Will the Anger of the Arab Street Cross the Atlantic?

Huffingtonpost.com just posted some extraordinary photos of protests in Egypt. The Egyptian protests follow two weeks in which the Arab street has exploded in anger against their respective governments. Tunisia, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iran, amongst others, are all experiencing political turmoil. Yes, we are used to seeing the Arab street explode over an array of minor issues –like the Muhammad cartoon saga. But this time is different, the street is not (yet, anyways) protesting the “meddling Americans” or the “Zionist occupiers”, this time they are directing their collective anger inwards -against their own governments. Moreover, this is the first time that so many Arab and Muslim nations have simultaneously experienced political unrest. There are no jobs, the government is unable, or unwilling, to end the economic woes, and there is a complete disconnect between the people and their governments and elites.

The narrative of the Arab protests is familiar. There is rampant unemployment, extremely low government approval ratings, and individuals willing to do more than sulk at home. In Greece and Ireland, two western states, the street exploded, and their respective governments have been hit hard. Who’s next?

From this perspective, the economic woes of the past two years have spawned a global wave of protests. Wikileaks exposure of routine two-faced political dealings by governments has added fuel to the fire of mistrust and dissatisfaction so prevalent in many societies. The real question is whether we can expect the same results in America?

It is true that Americans have historically weathered economic malfeasance and ineptitude –like during the great depression- with relative calm. But America has changed since the 1930’s, and nobody can say with certainty that a single digit approval rating of our government will not translate into burning tires and bodies on the streets of New York and Chicago. The Muslim Brotherhood and other such Islamic groups have not yet hijacked the protests. Just as the far left –or right- in America have not yet coalesced into an effective anti-government apparatus. But the possibility exists.

So I ask: Will the Anger of the Arab Street Cross the Atlantic?

Copts, Muslims, and Democracy: America Needs to Start Making the Right Choices

I recently had the privilege of meeting an Egyptian doctor in a Starbucks in the city. He had overheard my conversation with a Muslim friend, and decided to join. Amongst the interesting perspectives he offered on Egypt and the region was the issue of Mubarak as a dictator vs. Mubarak as a pacifier. He argued that one of the reasons why Egypt is as stable as it has been since the Camp David accords was due to the secular stability that Mubarak implemented. What I found to be most interesting was that this doctor was a Christian-Copt.

For those that don’t know, the Copts are an ancient Christian denomination; the largest minority in Egypt; and a group that has experienced terrible discrimination at the hands of the Arab-Muslim majority. Yet despite the oppression of the Copts, this highly educated individual was supporting Mubarak. Why? Because, Mubarak has kept Islamist extremism in check, maintained Egypt’s leadership position in the region, and has offered a relative degree of economic well being –primarily through American funded subsidies- to its citizens. The alternative, he argued, was an Islamist government closer to Saudi Arabia in nature i.e. few churches, no political rights, and little freedom

My new friend's perspective raises a larger and relevant question:

Should we in America advocate for Democracy even in cases where that freedom will be hijacked by Islamic-extremist or other anti-Democratic elements? Should we support dictators in Tunisia, and Yemen, so long as they suppress terrorist entities from using their territory as training camps for attacks on the West?

America has always been involved in the spread of Democracy, but we have also, mostly, tempered our Democratic expansion with an unapologetic realism (this realism is what explains why we didn’t try “Iraq” before hand and why we are not going to try it again). Yet the populations in question –in this case the Arab street- are not blind to the obvious contradiction. On one hand we in America portray ourselves as the leader of the free world; with the other hand we pass millions of dollars to autocratic and oppressive governments who support our interests. Yes we may call that political realism, but in the Arab-world our opponents label it hypocrisy.

My Egyptian friend felt that a sudden Democracy movement in Egypt that overthrew Mubarak would be appropriated by non-Democratic elements -as it was in Iran, Gaza, and now Lebanon- who would then use it to keep themselves in indefinite power. But many participants and observers disagree; they see no ideological component to the Tunisian protests only a citizen population that is fed up with the economic ineptitude of their autocratic government.

Indeed there is no one formula: In some cases, like Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Gaza etc. we see Islamic-extremists capitalizing on general dissatisfaction. However, that does not mean that every Muslim and Arab nation that goes through a popular upheaval will invariably end up like Iran or Gaza.

