Palestinians — VOICES for REASON

Last month in Washington D.C., ARC hosted a symposium to explore American foreign policy in the post-9/11 decade. For those who were unable to attend live or to watch the live streamed video, below are the videos of the three panel discussions.

Upheavals in the Middle East: Assessing the political landscape

The Islamist Threat: From AfPak to Jyllands-Posten and Times Square

Iran, Israel and the West

At the United Nations this week, the Palestinians will ask for — and possibly get — endorsement for their own independent state. But first, a quick reality check on what a Palestinian state means. This seven-part report from the Middle East Media Research Institute documents the rule of Hamas since it took over Gaza — in a bloody civil war — four years ago. To draw a brief sketch: Hamas has arbitrarily seized private land and bulldozed homes; censored the press; mocked freedom of assembly; killed political opponents (including those accused of “collaboration” with Israel); exploited civilians and private homes as human shields for armaments; imposed sharia law; and colluded in and carried out rocket attacks on Israel. And so the Islamists of Hamas have followed in the footsteps of the rival faction, the Fatah/PLO, which under Yasser Arafat had built up a horrifically repressive dictatorial regime. Arafat’s successor, Mahmoud Abbas, whose faction nominally has authority over parts of the West Bank, is known to celebrate suicide bombers, even honoring terrorists by naming streets after them.

For Palestinian leaders to demand a state of their own in order to sanctify their tyrannical rule is perverse.

Fouad Ajami, a canny scholar of the Middle East, observes in today’s WSJ that “The [UN] General Assembly may, in September, vote to ratify a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.” But that would be a hollow victory, he argues, because the Palestinians are far from having established the political institutions needed for a state. Ajami here draws a useful historical contrast with the establishment of Israel, which “was a fait accompli perhaps a decade before that [1947 UN] vote” thanks to the extensive development of political institutions.

The gist of his case is that the Palestinian movement was led astray by the likes of Arafat and the nursing of false hopes. The article is well worth reading, and it prompts questions that deserve serious consideration:

Is it right to hold the Palestinians blameless for accepting murderers like Arafat and Hamas as leaders of their cause?

Is it right to hold Palestinians blameless for accepting horrific goals (e.g. the wiping out of Israel) and means (e.g. rocket attacks, terrorist bombings) that Arab and Muslim leaders have encouraged, financed, and celebrated for decades?

There remains a crucial point: are there any grounds left for taking seriously the stated goal of the Palestinian cause — a peaceful, prosperous national homeland — given its history?

My answers: no; no; and, it beggars belief.

Dispelling misconceptions about the Arab/Israeli conflict is a focus of Efraim Karsh’s writings, and in his oped in today’s NYT, he brings to a wider audience key facts about the character of self-professed Arab champions of the Palestinian cause. He lays out a historical case that Arab states — who routinely jockey to be seen as advancing Palestinian goals — have in reality exploited that cause for their own power-seeking ends.

Agreeing with the thrust of Karsh’s article, I’d add this point: even if these backers had been genuine in their motivations and truly sought to serve the cause, that too would be deplorable. From my reading of the issue, the Palestinian movement has at its root an antipathy to Western political values, such individual freedom, and it has pioneered in the vile tactic of terrorism. Regimes that back that movement, for whatever reason, are complicit in its aggression.

(I explore the Palestinian movement and its goals in a course on the Arab-Israeli conflict. In chapter seven of Winning the Unwinnable War, I touch on a prevailing dynamic in Mideast politics that sheds light on what motivates contemporary backers of the Palestinians (e.g., Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia).)

Every so often — usually as a sweetener for peace talks — Western nations pledge ever more money in support of the Palestinians. Foreign aid flows in — but where do those billions of dollars go? And why are Palestinians continually hungry and destitute (or so we are told), yet somehow there’s money enough for guns to fight a civil war and thousands of rockets to fire into Israel? We know that Iran (and other regimes) help bankroll Hamas and other Islamist groups. But that’s just part of the story.

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