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The Mahathir Affair:
A Case Study in Mainstream Islamic Anti-Semitism
Manfred Gerstenfeld
At the Organization of the Islamic
Nations Conference summit in October 2003, Malaysian Prime Minister
Mohammad Mahathir, the conference host, represented relations between
Muslims and Jews as a worldwide frontal confrontation, offering some new
examples of a “Jewish conspiracy.” His words were broadly applauded.
At the same time a European Union
summit was being held. There it was proposed to include a condemnation
of Mahathir’s anti-Semitic remarks in the summit’s final statement.
However, this was blocked by French President Jacques Chirac and Greek
Prime Minister Costas Simitis. Instead, the condemnation was delegated
to the Italian EU presidency.
The importance of the Mahathir
affair is that it has exposed in a short time and in a concentrated way
the profound anti-Semitic thought present among major layers of both
mainstream Muslim elites and Muslim society. The Mahathir affair is also
an important case study for the analysis of Western reactions to Islamic
anti-Semitism.
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"Peace", the Politicians, the Press, and the Public:
Israel's Portrayal "Always in the Wrong" and How to Reverse It
Christopher Barder
Israel faces an appalling dilemma.
It is denied fair reportage throughout the European Union and to a
considerable extent in the media of the USA (notoriously in the case of
the New York Times for example). Even the National Geographic has
written powerfully against Israel. The challenge is however not merely
one of anti-Semitism or injustice, severe and appalling although these
are. It is also one of depth of understanding of the nature of the
opposition and framework within which it operates.
One of the effects of constant
criticism and unjust treatment is demoralization and despondency, which
lead to depression, despair and paralysis. To no small extent the
multi-voiced ambivalence of Israel’s foreign service officials, often
politicized by Leftist ideology and belief in failed processes and
negotiations, have failed so badly that grass-roots organizations have
had to pull together, with extraordinary expertise let it be said, to
put forward a coherent and, for the most part, consistent case. However,
ultimately they cannot, in the diplomatic corridors of power, represent
the importance of a state’s chosen representatives.
Yet the difficulty goes even
deeper. There has to be an educative process and galvanization of
resources of support on a considerably more far reaching level to
counter academically and intellectually, and through (numerically more
influential than Jewish) Christian allies, the denial of Israel’s right
to self-defense and to exist – what Muslim interlocutors proclaim.
The thrust of this article is to
expose how it is easy to fall into the trap of regarding Muslim Arabs as
reasonable and sensible, with similar values to Judeo-Christian ones,
how damaging this fallacy is, and how Israel must motivate support and
intellectual muscle to counter it. What must be exposed as mistaken is
that apparent self-interest which suggests that peace and security lie
with appeasement of this murderous and merciless menace.
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The
Closed Circle - Postscript 1996-2003
David Pryce-Jones
Postscript 1990-2003
In the Arab world, the collapse of Soviet Communism in 1991 had momentous and
immediate implications. Arab power holders had long been accustomed to extracting
arms and subsidies in pursuit of their personal policies by taking positions
or maneuvering between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold
War. In the first decade or so of his rule, Saddam Hussein had been able to
profit by playing one superpower against the other. Hafez Assad in Syria,
and Yasser Arafat for the Palestinians, had staked their future on Soviet
supremacy in the Cold War; Hosni Mubarak and the Saudi royal family had on the
contrary aligned themselves with the United States. American moral and
political support for Israel complicated the choices open to Arab
power holders, and the relationships between them. Nonetheless, a time has
arrived quite unexpectedly in which the bitter cycles of enmity in the whole
Middle East might ease, and even come into realignment. Arab power holders who
correctly calculated the shifts in the balance of power could expect rewards,
while whoever miscalculated would be punished...
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The Growing
Threat of the Kassam Unguided Rockets
Azriel Lorber
Although rockets had been used in warfare
for several centuries, their performance and reliability left much to be
desired and towards the end of the 19th century, when tube
artillery was much improved, they fell out of favor. Interest in
rocketry was renewed during World War II and it surged forward during
the Cold War. What is more, for many years, rocketry was an esoteric
field of learning, but today universities all over the world provide
courses in all aspects of the subject and hundreds of books and
thousands of papers (including the internet) are available to all and
sundry.
In their terror war against Israel the
Palestinians are not loath to use any available means. While the use of
suicide bombers by the Palestinians is effective, they can be foiled by
physical barriers. The local production of the Kassam terror rockets is
intended to circumvent the difficulties and failures of smuggling
similar weapons, and they are designed to harass Israel’s civilian
population where cross-border incursions prove difficult.
These rockets are extremely simple and
based on “kitchen table technology”, and on commercially available raw
materials, mostly chemical fertilizers, both for the propellants and the
explosives. Ease of production is a major consideration, sometimes
sacrificing even safe work practices. The Hamas would like to see its
terror rockets fulfill the same strategic role as the Hizbullah’s
rockets in Southern Lebanon. Namely, deter IDF operations against Gaza
Strip terrorists by the threat of bombardment of population centers.
For the present these are primitive weapons
of short range and poor accuracy, although capable of hitting nearby
towns in southern Israel. Unfortunately, the Israeli media often
provides information on the fall of shots, which may help the
Palestinians.
The terror organizations constantly strive to improve the range and
throw-weight of these weapons. Improvements in quality, reliability and
lethality are feasible, but at the cost of making the production
infrastructure less covert and more vulnerable. However, constant
vigilance, quick reaction and appropriate equipment will be required to
abolish this threat.