The problem for us in America is we don’t understand the Muslim world enough to know when to stand behind a dictator and when to stand behind Democratic movements. Why did Obama ignore the Green revolution in Iran? Why did we think we could make Iraq a functioning Democracy? Why did we remove our support from Musharraf in Pakistan? Why did we support elections in Gaza? Why did we look the other way when Hezbollah joined the Lebanese political process?

Some of you reading this may respond: “That’s the point, America should mind its own business”. I disagree; the world needs America, which means we should start making the right choices.

A Convenient Excuse: What Role do the Israeli "Settlements" Play in the Middle-East? Part ll

The Israeli Perspective:

Israel’s use of settlements has a lot more nuance reflecting the diversity of Israel’s free political landscape.

The Left blames the settlements for all the woes of Israel “if only those settlers would disappear, Israel could finally achieve its potential”.

On a psychological level, the Left feels guilty (justly or otherwise) for supplanting so many Palestinians. However Israel is their home, and ensures Jewish survival, so they shift their guilt on to the settlements. On the rational (or irrational) level the Left protects its own homes, in Tel Aviv, by arguing that the only reason why there is violence against Israel-proper is because of the occupation, i.e. settlements. They conveniently ignore the stated beliefs –described above- of both religious and secular Muslims and Arabs. Ironically this is the real reason for the collapse of the Left in Israel; the illusion that there will be peace once occupation has ended has been completely dispelled by the Gaza fiasco. It seems obvious but it is a fact that has been conveniently ignored by the left-leaning media in Israel.

The secular right sees the settlements as a useful bargaining tool.

If the Arabs don’t fall in line and accept Israel’s right to exist, the right claims: "we (Israel) will maintain the settlements, and the anger that they engender in Arab countries!" The recent ascendancy of the Israel Beitanu party and its leader, Russian-born, Avigdor Lieberman is a reflection not only of a political coming-of-age of former Soviet Union immigrants but also a consequence of the left's now discredited belief that “settlements are the problem”. For the secular-right the settlements have always been a convenient bargaining tool. Think Menachem Begin (Yamit-Sinai) and Ariel Sharon (Gush Katif- Gaza).

For the religious-Right the settlements are the tangible manifestation of their core beliefs that Israel belongs to the Jews not because of the 1917 Balfour declaration, or the 1947 UN partition plan- but because it says so in the Bible. The settlements are the ideological breeding ground for the religious-Right. As the settlements grow and prosper, the religious-Right grows and prospers.

The settlement enterprise serves many interests. It is a convenient tool for the Arab, Muslim, and anti-Israel world to focus their “justified hate”, and it is a convenient football for Israeli politicians to kick around.

Meanwhile there are over 500,000 thousand “settlers” in the West-Bank and East-Jerusalem. To remove them from their homes would be no less traumatic and wrong then the expulsion and self-imposed exodus of the 600,000 Arabs from Israeli lands after the Arab world refused to recognize the 1947 partition plan.

A Convenient Excuse: What Role do the Israeli "Settlements" Play in the Middle-East? Part l

The anti-Israel crowd is obsessed with illegal settlements in Israel. So I decided to share some relevant facts regarding the so-called settlements:

But first an update:

Arab nations have submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The resolution is only one part of a larger effort by the PA/Fatah, to garner international support for establishing a de facto Palestinian state. The impetus for this resolution and the call for states like Brazil, to recognize a Palestinian state, is a result of the inability of the Palestinians to force Netanyahu into extending the freeze on settlements. In other words, Abbas and co. recognize that violence will not work, that America will not turn its back on Israel, and that the only other option is the UN.

Yet the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has, since the 1967 war, been in the Palestinians corner. However this has been almost meaningless because the UNGA's support is not-binding. When it comes down to business, which is conducted by the UN Security Council (UNSC), countries like Britain, which freely condemn Israel in the UNGA, refuse to act on those condemnations in the UNSC. Indeed, the US has already blocked a vote on this resolution in the UNSC.

So why are Abbas, the PA, and the Arab states putting so much effort into introducing more inane resolutions, this time opposing settlement expansion? On that note, why are the Palestinians seeking international recognition for their state, when that recognition will be meaningless, unless America and Israel accept it –which they won’t?

There are many potential answers to this question. But the question is significant because it leads the observer, in this case me, to analyze the settlement issue from a multitude of perspectives.

