have to do with Israel? What does Islamic terrorists burning Christians alive in their churches in Sudan, Ethopia, Pakistan, and Yemen have to do with Israel? What does Islamic terrorists committing mass murder of Hindus in India have to do with Israel? What does Islamic terrorists mass murdering other Muslims throughout the world have to do with Israel? What does Muslims committing genocide against black animist Christians in southern Sudan have to do with Israel? The answer to all these questions is...NOTHING.
Regardless whether or not you think the Jews have a right to their ancestral homeland in the middle east, Islam is a religion that will not tolerate and will not coexist peacefully with any other religion or democratic forms of government. Theirs is an ultimate quest for worldwide dominion of their religion over all other religions and over all other forms of government. The Israeli issue is a sideshow. If the Israel/Palestinian problem went away tomorrow, worldwide Islamic terrorism against Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, and non-conforming Muslims would continue unabated. Their religion demands that all others submit or die. In their view of things, there is only dar al-islam (house of Islam, or territories already subjugated by Islam) and dar al-harb (house of war, or territories that jihad is to be waged against until they submit). Israel, representing one percent of the land mass in the middle east, has great value to the jihadists as a convenient excuse as to why they wage war, but it is the ultimate red herring.
KyMouse| 10.5.09 @ 3:59PM
Well said, Mr. True. World War II ended in 1945, and Israel was re-established as the Jewish homeland barely two years later. Where are all of the European refugees from World War II? In a few short years, they made new homes and began new, productive lives -- some in the countries from which they had fled during battles, and some in other nations.
But today, we still have hundreds of thousands of Arabs living in "refugee camps" in Israel, Gaza and nearby areas. Why haven't they been welcomed into neighboring Arab countries? Isn't it because they are more useful in the p. r. against Israel as perpetual refugees?
Alan Brooks| 10.5.09 @ 6:23PM
You got it.
"we still have hundreds of thousands of Arabs living in "refugee camps" in Israel, Gaza and nearby areas. Why haven't they been welcomed into neighboring Arab countries? Isn't it because they are more useful in the p. r. against Israel as perpetual refugees? "
A. Brooks| 10.6.09 @ 2:04AM
and btw, Arabs want to come to America, but how many of us would want to go to Arab nations?
Ken (Old Texican)| 10.5.09 @ 4:17PM
Wally
Sadly, you will never get anything straight.
You have entered a den of grown ups here, and can only be laughed at. Sorry.
Alan Brooks| 10.5.09 @ 6:24PM
Thank God Toddlard isn't around.
George True| 10.5.09 @ 7:16PM
KyMouse and Alan Brooks: I have made the same observation for a long time now. In 1948, the number of so-called Palestinian refugees was estimated to be around 600,000. Today the number is thought to be around 3.4 million. There have been many times throughout history when hundreds of thousands of refugees were displaced as a result of war, famine, or conquest. But never in all of recorded history has such a group of refugees still been refugees 60 years later. Most of these particular refugees were primarily Jordanian and Syrian in terms of ethnicity and national origin. But neither Jordan nor any other arab country has ever allowed the resettlement of any significant number of these refugees in their respective countries, even though they could have been quickly and fairly easily assimilated. But rather than truly help these brethren and co-religionists, the arab countries of the region preferred to use them as a pawn and a perpetual impediment to having a true and lasting peace with Israel. Keeping Israel under a permanent state of siege is far more important to them than helping the refugees for whom they pretend to have so much empathy.
Bydand76| 10.5.09 @ 8:07PM
You guys need to drink more Guiness.
Damn right we do! thats some kick butt beer my friend!
I disagree with your premise Wally.
The fanatical Islamic terrorists preoccupation with the Israeli's and the current conflict with Palestine is simply a convienant excuse for their use of hyper-violence. They use the conflict for justification in other words.
You need to do some research on the Islamic faith, its history the current conflict within the Middle East and then come back with a sensible argument. Islam has always been and perhaps always will be opposed to anyone who disagree's with Islamic faith. Sunni OR Shi'a.
Christains, Jews, and EVEN other Muslims are in the line of fire of their theological gun.
Unless you understand a topic then please don't speak about the subject without a comprehensive understanding of all the extenuating circumstances. It makes you sound silly.
As the old cliche goes "Know your Enemy" Sir.
Mr True, Ken (Old Texican) and KyMouse, all good points. I have served in the Middle East now for the past 4 out of 6 years and the overwhelming sentiment of the scum that we are fighting over here is they simply hate us because they are told that it is an obligation of Islam for them to hate us. No more, no less. If and when the religion of Islam evolves to the point where the term Jihad is taken to mean the struggle within (the supposed true meaning of Jihad). I seriously doubt that there will ever be a true tangible peace in the region and for the people.
This is just my personal point of view however.
nasen| 10.6.09 @ 1:38AM
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Yosemeti Sam| 10.6.09 @ 11:14AM
Contrare!
Islamic laden Terrorism - what else kind is there prominent nowadays ?
In a nutshell: it's about Christianity, Judaism, the host of other religious beliefs; offensive to the moaning, groaning, foaming, cartoon-frightened proponents of a take no prisoners zealot Islamic brotherhood.
And the Mecca of such impressions is - where?
Ahad Ha'amoratsim| 10.6.09 @ 11:27AM
Wally, wasn't it Kissinger who said that it is just conceivable that someone who wants to kill you might be willing to lie to you to accomplish that goal? You may choose to believe their excuses. Some of us are more inclined to look for the real reasons.
Pingback| 10.12.09 @ 12:40PM
It Isn’t About the Middle East Conflict | links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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