TOP TO BOTTOM - INSIDE & OUTSIDE
Going on the Marxian presumption that all wars have an economic base that I believe to be true, trying to analyze the ongoing struggle between the Palestinians and the Israelis, mandates a look at the economic forces at work over the years from 1948 to the present.
The purpose of this effort is to ascertain the chance for peace between these two Peoples and what it will take to get there.
Top to Bottom is a shortcut description of the forces at work in the economic hierarchies that have influenced the chances of war and peace between the antagonists. Similarly, Inside and Outside delves into those economic forces at work that have influenced and affected peace efforts and continuing war between the two peoples.
It is a given that political leadership is tied to economic or financial powers. The influence over government policy by the public at large, even in open democratic and transparent societies, is minimal and always fragmented by economic status, religion, patriotism, and educational levels. This nurtured lack of cohesiveness saps the “power of the people” and leads to powerlessness. The people, the masses, are the “Bottom” of those who affect war and peace. A primary function of this group is to provide the soldiery for the wars determined by others. This group never gains from war, yet is manipulated to believe that they are doing the right thing, that they are doing good by supporting war and by going to war.
On the other hand, the Top makes money from war. They increase their wealth and control over masses of people who are the cannon fodder. The Top consists of armaments and munitions makers, planes, tanks, and trucks makers, suppliers of clothing, food and all commodities to armies. Suppliers of medical supplies and equipment are the Top. Land beneficiaries are Top. Communications developers and suppliers are Top. Warships and commercial ships are top. Fuel suppliers are Top. Think of all the machinery-makers who make all these elements that go to war. They are also Top. And most important, war destroys all this “stuff,” so the wealth keeps rolling in so long as war continues. The Israeli Palestinian conflict is an ideal educational model for the Top.
Now, for the Bottom. Let’s start with the makers of caskets and the growers of flowers. They benefit from war - but not on the scale of the Top. But they are the Top of the Bottom. The Bottom are the soldiers who march off to death with patriotism in their bellies. The Bottom are the parents, wives and children the soldiers left behind, many glorious in their patriotism and belief in God and country to support the pain and anxiety. Whether the Bottom stays behind or marches forward, they never benefit from war. They only benefit from peace yet have no power to bring peace nor enforce it. “Theirs not to question, “Why?” Theirs, but to do and die.” This powerless mass of people simply forms the mix from which gold is mined- nothing more. They may vote. Yet their vote is meaningless given the choices on their ballots. Convinced that ownership of guns gives them might and rights, the guns they use are to create wealth for the makers of guns, in armies or in pools of slobs. They are the bottom. God guides them as He is wielded by power elites.
What meaning does “Inside” have on the issue of war and peace? "Inside” refers to the entities directly on the front lines; the countries or groups cited in news reports, the nations, countries, rebel groups and the like, shooting at each other. So, for the Israel Palestine conflict, the Inside are Israel and the Palestinian people located in the West Bank and Gaza - and to some degree, within Israel proper. Additional Inside entities are all the terrorist groups shooting at Israel and the supposedly non-terrorist religious groups, like Hezbolla in Lebanon and spin-offs in Gaza who have declared war on Israel and are determined to wipe it off the face of the earth.
“Outside” are all the political and geographic entities that are affected positively and negatively by this ongoing conflict. Indeed, many of the Outside have fomented and contributed to the ongoing conflict believing it to be beneficial to their internal political interests, the maintenance of the status quo. Yasser Arafat, the “George Washington” of the Palestinian People, ran around to the capitols of the Arab world, collecting money and arms in exchange for Palestinian blood to continue the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Arafat scuttled every peace effort that may have halted the slaughter.
The Outside is not to be confused with the Top despite the similarities between the two groups. The accumulation of wealth drives the Top. Most of the Muslim Outside is directly surreptitiously involved in the conflict so as to maintain stability in their homelands. The conflict is pointed to as the reason for the sad condition of the masses in these generally oligarchic countries. The twenty Outside Arab countries have closed their borders to Palestinian refugees from the wars that these Outside countries have initiated, funded, and educated their citizenry to decry. To this day, funding for the continuation of the conflict pours in from Iran, the Gulf States, the Osama bin Laden congregation of terrorist entities, charitable Muslim groups in the Western World, and sadly, also from many left-wing groups deploring Israel’s military tactics in the face of homeless, poverty-stricken Palestinians who have provided most of the blood for the wars fomented by the Top and Outside against Israel.
