Listening to political speakers over the last day or so, from Starmer to Biden and beyond, it is apparent that they share a common view. It would seem that their political approach to the Middle East is fuelled by a lust to support Israel's desire for a war that I find profoundly worrying.
It is unambiguously the case that Israel has a right to exist. It is equally true that it has a right to self-defence. Neither of these opinions are, I think, open to question. I will not tolerate the posting of alternative views here.
That said, it is vital to differentiate the right of the state of Israel to exist and to defend itself from the actions of the current Israeli government, which is fairly unstable and could not guarantee electoral support for its actions if there were to be an election in that country at this moment.
Netanyahu may rule in the name of Israel at present, but the state of Israel is not identified by his actions, and anyone assuming that he has the right to claim that or that he and his government can determine what is antisemitic is wrong; there are other opinions available and they are at least as valid as that of a man desperate to cling to office to avoid the criminal charges that might well be laid against him if and when he ceases to be Israeli prime minister.
In my opinion, the conflict in the Middle East can, in any event, be discussed without ever having to consider the fact that Israel is a predominantly Jewish state. We are, in fact required to ignore that fact if we are to act appropriately and not discriminate on that basis, and so that is what I will do.
Instead, let's look at the regional tensions in the Middle East and see them for what they are. Israel stands as a proxy for supposed Western democracy and the values supposedly associated with it. Doing so, it opposes a range of Islamic states of widely varying opinions, all of whom are considered to be enemies by Israel even if it is not in conflict with them all at present.
Add into this mix the fact that there are tensions in this area over oil, gas and mineral rights, and the issues arising come down to a conflict between the traditions of the West, which always assumes it knows best as to what is required in the world whilst demanding the supply of resources in exchange for the supposed wisdom and claimed security that it supposedly supplies, and a number of states that have a distinct political and cultural philosophy of their own that rejects centuries of imperial oppression by those Western states that imposed considerable cost on them.
Viewed in this way, Israel is simply the outpost of Western imperialism in the Middle East, and it is behaving exactly as the Western powers of old did. It is unsurprising that in an era of proxy wars we fund Israel to do now what we once did, claiming the right to territory at will, and the right to subjugate people who might dissent from its right to make that claim without any consideration of their human rights.
So, the US, UK and some in the EU supply the weaponry and finance that Israel needs to pursue its aggression for reasons that have nothing to do with it being a Jewish state: it is instead seen as a vital partner of, and part of, the Western alliance, and as such its wars, however repugnant they might be - and that they certainly are, get the support Israel demands.
In that sense, this is a cultural war, but the culture is of the Judaeo-Christian tradition (although I suspect many of theological leaning would dispute that in these cases, not least because that tradition is not neoliberal despite the claims of those who say it is) opposed to Islam. The Abrahamic traditions are still in conflict with each other, in other words.
There are, in that case, three questions to ask. The first is, does Israel have the right to act outside its territorial boundaries when no one seriously thinks that any of its neighbouring states pose a threat to it if only it attempted to accommodate their own reasonable and legitimate claims? The answer is clearly no; it has not.
The second is whether, in that case, the West has the right to support Israel's aggression under international law, and I struggle with the claim that they have. What is more, if such a case could be made, then I think it would make a mockery of that law and require its revision. The slaughter of tens of thousands of civilians by Israel in territory beyond its borders is impossible to justify on the grounds of self-defence. Its attempt to deny the right of Gaza to exist, which claim looks like it will now be extended to Lebanon, is an act of illegal warfare, in my opinion.
Third, what are the consequences of this?
In terms of the war, I have no idea. My only comfort is that I think no one else has either. All we can reasonably say is that there are no good outcomes from this situation, and most that are likely to arise are horrendous or worse.
Politically, this action will continue to alienate the already fading Western states and their philosophies that are objectively based on greed and exploitation from the rest of the world. The common ground will be eroded. That, too, is dangerous, most especially given the other challenges that we face.
Third, there are the economic consequences to consider. The most likely of these is that, in the first instance, renewed and wholly unnecessary oil price speculation will push the price of that commodity upwards for no good reason.
