Nous sommes en 1967. Il serait temps de rechercher l’accord des Arabes à qui cette terre fut enlevée. Non pas d’Arabes mythiques, d’Arabes souhaités, d’Arabes tels qu’on les voudrait convertis miraculeusement aux thèses israéliennes par les exhortations des pro-sionistes du monde, les leçons des professeurs de morale, la lecture de l’Ancien Testament ou des classiques du marxisme-léninisme. Mais des Arabes tels qu’ils sont, refusant d’accepter sans contrepartie une conquête réalisée à leur détriment. On peut déplorer qu’il en soit ainsi. Mais ce n’est là qu’une façon de perdre son temps.
S’il est une tradition de l’histoire juive, c’est celle du suicide collectif. Il est permis aux purs esthètes d’en admirer la farouche beauté. Peut-être, comme Jérémie à ceux dont la politique aboutit à la destruction du premier temple, comme Yohanan ben Zakkai à ceux qui causèrent la ruine du troisième, peut-on rappeler qu’il est une autre voie, si étroite que l’ait rendue la politique passée ? Peut-on espérer que ceux qui se proclament avant tout des bâtisseurs et des planteurs choisiront cette voie de la vie ?
I’m glad not to be the only one to have noticed this pattern of hubris, punishment, collective suffering, new opportunity, hubris, punishment in Jewish history. Rather than being the story of a people beaten down by others through the centuries, Jewish history reads like a continuous story of opportunities wasted.
Invited and welcomed into Portugal, Spain, England and Russia through the ages, the Jews failed to take advantage of the opportunity to integrate into their new societies and work for the national benefit.
Instead they remained an ethnocentric nation apart and conspired to empare themselves of the power and wealth of their hosts. An attitude like this works only in the case that the usurper integrates and becomes an indistinguishable part of the nation.
Finally the hosts had had enough and cruel banishment ensued again until another nation opened its arms and took pity on the Wandering Tribe. And again the cycle repeats itself.
Most recently in Russia, after the Oligarchs grabbed the national assets of Russia for a song, as a group Jews find themselves ostracised and condemned and their wealth confiscated. Most of the so-called oligarchs of Russia identified themselves as Jews.
The pattern repeats itself now in America, where control over politics and the media and even the military is now mainly in the hands of men and women who are acting not in the best interests of America but the perceived best interests of Israel. And America is bleeding both red ink and blood to little purpose.
At what point will the American people tire of their futile losses, both economic and human, in another people’s war?
In Israel, the final destruction of the Palestinians is underway. Do the Israelis and American Jews not understand that by destroying one people, the Israelis authorise their own destruction?
When Israel’s time comes to be judged – and that time will come – can they expect any better treatment from their neighbours than what they offered the Palestinians?
A very bad precedent is being set.
The Jewish neoconservatives are following a very dangerous policy, as are their Likudnik counterparts in Israel. Both are encouraging fundamentalists in their own countries and these fundamentalists ultimately have no use for them. This a long standing US policy. Fundamentalists are easily whipped into a murderous frenzy and serve as shock troops in maintaining undemocratic rule.
I also think focusing on the presence of many Jews amongst the neocons can lead to faulty conclusions. Militant Israel would be supportred even if US Jews had little or no influence. The goal of the US is to keep the Middle east just shy of being completely destabilized. This will backfire badly one day and reawaken the rabid judeophobia of the neocons nominal allies. It wouldn’t surpise me to find the LGF site calling for a pogrom when that happens. There is already some Jew baiting going on from extreme right religious leaders. They are blaming the “secular Jews of Hollywood”, once again, for moral decline and sexual perversion.
Zionism was a terrible solution to a longstanding problem. The idea of religious basis for citizenship opens the door to theocratic control of large sections of the government, with the predictable disastrous results. I don’t see how Israel can exist can exist as Jewish state, a democracy and continue the repression and slaughter of Palestinains without self-immolation. It is already tearing itself apart. The settlers are angling for a showdown with secular authorities.
I highly recommend the Lawrence of Cyberia weblog for more depth and insight.
Thanks Harry for the signpost to Lawrence of Cyberia. Incredibly detailed documentation and analysis of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. The photogallery there takes one’s breath away in the worst possible way.
The LGF site will not call for a pogrom. Basically Charles is running a settlers cheerleader section – it is hard-core militant Zionism there. On the other hand, the non-Jewish readers (more particularly the enormous red-neck contingent) at LGF are exactly the sort of folks who have participated in pogroms from the beginning of time.
Right now Charles has them whipped up against Palestinians in particular and Muslims in general, but the problem with leading a mob is that they can turn on their leaders at any moment.
Which as you point out, inevitably they will. At which point it will be up to you and I and Lawrence and Jacques Chirac to provide shelter from the seething bloodthirsty mob.
And so the wheel of history turns one more time.