The Outside are all the countries that dip their toes into the raging waters. The Outside is the United Nations and the United States of America. The outside are all the countries doing business with the oligarchies and their billions of barrels of oil. There is a balance in the status quo of on again off again conflict. This situation provides a laboratory for the testing of future weaponry.
Israel and its “allies” and supporters - and indeed - the hapless Palestinians, have yet to find the way out of this constantly changing maze created to continue the war and destruction so beneficial to the controlling money-making Top and Inside and Outside forces, so useful to their cause and so detrimental to peace. Major wars in other places do not seem to interfere with the ongoing perpetual attempt to wipe Israel off the map.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
WAR & PIECE - OF THE PIE
6-20-10
Reading the daily death tolls around the world, especially the Muslim world, is shocking me into deep depression, primarily because I feel so helpless in the face of these tragedies. No day passes without the loss of life of ordinary people. Somehow, the death of soldiers, terrorists, Jihadists, so-called “Martyrs,” and “activists” sent to die, seems the fulfillment of their roles on earth, and less shocking to my system. The main exceptions to this list of kill and be killed human beings are the child soldiers sent to kill and be killed by cynical or crazy leaders of warring and war-loving entities.
In almost every nation in the world, death by gunfire plays its prominent role in news media reporting on numbers, combating elements, places, methodologies, reasons and rationales, for the killings, and only rarely, on the survivors of attacks or relatives of the dead for “human interest” stories. This Darwinian idea of survival of the fittest transmuted to death by gunfire of the weaker classification of humans, the “Victims,” and seems almost scientifically acceptable as a means of keeping the world’s overpopulation from overconsumption of the earth’s available food, water, and energy supplies.
The variegated warring factions around the globe all have a partner in their search for wealth and power through force of arms; the manufacturers of the tools of war. They get their cut from every action. They happily supply killers with the means to kill. And when business is slow, the salesmen turn out, along with all their competitors, to promote war. These “agents provocateurs” are often members of the indigenous populations that are or become the buyers and users of this huge assortment of materiel. And they are also members of the families and clans and ethnic groupings of the dead.
The United States is the largest manufacturer and supplier of weaponry in the world. And the country’s budget is heavily skewed in favor of the manufacturers of that weaponry and munitions - from aircraft to ships to tanks and cannons down the single infantry helmet, rifle, and hand grenade. To justify and support this bloody industry, the armed forces of the United States is the major single purchaser of killing machines and equipment.
Will there always be war? Of course! Why? There’s lots of money to be made from war.
Reading the daily death tolls around the world, especially the Muslim world, is shocking me into deep depression, primarily because I feel so helpless in the face of these tragedies. No day passes without the loss of life of ordinary people. Somehow, the death of soldiers, terrorists, Jihadists, so-called “Martyrs,” and “activists” sent to die, seems the fulfillment of their roles on earth, and less shocking to my system. The main exceptions to this list of kill and be killed human beings are the child soldiers sent to kill and be killed by cynical or crazy leaders of warring and war-loving entities.
In almost every nation in the world, death by gunfire plays its prominent role in news media reporting on numbers, combating elements, places, methodologies, reasons and rationales, for the killings, and only rarely, on the survivors of attacks or relatives of the dead for “human interest” stories. This Darwinian idea of survival of the fittest transmuted to death by gunfire of the weaker classification of humans, the “Victims,” and seems almost scientifically acceptable as a means of keeping the world’s overpopulation from overconsumption of the earth’s available food, water, and energy supplies.
The variegated warring factions around the globe all have a partner in their search for wealth and power through force of arms; the manufacturers of the tools of war. They get their cut from every action. They happily supply killers with the means to kill. And when business is slow, the salesmen turn out, along with all their competitors, to promote war. These “agents provocateurs” are often members of the indigenous populations that are or become the buyers and users of this huge assortment of materiel. And they are also members of the families and clans and ethnic groupings of the dead.
