Socialist Viewpoint

There are millions of people, who look at the situation in the area called the Middle East. They look at the situation, and throw up their hands, as if helpless to do anything about it. Some say, “It’s a religious feud!” Others lament, “They’ve been fighting for thousands of years! It’s been so long, there’s nothing we can do!”

This is the argument for non-interference, one promoted by the curious American reliance on the Bible as a kind of primeval history textbook. This widespread American presumption is far more than an argument for non-interference; it is an argument to perpetuate the status quo.

What is most surprising about this public misperception is the fact that (with the possible exception of Britain) the United States is perhaps most responsible for the establishment of Israel, and certainly for its continued maintenance. The State of Israel is one of the youngest nations in the world, dating back to 1948. At least a third of all living Americans (and perhaps as many as almost a half) were alive the day the State declared its independence from its British territorial and colonial roots. The fact that millions of Americans think of thousands of years, instead of decades, is a true testament to the functioning both of American schools and corporate media.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict stems not from religious enmity, but from profound political and territorial differences. When Anglos came to the United States from Britain (that is, before there was a United States), they surely regarded the native, indigenous peoples as “heathens,” but that was not the source of their conflict. The whites wanted the land that these “heathens” were living on. Indeed, when some Indians by the thousands, converted to Christianity, and thus were, as “Brothers in Christ” and co-religionists, no longer “heathen,” they were still ruthlessly uprooted from the land of their fathers, and sent into a form of internal exile on sparse, non-productive so-called “reservations.” The Cherokees were militarily ejected from what is now called Georgia over 150 years ago, in what they came to call the Trail of Tears, when thousands died from cold, hunger, or a broken heart.

The impetus for the raging conflict there in the Middle East is land. Some will ask, well, why the hatred? Why the deep enmity? The answer, again, can be seen by examining America's history with the indigenous, aboriginal people who were here before Europeans sought it as a so-called 'New World'. When Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon) made landfall in what we now call the West Indies, he described the inhabitants as “gentle,” “friendly”, and in similar terms. In less than a hundred years, accounts were sent to Europe of “savages,” and “heathens,” and “barbarians.” Israeli writer, Israel Shamir, recently recounted the results of a poll conducted by an Israeli newspaper about their feelings regarding the Palestinians:

The Russian language newspaper, “Direct Speech,” published in Jerusalem, asked hundreds of Russian Jews about their feelings toward the Palestinians. Typical answers were: “I would kill all Arabs”, “All Arabs should be eliminated,” “Arabs must be expelled,” and “An Arab is an Arab. They all have to be eliminated.” I am not sure a street poll of Berlin in 1938 would produce more damning results, as the Nazi idea of the Final Solution did not emerge until 1941. (Shamir, I., “The Failed Test,” Socialist Viewpoint, June 2001, pp. 31-32)

The fact that some of the speakers had to be fairly recent immigrants from Russia (as the country didn’t allow much immigration until 20 years ago, or so) is most alarming, yet it reflects a spirit not unknown to millions of Americans. If you doubt this, let's have our own test. Fill in the following blank: “The only good Indian is __________________.” If you are American (no matter your ethnic origin), you know the answer that pops into your mind. It ain't pretty.

The bulldozers, the snipers, the F-14s, the tanks, the Uzis, all of the might of the Israeli state is arrayed to achieve what they may not call, but each know, is lebensraum. Living room.

The Arabs, even if they and their ancestors have lived there, under the Ottoman Empire, for a thousand years, are seen the way Cherokees were seen in 1880 Georgia by the white settlers: expendable.

This is the source of the conflict, the hatred, the derision.

And America, which funds one side, while ignoring the other, can never be a fair arbiter at any table of mediation. For they see one side as a younger version of themselves: and they see the other as Indians—Others.

Guess who they will always favor?

When they say “Peace”, they mean “Silence!” The silence of a Trail of Tears.