U.S. Support of Israel Harms Mideast

Alaa Bayoumi, East Valley Tribune, AZ, July 23, 2006.

In his book “Failed States,” Noam Chomsky writes that, “Pursuit of total security by one state . . . entails the insecurity of others, who are likely to react.” Chomsky was talking about the foreign policy of the Bush administration, but the same analysis fits Israel today.

The Bush administration, under the influence of the neocons, and Israel, under Ehud Olmert’s right-wing Kadima Party, are pursuing a strategy of total security that is destabilizing the whole Middle East, if not the whole world, and spreading insecurity among other nations.

After 9/11, the Bush administration adopted a strategy of “preemptive” and “unilateral” action that sought to change regimes around the world and to reshape entire regions, particularly the Middle East, in order to win a vaguely defined “global war on terror.”

Five years later, al-Qaida’s top leaders are still free. Afghanistan’s transformation from turmoil to normalcy is more uncertain than any other time. Iraq is on the edge of civil war and has become a main training ground for terror. World public opinion’s opposition to our policies is unprecedented. And, competition and disagreement among world powers are souring over the access to oil resources and markets, pushing prices to alltime high.

An article by Philip Gordon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, published in the July issue of Foreign Affairs has declared “the end of the Bush revolution.”

Unfortunately, the uncertain end of the Bush revolution did not come free of charge. The administration’s aggressive unilateral policies and its vague threatening moral rhetoric have increased the proliferation of the weapons of mass destruction.

The Bush revolution also hurt the Middle East more than any other area. Today, Arab democracy is in retreat. The destinies of Iraq and Somalia are uncertain. Most frightening of all, the Middle East could be on the verge of a region-wide war.

The Bush administration’s one-sided support for Israel’s governments has ended the peace process. We have supported Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, its refusal to negotiate with any Palestinian partner, and its brutal siege on the Palestinian civilian population. Today, our core Arab allies, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are shying away from even talking about the peace process.

More dangerously, the current Israeli government under Ehud Olmert is pursuing a strategy of total security that could lead to an open multinational war in the Middle East.

Israel has launched an all-out war on two peoples in response to the kidnapping of a handful of its own soldiers. Israel itself holds thousands of innocent Palestinian and Lebanese people — men, women and children who have been in Israeli jails for many years.

If our government does not act to stop Israel’s aggressive actions, America will lose the support of the great majority of the Arab people and governments.

What we need now is an immediate cease-fire and an international conference to which all major parties to the conflict and world powers should be invited. This conference should work on establishing a new security system for the Middle East that offers mutual security assurances for all countries, announces the Middle East as a nuclear weapons-free zone, encourages the spread of democracy and human rights in the Arab world, finds a just and peaceful solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, encourages cooperation in fighting terrorism, and builds clear channels of communication among all countries in the Middle East. If guaranteed by the world major powers, such channels could prevent future conflicts.

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