The Muslim and Arab Perspective:

The fact of the matter is that the argument that the so called "settlements" are the barrier to peace is a convenient excuse. For all the anti-Israel voices, Arabs, Muslims, and the Europeans who can find little else to harp on. Think about it, religious Muslims reject Israel’s right to exist, because the Koran implies that Jews were rejected by G-d for their sins, and have permanently lost their claim to the land of Israel -green-line or otherwise. Secular Muslims and Arabs can never accept the idea of a Jewish state in the Arab heartland. I mean how humiliating is it for the average impoverished and politically suppressed Muslim and Arab to watch how the Jews -the same people who 65 years ago were living with few rights in Muslim lands- thrive and dominate them in war and peace? The same can be asked regarding the many anti-Semites, who just can’t figure out why the Jews and Israel, despite all their efforts, are so successful.

On the other hand very few Muslim and Arab nations are willing to honestly explicate their true beliefs, usually because of overarching economic and political interests. But these states feel threatened by Israel’s inexplicable growth in the face of every type of challenge. They also have to contend with their own perpetually angry populations. So they target the settlements, not just in the West Bank, where they know Israel is willing to compromise, but also in Jerusalem where Israel will not. Thereby the Muslim and Arab states, (and the rest of the anti-Israel crowd) can portray themselves as reasonable state actors on the international stage, while also suppressing the anger of the Muslim street, by their opposition to the Israeli occupation.

So why did the Arabs offer this resolution now? It’s likely that the economic anger and political turmoil that is spreading from Tunisia to Egypt has a lot to do with it.

Regardless the anti-Israel crowd uses Israeli settlements as a convenient excuse to condemn all of Israel and, in many cases, all Jews. America recognizes this and refuses to jump on the bandwagon of hate.

In Part two I will discuss the many Israeli perspectives on settlements.

"The WikiLeaks-Iran connection" From Haaretz.com

For all the conspiracy theorist out there an interesting development from Haaretz.com

http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/the-wikileaks-iran-connection-1.336790

"On November 4, Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, arrived in Geneva. He held a press conference in which he hinted that he was considering requesting political asylum in Switzerland. Assange spent two days there as the guest of an Iranian non-governmental organization, which also sponsored the press conference.

The NGO is called the International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights, but the impressive title conceals the Iranian government, which finances the organization. Assange's press conference took place in a building of one of the UN institutions in the city. Iranian diplomats were in the audience, and Iranian photo crews made sure to document who was there, until one of the UN security people told them to stop. It's unclear what Assange, the founder of a website that discloses secrets, and Iran, have to do with each other. WikiLeaks did not respond when asked to comment.


After WikiLeaks began disclosing the U.S. State Department's confidential cables, a rumor mill thrived on websites, mainly Arab ones, that Assange had met in Geneva with Mossad officials and reached an agreement not to disclose documents that could harm Israel. This conspiratorial theory was also based on the fact that some of the published documents embarrassed Arab leaders who were depicted as secret supporters of a military attack by the United States or Israel on Iran.

Assange denied the claim, and the Mossad in principle does not comment on reports about the organization. It seems the truth is very prosaic. The Mossad, as far as I know, was not really interested in Assange and his site. It has more important things to deal with. It's likely, however, that Iran is interested in Assange. His releases are damaging the United States, and that makes Iran happy."

No, Iran was hurt by the last "dump" and wants to control who gets exposed next,but the point is well taken.

Imagine a Lebanon without Hezbollah

Yesterday’s announcement by the Lebanese opposition, Hezbollah, that they are leaving the governing coalition over the Hariri probe, is viewed by most as a harbinger of yet another bout of war and violence. These same analysts and dilettantes, conclude that this is bad. While I agree that most actions Hezbollah is associated with result in violence –which is bad- I disagree that Hezbollah quitting the Hariri led government is a negative development.

Of course, the prospect of further violence is in itself terrible, but the idea that Hezbollah would continue to obstruct the Lebanese government’s effort to improve the lot of their citizens is even worse. It is not insignificant that the Lebanese government has been unable to pass its 2010 budget because of Hezbollah opposition to any reasonable compromise. It is also telling that Hezbollah refuses to allow Lebanon to put the 2005 Hariri assassination to rest. Yet this assassination created a political and cultural chasm between the three main segments of the Lebanese population –Shia, Sunni, and Druse-Christian. The key to Lebanese prosperity is unity, if not compromise, amongst these three demographics. If Hezbollah was really serving the interest of Lebanon, and not Iran, then they would recognize this and put the Hariri assassination behind them –even if it meant admitting that some of its own high level commanders were involved.