The second will be consequent spillover effects of that price increase in other markets for raw materials, including food stuffs. In other words, all the scenarios of March 2022 might be recreated - and we all know that since then prices have returned to normal because there never was any reason for the speculative increases at that time, but we all paid the price for them happening. The possibility that this will recur is high, and if so, inflation will follow, although the gain will go entirely to the profiteers.
Then, there is a risk of supply chain disruption through the Suez Canal. It is claimed this will also cause inflation, although utterly needlessly.
Taken together, these factors will give Andrew Bailey and the Bank of England all the reason that they need to keep interest rates high or even increase them. Nothing could please them more. I can see it happening.
As a result, there will be a recession.
And Rachel Reeves will then deliver massive austerity to the UK, claiming that war conditions require it.
All that will be to support the supposed democratic right of Israel to invade its neighbours and impose genocide on them, which many in that country are themselves opposed to doing.
Such is the madness of the hegemony of thinking that grips the leaders of Western states now. The post-colonial, but still imperial, worldview of neoliberalism that demands the right to control the resource supply required for supposed ever-increasing consumption will not embrace the reality that there are, firstly, other world views and, secondly, other people with rights on this planet. It would seem that this has not occurred to those leaders.
That Palestinians might cry for their children, or that people in Lebanon might have hopes for their future, or that the people of Iran and Syria do not, on the whole, share a desire for our way of living is apparently beyond Western leaders' comprehension, as Starmer evidenced this week.
The trouble with neoliberal thinking is that it is hegemonic and no deviation from the model is allowed. Israel is within the hegemony, so it is good. The states around it are not within the hegemony, so they are bad in our leaders' opinions. It really is as simplistic as that. And we are going to pay an almighty price for that stupidity.
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No mention of Iran and their funding of the terror organisations Hamas and Hezbollah. You point the finger solely at Isreal. And you wonder why people consider you anti semitic. You offer no balance and no rational discussion just a one way tirade at Isreal.
You miss the whole point
I wasn’t attacking Isreal
I was attacking its role as a proxy for Western hegemony
That is exactly how I read this Arif.
Richard is really opining on the role of West – the mostly Christian West BTW – and how it seems to be using Israel as a proxy for its designs on the region’s resources.
The Christians have a lot to answer for in my view. The fact that Jesus died for their sins seems to be a green light to some ‘Christians’ to do what the hell they like since they have already been forgiven apparently!! Hah!
Contrast that with the more victim centred approach of the Jews and Muslims.
And getting its fellow peoples of the book (Muslims and Jews) to murder each other is just another day at the office for too many who call themselves ‘Christians’.
If Michael Hudson is right, then Neo-liberalism is not as recent as we might think and as old as Christianity, because it’s been perverting the faith since the death of Jesus, if not before when he justifiably lost his temper in the Temple.
Feel free to point out the anti-semitic sections in what Richard wrote.
There aren’t any
But one person has already been banned for arguing Israel has no right to exist
I will not tolerate such comments
Since it seems we never learn from history, could October, 7th, 2023, be a rerun of June, 28th, 1914?
The only thing the West offers the global south in return for mass exploitation and extraction is the threat of economic vandalism if they dare to oppose the status quo.
As a pro-Palestinian occasional demonstrator and a member of Jewish Voice fir Labour, I find your sober analysis pretty close to mine. However for me it is the minerals and land that drive some of this, offshore oil, real estate for grabs etc., an age old colonial project turbocharged by a racist creed first formulated in 1897. Colonialism plus a naked racism (the’chosen people’) is not a mix susceptible to negotiation and reason, let alone humanitarian sentiment.
I hoped those ideas were implicit in what I was saying
Sorry if they weren’t
War has a terrifying carbon footprint.
Rationality already requires drastic measures to restrain the unrelenting increase in carbon dioxide concentrations. Daily, children in Africa and Asia are dying by hundreds from heatstroke. More and more floods and fires will inevitably impact British lives.
