Thanks for the A2A, Joseph!
Political correctitude has evolved into an intolerant, totalitarian, supremacist ideology. One that shouts down dissent and resorts to ad hominems like 'racist', 'bigot', 'misogynist', and 'Islamophobe', to derail debate and elicit knee-jerk support. In many ways, left-wing apologists bear a striking resemblance to apologists for Islamism. Just as Islamists have intimidated far too many people, media outlets, and governments into squelching dissent, so has the politically correct left. Just as Islamists believe their ideology to be superior and sacrosanct, so does the politically correct left. Just as everybody must respect Allah, the Quran and Muhammad, so must everybody respect politically correct ideals: if you don’t, you’ll feel the wrath of adherents.
Don't get me wrong . . . I like liberal ideals like minority rights; gay rights; women's liberation; inclusion; affirmative action; and support for the poor, disadvantaged, and downtrodden; etc. These values have made our country strong, prosperous, and free. The problem is not our values: it's how we apply them to domestic and foreign policy.
We need to take all considerations into account when making policy. Our values are fine: it's their application that sucks. Do we stand behind our liberal ideals or not? It appears to me that our track record says we don't. It's geopolitics, not our values, that govern our support for causes and countries around the world. We embrace Saudi Arabia while it spends billions to spread a poisonous version of Islam around the world. Yet we treat the democratic country of Taiwan like a hot potato where China is concerned.
And Israel? Well, it's a very special case. Robert Bernstein, founder of Human Rights Watch, says that antisemitism is "deeply ingrained and institutionalized" in "Arab nations in modern times." That's an understatement. Arab antisemitism is an Islamic tradition institutionalized in sharia law, by dhimma. On Muslim soil, Jews are dhimmi, subjugated and, by law, inferior to Muslims. For Jews, dhimma is antisemitism on steroids. Dhimma laws were dropped over a century ago, due to pressure from the West, but still rears its ugly head from time to time: like with ISIS. Remnants of dhimma (neo-dhimmitude) still persist in Iran. On the bright side, Saudi Arabia has no problem with dhimmis . . . but only because Islam is the only religion they allow. The legacy of dhimma is very much alive in the form of 'deeply ingrained and institutionalized' Arab antisemitism.
The Jewish nationalist movement, Zionism, began in the late 19th century as a response to widespread persecution, particularly in Europe. Jews, after nearly two millennia of diaspora, began immigrating to Palestine (Ottoman Syria). They bought land and settled it with the dream of an eventual homeland. There were no problems reported between them and local Arabs until after the First World War, when support for a Jewish homeland was building in the West.
The Palestinian nationalist movement emerged, after WWI, in 1920, under the hard-line leadership of Haj Amin al-Husseini, who immediately targeted the Jewish settlers and all they represent, as anathema to the Palestinian nationalist cause. He sparked many riots against the Jews in Jerusalem and Jaffa. Later, in 1929, a series of anti-Jewish riots led to massive Jewish casualties in Hebron and Safed, and the evacuation of Jews from Hebron and Gaza.
Does anybody seriously believe settlers would have been attacked if they were Arabs? No . . . they were attacked because they were Jews. Ironically, all that hateful violence against the Jews proved to be the downfall of the Palestinian Arabs because it prompted the establishment of Jewish protection leagues, such as Haganah, Irgun and Stern Gang – which morphed into paramilitary organizations that successfully defended Israel against invasion, by five Arab countries, in the first Arab-Israeli War of 1948. They got what they deserved.
The 1948 war need never have happened if only the Arabs had accept just one of the many British and U.N proposals to grant the Jews territory (no matter how small) in the British/U.N. protectorate of Mandatory Palestine. The Jews agreed to every proposal but the Arabs rejected them all, outright, without consideration. Why? Because there was no way in hell that (Muslim) Arabs would allow Jews to stand free, strong and proud on Muslim soil. Pure, dhimma-inspired, antisemitism. Period.
When I think of the history of the Palestinian Problem, I wonder how I would react to being surrounded by much larger enemies who hate my very existence. How well would I handle the myriad and incessant assaults? Of course, no matter how hard I might try, the ever-present danger and lack of security would lead me to an embattled mindset. I would have difficulty staying objective and making the wisest available decisions.
Israel is an island of democracy in a sea of despots and terrorists driven by Jew hatred. I admit that the occupied territories is a woeful mess. But I'm not surprised . . . how could it be otherwise? It seems to me that Israel has done remarkably well so far, despite the mess. The situation is so bad that Israel might have no choice but to expand their borders for their own security — certainly a terrible prospect.
But this situation should not exist in the first place. If Israel had been allowed to continue buying and settling land, they would have legally owned their country outright when the U.N. finally granted them the tiny 10% piece of the protectorate territory of Mandatory Palestine. The Palestinian Arabs got 90% of the territory, including Jordan but that wasn't good enough for them. No sir! It wasn't so much that they wanted 100% . . . it was really all about the Jews having 0%.
The hostility has always been and continues to be from the Arabs. I don't like all of Israel's decisions but I can't really blame them when they make bad ones. Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to exist unmolested. But with the reality on the ground in the region, Israel may never be secure . . . and certainly can never trust their Arab neighbors until they establish a long record of peaceful and tolerant coexistence. And, really, how likely is that?
Liberal support for Palestine (and against Israel) is misguided. Remember those liberal ideals? Why do liberals support a terrorist regime against a democracy? Why do they overlook the regime's treatment of their own people? It's really very sad. Liberal ideals have become tainted by the extremism of political correctitude.
AtheistExile 