This comes as no surprise. Hezbollah’s efforts to rebrand itself, after the 2006 Israel-Lebanese war, as a legitimate political entity determined to contribute to Lebanon’s renaissance was treated by most observers, as facile. The observes were right. Hezbollah’s 2008 commitment to renounce violence and become a political party like Ireland's “Sinn Féin (Irish political party that did) was always a monumental charade. Hezbollah still represents its founder, Khomeini, and the Shia ideology he espoused. This ideology is clearly reflected in Hezbollah's intransigence and obstructionism to the utter detriment of Lebanon. When Hezbollah pulled out of the government it exposed itself for what it always was – a terrorist organization loyal only to Tehran.

As long as Hezbollah has a say in governing Lebanon the nation will be incapable of reemerging as the mecca of tolerance and diversity it once represented. And as long as Lebanon and its neighbors continue to entertain the notion that Hezbollah is something more than a terrorist proxy of Iran, the whole region will suffer.

From this perspective, Hezbollah’s distancing itself from Lebanon’s government means the region is closer to peace -which is good.

Lieberman, for G-ds sake don’t be such a Putz!

Don’t jump to any conclusions, hear me out.

Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman's rhetoric arouses conflicting emotions. My instinctive response to his abusive rhetoric and behavior, such as his tacit support for the insult towards Turkey’s ambassador to Israel, was YES! FINALLY! AN ISRAELI POLITICIAN WHO SAYS IT LIKE IT IS!

Then I remember how I felt when Turkey's PM Erdogan,stated that no genocide happened in Darfur,Sudan "because Muslims can't commit genocide"! Or when Ahmadinejad of Iran stood in front of the world and denied the Holocaust, while calling for one! Or when Egypt’s tourist minister stated that he could not rule out that the shark attacks on tourists in his country were a Mossad operation! Or when Saudi Arabia incarcerated a Zionist-vulture-spy (yes a bird) because it was caught with a GPS tag on which it was written Tel Aviv University!

Or...

Yes Lieberman's rhetoric is nothing like the above –his statements are usually grounded in the truth and are responsive. But I consider Israel’s track record of saying little and doing a lot as a source of pride. Why should the great nation of Israel succumb to the hate filled and purposeless rhetoric of its neighbors?

Lieberman, be strong, stand for what is right, but for G-ds sake don’t be such a putz!

Subjective Journalism Gone Wild II: Israeli FM Lieberman is Not the New Kahane

“They're right, the villains - Kahane does live. He is the foreign minister today and the cabinet speaks and breathes from his mouth” (http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/lieberman-is-the-new-kahane-1.336296)

Haaretz.com, the voice of the Israeli left-wing, got it wrong. Avigdor Lieberman, foreign minister of Israel, is not the “new Kahane”. I know Lieberman, like Kahane, is outspoken, openly calls for Israeli-Arab transfer, and sounds more like Middle-Eastern dictator than he does the foreign representative of a Modern-thinking Democracy. However the political motivations driving Lieberman could not be more different than the complicated ideologies that lay at the heart of Meir Kahane’s religious Zionist movement.

Lieberman is the child of the mass waives of Russian immigrants who poured out of the former Soviet Union. They unlike their Western, Oriental, and Arab Israeli hosts were used to and advocated for un-western-Putin-like politics. Lieberman has captured that public sentiment and has made a career out of responding to rhetoric with rhetoric -like a Russian politician. In his way of thinking, the Arabs living within Israeli borders need to either swear loyalty to Israel or leave. Lieberman would run a war against Hamas like Russia has led its war on Chechen rebels –unapologetic, ambitious, and ruthless.

Conversely Kahane philosophy was

“that Israel's democracy be replaced by a state modeled on Jewish religious law, and promoting the idea of a Greater Israel in which Israel would annex the West Bank and Gaza strip…[to prevent Arabs from] becoming a numerical majority in Israel, he proposed a plan allowing Arabs to voluntarily leave Israel and receive compensation for their property, and forcibly removing Arabs who refused” (Wikipedia).

For Lieberman it was simply a matter of POLITICAL fidelity on the part of the Arabs and they could stay. Not especially extreme, many nations follow this system, especially Russia. For Kahane the land was HOLY and was meant only for Jews and for it to be safe Arabs had to leave. Now THAT is extreme.