We could reduce flying. We could embark on plans to largely phase out private motoring. While allowing the cost of basic use of energy resources to be kept low, we could have tariffs that charged more and more for extravagant use.
Yet we subsidise war.
We could even ban breeding dogs, working dogs excepted.
The externalities of pet dog ownership exceed their internal benefit to the owner.
That’s not going to be popular
I don’t think so.
If you already have a dog, you get to keep it, you just don’t get to have a new one unless it’s a working dog.
Nobody who currently has a dog will lose out.
Ah, someone will say that they need a new dog because their last one died, and they will be able to get one, just not a puppy as breeding new dogs will be outlawed in Council areas that have declared a climate emergency. This would be a devolved policy.
I no longer have a dog and will never have another one, at least in part because I could not justify the meat consumtpion when my own has become minimal
I think you’ll find humans have pretty big externalities and most of the externalities of dogs, cows, pigs, poultry etc that are domesticated, not to mention rice, soya, cotton, ploughing, damming rivers… I could go on…are entirely due to human intervention and need to be laid at our door.
What does that tell us about breeding?
If only we could ban the revolting insistence almost everywhere now it seems of dogs being welcomed in cafes, pubs and restaurants.
Dogs seem to have become a replacement for the dummy/ child and must be taken everywhere – including to very crowded shopping markets etc.
No where is any consideration given to any who is scared of dogs or allergic to them.
The UK has gone completely dog mad. And the huge rig ein numbers given climate change is utter madness.
The curse is the long lead….
Big Pharma. Big Sugar.
Add to that Big Vets. Small veterinary practices are being swallowed up by ever larger conglomerates. Nestle (Swiss multinational, world’s largest sugary ‘food’ and beverage seller) is buying these up for (in their terms) pennies. Increasing prices and selling pet ‘insurance’. Must be money in pet food too.
If in 1899 your Great Grandfather wrote to Herzl pointing out that Palestine was already occupied.
If, in 1917, he responded in disbelief to Balfour’s declaration after the promises made to McMahon (see Shambrook) were abandoned.
If your Granfather was killed in 1936 when the British put down the Arab revolt killing some 10% of Arab men.
If your father was evicted from his home in Jaffa in1948/49 and sought forced refuge in Gaza
If you were born in Gaza 1958 and growing up witnessed the ongoing occupation of what was once your land.
If your son was born in Gaza in 1980 and grew up experiencing the periodic “mowing of the lawn”.
If your Grandson was born in Gaza in 2002 and as he grew up watched as illegal settlement of the occupied territories passed half a million
If your newly born Great Grandson was killed in 2024 and classified as collateral damage.
Then I will listen with respect to your story and wonder why it is never told in what we call a civilsed media.
It is told by many Jewish historians. Jews, Christians, Arabs and those of no faith all have a right to live in peace and human dignity. Racial/religeous supremacy is not compatiible with international law and human rights.
“The West” is now only around 10% of humanity. I have family in the “South” and I think the view of those 90% is very different. They are not going to tolerate the bullying and exploitative behaviour much longer. One step will be as and when there is an acceptable alternative to the $ as a Reserve Currency. That will have a major impact on the US and will both reduce their living standard and make it much more difficult for the US to afford its global network of over 700 military bases. China is, I believe, expected to overtake the US as the largest economy in the next 5 years. Fortunately in over 2000 years China has never displayed similar imperialistic and aggressive tendencies.
Thank you and well said, Tim.
Likewise. Mauritius and South Africa, in particular.
I know a former Fed and Bank of England official working on such alternative arrangements.
In recent weeks, France’s former foreign minister and PM, Dominique de Villepin, has been saying the west can’t continue like this and, if the west does, France should leave the EU and NATO.
Thank you and well said, Richard.
Not unrelated, this time with regard to the Chagos, Jeremy Corbyn has been proven right again. His enemies should pay attention.
Being right on such matters probably ensured his demonization and expulsion. Incidentally, he is hated as much by certain sections of the “left” (he was polite to people, and wanted respectable debate, forsooth) as he is by LINO.
