Now is a time for the U.S. to stand strongly beside Israël; now is the moment for Israël to “think outside of the fox-hole”.
Shock-waves initiated by the United States and Britain in Iraq seven years ago becoming manifest across the Middle East and North Africa together with an oil drenched tsunami spontaneously flowing in from Japan have the world sitting fearfully in the dentist´s chair praying that the drilling through rotten material ends before the novacane wears off.
Previously, I have written before on this blog about Israël’s unsustainable policy toward her Palestinean brethren. In other settings, I have laid out in detail personal thoughts on Iraq and the Middle East. Thus, I want to be brief. For background reading, Stratfor’s well thought out piece neatly ties the catastrophe that befell Japan into the unsettled conditions in the Persian Gulf.
There is a nightmare swirling around the collective unconscience, especially for Israël’s always precarious existence. Iran’s inclination to project its hegemony through oppressed Shi´ites captures the media´s attention. Yet, I see the larger opportunity belonging to Israël.
Why? First, imperfect as she is, Israël has the only self-sustaining democracy in the region and boasts a proven track-record of economic expansion and permanent employment creation. Arabs and Persians alike see the fruits of her freedom.
Most Arabs realize that Israël’s breath-taking advance in the sciences, governance and education did not come from the United States. It was the Israeli people – well educated, everyday Israelis – who transformed a patch of desert into a western democracy while her historically bellicose neighbors languished.
Second, enter President G.W. Bush made a moral – and very difficult – decision finally to expel Saddam Hussein from Baghdad while the U.S. was busy leading a coalition to resurrect the stirrings of democracy in Afghanistan.
This risky policy bet that two developing democracies flanking either side of Iran would inspire that country’s middle class forcefully to foreswear a generation of religious tyranny. Most of the other régimes on the Arabian Peninsula are fast approaching their days of reckoning for years of corruption and repression.
Saudi Arabia´s coming collapse, more than Libya’s, will shock most other Arab countries into reforming themselves lest they be swept by a contagion of class warfare into the “great dust-storm” of history. All of this plays into Iran’s hands say the experts. I disagree.
The emergence of a general Arab-Persian conflagration fought primarily on Iraqi soil remains the greater danger than Iranian meddling through Shi´ite proxies across the Persian Gulf. So, what is Israël´s historic opportunity in this mischief lapsing into mêlée?
That of holding the balance of power between two peoples who despise each other more than either hates Israël. But…how? Eight months ago, the sentiments outlined below sounded unrealistic. Events across a troubled region are fast transforming the fantastic into the foreseeable.
Israël can step up to support the Arab Street´s move toward democracy, counsel collapsing régimes on reforms (structural and political) and guarantee the sovereignty of these frightened lands through the following five bold measures:
Shock-waves initiated by the United States and Britain in Iraq seven years ago becoming manifest across the Middle East and North Africa together with an oil drenched tsunami spontaneously flowing in from Japan have the world sitting fearfully in the dentist´s chair praying that the drilling through rotten material ends before the novacane wears off.
Previously, I have written before on this blog about Israël’s unsustainable policy toward her Palestinean brethren. In other settings, I have laid out in detail personal thoughts on Iraq and the Middle East. Thus, I want to be brief. For background reading, Stratfor’s well thought out piece neatly ties the catastrophe that befell Japan into the unsettled conditions in the Persian Gulf.
There is a nightmare swirling around the collective unconscience, especially for Israël’s always precarious existence. Iran’s inclination to project its hegemony through oppressed Shi´ites captures the media´s attention. Yet, I see the larger opportunity belonging to Israël.
Why? First, imperfect as she is, Israël has the only self-sustaining democracy in the region and boasts a proven track-record of economic expansion and permanent employment creation. Arabs and Persians alike see the fruits of her freedom.
Most Arabs realize that Israël’s breath-taking advance in the sciences, governance and education did not come from the United States. It was the Israeli people – well educated, everyday Israelis – who transformed a patch of desert into a western democracy while her historically bellicose neighbors languished.
Second, enter President G.W. Bush made a moral – and very difficult – decision finally to expel Saddam Hussein from Baghdad while the U.S. was busy leading a coalition to resurrect the stirrings of democracy in Afghanistan.
This risky policy bet that two developing democracies flanking either side of Iran would inspire that country’s middle class forcefully to foreswear a generation of religious tyranny. Most of the other régimes on the Arabian Peninsula are fast approaching their days of reckoning for years of corruption and repression.
Saudi Arabia´s coming collapse, more than Libya’s, will shock most other Arab countries into reforming themselves lest they be swept by a contagion of class warfare into the “great dust-storm” of history. All of this plays into Iran’s hands say the experts. I disagree.
The emergence of a general Arab-Persian conflagration fought primarily on Iraqi soil remains the greater danger than Iranian meddling through Shi´ite proxies across the Persian Gulf. So, what is Israël´s historic opportunity in this mischief lapsing into mêlée?
That of holding the balance of power between two peoples who despise each other more than either hates Israël. But…how? Eight months ago, the sentiments outlined below sounded unrealistic. Events across a troubled region are fast transforming the fantastic into the foreseeable.
Israël can step up to support the Arab Street´s move toward democracy, counsel collapsing régimes on reforms (structural and political) and guarantee the sovereignty of these frightened lands through the following five bold measures:
- repudiating her current apartheid by tearing down the wall and opening up access roads;
- annexing Palestine into a secular federation with a Xian capital in Jerusalem and six provinces – three Jewish and three Muslim;
- apologizing to the Palestinean people for past transgressions by recognizing the right-of-return (or compensation);
- leading an aid consortium for economic development and job training for the three Palestinean provinces supported by the U.S., E.U. and G.C.C. with Israël's largess being a fundament of her recognizing the right of returs; as well as,
- offering to lead a peace-keeping force in Iraq drawn from Turkey, Morocco, Malaysia, Indonesia and other non-Arab Muslim nations to supplement 5,000 U.S. Army regulars (arrayed in Baghdad as a trip-wire force against Iranian aggression).
