Poor Little Israel
By Cathy Stripe Lester
31 May, 2011
Countercurrents.org
Poor little Israel, innocent of everything and surrounded by mindless enemies who only want to obliterate them. Their only friend is the USA. And they’re our only friend in the Middle East.
It was awfully nice of their Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to forsake his beleaguered country for a spell and come give a pep talk to the USA. And what a Pep Talk it was! That man really knows America, he knows how to push all the buttons! Hooray for the USA, hooray for poor little Israel, God Bless the United States of America.” Rah! Rah! Rah!
Of course you don’t go to a Pep Talk expecting a reasoned analysis. Even Jewish commentators like Aaron David Miller, of the US Advisory Council’s Israel Policy Forum, have said Netanyahu’s speech, while a marvel of skilled rhetoric, says “nothing new on the peace process” and “does NOT advance anything.”
What’s he talking about?!? Netty said Israel would have to make “painful” concessions, didn’t he? Ah, but when you look at the fine print – the phrases he slipped in after the Rah-rah-rah’s – you see what kind of “peace” he’s talking about: absolute domination of the Palestinians. Sis-Boom-Bah!
Netanyahu says he’ll swap land. But illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land have to stay, because the vast majority of settlers live in “suburbs of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,” and the rest are “strategic.”
Well, dog my cats. I thought Tel Aviv was down on the coast, totally away from Palestinian Land! And when you look at a map of the settlements in Israel, you see what “strategic” means: Palestine is literally polka-dotted with illegal settlements, most of which have been built as a deliberate policy to expand Israeli influence over the whole of the Palestinian territory.
And Netty says Israel has to have “Security along the Jordan river.” Sounds reasonable – unless you have a clear map of the Middle East in your head.
I asked a couple people at random where the Jordan River goes. One guessed, “Through Israel,” and the other said, “Between Israel and Palestine.” Er, sorry. For most of its length, the Jordan River goes between Palestine and Jordan. The Palestinian West Bank is called that because it’s west of the Jordan River, get it? So for Israel to have Security there means they would have to have military posts in a steel ring, right around Palestinian territory.
Of course Netanyahu repeated the business about Israel being our only friend in the Middle East. Odd, I was under the impression we were awfully cozy with Saudi Arabia. And Jordan. We used to be friends with all the Arab countries, until Israel got into the act. Thanks loads, Israel. Some friend.
Israel also claims it’s the only democracy in the Middle East. However, Turkey and Lebanon have healthy democracies. Egypt and Tunisia just had revolutions because they want democracies. We could have a lot more democracies there if we had better relations with Arab countries.
The current situation is bad for US security. When General David Petreus spoke before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Mar. 10, 2010, he said, “The (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel.”
Us? Moi? Favor Israel?? Most Americans think we’re “even-handed.” I got a shock last weekend when I got a chance to speak to US Representative Dan Benishek, and mentioned we could usefully cut US expenditure on funding for Israel. This is a guy who votes on the national budget and presumably approves the money in question.
His response? “We give about the same amount to the Palestinians, don’t we?” Er… not exactly, Mr. Representative, Sir.
In 2010 the USA pledged $440 million to Palestine. The official record is that we give $3 BILLION to Israel.
However, I have a friend who has been trying to research the real amount we give to Israel and she says it’s almost impossible to count it all, because a lot of it is hidden, particularly the military aid. Most people estimate it around $10 Billion.
But they’re our friend, so it’s OK! Gimme an “I !!!” Gimme an “S !!!”…. Just don’t gimme transparency on how much money flows between the USA and Poor Little Israel, eh?
As for the “indefensible” 1967 borders? Funny, that. I seem to remember that Israel defended itself pretty comprehensively in 1967. But never mind! Hooray for Israel!
Netty says they need more territory because the Palestinians have rockets. Sorry to puncture this particular bedtime story, but Israel is smaller than Connecticut, and it would have to be about the size of Texas to be big enough for rockets not to get into the center of the country. Plus they’d need a buffer of at least a hundred miles to keep a rocket getting from just inside the Palestinian border to anyplace inside Israel.
Really, the only way Israel could have territorial immunity would be to dig it out and make it an island in the Mediterranean.
In 1948, the United Nations recognized Israel as a sovereign state. Now that the UN is thinking about recognizing a Palestinian State, Netanyahu opposes it. “Peace cannot be imposed, it must be negotiated.”
Well, DOH! That’s what our President is suggesting. Aside from forgetting their own history, Israel has painted itself into a propaganda corner where it literally can’t even respond to a legitimate offer to negotiate.
I’d like to see Israel be secure. For one thing, it would make us more secure, and even Arab countries would be more secure. But to be secure, Israel needs friends more than “defensible” borders.
In 2002 there was a Saudi offer which all the Arab nations signed on to, offering to recognize the State of Israel in exchange for a return to the 1967 borders. Now, in the Middle East, all negotiating is done on the bazaar principle: haggle like mad. However, Israel didn’t begin to haggle, they just rejected it, and it wasn’t even seriously discussed in the USA. For sure no one suggested we hold Israel’s feet to the fire by withholding some of the murky $3 to 10 Billion we give them, if they didn’t start some serious bargaining! So Israel continues, and we’re “their only friend.”
Poor little Israel.
Cathy Stripe Lester is a freelance writer, (SURF PATROL, Windjammer Publishing 1995, 2nd. ed. 1996) as well as other stories and articles. She has taught English in Alaska, South America, and Iran, and lived in Singapore, Saudi Arabia and England. She is currently living in the wilds of North-Central Michigan, where she indulges her love of skiing, canoeing, and general outdoorsing.
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