We have already paid a price for supporting Israel.
In the 1970s the Arabs quadrupled the price of oil because of western support for Israel in the 1973 war. (They were not paid very much for it before ) This lead to Inflation, recession and became the excuse for abandoning Keynesian economics.
In the late 1990 the UN sanctions on Iraq were enforced by the US which included bombing. Even water purification equipment was sanctioned and many young, sick and old died. It is said that Saddam diverted supplies but that is disputed.
It was one of the factors, along with support for Israel, that caused Bin Laden to plan the 9/11 attack. The subsequent “Great War on Terror’ was down to the West,- more precisely Republican politicians – not Israel, although they strongly supported the attack on Iraq. Like Robin Cook, I don’t think Gore would have attacked Iraq.
The $8 trillion dollar war has not made the West or Israel any more secure and it is probably even worse for the people of the region.
One possible hope is that the Stand by Israel against terrorism narrative is losing support in the country. Zara Sultana quoted poll figures today which showed the majority of people don’t buy it like they once did. It cost Labour four ? seats at the general election.
As usual, follow the money.
“In reality, the Nixon administration actively encouraged oil price increases, thus establishing a measure of complicity with the OPEC states. [..] Nixon and Kissinger favored high oil prices in general”
“MPS [Mont Pelerin Society] economists were once again playing behind-the-scenes roles in shaping policy, [..] One of the most important things I did for Bill [Simon] was to introduce him to Milton Friedman” [..]
“The deal presented major benefits in promoting the United States as a superpower, even though it produced negative consequences for the domestic economy and working classes”
“Oil and the Energy Crisis of the 1970s: A Reanalysis” by David Gibbs (June 2024)
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/oil-and-the-energy-crisis-of-the-1970s-a-reanalysis
How Big Oil Conquered the World (Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6r8nkxCKO4
Thanks
Richard,
Like you I would support the right of Israel to exist – other unpopular states ditto within their recognised borders.
BUT it doesn’t necessarily mean that I would provide or permit the use of British equipment, finance or personnel to protect them against an external or internal threat however serious it might be.
Richard
Lots to agree with here and much more could be added to support and complement your blog.
To underscore the point it is apt to mention that in 1986, when he was a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Joe Biden said; ‘Were there not an Israel, the United States of America would have to invent an Israel to protect her interest in the region.”
As you have stated this is UK, US and Europe’s war against those that dissent, hold opposing or different values and principles and they want to live their lives in ways that are not consistent with the West. Yet these people have legitimate claims and rights not least to territory, which is plainly denied to them.
The Middle Eastern diaspora have been subject to mass murder under colonialism they have been neglected, tortured, victimized, and forced out of their homes and brought to lands against their will. They have been let down fatally by their own so called leaders and politicians in past, present and unless there is a reckoning almost certainly in the future as well.
One of comments above says we never learn from history. It is so true. There is direct link with the slave trade. The Middle East people serve the same purpose as the enslaved African people; ‘The colonial South Atlantic and Caribbean economies were particularly dependent on slave labour for the production of sugarcane and other commodities. This was viewed as crucial by those Western European states which were vying with one another to create overseas empires’. The term used by many Western commentators is collateral damage.
How this war and genocide is even remotely meant to make Israel safer is just sheer utter madness, mind boggling and beyond comprehension.
The human tragedy unfolding before our very eyes right now can be stopped immediately but as you have underscored the dogma of so called Western democracy together with the assumption that the West knows best is preventing action that is in the best interest of the whole world.
It saddens me to share that it was just announced that the United States and Israel have killed so many Palestinians that:
➡️902 entire family bloodlines have now been removed from the government registry.
That means EVERY SINGLE GENETIC MEMBER of a family – aunts, uncle, grandparents, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers have been SLAUGHTERED.
This is ONLY SEEN IN GENOCIDE.
➡️1,364 Palestinian families only have ONE SURVIVORS LEFT.
➡️3,472 Palestinian families only have TWO SURVIVORS LEFT.
