The day after Israel's failed assassination attempt on Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a "deeply troubled" President Bush let it be known that he did not think such attacks helped Israeli security. He was concerned lest the strike undermine the momentum he is trying to create for a "two-state" solution to the Palestinian crisis, part of his larger effort to extend peace and democracy in the Middle East. In response, the Jerusalem Post declared itself deeply troubled, too -- by the failure of the said operation to eliminate the man who directs terror operations in Gaza. The Post believed that the American president would have done better to recognize the threat Rantisi represents to American security.
The Jerusalem Post has a point. President Bush may understand more clearly than his predecessors the nature of the threat to Israel's security. The attacks of Sept. 11 brought home to him the similarities between the two democracies. Along with most Americans, the Bush administration now grasps how the freedoms of an open society leave it vulnerable to assault. If America is duty-bound to strike the bases of those who threaten its security, no matter how far they are from its shores, then Israel, too, which constitutes the fighting front line in the war against terror, must root out the terrorists within and along its borders.
Yet the White House still cannot bring itself to admit the true nature of the aggression against Israel. It still tends to treat the regional crisis as "a conflict of two people over one land" that can be resolved by the creation of a Palestinian state. According to this view, since Jews and Arabs both lay claim to the same territory of Israel-Palestine, some division of the territory between will bring about a peaceful resolution. This is the assumption behind the "road map" the president presented at the recent meetings in Egypt and Jordan, inviting the Palestinians to halt their terror and Israel to withdraw some of its settlements from the disputed lands.
The Arab war against Israel is no more a territorial conflict than was al Qaeda's strike against America.
Unfortunately, the Arab war against Israel is no more a territorial conflict than was al Qaeda's strike against America, and it can no more be resolved by the "road map" than anti-Americanism could be appeased by ceding part of the U.S. to an Islamist enclave. From the moment in 1947 when Jewish leaders accepted and Arab rulers rejected the U.N. partition plan of Palestine, the Arab-Israeli conflict bore no further likeness to more conventional territorial struggles. Arab rulers defied the U.N. charter by denying the legitimacy of a member state. Arab countries refused to acknowledge the existence of a single Jewish land. Arab rulers did not object to Israel because it rendered the Palestinians homeless. Rather, they ensured that the Palestinians should remain homeless so that they could organize their politics around opposition to Israel.
At any point during the past 55 years, Arab governments could have helped the Palestinian Arabs settle down to a decent life. They could have created the infrastructure of an autonomous Palestine on the West Bank of the Jordan and the Gaza territory that Egypt controlled until 1967, or encouraged the resettlement of Palestinians in Jordan, which constitutes the lion's share of the original mandate of Palestine. Rather than fund the Palestine Liberation Organization to foment terror against Israel they could have endowed Palestinian schools of architecture, engineering, medicine and law. What Israel did for its refugees from Arab lands, Arabs could have done much more sumptuously for the Palestinians displaced by the same conflict. Instead, Arab rulers cultivated generations of refugees in order to justify their ongoing campaign against the "usurper."
This is hardly the first time that the Jews have served as the pretext for a politics of opposition. To cite only the most notorious example (whose outcome President and Mrs. Bush witnessed during their recent tour of Auschwitz), Hitler used the supposedly illegitimate presence of the Jews as the excuse for tightening control over all the instruments of state. His promise to rid Germany of "the Jewish vermin" ushered in an assault on democratic culture that gained popular support by targeting an unpopular minority. Anti-Semitism camouflaged the Nazi will to power and the imposition of totalitarian controls: In the name of limiting the "influence" of the Jews, Hitler delimited the power of the courts, the media, and the educational system. As a young German named Sebastian Haffner noted at the time, "[the Nazis] provoke a general discussion not about their own existence, but about the right of their victims to exist." Suddenly, the Nazis had everyone debating the question of the Jews rather than questioning the legitimacy of the discriminatory laws against them.
The autocrats who govern Arab societies have used the "Zionist entity" to deflect attention from the worst aspects of their rule.
In almost identical ways, the autocrats who govern Arab societies have used the "Zionist entity" to deflect attention from the worst aspects of their rule. The unwanted presence of the Jews became the rallying point for internal dissatisfaction with the mounting problems of Arab regimes. The drumbeat against Israel invited the world to debate the iniquities of the Jews rather than question the legitimacy of the attacks against them. This comparison is not intended to equate the Germans with the Arabs, except in the ways that both exploited anti-Semitism to achieve broader political goals. Both used the alleged threat of "the Jews" to excuse their own failures. Anti-Semitism in both situations linked otherwise warring groups of the Left and Right.
The problem with anti-Semitism in its older and newer varieties is that it seems to serve its patrons so well. Without question, Arab rulers successfully deflected attention from their offenses by their decades of war and propaganda against Israel. Even the liberal Western media that might have been expected to support a besieged fellow democracy have long since focused on alleged Israeli abuses instead of on the abuses of their Arab accusers.
