The Palestinians: masters of psychological warfare since over 50 years ago
For decade upon decade, the Palestinian terrorist groups and the Palestinian leadership have been masters of both propaganda in general and psychological warfare in particular. It it wasn’t for that fact, they would probably have very few sympathizers in the West. But they have many – especially among people who think themselves compassionate and loving – and this despite the fact that the terrorists’ actions are barbaric, sadistic, and vicious.
So, how do they manage this feat? One basic way is by lying, with fake videos and photos in combination with what might be called victimhood appropriation. The messages: they’re not the Nazis; the Jews are the Nazis and they are the victims of Nazis. It’s the Jews who are genocidal, and they are the victims of genocide. They are starving, and not their Jewish hostages. The Jews fired a rocket and destroyed a hospital; it wasn’t their own rocket that fell short in the parking lot. The Jews dispossessed them; they didn’t leave voluntarily. Israel is an apartheid state, despite 20% of its population being Arabs, and “Palestine” having no Jews at all. And they are “brown,” which gives them special victim status, even though over half of Israelis are every bit as “brown” in actual color. But “brown” isn’t about color; it’s about victimhood.
This paradoxical effect began, at least to the best of my memory, with the horrific attack at the Munich Olympics. It made Yasser Arafat famous and, for whatever reason, sympathetic to many in the West. Two short years later he was addressing the UN, cleverly saying, “Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom-fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand.”
Gun, you say? In the UN? Here’s the way the NY Times covered it back then [typos corrected]:
Head of the Palestine Liberation Organization, [Yasser] Arafat, told the United Nations General Assembly today that his Organization’s goal remained a Palestinian state that would include Moslems, Christians and Jews.
I read that now and it’s immediately apparent that he meant that Palestinians would have the right of return to Israel, and that the larger state of which he spoke would be ruled by Arabs, and that any tolerance of other religions would be as temporary dhimmis at best. The Israeli ambassador to the UN knew what Arafat meant, and pointed it out:
Israel’s delegate, Yosef Koah, said in rebuttal that this would mean the destruction of Israel and the substitution of an Arab state.
How many believed Koah? How many even cared? More:
Mr. Arafat was applauded by many delegates in the 138-country Assembly when he said he was dreaming of “One democratic state where Jew and Moslem live in justice, equality, and fraternity. [In] such a state, he said, all Jews “now living in Palestine” could become citizens without discrimination.
Sure thing. And of course, because there weren’t any Jews “now living in Palestine” – nor did Arafat have any interest in justice, equality, and fraternity – it was all a boldfaced lie. In the Middle East, only in Israel did Jew and Moslem live in relative justice, equality, and fraternity.
Arafat had already been schooled by his Soviet teachers in how best to turn the West against Israel, and so in his speech he called Israel “imperialist” and “racist” and referred to himself as a “freedom fighter.” As for the gun, did he or didn’t he?:
Cameramen and other people who were near Mr. Arafat noticed that he was wearing a holster under his bulging windbreaker. A spokesmen later denied that Mr. Arafat Had carried a gun into the Assembly hall and asserted that the holster, if there had been one had been empty. …
The Palestinian leader, who has seldom been seen in public without a holstered weapon, definitely wore a leather holster under his windbreaker, according to close observers, but there were conflicting reports about whether it contained a gun.
A United Nations guard said there was a gun, and one of Mr. Arafat’s bodyguards told The Associated Press that “it’s not only real, it’s loaded.”
However, a spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization said that he had persuaded Mr. Arafat to remove the pistol before he entered the hall for his address.
Is that not somehow perfect in terms of propaganda? The showmanship, the sense of threat and danger and macho daring appealing to the romantic (small r) sensibility, the ambiguity, and the lies, all coupled with the rhetoric about wanting peace and equality and those things Arafat knew would ingratiate him with the West. These days, they’ve even dropped the peace and equality talk; they don’t feel the need to lie about that anymore and they’re quite successful without it.