Genocide scholars say that these numbers do not even include the tens of thousands of Palestinians that were never recovered from the rubble and that these numbers could double or triple with an accurate count.
NOTHING could EVER justify this. It’s pure evil and proves just how out of control neoliberalism is.
Thank you.
That nice Tim Walz said as much in the VP debate.
The global south / zone be sees no difference between Biden and Trump, Dixiecrats and Republicans. The view outside the west of Trump is WYSIWYG.
There does seem to be majority support among the UK population for reigning Israel in despite the blanket propaganda from BBC downwards . Hopefully the propaganda being so overt may become self defeating. BBC keep bringing John Bolton is as though he is some kind of eminence grise. He of course , as he did before the Iraq debacle , advocates bombing Iran to smithereens.
It is the dismemberment of Iraq that resulted from the US/UK invasion that helped to make Iran as the regional power that it now is.
Dismembering Iran may case yet more mayhem across the region.
From a retired civil servant at Naked Capitalism. Not Aurelien, but another.
“Thank you. This British government, which has been in the vanguard of irrational escalation in Ukraine, has also helped underwrite escalation in the Levant this week: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2krlgekpxo. It is almost as though the UK wants to live up (or down) to the ‘Little Satan’ jibe.
Moreover, whilst sections of the US economy benefit significantly from oil/gas price spikes, given the present status of the US as a carbon exporter, the UK (which has been a net importer since 2004) does not. Having lately expressed satisfaction over falling inflation, and having argued for improved living standards, it is almost as though the Starmer government is intent on sabotaging what passes for its own economic policy, by pushing Arab countries in the direction of another price shock.
In 1973 the UK deliberately stood on the sidelines, and so was spared the OAPEC embargo (which was directed at the US and the Netherlands). Had the embargo been applied to the UK the inflationary shock of 1973-75 would arguably have been an order of magnitude worse. However, in 1973 ‘Arabists’ held the upper hand within the Foreign Office, whereas today they are almost stepping over each other to ingratiate themselves with US neocons.
I am starting to think that, whilst Starmer may be ruthless, he also has no notion of cause and effect (and is not perhaps the sharpest knife in the drawer).”
Much to agree with
Thank you, Richard. That excerpt is from today.
Thanks
Thank you, Richard.
I have observed the officialdom infatuation with not just neocons, but neoliberals, not always the same, and not just British ones.
As Jeremy Corbyn comments today, “Our government has fuelled the machinery of war, and their indifference to human life has endangered us all. All of this was entirely avoidable, if only political leaders had the willingness to uphold the universal application of international law.”
https://www.tribunemag.co.uk/2024/10/jeremy-corbyn-israels-impunity-endangers-us-all/
Thank you, Nigel.
Corbyn’s enemies aren’t fit to clean his shoes.
Absolutely. That doesn’t stop them continuing to sneer and spit in his face – and I mean the supposedly leftist ones as well as the usual suspects from the “we are the good guys” chorus.
“The trouble with neoliberal thinking is that it is hegemonic and no deviation from the model is allowed. Israel is within the hegemony, so it is good. ”
Empathy.
The neo-libtards lack empathy, they could never imagine they or their children being in the situation of… the Lebanese or those in Gaza (& they have minimal interest in Ukraine). Ditto most of the population of Israel, they are unhappy that Netnyahu has not sorted out the hostage problem, but don’t give a stuff about the Palestinians or indeed the Lebanese (I am talking generally – there are always exceptions).
As for UK escalation in Ukraine (posted by Col Smithers) – the Putin narrative is the elimination of Ukraine as an independent state (which oddly is the unspoken narrative of most Israeli governments with respect to any Palestinian state). Which begs the question: when north of 80% of a population wants independence & has it – and the neighbour wants to eliminate it what should erstwhile “democratic” states do?
Double standards anybody?
The double standards that Mike Parr refers to are quite staggering. Russia wants to eliminate Ukraine and we (the West) say this must not be allowed to happen! Who will be next? But Israel is proceeding to eliminate Gaza AND to humiliate every Arab neighbour and we say our support is absolute. Both of these states are behaving like absolute B*stards. Both of them have breached international law in their conduct before and after the wars they are waging. And no-one proposes a solution.