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The
Love that Dares Not Call Itself by Name
Amnon Lord
Over the last two years, with the
war against Palestinian terrorism raging in the background, incidents
of ideological delinquency have reappeared in Israel. It began two
years ago with the letter of the dissenters, and beginning last summer
the phenomenon has accelerated. The pilots’ letter, the letter of the
General Staff Reconnaissance Force reservists have been incorporated
into the Palestinian propaganda campaign against the State of Israel.
At the same time, Ami Ayalon’s mass signature campaign and Yossi
Beilin’s Geneva document have also been incorporated.
All these exposed the
anti-democratic tendency extant today among the Israeli Left. This
tendency has deep roots in Israeli politics dating back to the
establishment of the state. The dissent phenomenon is connected to
what can be called Isra-communism. The IDF, from its inception, has
been afflicted by deep-rooted politicization. After the dissolution of
the Palmah and after the end of the War of Independence, Mapam
officers in the IDF organized themselves in underground cells. Mapam
then constituted a solid Stalinist bloc; which represented a dominant
segment of the Israeli public. Its members were, first and foremost,
loyal to the Soviet Union. Thoughts of seizing power in Israel by
means of a revolution existed, especially among officers affiliated
with Hashomer Hazair. These intentions manifested themselves in
assemblies of Mapam officers and party leaders, where they were
explicitly articulated. Ben-Gurion attacked Mapam in a series of
articles published in 1953, and charged that Mapam was on the verge of
treason. His basic question: If a socialist Arab country attacked
Israel – whose side would the Mapam members in the IDF take – the side
of the Jewish State or that of the revolution’s liberation forces? The
revolutionary fervor waned over the years; however it was
institutionalized by means of a body called the “officers’ circle”.
These officers continued to maintain ties with the Mapam for many
subsequent years. Outstanding members of the “officers’ circle”
included Yizhak Rabin, Haim Bar-Lev and David Elazar.
Then, the members of Mapam sought
positions of influence in the army. The political hacks among them
opposed the paratroopers under the command of Ariel Sharon, because of
the retaliatory actions, which they opposed. Apparently, the Palmah
alumni identified the General Staff Reconnaissance Force as an army
unit in which they could gain influence. According to the testimonies
of Dovik Tamari and Ehud Barak, the thought of continuity of the
Palmah spirit was the motivating factor behind the unit’s founder,
Avraham Ornan. These instances of politicization led, in times of
crisis, to the creation of organizations like “Yesh Gvul”, (the
name is a play on the Hebrew words meaning “There is a Border”, i.e.
“There is a Limit”) the Peace Now officers’ letter and many other
phenomena of ideological delinquency, which endanger Israeli
democracy.
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Post-Zionism and
Democracy
Raya Epstein
Post-Zionism is not merely an ideology, it is also the reality
within which the State of Israel functions. The fact that the citizens
of the country – which was established in order to serve as a refuge
for the persecuted Jewish people – the fact that these citizens are
being murdered and wounded on a daily basis is intimately, directly
and categorically tied to the formation of the post-Zionist reality
in Israel.
*
The
Israeli Left, in the wake of the Six Day War, did not exchange one
form of liberal democracy for another, but rather carried out a silent
revolution, a reversal, which was neither brought to the attention of
the public nor recognized as such by the people. It exchanged the
outdated Labor Party approach, a combination of socialism and Zionism
of the Jewish secular variety (yes, it was still a Jewish identity –
even though it possessed a secular nature and rather crude atheistic
manifestations) for a secular atheistic religion, the democratic
faith, which was designed to constitute a total, absolute
alternative to any conceivable sort of Jewish identity.
*
The
early adherents of socialist Zionism find themselves incapable of
reconciling Zionism with anti-totalitarian principles. They sought to
restore the State of Israel to the course of the
socialist-collectivist Zionist past, which existed no more, instead of
attempting to develop the new, progressive approach of Zionism on the
basis of classic liberalism. In other words, in accordance with the
conservative Anglo-Saxon model of liberalism, as opposed to its French
model, which is laden with clear totalitarian tendencies (see Yaakov
Talmon’s writings on the matter). This classic liberal model, of
course, does not at all contradict Judaism, but on the contrary, its
roots are anchored to a large degree in the Jewish biblical foundation
of the Calvinist, Christian reformation. In contrast, both the
socialist component of Labor Zionism and its post-Zionist enemy – are
both anchored in the French totalitarian model, which is hostile to
Judaism.
The
serious problem, which makes our attempt to develop an authentic
liberal version of Zionism more difficult, is the fact that the
classic liberal model has failed today even in the West itself. The
“New Middle East”, which was, and continues to be, formed by the State
of Israel (both Zionist and post-Zionist) with the blood of its Jewish
citizens, has made a considerable contribution to the renewed victory
of totalitarian democracy, which in the wake of the collapse of the
Communist bloc has assumed the form of what is in fact a phony
liberalism.
Then, the members of Mapam sought positions of influence in the army.
The political hacks among them opposed the paratroopers under the
command of Ariel Sharon, because of the retaliatory actions, which
they opposed. Apparently, the Palmah alumni identified the General
Staff Reconnaissance Force as an army unit in which they could gain
influence. According to the testimonies of Dovik Tamari and Ehud Barak,
the thought of continuity of the Palmah spirit was the motivating
factor behind the unit’s founder, Avraham Ornan. These instances of
politicization led, in times of crisis, to the creation of
organizations like “Yesh Gvul”, (the name is a play on the
Hebrew words meaning “There is a Border”, i.e. “There is a Limit”) the
Peace Now officers’ letter and many other phenomena of ideological
delinquency, which endanger Israeli democracy.
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