But, just as happened in Europe, the Arab obsession with Israel grew increasingly destructive not only of its Jewish targets but also of the sponsoring regimes. Attacking Jews consumed energy that should have been directed at alleviating the misery of Arab subjects. Blaming the Jews postponed democratization, which begins with people taking responsibility for themselves.
Moreover, anti-Semitism metastasizes very quickly; its culture of hatred and its appeal to violence cannot be contained. Although Arab governments tried to direct the war against Israel according to their political needs, Islamist and nationalist groups espousing the same ideology sprang up independently, sometimes in defiance of government control. Anti-Semitism morphed into anti-Americanism -- not because America supported Israel but because America represented the same challenges of an open, democratic, competitive society. The Jews' function as a bulwark of democracy was determined by the despots who tried to crush them. America did not so much fight on the side of the Jews as find itself forced to tackle the anti-Jews.
It goes without saying that President Bush must subordinate other considerations to America's security and interests. And Americans obviously would be better served if there were no conflict in the Middle East. Yet until Arab leaders give up the crutch of anti-Semitism they can make no real progress toward responsible self-government, and it is futile to pretend that obsession with Israel is compatible with Palestinian independence. Rantisi greeted the "road map" by organizing major attacks against Israel, which he calls "our land, not the land of the Jews." America can't hope to win its war against terror while ignoring some of its major perpetrators and propagandists.
Reprinted from The Wall Street Journal © 2003, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
(21) paul furman, January 14, 2020 6:41 PM
Educate media columnists, talking heads & newspaper editors to the true history of anti semitism from the left & right
Bernie Sanders a left over pro communist who was bought up in a first generation eastern European home is an Anti semite who happens to be Jewish. He accepts backing from anti semites such as Talib, Omars & their ilk. Talib has been on stage with this willfully ignorant politician who claims to support Israel & always repeats the Palestinian Arab lies.
(20) Mr. Cohen, June 17, 2015 1:19 AM
another comment from Irish atheist Pat Condell
PAT CONDELL SAID:
“I no longer believe that the Israelis should give back Jerusalem...
Experience has taught us that the Islamic mentality views ANY concession as weakness to be exploited further. And besides, too many so-called Palestinians seem less concerned with peace and freedom, than with driving Jews into the sea, so the bombings would not stop.”
SOURCE: Why do Muslims always blame the Jews? by Pat Condell
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziXyfLf-oxI
MICROBIOGRAPHY:
Pat Condell is an atheist who was born in Ireland around 1950 CE and raised in England as a Roman Catholic and educated in Church of England schools.
(19) Mr. Cohen, June 16, 2015 3:19 PM
comment from Pat Condell (an Irish atheist)
PAT CONDELL SAID:
“It is often said, because it is true, that if the Arabs laid down their weapons, there would be peace, but if the Jews laid down their weapons, they would be massacred, because the Arabs, the Muslims Arabs for all you hair-splitters out there, don’t want peace, they want the Jews dead.”
SOURCE: Useful idiots for Palestine by Pat Condell
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeGYAfh9A1k
MICROBIOGRAPHY:
Pat Condell is an atheist who was born in Ireland around 1950 CE and raised in England as a Roman Catholic and educated in Church of England schools.
(18) Anonymous, March 9, 2015 2:42 AM
I am Arab and agree with your article 100%
I am Arab and agree with your article 100%
(17) Anonymous, August 22, 2013 11:12 AM
Thank You
Thank you so much. This is a true perspective of reality that needs to be made known to all.
(16) Sondra Ross, August 25, 2003 12:00 AM
We read everything we can by Dr. Wisse
I am emailing this to several more friends since emailing to many when I first read it. Thank you, Dr. Wisse.
(15) Richard Garcia, July 28, 2003 12:00 AM
Second & Third Generation Refugees
Nowhere else in the world, except among the Palestinians does the concept of 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation refugees exist.
Why is this the case? Is it that the Palestinians are incapable of being absorbed into other Arab societies? Most likely this is not the case, since a specific Palestinian culture is not markedly different from the culture of the surrounding countries. Rather, it has been to the advantage of Arab governments not to integrate the Palestinians into their societies in order to keep the population radicalized and to stoke the flames of anti-Israel sentiment throughout the world.
(14) Michele Marrano, July 15, 2003 12:00 AM
Great to see such an honest article
I've printed this article and distributed among friends who agree wholeheartedly with Dr. Wisse on the whole concept that the non-democratic bloc of Arab nations do nothing to improve the lot of their people but scapegoat the Jews for all problems.
Some interesting points---the only deomocratic nation with a Muslim majority---Turkey---is actually an ally of Israel. How odd that only the one secular Islamic country is democratic and has semblence of infastructure.
Other items--I get so sick and tired of reading about Israel's "aggression" toward Hamas and then that odious comparison that the "Palestinians" are victims of Jewish/Anglo "expansionism" as were Native Americans during the 19th century!!!!
