So the good guys always wear white hats, and the bad guys black hats, right?

As some of you may know I'm an avid follower of current events and fancy myself as a fairly decent (amateur) historian.  Contrary to many of my contemporaries, I don't see things as just black or white, all good or all bad.   Very few things in life fall into those nice, neat pigeon holes.  Life just isn't that simple.

Case in point: Israel.  I admire what they've had to go through just to survive as a nation, and what they've accomplished in their short history.  They certainly aren't a lilly white faultless society, but compared to any of their neighbors IMO they look pretty damn good, and they deserve our support. Many here, however, seem to think otherwise, that Israel is the big bad bully from whom we should withhold our support, while the Palestinians and other Mid East nations are always the oppressed.  That's much too black and white for me. 

 

Look at what Israel has done:  They've taken a barren, some would even call it worthless, piece of crap real estate and made it bloom.  Israel has become an international powerhouse in agricultural research and technology.

While fresh water has always been in critically short supply in much of the arid Mid East, Israel has developed and built new, ultra-efficient state-of-the-art desalination plants.  They will soon be water self-sufficient and are in a position to export their technology to others in similarly dry environs.

Israel is a R&D leader in medical technology.  Much of the technology we take for granted here today originated in Israel.  Considering their small size (8.522 million people:  6.4 million Jewish, 1.8 million Arab, and .322 million "other"), their achievements in the field of medicine are impressive.

Tel Aviv is a modern cosmopolitan city....

...and their rural agricultural collectives (kibbutz) are generally modern and efficient.

Compare any of this to what their neighbors offer their citizens.  "Well, yes, Israel is modern and progressive because they receive Billions of $$$ in aid every year."  True, but so do most of the other nations in the region.  In reality the other Mid East countries collectively receive much more US aid than does Israel.  So what do they do with theirs?

According to Time magazine in 2014, Yasser Arafat before his death controlled a personal fortune of $3 Billion dollars, money that was sent to the Palestinian people by the West, but was embezzled by the PLO leader. While it's difficult to pull off such a Grand Heist in a democracy, it's a fairly easy thing for dictators to skim off as much as they want, whenever they want.

Look at Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc....their educational institutions, their medical technology, their agriculture, the overall "quality of life" they deliver to their citizens.  A few of the Petro-Elites do well, but everyone else is living in essentially third world conditions.  They had many, many centuries to develop and they did virtually nothing.  Israel has blossomed in just the past 68 years since their independence.

"But the Jews stole much of their land from the Arabs."  Yes, the early Zionists bought some of their land, but later simply ran some Arab owners off theirs.  That was wrong, but how is that any different from the way virtually every other country in the world, including the United States, developed? (Hello....Native Americans?)  I'm hearing the pot calling the kettle black.  It was unjust to be sure, but so is much of life.  At some point in history we have to just accept reality.

And then we come to the military balance of power in the region.

(These are Merkova IV tanks, developed and built completely in Israel.)

To this day Israel's neighbors still hold a numerical military advantage over them in men and equipment.  

Israel has to be smarter and tougher because their neighbors (except Egypt and Jordan) have vowed to wipe them off the face of the earth.  They are in a state of perpetual war, literally, against Israel.  Israel has made no such threats against them.

In fact, while Israel is believed to possess 100 or more nuclear weapons, and have since the 1970's (?), they have never once threatened to nuke their neighbors.  They don't even admit they have nukes (the world's worst kept secret).   

Military trivia:  Israel requires women to serve 2 years in the military (3 years for men), and 51% of all Israeli military officers are women.  Seems like a fairly equal society to me.

circa 1967 Six Days War

Those Israeli tanks and aircraft are not American made.

 

"Israel wouldn't even exist if the US hadn't recognized and armed them back in 1948."  Not true at all.  The US recognized the state of Israel only after the United Nations had already voted for a separate Jewish state in Palestine.  And the arms Israel used to fend off Arab attacks from all sides the instant they raised their flag were not provided by the US, but were arms mainly of British and French origin that the Jews had hastily scavenged.

A historical fact:  When Israel joined with England and France to invade Egypt in 1956 after Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez canal (until then a British property), President Eisenhower backed the three countries down and sided with Egypt.  It was only after the Arab Mid East countries cast their lot with the USSR at the height of the Cold War that the US saw Israel as a tool to block Soviet expansion in the region and began to arm them.  

And even then it wasn't all US give/Israel take.  Many of the weapons we have protecting us today were joint ventures between the US ($$$) and Israel (technology).