By the way, Arafat was only the second non-head-of-state to address the Assembly; the first was Pope Paul VI.
Skipping to the present, the hostage transfers (including today’s) are staged as propaganda theater, designed to show Hamas dominance combined with kindness. See, we give them goodie bags! The Red Cross is here! We dress them in these nice track suits! The horror is hidden away, although some of it emerged at the transfer last week in the extremely obvious weakness and emaciation of the three hostages released. I don’t think Hamas will make that particular mistake again; they will fatten them up slightly if possible and if they have enough time, and the rest they will let die and say that Israeli bombs killed them.
But the real psychological torment they perpetrate isn’t just on the hostages. Nor is it just on the families, although those things do satisfy their sadism. It’s on the Israeli people in particular, as well as the Israeli leaders. That’s a big part of the goal, and it would be achieved even if the leaders of Israel were willing to sacrifice the hostages’ lives and go full steam ahead with the war. If that were to occur, the Israeli public would continue to be torn, and most would experience almost unbearable grief because just about everyone’s heart breaks for the hostages, who are considered like family.
The Israeli government is in a lose/lose position once hostages are taken, and that’s why the Palestinians are so very eager to take them. And one of the many many advantages of hostage-taking, as far as the Palestinians are concerned, is that it pits grieving families against grieving families: the hostage families who want prisoner exchanges versus those who don’t, the hostage families who press for prisoner exchanges versus those families whose loved ones were murdered by the very prisoners that are being released, and the present hostages versus future deaths at the hands of the released prisoners. What a cornucopia of riches for the terrorists!
When you take a hostage you are in a position of total power if, like Hamas, you don’t care if your own people are killed in retaliation. The terrorists and jihadis welcome such deaths as a propaganda point. They have no hesitation to kill the hostages if necessary, and have done so when they thought rescue was near, or maybe just for fun. They are in complete control. They can make Netanyahu squirm as the families pressure him and act as though he’s the one who took their loved ones captive. With the eyes of the world upon them, the terrorists know that many of those eyes approve of them as “freedom fighters.”
NOTE: Coverage of the hostage transfer that happened this morning can be found here, and elsewhere in Israeli papers as well as our own media. An excerpt from that link:
All three of the hostages freed today endured “very harsh captivity, including physical abuse.”
All three were very hungry when released. All three have learned Arabic in captivity.
Sagui Dekel-Chen and Iair Horn were held together, and with other hostages, in recent days. For most of their captivity, they were in tunnels.
They were held with other hostages and have returned with signs of life regarding at least three.
Both men were wounded when they were abducted and suffered abuse that exacerbated their injuries.
Sasha Troufanov was held alone.
All three were held in Khan Younis, from where they were freed today, mere hundreds of meters from their homes on Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Iair Horn has told his family that he and his brother Eitan were held together early in their captivity, but not recently.
Much more information at the link and elsewhere.
One quote from this article is a good example of what some of the demonstrating hostage relatives say:
“The prime minister has tried to thwart the agreement again and again and again.”
“One person stands between us and all the hostages,” she says, referring to the premier.
“Netanyahu — we’re sick of the procrastination,” she [the mother of man still held hostage] says.
This seems illogical to me, although I think it’s also understandable because of the depth of the grief and anger the hostage families must feel. For many, it’s easier to blame Netanyahu – and the correct blame is that he was Israel’s head when the hostages were taken, so he should be at least partly to blame for failing to protect against October 7 itself. But in my opinion, he’s not to blame – much less solely to blame – for the fact that many hostages are still in captivity.
It’s especially easy to blame Netanyahu for not freeing the hostages if the person never liked him in the first place. Blaming Netanyahu for everything is also a way to deny the tremendous power Hamas has over the hostages, and how relatively powerless Israel is in such a situation. The hostages were almost impossible to rescue without having them killed. Fighting back without reservation subjects some or perhaps all of them to death, as well. Hamas’ condition for the release of all has basically always involved Israel’s surrender.
