By Mike Coogan
I appreciate the two letters responding to my editorial about U.S. foreign policy regarding Israel.?I would like to start a discussion about solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the two responses to the last article were riddled with factual inaccuracies that demand attention.
Mr. Sharpe should stick to slinging accusations about how I am a confused individual who has bought into Arab propaganda, because when he begins to talk about the Middle East I feel like I'm reading a science fiction novel.
I am not going to defend the legitimacy or accountability of any Arab government,?because frankly most are neither, but it is important to debunk some of these completely unfounded myths.
Mr. Sharpe claims that this "Arab/Moslem block submits to the will of Allah, but rarely to the will of its own people." If you look at the governments in the Middle East, there is no such thing as an Arab/Moslem block. Some of the most brutal rulers are secular (Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Bashar Al Assad of Syria, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein).
Not only do they now "submit to the will of Allah," they massacre politically active religious-based parties in their own countries.?Doesn't it strike you as odd that there are Jews in the Iranian parliament, but the Muslim Brotherhood is banned from elections in Egypt, the second largest recipient of United States aid? There are a number of policies the United States should drastically change in the Middle East, unconditional support for Israeli policies is just one of them.
Mr. Sharpe's claim that Israel is out most loyal ally is also grounded in a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation.?Israel needs the United States, not the other way around.? There is no American political action committee in Israel lobbying the Israeli government for three billion dollars a year along with unconditional political backing.
Despite the massive amount of aid and political support the United States has given Israel, the Israeli government and settler communities still continue to do things that harm United States interests. In 2005, the Israeli government secretly sold weapons technology given to them by the American government to the Chinese, in defiance of promises made to the United States.
The Israeli government has continued to allow illegal settlement activity, despite pleas from President Bush and a number of previous presidents. If Israel is really our ally, they should be much more willing to directly address United States' concerns in the region, and offer political concessions to the Palestinians as requested by Arab Peace initiative that is being spearheaded by the Saudis.
It is difficult to respond to Ms. Goldfoot's point that the Old Testament justifies the brutal Israeli occupation.?To be blunt, I think it is rather psychotic to justify the immigration of native European and American Jews to Israel based on the Bible.?Should the Egyptians also be subject to the plagues inflicted by Yahweh? Should everyone return to their "roots" in Mesopotamia and central Africa?
Ms. Goldfoot's ideas about the 1948 war, after which the state of Israel was officially recognized, are common myths that have been laid to rest by a group of historians within Israel called the "new historians."? They have successfully established the facts on a number of these unfounded ideas, including, but not limited to the idea that the Arabs were the aggressors in the 1948 war, and the idea that Israel was a small defenseless state overwhelmed by vastly superior Arab armies.
These historians have also found that Arab governments actually encouraged the Palestinians to stay in their homes, it was Israeli killings and the destruction of 400 Palestinian villages that forced civilians to leave.
Ms. Goldfoot, the Israelis did not provide the Palestinian "police" and "security forces" with weapons. The Israelis provided the corrupt and now minority Fatah faction with weapons to wrest power from, and kill the democratically elected members of Hamas.? Israeli policy is a divide and conquer strategy, and has nothing to do with supporting the Palestinians.
Additionally, the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip had nothing to do with cooperation or being nice.?The Israeli settlements were illegal by any international standard, not that the Israeli government really cares about international law. The purpose of evacuating the Jewish settlers from settlements was to make sure the Jewish nature of their state was not diluted by Arab Palestinians (ironic?).
Why didn't the Israeli government coordinate with their "partner in peace" Mahmoud Abbas if they were so intent on cooperating with the Palestinians??The fact is that leaving Gaza had nothing to do with helping the Palestinian people.
Who cares what technology the Israelis have contributed to the world?? Germany gave us great cars and beer, but that doesn't excuse any of the horrendous things done by the government.
Lastly, I will address U.S. disbursement of aid to Israel.?I was shocked to hear Ms. Goldfoot refute the fact that that the United States is giving Israel three billion dollars in aid a year.?The following is excerpted from a Congressional Research Service publication, in one of their recent issue briefs to Congress titled "Israel: U.S. Foreign Assistance."? "For FY2005 the United States provided $360 million in economic, $2.2 billion in military, and 50 million in migration resettlement assistance."
The report goes on to say, "Since 1985, the US has provided three billion in grants annually to Israel.?Since 1976, Israel has been the largest annual recipient of US foreign assistance, and is the largest cumulative recipient since World War II."
I'm not sure where your facts are coming from, but if your sources are falsifying even the most basic information, you might want to look elsewhere.?
The goal of my initial article was to present a realist foreign policy perspective.?At present, Democrats and Republicans alike buy into emotional appeals similar to the ones made by Mr. Sharpe and Ms. Goldfoot, and the Israeli lobby AIPAC has made it their mission to label anyone who questions the policy of Israel an "anti-Semite."
It is time for us to start thinking seriously about our strategic position and goals in the Middle East, and we certainly can't afford to overlook the elephant in the room.