The United States is the largest manufacturer and supplier of weaponry in the world. And the country’s budget is heavily skewed in favor of the manufacturers of that weaponry and munitions - from aircraft to ships to tanks and cannons down the single infantry helmet, rifle, and hand grenade. To justify and support this bloody industry, the armed forces of the United States is the major single purchaser of killing machines and equipment.
Will there always be war? Of course! Why? There’s lots of money to be made from war.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Jerusalem - Palestinian Capital?
JERUSALEM - APRIL 2010
Israel plans residential building in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is where the Palestinians are planning to establish their capitol when a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is achieved.
An immutable law of physics is that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. That physical law is accepted by both parties. Therein lies the problem facing the Jews and the Arabs. The solution to the problem is the non-existence of one of the parties; the State of Israel or the State of Palestine (which is yet to come into existence.) They cannot both own Jerusalem.
It has become obvious to reasonable minds after sixty plus years of war and non-agreement, that the elements of agreement in this conundrum can never suffice to establish a two-state solution. Over eighty percent of the Palestinians wish to throw Israel into the sea. An unknown but dedicated percentage of the Jewish population of Israel will not agree to give up a single biblical rock of the ancient Land of Israel. Least of all, would they ever agree to give up a portion of the City of David, the City of Peace that is the literal Hebrew name of the city where David’s son, King Solomon, built the ancient temple of the Jews, the place where Abraham, the founder of Judaism and Father of the Jewish People, prepared to slaughter his son Isaac to show the actuality of his belief in God.
In the past, the United States has balanced the Arab/Islamic world in Israel’s life and death struggles. Presently, that support appears to be weakened by the United States’ need to establish peace in the area for its own needs. And an implausable win-win situation in a two-state solution to the conflict has not saved Israel from the Obama Plan. And the world is now almost unified in its demands on Israel without regard for the constant unwavering threat to Israel’s existence by over a billion Muslims.
Sadly, Israel has treated its own Palestinian population as second class citizens rather than lifting them up to parity with Jewish citizens to create a much-needed democratic buffer to their Arab brethren. Perhaps Israel would have faced fewer wars, fewer rockets, and fewer suicide bombers over the years of its existence surrounded by aggressive neighbors.. Role models for modernity and relative equality might have defanged somewhat the oligarchs in the countries surrounding Israel and Israel’s political stance in the rest of the world would have been enhanced dramatically. Just imagine the impact that Israeli-Arab ambassadors might have had in the world’s corridors of power.
This lost opportunity will not return easily, if at all.
Israel plans residential building in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is where the Palestinians are planning to establish their capitol when a two-state solution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is achieved.
An immutable law of physics is that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. That physical law is accepted by both parties. Therein lies the problem facing the Jews and the Arabs. The solution to the problem is the non-existence of one of the parties; the State of Israel or the State of Palestine (which is yet to come into existence.) They cannot both own Jerusalem.
It has become obvious to reasonable minds after sixty plus years of war and non-agreement, that the elements of agreement in this conundrum can never suffice to establish a two-state solution. Over eighty percent of the Palestinians wish to throw Israel into the sea. An unknown but dedicated percentage of the Jewish population of Israel will not agree to give up a single biblical rock of the ancient Land of Israel. Least of all, would they ever agree to give up a portion of the City of David, the City of Peace that is the literal Hebrew name of the city where David’s son, King Solomon, built the ancient temple of the Jews, the place where Abraham, the founder of Judaism and Father of the Jewish People, prepared to slaughter his son Isaac to show the actuality of his belief in God.
In the past, the United States has balanced the Arab/Islamic world in Israel’s life and death struggles. Presently, that support appears to be weakened by the United States’ need to establish peace in the area for its own needs. And an implausable win-win situation in a two-state solution to the conflict has not saved Israel from the Obama Plan. And the world is now almost unified in its demands on Israel without regard for the constant unwavering threat to Israel’s existence by over a billion Muslims.