Is it possible that NATO might offer each of them a guarantee to preserve their international borders against all aggression, as a means to get them to the negotiating table, as opposed to the butcher’s block? I know that Russia was at no risk from invasion by Ukraine, but a polite fiction is not unknown in diplomatic circles if it might achieve a de-escalation of a crisis. I know that Ukraine was offered international guarantees to protect their borders if they gave up the nuclear weapons that were left in place with the demise of the Soviet Union. But maybe this time the West wouldn’t cross its fingers when making that promise. And maybe, if the West combined its guarantee to protect Israel with a refusal to provide it with the means to conduct genocide, there would be a chance of establishing peace in the Middle East and allowing all states to flourish.
I honestly don’t know if such an approach would work, but if it was combined with a strengthening of the UN and a radical shakeup of the Security Council, it just might stand a chance.
@GlenEskBill
“…Is it possible that NATO might offer each of them a guarantee ”
No because NATO nowadays means the will of the US and the US won’t pay. That’s how I see it anyway. And would the rest of NATO actually support the US in such a guarantee? I doubt it.
This is a job for the UN, but the UN has no clout. (Unless the Americans wish it to have, and they clearly haven’t had for some while.)
Coming from Northern Ireland, I ask – Where is a Good Friday agreement going to come from? Even if that is too far away, the question for Israel is – What would victory look like? Even if you kill every current member of Hamas and 100,000+ civilians, what about the surviving Palestinians? If you kill every other member of someone’s family, will that person accept you as a friend and neighbour? “Oderint dum metuant” did not work out well for Caligula (let them hate me as long as they fear me)
I recommend Patrick Kielty’s wonderful documentary on the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQJDoiqBjBE). The take-home message from Northern Ireland is that you can have peace, or you can have retribution, but you can’t have both.
My pet hate is “But first” – But first they must do this – But first the other side must do that.
Much to agree with and Kielty’s film was inspired and inspiring
Caligula lived 2000 years ago. Whatever his sins, it is a fact that for millennia before and 2 millennia after, humans, mostly male, have engaged in huge amounts of violence, sometimes killing whole city populations, in the pursuit of land, resources like grain and livestock, booty and of course slaves.
Killing our own species in acts of mass violence, justified on the most spurious grounds or simply for the glory of conquest, seems embedded in our nature, something which I don’t think is found on the same scale amongst other animals. (Although our close relatives, the chimpanzees, do kill)
So although I agree with the analysis, hegemony, colonialism, slavery have been expressions of our human nature, certainly amongst sedentary populations, for thousands of years. Or, perhaps more accurately, have been the dominant aspects of the personalities of many of those who become war lords, kings, prime ministers and presidents and who are able to recruit many of the rest of us to prosecute their wars.
“Ye are many and they are few.” (Shelley, The Masque of Anarchy)
When you say Israel has a right to exist I would like some clarification on your point. I’m certainly not going to say it doesn’t as you would censor me and that would be a shame as I concur with your main points. My question is which Isreal do you mean? 1948 borders, 1967 borders, the occupation of parts of Syria and Lebanon and the statement from Waltz about the expansion of Israel. I support a one state solution for all residents of the area and a right of return for displaced Palestinians but not a Greater Israel as proposed by the Israeli Government, but most of all I support peace.
Treaties have been concluded with Egypt and Jordan changing the borders.
I am not sure how they are changed now.
Israel has to exist because Christian society in the West has failed to protect its Jews over centuries, throughout history.
If there is some form of Judeo/Christian ‘tradition’ it is in my opinion the bad treatment of Jews in so-called Christian countries. Israel could be said to be a symbol of Christian failure because of the need to the Jews to congregate for safety. To me that is unarguable. But it does not excuse Gaza or Lebanon.
As for Muslim – Jewish relations – I have no real sense of that history, so I can’t comment but would love to delve into it.