There is no solution that doesn’t cause grave peril, and Netanyahu doesn’t hold the hostage cards – Hamas does. But it’s easier to ignore the bind and claim that Netanyahu can somehow cut the Gordian knot. Would that it were true.
Agree its a lose- lose situation once hostages are taken.
Into the lists of grieving families pitted one against another, we ought take a further sort to our breasts in recollection: the families of soldiers and security forces fallen in the ongoing war, and those in time to come. These families, I do not doubt, will have a say in actions yet to come. They will be unlikely to move on without a victory conferring finality on the deaths of their beloved now lost.
Hamashites must cease to be.
I submit there is an additional reason for the Palestinians being the Good Guys. It goes back–I figure everything started when I noticed which was when I was maybe eighteen–in college. The west, the US, the liberal western governments, were, without needing further explanation, the Bad Guys. Any who opposed them/us were, without further explanation needed, the Good Guys.
Thus, the Palestinians had a good deal on their side going into the discussion onto which that which Neo outlines was added. But the start was that they opposed the west, liberal governments, and the US. By itself, that was sufficient. The rest was gravy.
Israel can continue to do it or break the cycle. Wait till they get these hostages back – at least half are already dead, so bones are the hostages now—maybe the Balestinians should just start sending one or two bones at a time now for the next 100 years or so.
Either keep bargaining for bones or break the truce themselves (if needed). Tell the Balestinians they can go north of the Litani river in Lebanon or stay and die. Kill everyone left, reclaim Gaza as a war price—needed now to protect their left flank. Turn the Gaza into a modern day paradise to show what the foolish Balestinians could have done with it.
Break the ceasefire with Hezbollah – claim all lands south of the Litani river in Lebanon as a buffer zone for Northern Israel.
Establish a new fact—that anyone attacking Israel from bordering nations will lose their land…
sdferr:
I forgot to add that, but it’s absolutely correct.
The Israelis have been in this situation since 1948. What has not seeped into the collective consciousness about the reality of their situation. About continually being played, at least as far back as the George Habash PFLP-GC days. Why don’t they “get it”?
Richard F Cook:
I don’t know what you think Israelis don’t get, that is so very obvious to you as a solution. I don’t like to assume I know what you think is the solution, but I’ve already explained that “let all the hostages die and full steam ahead with the war” is not actually a solution. Also, it wouldn’t even discourage hostage-taking, in my opinion, because Hamas would also be rewarded by the Israeli populace suffering at the deaths of the hostages, as well as Hamas being rewarded by the deaths of it own civilians.
In addition, the situation has indeed changed since 1948. Back then, much of the world – and the left – was on the side of Israel, which you may recall was established by UN partition. That is certainly no longer the case; Israel now has far fewer allies. In addition, back then the Arab opposition was considered Arab opposition and the “Palestinians” did not exist yet as a group with a supposed national identity.
I want to be with Karmi on this, but it’s really beyond depressing. Is there a difference between terrorism and war? The Israeli people, maybe look at this as terrorism as opposed to war.
Karmi; Sonny:
But first they have to get the living hostages back. And to do that, they’ve entered a pact that ultimately guarantees their surrender. So at some point prior to getting all the living hostages back they MUST break the ceasefire, and go hard. That will rend Israeli society apart because the rest of the living hostages will die, although maybe Israel will survive.
I do not foresee all the living hostages coming home except maybe as dead bodies. Of course, one thing that complicates matters is that canny Hamas hasn’t let on exactly who’s alive and who’s dead.
Sonny:
I think at this point the vast majority of the Israeli people look on it as a war with terrorists who are in charge of Gaza and who are supported by the great majority of the people in Gaza.
They’re not masters of psychological warfare. They’re pushing on an open door. We live in an age when the chatterati and the political class consist of villains and people who admire villains.
I wonder now that USAID isn’t putting money into anti-Bibi demonstrations if some of the pressure on him and the government to capitulate to Hamas will help the Israeli leadership.