Sadly, Israel has treated its own Palestinian population as second class citizens rather than lifting them up to parity with Jewish citizens to create a much-needed democratic buffer to their Arab brethren. Perhaps Israel would have faced fewer wars, fewer rockets, and fewer suicide bombers over the years of its existence surrounded by aggressive neighbors.. Role models for modernity and relative equality might have defanged somewhat the oligarchs in the countries surrounding Israel and Israel’s political stance in the rest of the world would have been enhanced dramatically. Just imagine the impact that Israeli-Arab ambassadors might have had in the world’s corridors of power.
This lost opportunity will not return easily, if at all.
Monday, March 29, 2010
CONCEPTIONS - MISCONCEPTIONS vs TRUTH AND LIES
The world is beginning, nay, rushing to hate Israel. The smart world sees Israel as dynamic, modern, strong, creative. Substitute the word “Jews” for Israel and another slant on the truth takes place. That is not pretty. See anti-semitism return to power. To achieve peace in the Middle East and make everybody happy, Israel must become a primitive, poverty-stricken, uneducated, caste system, tribal, oligarchic state. It may not even be a state but rather a collection of nomads wandering the world begging for life. And it must learn to hate the Jews, self hatred if you will, to fit in to the Middle East.
And the billion primitive, Islamic, oligarchic tribal, poverty-stricken, Israel-hating populations of the earth, despite a television set in every pot, see Israel as a degenerate thief of their lands and wealth, a blot on the face of the earth deserving to be erased. Prayer-hardened foreheads for the men and burka-covered women protecting their virginity from peering eyes of lustful men promote a world of degeneracy, hatred, slavery, and early death. And hatred of the Jews.
The land is tilled by wooden plows pulled by donkeys. The brains are filled with Koranic verses of death and dismemberment. The food is primitive and primitively eaten. The clothing worn, no matter how adorned with chains and daggers, is primitive. The Crusaders would feel at home here as if time stood still. And the occupation of the people is hatred of the Jews.
Today, yes today, the western world is being attacked by the Islamic empire. Its values are being imposed on the gullible generous peoples of Europe. The rule of modern law will be replaced by Sharia, the rule of the ancient Koran. And Israel is being attacked again by the losers of six wars as well as that great Western power, the United States, that thinks its oil will be more secure in the hands of Arab autocrats and oligarchs
And the “tension” in the Middle East is caused by Israel’s existence. So let the western world aid in the de-legitimization and the very destruction of the State of Israel. Let the Palestinians return to the lands from which they and their five states of Arab armies lost their battles with the Jews. And let the Jews be chased in to the sea, there to perish, despite the despicable United Nations resolution to share the land. And all will be right with the world, again. As it is now?
THAT'S WHAT OBAMA AND CLINTON THINK. BUT IT'S WRONG!!
Israel is America's stromgest ally in the Middle East. The United States should make that clear to the Arab world. And that's the TRUTH!! DON'T MESS WITH ISRAEL. DON'T THINK ANOTHER STATE WITH GUNS POINTED AT ISRAEL WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXIST. ENOUGH ALREADY!
And the billion primitive, Islamic, oligarchic tribal, poverty-stricken, Israel-hating populations of the earth, despite a television set in every pot, see Israel as a degenerate thief of their lands and wealth, a blot on the face of the earth deserving to be erased. Prayer-hardened foreheads for the men and burka-covered women protecting their virginity from peering eyes of lustful men promote a world of degeneracy, hatred, slavery, and early death. And hatred of the Jews.
The land is tilled by wooden plows pulled by donkeys. The brains are filled with Koranic verses of death and dismemberment. The food is primitive and primitively eaten. The clothing worn, no matter how adorned with chains and daggers, is primitive. The Crusaders would feel at home here as if time stood still. And the occupation of the people is hatred of the Jews.
Today, yes today, the western world is being attacked by the Islamic empire. Its values are being imposed on the gullible generous peoples of Europe. The rule of modern law will be replaced by Sharia, the rule of the ancient Koran. And Israel is being attacked again by the losers of six wars as well as that great Western power, the United States, that thinks its oil will be more secure in the hands of Arab autocrats and oligarchs
And the “tension” in the Middle East is caused by Israel’s existence. So let the western world aid in the de-legitimization and the very destruction of the State of Israel. Let the Palestinians return to the lands from which they and their five states of Arab armies lost their battles with the Jews. And let the Jews be chased in to the sea, there to perish, despite the despicable United Nations resolution to share the land. And all will be right with the world, again. As it is now?
