Stoph,
Thanks for your thoughtful response. Let me say that I don’t think it’s the best article on the topic, but I do think it’s worth hearing, because it presents some valid views that normally do not get a hearing nor taken seriously. So, let me point out where I agree and disagree with your remarks.
1. You say that the article’s sources are highly dubious. But I’m not sure what you mean. It was written by Juan Cole, who appears to be a serious and accomplished professor of history, who has experience and expertise in the Middle East. You can read his biography through a link on the article. Did I miss something? He is clearly a leftist, and perhaps he uses some misleading rhetoric. But I highly doubt he’s a propaganda tool of Iran.
2. You may be right that the Israeli defense minister’s comment was taken out of context. However, seems to me that the opinion expressed is a valid one. If Iran kicks out the inspectors or prevents them from searching where they need to, then we’d know the Iranians were up to something. But as long as the inspectors can do their job, I don’t see how they can build a nuclear bomb.
3. You may be right about Cole’s vocabulary implying certain harmful stereotypes. Some might take them this way. I did not. You may think the writer is an anti-semite. I did not. I hope though that we can criticize Israelis without being charged with anti-semitism. I’ll come back to this point.
You are also right that Cole expresses some thoughts in a way that implies no distinction between Netanyahu, Israel, and his legislature. Of course, Netanyahu does not represent all Israelis or Jews by any means. So, Cole seems to have been careless here. But I suspect when pressed he would readily concede the distinctions.
I would also add that I agree with Cole that Netanyahu’s obsession, as I would put it, with Iran does have the effect, intended or not, of ignoring the real dangers to Israel, which to my mind are its own policies in regard to the Palestinians. And while Netanyahu does not represent all Israelis, he has lately, and again, represented a certain arguably dangerous disregard for settling the issue, even in view of Israel’s own best interests.
I think that his speech in front of congress was in fact artfully deceptive. A misleading piece of rhetoric that encourages us to think that the problem is Iran or the Palestinians, but not Israel itself.
4. The basis for Cole's claim that the influx of refugees may be a war crime comes from a U.N. report, a discussion of which can be found here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9839853/UN-report-says-Israel-could-be-prosecuted-for-war-crimes-over-settlements.html
This article contains several points of interest, especially the point that the settlements cause a great deal of disruption and disunity, making a unified Palestinian State an impossibility. It is easy to see that that’s exactly what many Israelis are trying to guarnatee. The fact that this activity is, at the least, a breach of international law, or at the most, a war crime, does not seem to move anyone to do anything about it. You can imagine the anger and this causes the Palestinians, especially when some Israelis, including Netanyahu, cite ancient Biblical justifications for Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
5. You note Cole saying: "The illegal colonization of the West Bank sets the Muslim world, of 1.5 billion persons, against Israel." And then you say: “Blaming the Jews for anti semitism has been an argument of anti semites for decades. The "Muslim World" has been against Israel ever since it came into existence.”
Well, perhaps. But I reject the idea that the Israelis cannot be criticized. Many Jews within and without Israel oppose the settlements and believe that Israeli policies in regard to settlements cause Arabs to hate them and act violently. But I should hardly think those Israelis and Jews anti-semites. It should not be hard for anyone to see how their policies encourage violence against them. Their land was taken from them by foreigners making dubious entitlement claims. And they are still being pushed out, many of their basic rights denied. If Israelis, or whomever, want to dismiss such anger as simply anti-Semitism, they are sadly deluded. (In fact, Jews and Arabs had been living rather peacefully together in Palestine, up until the efforts of certain Zionists to establish a state started to look pretty serious and encouraged a great deal of settlement up to and during WWII.) To this day, a Jewish person who grew up, say, in Ohio (or anywhere in the U.S), and whose parents grew up there, and who can trace their ancestry back several generations to somewhere in Europe—has more rights in Israel than a Palestinian who can trace their ancestry back a few hundred generations. In addition, refugees of the Nakhba (the catastrophe of 1948, the beginning of the Israeli state) have no right of return to their land. Do you want to say they should not be pissed at Israelis? And much of the anger is not only directed at Israelis, but at the U.S. for supporting the injustices they’ve suffered for 70 years. Every time Obama says “we have an unshakeable bond with Israel; we have and unbreakable dedication to Israel’s security.” How do you think that goes over here? It pisses off a lot of muslims, because they associate that kind of support with a larger history of Western colonialism and hegemony in the ME. Etc...
Let me also say that Cole may be taken to task, if he hasn’t said elsewhere, for failing to point out the way in which Arabs and Persians and Palestinians in particular have failed themselves and contributed to their own problems. They’ve made mistakes and have suffered under a number of bad leaders. I’m not by any means claiming that Israel is the sole cause of all these problems. But they are a big part of them. To neglect their contribution is unjust and dangerous.
6. You note that when Israel pulled out of Gaza they got rockets in return. So yes, I can understand Israel’s reluctance to give the Palestinians a state. I would say that Hamas is not taking an approach that will solve their own problems. However, Israel is the greater cause of the problem and much more of a threat to Gazans than Gazans are to Israelis. I also note that Israel has peace treaties with two Arab countries; so, it is possible to make peace without getting rockets in return. The Israelis need to figure out how to live peacefully with those they have displaced and cut off. If they cannot, they should at least take responsibility for the attacks agains them.
Your point that Jordan turned Palestinians into “stateless chattel” has some merit. I take your point to be that Israel is not the only country that has treated Palestinians unjustly. So, maybe Cole is biased here. I agree. However, two points: There are deep complications with giving full rights to Palestinians in those states (especially in Lebanon), too complex to go into here. But what would you say is the root cause of this problem? In my view, it is the State of Israel.
7. You point out that “Palestinians and the German "Vertriebenen" are the only refugee groups that can inherit their status.” Yes, well, and that’s also wrong.
8. You say: "This holding of the Palestinians as stateless chattel even as their landed property is being taken from them has deeply alienated European states and civil society from Tel Aviv."
(By referring to the Palestinians as Chattel he not only dehumanizes them but also implicitly depicts the Israel government as slaveowners.)”
I agree that ‘chattel’ is not an appropriate choice of words here. But the more general point, that Israel’s policies in regard to the Palestinians result in further alienation from Europe, is simply true. That’s Cole’s point. That’s why some European states have taken to recognize a Palestinian state.
9. I agree that the analogies Cole draws between Japan, South Korea, etc., and Iran are not helpful. However, I think that Iran has been unnecessarily demonized by the West. Sure, it’s a bad theocracy and I wish it were truly secular and democratic. But I seriously do not think they are hell bent on blowing up the middle-east with nuclear, or any other sort, of bombs. That would be suicide, and I don’t think they are into suicide. Nor do I think they pose any major threat to anyone. Nor have they invaded anyone! nor is there any evidence they intend to make a nuclear bomb. There is evidence that they want to make nuclear plants, like those other states do. We could also cite Saudi Arabia as a bad theocracy. But we don’t because they are our friends.
10. Ok, sure, Israel should not be expected to send troops to Syria to fight ISIS. But they could drop a few bombs. Anyway, I would concede this is Cole’s weakest point. However, the strength of it is that the real danger to Israel exists on their immediate border. They may have to do something. (In fact a minor skirmish recently broke out between them and Hezbollah on the disputed Syrian borders. There are some seriously complex options and consequences for them). So, going on about Iran’s nuclear threat is a foolish preoccupation.
Again, I submit that Netanyahu’s speech was much more riddled with distortion and cheap rhetorical tricks. Sometimes I wonder how he can believe himself. For the past ten years he’s been saying Iran is a year away from making nuclear bombs. He’ll be saying it next year.
I have friends on all sides of this issue. Surely someone will be disappointed in what I’m saying. But, there it is. Again, thanks for your input. Sorry to tax you with the length.