Haaretz and the Israeli-Left are so predictable. They don’t like Lieberman’s methods and belief’s, and are doing what they can to stem Lieberman’s meteoric rise to political power. This includes, but is not confined to, comparing him to Meir Kahane. But just because Lieberman is as outspoken as Kahane was does not mean that Lieberman is the new Kahane.

Lieberman is a political opportunist Kahane was an ideological politician.

Haaretz and subjective journalism at its best.

Yale Law III: Reason and Violence

In applying to Yale law school I was required to submit a 250 word essay on any give topic. Below is the third essay amongst the three finalists:


The reason offered for society’s rejection of violence often boils down to the axiom that violence is wrong. Yet it is fair to ask: why it is wrong? At this point the respondent would probably assert that violence is antithetical to coexistence and that coexistence is a prerequisite for society’s success. Alternatively, they may respond that causing pain is inherently unjust and violence cannot exist without pain.

But if all reasons underpinning the rejection of violence are rooted in rational reasoning, what happens when violence is rationalized? Take Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, or the guy whose wife was cheating on him. Each one of them offered a compelling and reasoned argument to commit violence.

The cynical and pragmatic thinker may agree with the above reasoning and conclude that the degree of justness attributed to acts of violence is simply a product of the position that the one committing the violence is in. Still, for those who wish to establish a universal rule against violence, what principles can we employ that will ensure acceptance?

Yet if we are to find one universal principle that all humanity follows we need that principle to be non-rational. After all, as the post modernist would contend, the only truth that is universal is that which each individual has created as their own unique truth. If Humanity is inherently subjective, it would seem then, that there is no source for or of universal truth.

Is humanity then doomed to experience murder, and even genocide? Or is it that murder is in fact a natural occurrence that is as integral to the human as subjectivity or passion?

Israel Must Support Mubarak

Egypt and Israel are in serious trouble!

The recent bombing outside a Copt church, was not committed (Debka.com) by foreign Al-Qaida extremists, but by homegrown terrorists intent on toppling Egypt’s secular regime. This bombing follows a rigged election which ensured that Mubarak would win. Domestic sectarian terror is not the only issue challenging Egypt. In the South, Egypt’s control of the Nile (its life blood) is being challenged. Egypt is also weary of the implications of Southern Sudanese independence (Huffingtonpost.com).

Don’t get me wrong, I am no supporter of Egypt. It is led by a corrupt government that has mostly squandered its position of leadership in the Arab world. However, Mubarak’s Egypt is an ally of America and does have a “peace” accord with Israel. If Mubarak’s regime falls, it is likely Egypt will go the way of Pakistan.

The Copt bombing which occurred following the red mosque fiasco could galvanize Egyptian Islamists. Mubarak is being heavily criticized, both domestically and internationally, for election fraud and the Islamists are attempting to create a tipping-point event to ensure that Mubarak is overthrown. Like post-Musharraf Pakistan, Egypt’s subsequent central government will be weak, and the Islamists who always seem to be lurking in the back waiting to jump will overrun Egypt. Who has been supporting the Islamists? According to a plethora of sources, including Mubarak himself, Iran.

If Egypt falls under Islamist control, peace with Israel will be a bitter-sweet memory. Jordan -seeing that Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt have fallen under the influence of Iran- will also submit to the anti-Israel coalition.

This will create a vacuum for a global-power, like China, to establish a foothold in the region. Unlikely, you say. Remember it was the Soviet Union which supplied Syria and Egypt to counter American influence, in the guise of Israel, prior to Camp David. China, like the Soviets, will likely jump at the opportunity to secure its growing energy demand, and will accomplish this by challenging American influence by arming its Iranian allies. Israel, surrounded by enemies on every side as it was prior to the Yom Kippur war, will be weakened, along with the power that rules it, America.

From Israel’s perspective, it would be akin to national suicide to stand by and watch itself be surrounded completely by Iran. An Iran that recently hanged an Israeli spy and has been the primary enabler of both Hamas and Hezbollah. Without peace with Egypt and Jordan, Israel will be back to the position it was before war with the Arabs, and this time around the Arabs will backed by a nuclear Iran.

For America the question is: do we allow a region, which supplies a significant amount of oil to America, to be controlled by a country that calls for a new world order (i.e. for America to be replaced)? Or do we continue pursuing our current policy of challenging Iran, and prop up Mubarak of Egypt? Barring a revolution in energy technology, American policy makers, both left and right wing, need to put ideology aside and not miss what is going on.

For Israel the issue is clear. It must do what it can to support Mubarak against the Islamists, and their Iranian backers.