----- Original Message ----- From: "Micheal Ellis" <onyxmirr at earthlink.net>
At 10:12 AM -0400 5/2/02, Nathan Newman wrote:
>Now, where leftist blindness verging on anti-semitism comes in is the fact
>that they treat the expulsions of Palestinians by Israel as uniquely evil
>policy in the region, while downplaying the mass murders by Syria (Hama
>1982, probably far worse than Israel's murders in Lebanon the same years) or
>many other similarly wretched policies by Arab regimes.
-you are missing the point i think...at least U.S. leftist aren't responsible for -the crimes of Syria etc. they are responsible for the U.S. support for Israel. -that is something U.S. leftist can do something about.
In exchange for Syria supporting the anti-Iraq coalition, it was relieved of billions owed in foreign debt and its control of Lebanon was essentially rubberstamped by the Bush administration.
Why is Syria's occupation of Lebanon any more legitimate than Israel's occupation of the West Bank. When I travelled in Syria, I met Palestinians there who were quite bitter about the second-class treatment they suffered under the Assads.
While US support for Israel is more extensive than the occasional dealings with Syria, US support for Egypt -- running a dictatorship that has smashed any democratic opposition -- and for Saudi Arabia through military alliances are both extensive. Why not mass mobilization to cutoff the billions in aid to Egypt?
I no doubt agree that as US activists, we have more leverage over Israel, but I was addressing the language used to condemn Israel, such as the comparisons to Hitler and Khmer Rouge that pop up. Israel's occupation is terrible and should be condemned for its injustice, but a lot of discussion of Israel on the left goes beyond that to holding it up as a uniquely rogue anti-democratic state in the region.
The fact remains that a large portion of the population of Israel are Jews who were driven out of Yemen, Iraq, Morocco and other Arab states, so the injustices highlighted about Israel are mirrored by its neighbors. When Israel is referred to just as a "settler state", the Mizrachi/Sephardic Jews native to the region are made as invisible and their indigenous rights in the region are as delegitimized as many on the left rightly accuse Israel of delegitimizing Palestinian rights.
-- Nathan Newman