Israel is a nice country and is extremely concerned about the families of victims such that they will not release information. I’m not taking about the recently released victims — or even what happened on October 7. I’m talking about going back for years, decades. The lynching in Ramallah of the Israeli soldiers. The horrors that were done to them are unimaginable but the official release for a long time left out much of the detail. I think it’s only recently that we’re learning what was done to the Israeli athletes in 1972. There was an incursion in the seventies or eighties in Northern Israel where a terrorist beat a babies head in with his weapon. But for years, she was just “killed.”
We’ve always been told that Israelis were “killed,” in Kiryat Shmoneh, Maalot, and other massacres, but now I wonder to what degree many of them might have been tortured before death brought them relief.
As painful as I am sure it was for the relatives of the Fogel family to release photos of the massacre, I applaud their strength in doing so: showing what animals the Palestinian murderers are.
I understand the Israeli reticence to release details and photos, but the really need to take the gloves off in the info war. Palestinian propaganda vs. the reality faced by Israelis ALL. THE. TIME. EVERY. DAY.
Maybe if the world SAW the way these beasts murder children, babies, and the way they torture people, the world might realize that Israel isn’t the bad guy. But when the people who fall for the Palestinian propaganda just think that Israelis are just “killed” — maybe just a bullet and a swift death, eh, they think, that’s not THAT bad.
Is someone paying off those relatives to demonstrate because honestly, what a ludicrous position to hold. Rescuing the hostages at all costs doesn’t make any sense. They could just end up dead in a few months anyway from another Hamas attack if Israel backs off!
Lee Also:
I believe it has been proven that some USAID money went to anti-Netanyahu forces. If not from USAID, then from some other government entity. I remember learning many years ago, during the Obama years, that he had interfered in Israeli politics against Netanyahu. I forget the details.
The “serious” journal “Foreign Affairs” is no help in a disgusting article I read this morning. The concluding paragraph:
_________________________________
After waging 15 months of “total war” and achieving many of its declared material objectives, Israel may be further from pacifying Gaza than ever. This is not just because Israel has failed to offer anything resembling a political strategy or a plausible plan for a Palestinian future while further radicalizing Palestinians to seek revenge for relatives killed and homes lost. (Our survey shows a positive association between having experienced family displacement and preferring a military over a diplomatic end to the conflict.) It is also because Gazans, at least the most committed among them, believe that their identity and place in the world are more imperiled than ever: a sentiment not unlike the one that inspired the establishment of the Jewish state and fostered its people’s still intense will to fight.
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/what-gazans-want
_________________________________
So you see it’s up to Israel to give Palestinians a future to believe in and if Israelis fail to do so they are essentially Nazis, while the Palestinians are just like the Jews after WW II.
huxley:
Unfortunately, typical coverage.
Foreign Affairs knows no more about total war than they do about Israel or about being totally honest about the :Palestinians.”
Neo
I didn’t propose a solution so don’t put words in my mouth. My point was that this is a something that will continue until the Israelis are exhausted and just may give up their country. Prior to 10/7 their military entered a fantasy land thinking that cameras can prevent terrorism and that sensors can substitute for armed men on the ground. As of now, regardless of how this ends the cycle will continue infinitely. Is that what Israel wants? Or is it that they do not want to see alternative solutions. Or, culturally, refuse to consider alternatives.
Everyone (?) sensitive about words put into mouths lately.
A crisis of musunderstanding afoot. Or something.
May I address a few elements of these two statements: “Prior to 10/7 their military entered a fantasy land thinking that cameras can prevent terrorism and that sensors can substitute for armed men on the ground. As of now, regardless of how this ends the cycle will continue infinitely.”?
The first part “. . . their military . . .”.
It’s a mixed bag, though those proponents of tech and SoF over ground-pounders did win out some years ago, the stodgy old infantrymen and tankers who lost that fight over spending and configuation of forces were nevertheless not only present back then and making their arguments, they’re still present today and making those arguments again. It’s possible, even probable in light of the failures of the tech-dominate zoomies and special ops types that a serious reconfiguration of Israeli forces is already, if quietly, underway. My understanding, for the little it’s worth, is that the incoming Chief of Staff comes from the tank corps, for instance. So, knock wood, more appropriate strategies may lie ahead.