THAT'S WHAT OBAMA AND CLINTON THINK. BUT IT'S WRONG!!
Israel is America's stromgest ally in the Middle East. The United States should make that clear to the Arab world. And that's the TRUTH!! DON'T MESS WITH ISRAEL. DON'T THINK ANOTHER STATE WITH GUNS POINTED AT ISRAEL WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXIST. ENOUGH ALREADY!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
ISRAEL KNOWS WHAT'S RIGHT
The important question is, “Do Israel’s enemies know what’s right. In the sixty-two years of its existence, the Arab world has shown little proclivity for reaching a peaceful solution to the conflict between them. The Arab world and its citizens have shown little more than a proclivity and a desire to wipe the State of Israel off the face of the world’s maps.
Every negotiating session between Palestinians and Israelis has been sabotaged by the Arabs. Every step that Israel has taken to show its desire for peace by returning lands to the Arabs has resulted in greater turmoil and greater destruction. From Lebanon in the north to Gaza in the south, Israel has relinquished swaths of land only to see modern buildings destroyed and arable land returned to dessert. And in addition, it has reduced its level of safety from attack by its neighbors.
In addition, Palestinians residing in Israel, some with Israeli citizenship, have made no effort to pacify the conflict, homogenize the populations, adhere to the rule of law, or conduct their actions in such a way that reciprocity by Israel would bring a constructive relationship that could lead to peace.
The world powers see Israel as strong and the Palestinians as weak. Therefore, it must be Israel that relinquishes its wartime gains so the Arabs can once again try to retrieve “their” lands by force. Israel is lambasted in the U.N. by the U.N. and the preponderance of Moslem representation in its councils. There is no war of words. There is a constant barrage of resolutions designed to cast Israel in the light of the “Aggressor Nation.”
Now, Obama and Biden and Clinton are all upset about Israel’s intention to build housing in East Jerusalem - as if East Jerusalem, if donated to the Palestinians would end the conflict. Or if East Jerusalem were donated to the Palestinians, war, and terror would cease and construction would begin somewhere in that area of the world that would show peaceful intent.
Over the years, Israelis have become more jaded by Arab functioning and world pressure to make peace. There does not appear to be balance in the equation and Israelis have worked to hard to establish a homeland for the Jewish People, the likes of which does not exist in any other part of the world - compare to the huge swaths of arable Arab land and its huge wealth of oil.
Now enter Iran, the model of peaceful intent, with Ahmadinajad building up Iran’s military nuclear capability and bellowing that the Holocaust is a lie concocted by Jews to steal Arab land. And for once, the Arabs have embraced Persian non-Arabs to reap the benefits of Iran’s support of weaponry and terrorists to use it against Israel.
Someone must inform the United States and its government, Israel’s staunchest ally, and America’s staunchest ally in the Middle East, that Israel is the peace-loving one. Stop trying to weaken it in order to strengthen America’s negotiating posture.
Every negotiating session between Palestinians and Israelis has been sabotaged by the Arabs. Every step that Israel has taken to show its desire for peace by returning lands to the Arabs has resulted in greater turmoil and greater destruction. From Lebanon in the north to Gaza in the south, Israel has relinquished swaths of land only to see modern buildings destroyed and arable land returned to dessert. And in addition, it has reduced its level of safety from attack by its neighbors.
In addition, Palestinians residing in Israel, some with Israeli citizenship, have made no effort to pacify the conflict, homogenize the populations, adhere to the rule of law, or conduct their actions in such a way that reciprocity by Israel would bring a constructive relationship that could lead to peace.
The world powers see Israel as strong and the Palestinians as weak. Therefore, it must be Israel that relinquishes its wartime gains so the Arabs can once again try to retrieve “their” lands by force. Israel is lambasted in the U.N. by the U.N. and the preponderance of Moslem representation in its councils. There is no war of words. There is a constant barrage of resolutions designed to cast Israel in the light of the “Aggressor Nation.”
Now, Obama and Biden and Clinton are all upset about Israel’s intention to build housing in East Jerusalem - as if East Jerusalem, if donated to the Palestinians would end the conflict. Or if East Jerusalem were donated to the Palestinians, war, and terror would cease and construction would begin somewhere in that area of the world that would show peaceful intent.
Over the years, Israelis have become more jaded by Arab functioning and world pressure to make peace. There does not appear to be balance in the equation and Israelis have worked to hard to establish a homeland for the Jewish People, the likes of which does not exist in any other part of the world - compare to the huge swaths of arable Arab land and its huge wealth of oil.
Now enter Iran, the model of peaceful intent, with Ahmadinajad building up Iran’s military nuclear capability and bellowing that the Holocaust is a lie concocted by Jews to steal Arab land. And for once, the Arabs have embraced Persian non-Arabs to reap the benefits of Iran’s support of weaponry and terrorists to use it against Israel.
Someone must inform the United States and its government, Israel’s staunchest ally, and America’s staunchest ally in the Middle East, that Israel is the peace-loving one. Stop trying to weaken it in order to strengthen America’s negotiating posture.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
GUSH SHALOM - MIRAGE
Gush Shalom, an Israeli peace organization whose name means, "The Peace Bloc," has amassed a large number of Israelis to its cause, "The establishment of two states - one Jewish and one Palestinian - living side by side in peace in what used to be Palestine." The primary enemies of Gush Shalom are those groups and individuals who disagree with its goals and its methods for achieving those goals.
Gush Shalom performs many useful services in the cause for peace. Uri Avneri, the leading writer/activist in the movement, writes his messages of achieving the desired peace with a strong pen. He describes the affronts to Arab citizens of Israel with clarity and truth. Others also write, lecture, march in parades, stand in rallies, and work to protect Arab rights in Israel and to educate for a peaceful solution to more than a century of Arab (often violoent) opposition to Zionism, the conversion of The Ancient Biblical Land of Israel into a modern homeland for the Jewish People.
The opposition to Gush Shalom can be delineated by the political parties to which those opponents attach themselves. One of the pillars of these myriad parties is a clearly stated belief that the Jews of Israel, the Israelis, have such a measure of security from Arab/Palestinian attack, that nothing be done by the State that would jeopardize the safety and well-being of its inhabitants, and further, (depending on the party or parties) that no peace agreement be entered onto that might enhance by the Arabs or the Israeli government the potential military capability of the Palestinians who would form their own state alongside Israel.
In addition, on national, ethnic, and religious sides of the conflict are extremists who see no solution that can possibly be mutually acceptable. This is disproportionately true for the religious elements on both sides of the conflict. Every rock is holy. Every trespass is a desecration. Two parties cannot occupy the same space at the same time, ever.
So, though Jewish extremists are essentially defensive, Arab extremists call for death to the Jews; an obviously incompatible situation. Herein lies the source for the enormous conflicts in Jewish life and Israeli politics. There is no apparent "Live and Let Live," on the Arab side of the conflict. The vast majority of Arabs and now Iranian Muslims and other Islamists call for death to the Jews. And the Israelis of all political stripes know this, yet Gush Shalom believes there is a fair way out of the conflict. That way, according to Gush Shalom, is fairly.
In the face of entrenched regimes and religiously educated populations intent on the anihilation of the Jewish People, it would appear that the fanatic idealism of Gush Shalom will not provide a foundation for peace for Israel and the Palestinians. The mirage of rapprochement has borne little fruit. The polls show little trust and lots of animosity.
The questions that muat be answered before approaching the peace table are these; Who erodes talk of peace? Who promotes war and hatred? Who benefits from these positions?
These are not questions of what is fair, how to redress old grievances, how to assure security, how to promote peace? These are foundational questions that address the causes of war, the incitements of hatred and terror, the issue of legitamacy. Gush Shalom's efforts to "Make Nice" have little to zero impact on the outcome of war and peace any more than the terror of religious belief has.