So the Israelis are all good, and the Arabs are all bad, right?  Hardly!  For the life of me I don't understand why Israel insists on building new settlements in the occupied West Bank.  Isn't there anywhere else they could build them?  And the stranglehold/embargo they have around Gaza seems IMO to be unnecessarily harsh.  

I believe the Jews deserve their own homeland, and so do the Palestinians.  But I also understand that will only happen when the Palestinians drop their demand for Israel's annihilation.  While Israeli Arabs (yes, there are Israeli Arabs) have constitutional rights, I'm sure there is still plenty of inequality that exists.  Much of the criticism of Israel is no doubt for just cause.

For the record, I'm not Jewish, only have a couple of Jewish friends, and have no vested interest in Israel in any way.  I just feel they are by-and-large doing a great service for their people and are preserving a delicate balance of power in the region, something their neighbors can't say.  Whenever I hear a politician say we ought to back away from Israel and then heap praise on Israel's poor oppressed neighbors, I can't help but think how ignorant they are of the facts.

These are my opinions.  If my facts are somewhere in error please correct me and provide documentation. I'm not too big to admit my mistakes.  

Just always remember, there is a lot of gray in a black and white world.

S  

Israel: Hero or villan?

I recently had an interesting conversation over on Facebook with Simon Butler, the topic being Israel.  Boy, there's a lightning rod issue if there ever was one!  I've been reading up on Israel recently and have some thoughts....if you do, too, I'd love to hear yours.

People today assume the US has always been a staunch ally of Israel, but that isn't exactly true.  The US was one of the first countries (THE first?) to officially recognize Israel back in 1948.  That really wasn't the giant leap that it sounds like as the United Nations had already officially endorsed the partitioning of Palestine into two states.  The US and other western nations simply fell in line.  Some humanitarian aid was soon forthcoming, but not much else.  Certainly not US government military assistance.

Israel had agents out everywhere looking to clandestinely buy surplus military equipment.  Often the sellers had no idea who they were selling to, only that the check was good.  British small arms and armor were common.  Many aircraft were acquired from Czechoslovakia, ironically knock-off German Messerschmidt designs with western engines.  

 Czech-built Avia S-199 in Israeli service

They were almost as dangerous to Israelis as they were to their enemies, but at least they had an air force.  And the British actively armed the new Jewish state air force, too.

 British-built Gloster Meteor

Soon the French emerged as a major Israeli military supplier, also.

British-made armor supported by French-made aircraft

US-made T-6 (WWII training) aircraft

So where did the money come from to buy these arms?  Likely from wealthy Jewish American donors and organizations....PRIVATE donors and organizations.  As Simon suggested to me, it is doubtful that European Jews contributed much as they had probably been economically emaciated during WWII.

So did the US have much influence over the early Jewish state?  Not as much as you might think.  By 1956 Egypt's Gammel Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, which led the British, French, and Israelis to launch the Suez War.  Not only was this war NOT supported by the US, but President Eisenhower slapped it down by forcing the invaders to cease.  Advantage Egypt.

It was the hugely popular Nasser who was the major sword-rattler in the Arab world against Israel by the mid-1960's.  It was he who kicked out the UN peacekeepers that separated his country from Israel, who had been enforcing a shaky peace.  It is now felt his ultimatum to the UN was a bluff, but when the UN complied, he had no choice but to save face by initiating limited hostility.  (Google the sinking of the INS Eilat by an Egyptian Komar-class missile boat prior to the start of the Six Days War.)

Sensing all-out war against a combined much larger enemy was imminent, Israel attacked first.  The 1967 Six Days War was a huge success for Israel, leading many to think Israel INITIATED the fight with a sucker punch.  (In a fight to the death, the LAST thing you want is a "fair fight".)  Realistically, this was Israel's best hope to prevail over the much more powerful enemy aligned against them on three fronts:  From Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.  They saw it as simply survival.  And for the record, Israel's vaunted air force at the time was equipped with French, not American aircraft.

By this time the Cold War with the Soviet Union was nearing its peak, and the Rooskies became the patron of the Arab nations.  It was a numbers game for the USSR:  There were hundreds of millions of Arabs, and only a few million Jews.  It was only then that the US became Israel's primary backer, not so much because they loved Israel, but because Israel was a tool the US could use to thwart further Soviet advances in the region.  The US also became closely allied with Turkey at about the same time, for the same reason.  

We remained "attached at the hip" with Israel until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's.  After that, we didn't need Israel as much and our support cooled considerably, although not entirely, as the rise of Arab nationalism was still a concern, and the natural counter was....ta-da....Israel!  There was a lot of pragmatism involved there.