And the second bit: “. . . regardless of how this ends the cycle will continue infinitely.”
“Infinitely” is a bit much, though maybe indefinitely is all that’s to be inferred? Still, less generally speaking, in the circumstances there can be no disregard of any sort as to the potential outcomes of the fight Israel is in; not with Iran, the primary adversary; nor with Hamas the nearest-to-hand adversary; nor with the PA formations in Judea and Samaria and their jidhadi brethren shifting around thereabouts; nor with Hezbollah, the — though momentarily humbled — once most-hair-raising adversary; nor with the absurd Houthis; nor with the wanna-be-sneaky-assed Egyptians skulking around in the Sinai.
All of these matter utterly to the Israelis, who, I believe we can safely wager, have, in a significant majority, decided to fight to a victory in which they can be well satisfied. That’s not to say an end of time sort of thing, or a regional conquest the like of which to make Alexander the Great wake from his dirt-nap to sit up and applaud, but a victory sufficient to the purpose of a decade or two of better life without external troubles constantly nagging at the back of conscience. I think, in other words, we can believe Israel is in the fight for its duration.
Of more concern for my own part is how, if ever, Israel will sort out its ridiculous political structures, not least of which the present crisis of a need to be rid of their asinine juristocracy. What a bloody fight that’s going to be.
The failure of the “tech zoomies” wasn’t so much a failure of the tech — it was that the higher ups didn’t pay attention to the people monitoring the tech. Basically, pooh-poohed their conclusions.
The monitors saw that Hamas was planning something and something big and relayed it up the chain. And…
Bupkes. Stasis seemed to be working out so well, the higher ups decided.
Until it didn’t… And people were slaughtered.
Very good Lee, though the failure referred to is the failure standing in plain view of every single Israeli alive today: the failure of mind on Oct. 7 2023, the complete failure to protect the defenseless people in the south and the naked terror of the potential attacking lanes wide open in the north, an attack which didn’t come but which scared the hell out of everyone anyhow.
The Israelis have “hostages”, all the Pali criminals in their jails including convicted murders. If they started executing them instead of trading them, Hamas might start to behave better. However, I believe the death penalty is against Israeli law.
Richard F. Cook:
You tell me not to put words into your mouth about a solution. That’s strange, because I explicitly wrote, ” I don’t like to assume I know what you think is the solution.” That’s not putting words into your mouth; that’s saying I don’t know.
In your previous comment – the one to which I was responding – you asked why the Israelis don’t “get it.” Get what? What is it that they should get that they don’t get? And what is it that they should do about it – in other words, what might be a solution? I certainly don’t know; do you? Then, in your response to me, you add of the Israelis: “Or is it that they do not want to see alternative solutions. Or, culturally, refuse to consider alternatives.”
I repeat once again: what are these alternative solutions? What don’t they get? What do they refuse to see? In my response to you I had written, ” I don’t like to assume I know what you think is the solution, but I’ve already explained that ‘let all the hostages die and full steam ahead with the war’ is not actually a solution.” Since I had already written in that same sentence that I will NOT assume what you might think is the solution, then “let all the hostages die and full steam ahead with the war” is the alternative “solution” that I came up with – and I don’t think it would really solve things even if it were implemented. It’s not necessarily the alternative solution that you would come up with.
Neo at 7:14 re Obama trying to hurt Netanyahu’s election:
I was so angry when this came out!
A search found this article below.
I thought I remembered John Podesta being involved, leading a group in Israel to help the Left beat Bibi.
But this article doesn’t mention him
There were a couple American groups involved — layers to give cover to Obama, I’d bet.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/236565-netanyahu-pollster-obama-role-in-election-larger-than-reported/
This may be common knowledge, or not.
(And it may be the truth, or not…but to me it seems plausible…):
I read several weeks ago that prior to the Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli military relied on a report—an assurance—by Egyptian intelligence that Hamas, in spite of appearances, was NOT planning to attack.
That this would have conformed with “Biden”’s (in the form of Jake Sullivan) own optimistic assessment of “his” ME policy, but more importantly with what Israel WANTED TO BELIEVE is one way to—POSSIBLY—explain the Israeli fiasco.
(The irony here—there are many—is that in October 1973, Israeli intelligence chose NOT to believe its Egyptian source embedded deeply into the Egyptian ruling and military hierarchy.)
And yes, Egypt—in this more recent round, i.e., going back over several decades—has a s**t-load to answer for…but then so does “Biden”…
I remember decades ago when I was an undergrad, the General Union of Palestinian Students would periodically have a display in the student union. And they would lie through their teeth about themselves and about Israel. And we would have a display periodically in the student union about (and supporting) Israel. We always felt compelled to rely on accurate sources to provide correct answers to questions people might have. And pre-cell phone, pre-internet, they could take some time, well beyond our stint at the student union. A trip to the library… Several days later… The person posing the question doesn’t return, doesn’t care.
And there was always some GUPS supporter who’d ask the “Have you stopped beating you wife” type questions.
On a related note:
I spent my junior year at Hebrew University. They had a “hasbara class” for a select few of the overseas students. There were two problems with it.
One was that it mostly focused on how wonderful and great Israel was. Israel is wonderful and great, but from a “hasbara” perspective, I thought it made more sense to teach the students how to effectively counter the GUPS lies without seeming defensive.*
The other problem was that it should’ve been for ALL the overseas students. By only “inviting” about ten percent of us, it also meant that only about ten present of us were prepared for disseminating hasbara about Israel when we got back home.
* But I didn’t think even today, Israel has figured out how to effectively counter the Palestinians’ lies.
So many opinions! All of them seem reasonable even though most of them are contradictory in one or more particulars. Neo: you asked a question, “How do they (“palestinians”) manage…” to, in effect, pull the proverbial wool over the eyes of most of the western world. Allow me to answer. Because the West has abandoned the foundation upon which it was built, viz., The Bible. Truth is, as has been stated, that when one abandons Biblical Truth, one does not simply cease believing, but rather, one begins to believe in anything else that comes along to tickle the intellectual fancy. Or, as another one put it, if you don’t believe in something, you’ll fall for anything. Our pseudointellectual atheists tell us that nothing has any eternal value; we’re all just accidental results of random material interactions. So the demonic koran becomes as worthy of belief as the Holy Bible. Islam becomes as good as Christianity, so let’s allow it to become predominant in The West. After all, everything is the same, isn’t it? Men are women if they want to be, and women are capable of everything men can do anyway, so what’s the difference. Two men or two women can be “married,” why not three? Or a man and his horse? Who even knows what is a woman? It’s all relative and your truth is as good as mine, which means that nothing has any value. Moslems clearly don’t fall for that, which is why they have no compunction against lying, killing and taking land they have no historical or legal claim to while proclaiming that they are its real and ancient inhabitants. And the fools in the West nod and go along because they have no reason to disagree, having cashiered The Bible and its Truth in favor of mere “values,” whatever they are.
Steve (retired/recovering lawyer)
No, America was not built with the Bible as its foundation…
Kermit:
Pay attention, loose your animus towards Judeo/Christian thought and history in Britain and Europe. Or be considered unserious.
GC™ – poster boy for Christian hypocrisy – instigating again whilst defending his preferred Abrahamic Religion.
As in the Abrahamic Religions long time fight over the ‘Ownership of God‘ – ER..OK…count me out.
Karmi:
That dog don’t hunt.
I guess you don’t want to be taken seriously.
https://archive.org/details/natural-right-and-history-strauss-leo/mode/1up?view=theater
Read
Correct, om. I want no part of that ