Thoughts on the Middle East Crisis

I repeat here comments I made on FP's blog. I stress that I write this as someone deeply committed to Israel's existence and security, a Christian who has been deeply, deeply, influenced by several modern Jewish thinkers, but someone who also has been a guest in Palestinian homes, Muslim and Christian, and began to view the Middle East from the viewpoint of Arab Christians who feel betrayed by pro-Israel U.S. Christians.
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I'm not sure Israel BRIEFLY lost its soul when it invaded Lebanon. I think it has been losing it since 1948. There was so much promise in the young Zionist nation, but, right from the beginning, Israel failed to confront the dark side of the war of independence. It promoted a myth of "a land without a people for a people without a land," to hide from itself and outsiders the expulsion of the Palestinians. Several of its own people, like Uri Avnery who fought in the war and then tried to forge peace with the surrounding Arabs--but who was rejected as a traitor by both Golda Meier and David ben Gurion, tried to get Israel to try another path to no avail.

After the 1967 War, the loss of soul quickened, but a pro-peace movement gathered in Israel, too. The Egypt-Israeli Peace Treaty (not one line of which has ever been violated) was a moment of great promise--but it came at the expense of postponing the Palestinian question. Begin, Sadat, and Carter (all of whom put much on the line for that treaty) had all promised a full Middle East Summit that would forge a just solution for Palestine--but before this could happen Begin and Carter were thrown out of office and Sadat was assassinated.

Then came the '80s and Israel's RAPID loss of soul. The kibbutzim movement, the democratic socialist ideals, were all abandoned and the hyper-Orthodox and bloodthirsty began to gain major power. Lebanon was invaded; weapons sold to the apartheid government of South Africa (a move which lost Israel much of its support in Africa and aided the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Africa); Israel went nuclear and when Mordecai Vanunu blew the whistle, kidnapped him (like he was Eichman!) for a secret trial and solitary confinement; Israel started funding rightwing movements in the U.S.--subverting previously progressive Jewish organizations like B'Nai B'rith and turning them into bastions of far right Republican power--losing more and more Jewish young folk.

The first, and largely nonviolent, Intifada led to the Oslo Accords and another window of opportunity--but in 2000--2001, Israel and the U.S. looked at the rise of Islamic terrorist fundamentalist groups globally and, instead of seeing this as an opportunity for repentance and a new path that would weaken the appeal of these groups, both Israel and the U.S. chose a dark path.

That path--along with the equally dark path of the Islamists--now has us all on the brink of global extermnination. Can we step back? Can we even now find a road to justice and peace? The hour is late.

Let's not fail to decipher that the War-Solves-Everything notions [I refuse to prostitute a good word like 'idealism' here for an ultimately sectarian misuse] of the current regime is but an extension of the religious right/fundamentalist embarking on a "Theology of War" which is a prostitution of even prior fundamentalist propogandizing, but Bush II is in lockstep with not only fundamentalist thinking but fundamentalist allies. Bush is the embodiment of the Theology of War in that he provides the mechanisms for the fantasies of 'his base.' Is he scratching their collective backs or is his getting the scratching? It's hard to know who's the winner here in this mutual admiration society, but the winner surely is not the U.S., Israel or Lebanon. For whatever glimmer of hope still could be found for peace in the region, that has been kissed good-bye, and with the devastation in Lebanon this time, it will take more than any 15 years to rebuild {like the last time}. Rebuilding was just coming to a climax, but now this? Was this policy or accident?

It's clear that both Israel & the U.S. have had this in place for at least a year while waiting for the right time to unleash this horror show. Pity the proving grounds that Lebanon has inadvertently provided, but the U.S. is the clear loser in regional redistribution of power, with Iran's stock having at least tripled---something that was not planned one can be sure. While this may play well for immediate politics & claiming more for terrorism budgeting, let's hope that intelligence trumps ignorance with a reshaping of Congressional lineups in November & Bush's misshapen privatized war is fully exposed. The American public deserves better than this confidence game, but so does Lebanon, Iraq & the Middle East. Years of diplomacy lie before us before our status can be restored, without even trying to imagine the accounting for lost lives, fortunes & a liveable future. And that 'white hat' was last seen....where?

From Kevin Martin of Peace Action:
Today, Tuesday, July 25, several national organizations, including Peace Action, are organizing a national call-in day to Congress to support H.Con.Res.450, introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), which calls upon the United States to pursue an “immediate cessation of violence” and “multi-party negotiations with no preconditions”. Your representative has not yet signed onto this resolution, therefore it's critical that you call today (or as soon as possible) to let him/her know that you support the call for an immediate cease-fire in the Middle East.

You can find phone numbers for Congress by clicking here, or contact their office by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. When you reach your Rep's office you can let them know:

"As one of your constituents and a member of Peace Action, I am calling to ask you to support H. CON. RES. 450, a resolution seeking an immediate cessation of violence in the Middle East and multi-party negotiations with no preconditions."

We are gravely dissapointed that last week, both the House and Senate passed resolutions supporting Israel's bombardment of Lebanon -- despite the fact that the Israeli attacks, supposedly against Hezbollah guerillas, have also been directed at the civilian infrastructure and population of Lebanon, with hundreds of innocent civilans already killed and hundreds of thousands more displaced from their homes and villages in Southern Lebanon, many of which are being systematically destroyed.

But this is all the more reason to get more co-sponsors on the Kucinich ceasefire resolution, and many members of Congress who voted for the previous resolution are now signing on to the Kucinich resolution. The more pressure we can put on Congress to support a call for an immediate cease-fire, the more pressure will be on the President to inact such a measure. Please contact your Representative to urge them to sign on to the ceasefire resolution - and if you can't call or get through today, call tomorrow. Enough civilians have been killed. Click here for the phone number of your Representative, or you can connect to their office by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

You can learn more about the ongoing crisis at Peace Action and the Peace Blog. After you place a call to your Representative, click here to tell a friend about today's call-in.

Michael the Leveller,

I was on another forum discussing the perils of peacekeeping missions when one of the other participants said something that I thought was quite profound. His name is John Rowe and he's from Australia. He said, "Only the starving want peace. The rest want power."
I'm going to meditate on that one for a while.

the problem is SHIITE and they are like Religious right or the Republican party; are what ever you want to call them. A Religious government turns every contingency into an excuse for enhancing power in itself.

Sorry, Monte, I don't buy that. Not all Shi'ia Muslims are fundamentalist. In fact, some of the great Muslim peacemakers are Shi'ite. Saddam Hussein, remember is Sunni as is Osama bin Laden. (This is hardly surprising since Sunnah is the vast majority form of Islam.) Shi'ites get very bad press right now because the particular form of fundamentalism found in the government of Iran is Shi'ite. And, yes, Hezbollah is a Shi'ite movement. But Hamas, whom Israel is also fighting, and which also uses terror tactics, is Sunni.
Exclusionary fundamentalism and militant violence can be found in nearly every tradition of every religion. It can also be found in secularist guise. The vast majority of Israeli warmongers, for instance, come from the secular majority of Israelis. Sure, their is also huge prejudice against Palestinians and others among the hyper-Orthodox because they are averse to sharing the Land of Promise (although they did so in biblical days), and they have political weight greater than their numbers. But Rabbis for Human Rights and other religious Israelis are involved in the peace movement--along with other secularists.

Singling out one religious tradition and blaming it for everything is too easy an answer. In fact, Monte, it sounds a bit like fundamentalist thinking to me.

Saddam the sad man was Sunni and don't forget that they was at peace and Christianity was even permitted suddam the sadman showed the world how to have peace in a religious led country start a mass grave with the opposition yes the sadman killed 200,000 in 20 years Bush has beat that number in 3 years and still going no end in sight.
My thought on peace in the mid east
It never rained on Hitler’s parade and their was a lot of prayers said then and I pray for peace now; but if God wanted peace, peace there would be lets not forget In the mid east it is Religion V Religion and Religious government will not work PS Osama bin forgotten was Shiite and so was the Taliban