Submitted Comments RSS Feed Comments by vivek iyer
Posted in: Bolton: Three-state solution
Hamas is a Sunni outfit whose natural constituency would be in the wealthy ,socially conservative, Gulf and Saudi Arabia. Hamas may be using this opportunity to get out from under Iran and realign with the really deep pockets. The fact that Hizbollah- Iran's other protege- has sat on its hands, taken with Teheran's financial woes might make this the obvious move for Hamas. Israel too may have sensed a shift in strategy on the part of Hamas. There are sound strategic reasons to regard surrender of the Golan Heights to Syria a far more genuine existential threat than anything Hamas might get up to. Another point has to do with Israel's ability to greatly improve its intelligence on the ground in Gaza during this period which may go a long way to assuaging its fears. If Hamas can get out from under Iran, it may chose to become the lightning rod for the Anti Zionist rain cloud. If Syria and Iran are frozen out of this stage at this point it greatly reduces their bargaining power with the new President. Another point has to do with the possibility that Hamas may now be evolving into the sort of opposition party Fatah can't simply liquidate. However, if the Palestinians move to a two party system then they will have moved a long way down to the road to the sort of democracy that can address bread and butter issues which is the only antidote to the poison of terrorism and self-destruction. Memories of failures in Lebanon are not relevant here. Israel has moved in a calculated and coordinated manner. I have no idea how they might pull a rabbit out of this particular hat but I certainly don't think anyone should write off this initiative just yet. Ultimately, since Israel has probably done least to contribute to the problems of the Palestinians, it follows that Israel has the most to gain from their setting their own house in order and developing into a democratic partner for the West.
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Updated 11/20/09 @ 11:30AM EDT
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Posted in: British diplomat arrested for anti-Semitic remarks
02/10/09 09:27 AM
The alleged comments of the British diplomat in question reflect a totally schizophrenic world-view which has gained a hold over the British middle class in the last decade. The fact is Britain was involved in bombing Iraq since 1998 precisely because they believed Saddam had the capacity, or was developing the capacity, to rain down missiles on Saudi Arabia, Israel and so on. Since then hundreds of thousands of innocents have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in a horrible war of revenge. It seems that Britain provided the justification for the invasion of Iraq on the basis that Saddam was developing W.M.D and delivery systems that could endanger lives in Europe. Whatever the truth of this notion the fact remains that Saddam wasn't actually firing rockets at our people whereas Hamas really does have rockets and is launching them and killing Israelis. However, when Israel takes military action- be it noted, a small-scale action very limited in scope and far from indiscriminate in its implementation- the charge of genocide is made against the Zionist state. This appears utterly crazy. The Americans don't telephone people in Iraq or Afghanistan- or now in Pakistan- saying 'hey we're gonna bomb your house, kindly evacuate women and children". Of course not. That would be stupid and self-defeating. The Israelis, on the other hand, actually did phone people in Gaza saying 'get out now, we're going to bomb your building because of its use by Hamas.' Is this genocide? Surely, it demonstrates the israeli determination to spare the innocent and only target combatants to a much greater degree than the N.A.T.O alliance has managed to do. The question then arises- what is the actual intellectual basis for the double standard with respect to Israel? Perhaps, what we have here is nothing but the old fashioned neo-Imperialist world-view in which the function of states in the middle east and South Asia is to be mere puppets or proxies for Anglo-American hegemony. The good Jew or good Arab or good Muslim or good Hindu only exists to do our bidding while swallowing our scoldings about how utterly lacking in humanity they are- merrily committing genocide on each other the moment our back is turned. Of course, it stands to reason, those f***ing Jews/Arabs/Woggy-Wog-Wogs should 'be wiped of the face of the earth'. That was the original project after all. The fact is, the Gaza incursion- however regrettable- and the barbaric missile attacks that prompted it- are both unintended consequences of the utterly cynical political instrumentalization of the purely spiritual concept of Jihad by the West. Rage and exasperation expressed in racist terms by would be hegemons and master races is actually the product not of the short-comings of the 'lesser breeds without the law' but is a reflection of the stupidity and incompetence of the puppet masters. We stand today at the brink of what may develop into a second Great Depression. The upsurge in irrational hatred directed at minority communities is a straw in the wind which we ignore at our peril. Britain is a wonderful country with great traditions. However, any nation sucked into fighting an unjust- or plain silly- war is going to find its ethos affected and its values corroded. The natural desire we all have to bring our boys back home safely causes us to wish to appease the enemy- the enemy we armed and then provoked- by getting friendly nations to hand over territory even if that endangers their very survival.