I don’t really like this idea though of religious based states myself as I am sceptical about states that are based on religion because religion itself has been infected from time to time with bad human behaviour that weaponizes religion. And religion should not be a weapon – ever.
Our morality on these issues is messed up.
The film ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ (2005) has some great lines in it that resonate at this time:
‘First I thought that we were fighting for God.
Then I realised that we were fighting for wealth and land.
I was ashamed.’
(Jeremy Irons character ‘Tiberias’ reflecting on his protection of Jerusalem from the Muslims. A pity we can’t have bit more shame in the world if you ask me).
‘I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. I’ve seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. And goodness – what God desires – is here [points to Balian’s head] and here [points to Balian’s heart] and by what you decide to do every day you will be a good man…or not.’
(David Thewlis’ character the Hospitaller – sticking I think close to Jesus and that religion is best when we practice it ourselves – within – living consciously with others in peace and empathy).
And this one:
‘What man is a man who does not make the world better?’
What a question eh? And what would Biden’s answer be? Starmer’s?
Sometimes art – even a Hollywood movie – raises itself above life – such that it is now at least.
“As for Muslim – Jewish relations – I have no real sense of that history,”
The oldest continuous Jewish community was located in Babylon/Baghdad – from circa 700BC. It wrote the old testament.
It lived quite happily with all commers right up until the 1950s. Then the state of Israel & its agents instituted a bombing campaign and the jews were forced (note that word) to leave for … Israel.
The above are not points of views, but facts.
The jews made various mistakes over the centuries. In Spain they provided the medical expertise to castrate 10,000s of North European slaves, in Galicia (Ukraine) they were the agents of absentee landowners) but by & large they lived harmoniously with the locals (the jews in Morocco being another example). The harmony ended with the emergence of the state of israel. In the late 19th & early 20th century there was a profound dislike by the Brits of Russian government of the day: because of pogroms it implemented on a regular basis (these being a key element in mass jewish migration to the USA) etc etc..
The people of Israel cannot possibly imagine that their ongoing slaughter of Palestinians will bring them lasting security and peace: it simply will not happen. Huge numbers of settlers in the north of Israel have evacuated the area close to Lebanon that Israel has been unable to protect from shelling. These people are temporarily living in the hotels vacated by tourists who no longer feel safe to visit Israel. Palestinian workers from the West Bank are no longer allowed to work in Israel and the rogue state is having trouble finding workers from elsewhere to take their place. This is having an impact on palestinian bread-winners who used to work in Israel, but it is also having a negative impact on the Jewish economy.
Despite US and Western support, investors are pulling out of Israel and the BDS movement is having an impact. Israelis serving in the IDF have had to desert regular jobs for extended periods of service.; another significant negative hit on the Israeli economy. Israel is not reporting all of their troops killed or seriously injured in Gaza, but Heretz revealed some truly shocking statistics on casualties with life-altering injuries. Those permanently disabled in Gaza cannot return to former jobs and pose a drain on the Israeli economy. However, a 6 week ceasefire, that Hamas agreed to, keeps being sabotaged by Netanyahu as it would enable an Israeli election that would certainly oust him from power.
It should also be noted that a great many Israelis hold a second passport and apparently a significant number of them are leaving the country due to the hostilities. Given all of these factors the Israeli economy is under very serious strain. The state of Israel in its current apartheid iteration might just implode due to financial factors and the exodus of Jewish people. A rebalance between the Jews wishing to remain and Palestinians claiming equal rights in their former homeland might achieve the one state solution many feel is the most viable way forward. Apartheid South Africa achieved a peaceful solution; I so wish this could happen in the Middle East.
