The Middle Eastern question

[David Horn]

(01-21-2019, 04:44 AM)Bill the Piper Wrote:

(01-18-2019, 12:30 PM)David Horn Wrote: A lot of the discontent is due to the intransigence of the Israelis.  Perhaps it's their turn.

I have mixed feelings with regard to Israel. Yes, it's the only democracy in the region (except the fledglings Lebanon and Iraq). But the formation of Israel resulted in growth in Arab nationalism and fundamentalism, and many Arabs seemingly still think 1948 is "now". They have a longer time perspective than us - many young Britons would say 1948 is as relevant for them as the Middle Ages.

The correct response to the problem of antisemitism was assimilation. Physically most European Jews already looked European, they had at least as much White as Semitic ancestors. They could blend in, especially since most Christians also went secular during the millennial cycle.

But we are not in 1948. The solution must be an answer to the situation today, not 70+ years ago. Israel should at least stop identifying as a Jewish state, like South Africa stopped identifying as a Boer state. But Palestinians also have to abandon their fanatical nationalism. IMHO they are even more intransigent than Israel. They both need to stop identifying as Israeli or Palestinian and start identifying as world citizen, that's all. I used to support Israel, and still do in a way, but they are going more and more tribal. Soon they will be no better than the Palestinians.

Israel has gone through a series of changes that have altered the politics of that nation dramatically in its 70 year history.  We Americans stood foursquare with the emerging state, and that goodwill has continued to this day, though its hard to see how that can continue into the future.  We had some assumptions about Israel that are melting away.  I can't see any potential two-state solution any longer, and the Israelis have already made non-Jewish residents into sub-class citizens -- even those who stuck with them in '48.  I agree, that smells like apartheid to me.  How that squares with US support in the future is questionable.  How it squares with European support is already in decline -- except for Germany, of course.  Germans can't afford to look even remotely anti-Semitic.