Muhammad enjoined his followers to treat Jews and
Christians with respect, as fellow believers in
the Bible (that is, the old testament) and
partners of the Abrahamic line. What has coloured
Muslim's attitude to non-Muslims is a byproduct
of the growing overlay of antipathy between the
Sunnis and Shias of their own faith. Also, I feel
sure that the scientific and technological
successes of Israel in recent years, rather than
its mere existence, have been provocative.
Keith
At 20:53 05/08/2012, Arthur wrote:
Just to provide some more perspective on the very unstable middle east.
Israel, the Arab worlds all-purpose enemy
<http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/author/gjonasnp/>George Jonas |
Aug 4, 2012 6:01 AM ET |
Last Updated: Aug 4, 2012 9:48 AM ET
National Post
And how is the Arab Spring? Well, theres bad
news, and good news. The bad news is that since
the beginning of the phenomenon that has been
discussed more and understood less than any in
recent years, hostility to Israel in the region
has only increased. The good news is that while
the appetite to harm the Jewish state and its
inhabitants has grown in the Arab/Muslim world
since the fall of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in
Tunisia launched what was supposed to be the
regions democratic renewal, the capacity to do so has diminished.
An increase in hostility was predictable. Hatred
against Israel, kept on a low boil, is the
organizing principle of the Middle East. Its
the regions main fuel of governance; often its
only fuel. Some ruling regimes kings,
dictators, whatever may have oil wells and
sandy beaches, but other than hating Israel (and
looking after their families and tribes) they
have few if any ideas. If they do, chances are
its to hate some other group in addition to Israel.
In the Middle East a countrys national purpose
often amounts to little more than a list of its
enemies. A feeling of being ill-done by
dominates the consciousness of groups and
individuals. Since its a self-fulfilling
prophecy, its not necessarily baseless: The
easiest way to have an enemy is to be one.
The centrality of hatred to the culture is
remarkable. The Cartesian idea is I hate,
therefore I am. Self-righteousness is
overwhelming: each desire thwarted becomes an
example of justice denied. Its not a pretty place, but millions call it home.
In many ways, Israel is a godsend to the
one-trick ponies who rule the region. Their
culture defines ruling as inoculating your own
sect or tribe against all others, including the
ones that form your own country. Many Middle
East nations Iraq, Syria, Libya, to name three
are just temporarily halted civil wars.
Theyre truces rather than countries. Canada may
be two solitudes, but it isnt an uneasy truce
between French and English Canadians. Iraq is, between Shia and Sunni Muslims.
In such an ambiance, nothing is handier than an
all-purpose enemy, just out of reach, close
enough to seem a realistic threat but too far to
be one. Tyrants can govern by whipping up enough
popular sentiment against the Jewish state to
give their regimes an apparent national purpose
and distract peoples attention from domestic
woes, then relax and spend some money in the capitals of Europe.
The key is a low boil, though. If the
anti-Israeli sentiment boils over, causing riots
against the government for being too soft on the
Zionists, or foolish attempts to attack Haifa
with rockets, which in turn invites retaliation,
the peoples hatred of Israel becomes a headache
for the very rulers who instigated it.
Yeah, well, it couldnt happen to a nicer
bunch, somebody might say, Ill lose no sleep
over it. He should, though, because its like
pulling a thread from a piece of fabric. Things can unravel in an instant.
Tyranny, Egyptian-style, under Hosni Mubarak or
Libyan-style, under Muammar Gaddafi, often
manifested itself in dictatorial governments
balancing on a tightrope, trying to maintain a
fragile peace with Israel against their own
bellicose people, trying to counteract the
effects of the sentiments they themselves
instigated. When they couldnt, the forces they
helped conjure up turned against them. If lucky,
they died in a hail of bullets on the reviewing
stand like Anwar Sadat; if not, bludgeoned like
a cornered rat in a culvert, in the manner of
Gaddafi. Its a fate Bashar al-Assad has been
trying to avoid, which is hardly surprising.
Assad has threatened to rain missiles down on
Tel Aviv should NATO try to dislodge him, as
<http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/how-the-arab-spring-keeps-israel-safe-7268>Michael
Koplow put it in the National Interest, but in
fact Syrias tyrant has been raining missiles
(and if not missiles, then shells and bullets)
on his own towns and villages. No wonder, for
thats where his enemies live his actual
enemies, as opposed to his mythical ones. Its
his fellow Syrians who want to trap him in a
culvert and drown him, preferably along with his
entire tribe. Israel has no interest in touching
him with a 10-foot pole, especially as long as
hes keeping Syrias armed forces and rebels thinning each others ranks.
We wont understand much about the Arab Spring
as long as we persist in looking at it through
Western eyes. We see popular uprisings against
dictatorships as moves in the direction of
Western-style democracy. If they happened here,
they probably would be. Where theyre actually
happening theyre taking their societies in the opposite direction.
The Arab Spring is an attempt to return the
region to its roots. Its not to Westernize the
Middle East and make it more democratic; its to
Easternize it and make it more Islamic. If the
early 20th century was about the East trying to
join what it couldnt lick, the early 21st may
be about the East trying to lick what it hasnt been able to join.
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Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com
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