Your last sentence resonates
the analysis is accurate and worthwhile
One aspect, the support for Netanyahu on the basis that Israeli people don’t support him may not be
As in
BBC News – Netanyahu in poll rebound after Hezbollah attacks
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c243zempn6zo
If you observed the ME from a distance where no flags were visible or identifying marks that gave a clue as to which armies were involved, you could still draw some firm conclusions. One power would have an obvious and overwhelming advantage in firepower, firepower that it had used to destroy its nearest neighbour. Some other powers had exchanged fire, but with much poorer weaponry. Attacks on these powers by the main power had caused significant damage. You conclude the main power in the region, for reasons you do not understand, is prepared to attack several neighbours at once. You find this baffling. Even this very powerful force in region could not hope to defeat all its enemies. Even more baffling is the question of why it would want to do so? Its neighbour, you observe, lies in ruins. To what end you wonder? It’s an inhabitable place. You conclude that nothing else matters in this region other than having the most powerful weaponry. There appear to be no rules to prevent you from using weapons of any description. You can obliterate entire countries, if you have the weapons to do so. There are no rules.
As with the partition of India the British are the handmaidens of the tragedy being visited on the Middle East.
Our historical hypocrisy and exceptionalism should cause us all to hang our heads in shame and demand that our government goes above and beyond in its efforts to stop the daily slaughter and resolve the issue.
Richard, I suppose the real question is are we, in the West, prepared to acknowledge that Zionism is settler colonialism? Palestinians have long framed Israel as a phenomenon that existed in other parts of the world – i.e., settler colonialism – which involves the subjugation, occupation, elimination and/or displacement of the indigenous population.
Zionism as settler colonialism disappeared from common discourse in Europe and the US during the Cold War. However, it has made a comeback with the rise of the BRICS + and the Global South who represent a growing share of global trade, global GDP, and global population. The revival of this discourse about Zionism helps us to understand much better the nature of the Zionist project in Palestine since the 19th century until the current period, and it gives us an idea of what to expect in the future.
Renewed attention has come about because of the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip brought to the ICJ by by South Africa against Israel – see Link A – which now has supporting Declarations by The Maldives, Chile, Spain, Ireland, Türkiye, Mexico, Libya, Columbia, Nicaragua, etc.
Link A: https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192
The Zionist forces began the ethnic cleansing during the Nakba in February 1948. Initially this was presented as retaliation for Palestinian opposition to the UN partition plan of November 1947. But in March 1948, the Zionist leadership adopted a master plan for the ethnic cleansing of Palestine which was implemented between March-December 1948 and led to the expulsion of half of Palestine’s population.
Today, Israel is bombing, displacing the native population in public view. Does this suggest Israel has now reached a state where, after 75 years of attempting to hide its eliminatory policies, now have the depth of military and diplomatic cover from the West to so openly?
But this policy does not change my assertion on the right of Isreal to exist and defend itself.
There is a difference between the right of Israel to exist and the actions of some of those who have governed it.
Richard…. surely the Jews right is to co-exist in Palestine with the Moslems and Christians as they have done for eons. It is the Zionist colonising project that has insisted first that Palestine be subdivided with hard borders secured by horrific atrocities, subsequently expanding like a malignant cancer.
If the mixed community that lived together wanted to democratically change the name of the land mass to Israel then that would be up to them and nobody else but the horrendous, immoral genocide currently being prosecuted cannot be allowed to continue.
Irgun and the Stern Gang had already started their attacks on Palestinians and British police pre WW2, and were well established.
There were quite a number of Zionist terror gangs attacks between 1937-39.
Al Jazeera Investigations Unit have just released a documentary, “Investigating War crimes in Gaza”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPE6vbKix6A
We need to remind our political leaders that we regard them as complicit in these crimes.
If we remain passively silent, then we too are complicit.
In the 1930s in Nazi Germany, the DeutscheKristen found a way of quietly ignoring Hitler’s atrocities. They became complicit in the Holocaust.
We in the West are repeating their mistake, pretending not to notice the criminal horrors affecting our neighbours, when we have all the evidence we need livestreamed before our eyes.
We are under judgement.
I agree with that
Again, another quote from the film ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ (2005) from the David Thewlis’ character (the Hospitaller – referring to when the Christians kicked the Muslims out):
‘The reckoning is to come for what was done one hundred years before. The Muslims will never forget. [Pauses and looks back to Balian]. Nor should they.’
It has a sadly familiar ring to it.