Wealth and power are the determinants of war and peace. How many religionists want peace between Islam and Judaism? How many Arab national regimes must fall before peace can realistically be discussed and achieved? How are the arms merchants to be reined in away from this wealth-producing conflict?
The crude South African expression of farting against thunder is what is taking place here. Gush Shalom is close to being irrelevant. Their goals are desireable; their methods, a mirage.
Gush Shalom performs many useful services in the cause for peace. Uri Avneri, the leading writer/activist in the movement, writes his messages of achieving the desired peace with a strong pen. He describes the affronts to Arab citizens of Israel with clarity and truth. Others also write, lecture, march in parades, stand in rallies, and work to protect Arab rights in Israel and to educate for a peaceful solution to more than a century of Arab (often violoent) opposition to Zionism, the conversion of The Ancient Biblical Land of Israel into a modern homeland for the Jewish People.
The opposition to Gush Shalom can be delineated by the political parties to which those opponents attach themselves. One of the pillars of these myriad parties is a clearly stated belief that the Jews of Israel, the Israelis, have such a measure of security from Arab/Palestinian attack, that nothing be done by the State that would jeopardize the safety and well-being of its inhabitants, and further, (depending on the party or parties) that no peace agreement be entered onto that might enhance by the Arabs or the Israeli government the potential military capability of the Palestinians who would form their own state alongside Israel.
In addition, on national, ethnic, and religious sides of the conflict are extremists who see no solution that can possibly be mutually acceptable. This is disproportionately true for the religious elements on both sides of the conflict. Every rock is holy. Every trespass is a desecration. Two parties cannot occupy the same space at the same time, ever.
So, though Jewish extremists are essentially defensive, Arab extremists call for death to the Jews; an obviously incompatible situation. Herein lies the source for the enormous conflicts in Jewish life and Israeli politics. There is no apparent "Live and Let Live," on the Arab side of the conflict. The vast majority of Arabs and now Iranian Muslims and other Islamists call for death to the Jews. And the Israelis of all political stripes know this, yet Gush Shalom believes there is a fair way out of the conflict. That way, according to Gush Shalom, is fairly.
In the face of entrenched regimes and religiously educated populations intent on the anihilation of the Jewish People, it would appear that the fanatic idealism of Gush Shalom will not provide a foundation for peace for Israel and the Palestinians. The mirage of rapprochement has borne little fruit. The polls show little trust and lots of animosity.
The questions that muat be answered before approaching the peace table are these; Who erodes talk of peace? Who promotes war and hatred? Who benefits from these positions?
These are not questions of what is fair, how to redress old grievances, how to assure security, how to promote peace? These are foundational questions that address the causes of war, the incitements of hatred and terror, the issue of legitamacy. Gush Shalom's efforts to "Make Nice" have little to zero impact on the outcome of war and peace any more than the terror of religious belief has.
Wealth and power are the determinants of war and peace. How many religionists want peace between Islam and Judaism? How many Arab national regimes must fall before peace can realistically be discussed and achieved? How are the arms merchants to be reined in away from this wealth-producing conflict?
The crude South African expression of farting against thunder is what is taking place here. Gush Shalom is close to being irrelevant. Their goals are desireable; their methods, a mirage.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
THE MUSLIM WORLD vs. COOL CLIMATES, MULTIPLE RELIGIONS, and MODERNITY
Reading and seeing the news pertaining to the countries of the Muslim world as it is happening doesn’t appear to make sense to non-Muslims. News, generally of bad events, appears to be drawn more from the Arab world, the Muslim world, the world of Islam, than from the Western or modern world. The undeveloped nations that are not predominantly Muslim but rather warm-climate, jungle worlds, do not dominate the inches of the daily news columns as do the events of the Arab and non-Arab Muslim world.
First, what are the apparent changeable differences that distinguish the world of Islam, the Arab world, from the rest of the Peoples of the earth? Warm and hot climates, singularity of religion, primitive cultures and life styles, all are in evidence in non-Muslim countries. Except for natural devastating events; typhoons, earthquakes, parched-earth famines, uncontrollable epidemic illness, tsunamis; those countries do not merit newspaper column inches on a daily basis.
Are the hot sands and burning sun responsible for the elemental savagery and the vicissitudes of pain and suffering inflicted and experienced in the World of Allah? It is true that there are fewer cell phones, television sets, automobiles, power generation and distribution networks, in that world. But they are not alone in that condition.
Power struggles with their attendant blood-letting savagery are not unique to the Muslim world. It is demonstrably more prevalent and of greater magnitude in many Arab countries but the differences are not self explanatory. Stoning and beheading and dismemberment are more prevalent, more common, and more commonly accepted in that world than even in the savage backwater expanses of the Amazon or in the wretched jungle conflicts in the backwaters of Africa. They certainly are not every-day occurrences even in the most backward areas of uncivilized countries.
Over the centuries, tribalism in most countries was replaced with larger communal structures. With that growth, came a reduction in savagery regardless of climate, religion, or the development of industry replacing farming as the main source of wealth and stability. More to the point, this modernity spread geographically latitudinally across the globe. Even at the expense of decimation of native populations, modernity took over and replaced savagery. What happened in the Muslim world? No multiplicity of religions, no climate changes of significance, and very little in the way of modernity.
One common thread through time, place, and custom, held true and holds true today; “Wealth equals power and Power equals wealth.” Whatever worked, wherever it worked, and however it worked, that truism explains the world, its history, and the world as we know it today. Regardless of locale, regardless of geography or population, power controlled wealth and wealth controlled power. And, because the essence of religion is power over the minds of people, religion and wealth and power were always partners in whatever world they lived. They used and exploited each other to maintain wealth and power. And so it is in the Muslim world, less hidden, more clearly established and connected, and more developed and exposed in its usages than in the modern Western world. No matter the climate, no matter the modernity surrounding it, the Muslim world has its foundational pillar in the religion of Islam to the exclusion of all other religions - and explains its goals to the worlds of the “non-believers.”
First, what are the apparent changeable differences that distinguish the world of Islam, the Arab world, from the rest of the Peoples of the earth? Warm and hot climates, singularity of religion, primitive cultures and life styles, all are in evidence in non-Muslim countries. Except for natural devastating events; typhoons, earthquakes, parched-earth famines, uncontrollable epidemic illness, tsunamis; those countries do not merit newspaper column inches on a daily basis.
Are the hot sands and burning sun responsible for the elemental savagery and the vicissitudes of pain and suffering inflicted and experienced in the World of Allah? It is true that there are fewer cell phones, television sets, automobiles, power generation and distribution networks, in that world. But they are not alone in that condition.
Power struggles with their attendant blood-letting savagery are not unique to the Muslim world. It is demonstrably more prevalent and of greater magnitude in many Arab countries but the differences are not self explanatory. Stoning and beheading and dismemberment are more prevalent, more common, and more commonly accepted in that world than even in the savage backwater expanses of the Amazon or in the wretched jungle conflicts in the backwaters of Africa. They certainly are not every-day occurrences even in the most backward areas of uncivilized countries.
Over the centuries, tribalism in most countries was replaced with larger communal structures. With that growth, came a reduction in savagery regardless of climate, religion, or the development of industry replacing farming as the main source of wealth and stability. More to the point, this modernity spread geographically latitudinally across the globe. Even at the expense of decimation of native populations, modernity took over and replaced savagery. What happened in the Muslim world? No multiplicity of religions, no climate changes of significance, and very little in the way of modernity.
One common thread through time, place, and custom, held true and holds true today; “Wealth equals power and Power equals wealth.” Whatever worked, wherever it worked, and however it worked, that truism explains the world, its history, and the world as we know it today. Regardless of locale, regardless of geography or population, power controlled wealth and wealth controlled power. And, because the essence of religion is power over the minds of people, religion and wealth and power were always partners in whatever world they lived. They used and exploited each other to maintain wealth and power. And so it is in the Muslim world, less hidden, more clearly established and connected, and more developed and exposed in its usages than in the modern Western world. No matter the climate, no matter the modernity surrounding it, the Muslim world has its foundational pillar in the religion of Islam to the exclusion of all other religions - and explains its goals to the worlds of the “non-believers.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)