Give me a break!!!
(13) Anonymous, July 4, 2003 12:00 AM
Have read a number of articles by Wisse in Commentary and therefore am not at all surprised by her insightful treatment of this depressing subject. .As a (now-retired}historian, Ive tried my hand upon aspects of this question on a numer of occasions--with uncertain results! ....
(12) David Uslan, June 25, 2003 12:00 AM
wow
Everyone knows the facts, it is the part where connections need to be drawn and conclusions need to be made where most people fall short. This article does a great job of tying together the terrorist attacks in Israel to what America experienced on 9/11 and the continued threat Americans have felt since then. I never would have thought to connect the hideous acts of the nazis to arab terrorists in Israel, but the author is right, they both share a common goal: the destruction of the Jews and their beliefs. Inluded in those beliefs is (as the author stated) a desire for personal freedom through democracy, having responsibility for oneself. As soon as that happens to the palestinians, then maybe, just maybe, there can be peace negotiations.
(11) raye, June 25, 2003 12:00 AM
Men live lives of not-so-silent desperation
Aren't there some Palestinians and other Arabs aware of the not-so-hidden agenda of their leaders? That they have no voice in the dictatorship they live under and never will have it?
(10) Anonymous, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
Excellent article!
This article says all the same things my pastor has been saying from the pulpit, and I've been telling friends, for some time now. The only thing missing is this: if only the name given to the Palestinian state created in 1947 had been Palestine, instead of Jordan, the anti-Israelis would have a lot less of a leg to stand on!
(9) Zamira, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
World leaders neet to read this.
President Bush & others in State Dept. need to read this. We already know this info. & agree 100% but others don't or won't see the truth. Yasher Koach!
(8) Par Andreasson, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
A great article!
I can't help getting the feeling that when the world is talking about the peace and road map, it is in fact telling the PLO, Hamas and the rest to finish the job Hitler didn't do in the 40s. PLO and the Palestinians never intend to accept Israel as a people or a nation it is against the essence of Islam who never allows non Muslims to take over Islamic land. As long as Israel exist as a nation, in the land given to Abraham to be inherited by his children in the line of Isaac & Jacob the Muslims will fight Israel with the goal to push the Jews into the Mediterranean. This has been declared by Arafat and other Palestinians but the world wont or prefer not to listen.
(7) Bevery Kurtin, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
It's hard to imagine
It's hard to imagine that even fellow Jews who are ignorant of the real issues (willfully, I think) are saying "a pox on both their heads." The Arab propaganda machine is so well tuned that we even had a Jew stand up in our shul and ask how we could to continue to support Israel's "aggression."
All that could be heard was a collective gasp followed by dead silence. We were aghast that anyone, let alone a fellow Jew, could even ask that question. Yet, sadly, some Jews are swallowing the Arab propaganda output without even thinking twice.
This wonderful article tells the story as it really is...and has been for over five decades. It begs for a wider audience. For my part, I will forward it to as many people as I can, Jew or Gentile, it makes no difference. I challenge everyone who reads this article to do similarly.
(6) Anonymous, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
Thank you for this article. It is so diffecult to hear a balanced view of what is really happening in Israel.I have visited Israel and seen the incredible difference between the land and homes of Jews and Arabs. The Arabs have done nothing to help theirpeople to educate, develope jobs, or look after their health. It is the same in all Arab countries. All the oil money in the middle east has done nothing for their society.
(5) Anonymous, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
I believe your article "Jews/ Anti Jews is right on! While I am not personally a jew, It is obvious to me as well that Bush is seriously out to lunch on this so called "roadmap". In fact, as far as I am concerned, the entire peace process is and has been proceeding on a faulty foundation. I too want to see Peace in the Holy Land, but it has to be REAL Peace!
(4) Chaim Gartman, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
Refreshing!
Is is just so INVIGORATING to read
someone who agrees with me! That she
is perceptive and forthright is an
added benefit.
YES!
(3) Rivkah Blair, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
In total agreement
If only the nations of the world would open their eyes to this truth, then all these problems would end in peace for all.
(2) herb berger, June 24, 2003 12:00 AM
So very informative
Excellent!
Right on!
Thank you very much.
(1) Lee Tracy, June 23, 2003 12:00 AM
Great Points!
I am a peacenik. I deplore violence. But I see the cynical manipulation of Israel by a Bush administration who wants to win reelection and wants a foreign policy feather for his cap, and I am finding it hard to fault Sharon for his high-pressure attacks on Hamas. Were Bush serious about the "peace process" he would do more to understand the deep problems that need to be resolved, and he would address the failure of anyone in the region besides Israel to achieve anything remotely resembling civil rights, religious freedom, and democracy.
American citizens have died in terrorist attacks in Israel. In fact, American civilians were threatened more by these groups than by Iraq pre-Iraq invasion. If Bush really cared about terrorism as he claims, we would not be talking about merely cutting off aid to Hamas. American precision-guided missles would have taken out Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders.