Cross-Cultural Understanding
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Opinion Editorials, September 23, 2007 |
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The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy By John J Mearsheimer and Stephen M Walt, Reviewed By Max Hastings From The Sunday Times
Its argument is readily
summarised. The authors support Israel’s
right to exist. But they are dismayed by America’s unconditional
support for its governments’ policies, including vast sums of cash aid
for which there is no plausible accounting process. They reject the view
articulated as a mantra by all modern American presidents (and 2008
presidential candidates) that Israel
and America share common values, and their national interests march hand
in hand. The authors argue that
American policy towards Israel is decisively and When congresswoman Betty McCollum, a liberal with a solid pro-Israel voting record, opposed the AIPAC-backed Palestinian AntiTerrorism Act, which was also opposed by the state department, an AIPAC lobbyist told McCollum’s chief-of-staff that her “support for terrorists will not be tolerated”. Former president Jimmy Carter incurred not merely criticism but vilification when he published a book entitled Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, likening Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians to that of the old white regime in South Africa towards its black majority. Whatever view Europeans
take of Israel, most find it difficult to comprehend the sheer ferocity
of American sentiment. Ian Buruma wrote an article for The New York
Times entitled How to Talk About Israel. He said how difficult it is to
have an honest debate, and remarked that “even legitimate criticism of
Israel, or of Zionism, is often quickly denounced as antiSemitism by
various watchdogs”. The American media, claim the authors, even such mighty organs as The New York Times and The Washington Post, do less than justice to the Palestinians, much more than justice to the Israelis. Robert Bartley, a former editor of The Wall Street Journal, once said: “Shamir, Sharon, Bibi – whatever those guys want is pretty much fine by me.” There is no American counterpart to such notably Arabist British polemicists as Robert Fisk. Mearsheimer and Walt’s book argues its points at such ponderous length that it makes pretty leaden reading. But it is extraordinary that, in a free society, the legitimacy of the expression of their opinions should be called into question. “We show,” say the authors, “that although Israel may have been an asset during the cold war it is increasingly a strategic liability now that the cold war is over. Backing Israel so strongly helps fuel America’s terrorism problem and makes it harder for the United States to address the other problems it faces in the Middle East.” Americans ring-fence Israel from the normal sceptical proc-esses of democracy, while arguments for the Palestinians are often denounced as pernicious as well as antisemitic. All the 2008 presidential candidates, say Mearsheimer and Walt, know that their campaign would be dead in the water if they hinted that Israel would receive less than 100% backing if they win. They note that many Israelis are much bolder in attacking their own governments than any American politician would dare to be. Part of the trouble is that AIPAC faces no significant opposition. Palestinians, and indeed all Arabs, command negligible sympathy in America, especially since 9/11. The authors think that the most helpful step towards diminishing the Israel lobby’s grip would be for election campaigns to be publicly financed, ending candidates’ dependence on private contributions: “AIPAC’s success is due in large part to its ability to reward legislators and congressional candidates who support its agenda, and to punish those who do not.” But the authors know reform
will not happen. The Israel lobby is vastly strengthened by the support
of America’s Christian Zionists, an important element of George W
Bush’s constituency. Some may think these people are lunatics, but
there are an awful lot of them. They are even more strident in their
opposition to Arab rights in Palestine than the Israeli Likud party. “Although we deplore the
Palestinians’ reliance on terrorism and are well aware of their own
contribution to prolonging the conflict, we believe their grievances are
genuine and must be addressed. We also believe that most Americans would
support a different approach . . . if they had a more accurate
understanding of past events and present conditions.” After that remark, I shall be pleasantly surprised to escape an allegation from somebody that I belong in the same stable of antisemites as Walt and Mearsheimer. Yet otherwise intelligent Americans diminish themselves by hurling charges of antisemitism with such recklessness. There will be no peace in the Middle East until the United States faces its responsibilities there in a much more convincing fashion than it does today, partly for reasons given in this depressing book. The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by John J Mearsheimer and Stephen M Walt Allen Lane £25 pp496 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_ entertainment/books/non-fiction/article2348741.ece
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