Israel is roundly and regularly criticized for the method by which the Zionists gained control of land in the region.  Early settlers legitimately bought their land, but later the Jews became more heavy-handed, simply in many cases rounding up Palestinians and kicking them out.  

Right?  Of course not!  But let's face reality:  This is often how the world works.  The English did it, the French did it, the Germans did it, the Spanish did it, and...wait for it...the Americans did it, too!  (HELLO....Native Americans?)  How do you think Texas came to be where it is today?  And California?  They were WAR PRIZES.  Fact!  While many wrongs don't make a right, I don't see the Israelis as setting any new precedents....they haven't sunk to a new low.  That bar was pretty low to begin with.

And look at what the Israelis have done with their land:  It has blossomed, with a robust civilization, educations of higher learning, major new agricultural and scientific innovations (out of necessity), and more.  What did the Palestinians do with that same land prior to the Zionists arriving?  Not much.  Look it up.

So yes, I'm a supporter of Israel.  Do I follow their every lead with enthusiasm?  No, not at all.  I believe the Palestinians deserve their own homeland, too.  But the problem for Israel is how to give the Palestinians Carte Blanche to run their affairs as they see fit when they have vowed to destroy Israel?  

It isn't like Hamas can't control their extremists who regularly lob crude missiles at Israel.  THEY are the extremists doing the lobbing!  When they can act like law-abiding members of the international community and live side-by-side in peace with their neighbors, THEN they should be allowed to run their own affairs.  Until then it would IMO be suicide for Israel to NOT defend themselves.  

And building new settlements in the "occupied territories"....I understand why the militant Zionists want to do it, but why can't cooler heads see the problem this is causing?  That's crazy!

Here's the really sad part:  The Palestinians are so full of hatred for Israel they DON'T WANT peace with Israel.  As long as they are willing to launch an attack and sacrifice some of their own people, provoking a response from Israel, they can justify their existence as victims who should have the world's sympathy.  They don't seem to value the lives of their own people.  Their people are just pawns.  *sigh*

Fighting has been raging in the Mideast for centuries, and I doubt we or anyone else can bring peace to them now.  One thing is for certain....our involvement is just adding fuel to the fire.  It's sorta like we have a tiger by the tail and don't know how to let go, or even if we should let go.  Ouch!

S

Did these guys ever read a history book?

It's amazing to me how ignorant our "leaders" are.  Both parties need to require their elected lap-dogs to attend a class and educate them on the realities of the Mid-East.

President Brick O'bama has okay-ed the use of US surveillance drones to keep an eye on ISIS forces (the ultra-radical Islamic terrorist group) operating in Syria and Iraq.  What he hasn't authorized is the use of force against ISIS fighters across that line in the sand marking the border between Iraq and Syria....we don't want to violate Syrian airspace.

Here's the problem with that thinking: SYRIA AND IRAQ AREN'T REAL COUNTRIES!  Neither are Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, or Saudi Arabia.   They aren't now and never have been.  

They are "nations" with borders arbitrarily set up by the victors (Britain and France) after World War I.  During that Great War the two decided quietly to divvy up the Mid-East after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), who was fighting along side eventual losers Germany and Austro-Hungary.  

According to the Sykes-Picot Agreement France would exercise their sphere of influence over the northern part of said territory (the current areas known as Syria and Lebanon), while Britain would oversee their sphere of influence over the southern part (now known as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel).

But "national identity" was a foreign concept to the Arabs.  Their society was (and still is) organized around "families", which are part of "clans", which are part of "tribes".  They routinely band together to form temporary alliances when their short-term interests merge.  But when their interests change those alliances break up and new alliances with former enemy tribes take their place.  Regional politics are always fluid, therefore national boundaries are meaningless to them.

They don't give a rats ass about "borders".  Kurds don't see themselves as Turkish Kurds or Syrian Kurds or Iraqi Kurds.  They have no allegiance to any nation-state.  To say that we shouldn't violate "Syrian" airspace is a farce, as there is no Syria, and therefore no Syrian airspace to violate.  There are only various families and clans and tribes which congeal now and then into interest groups.

I'm not saying we should or shouldn't go after ISIS forces across that mythical line on a map that defines Syria, but just that that shouldn't enter into our decision.  And above all, we should give up on trying to introduce "democracy" to the people of the region.  They will never swear allegiance to any "country".  Why should we waste American lives and national treasure trying to set them up?

Screw 'em!

S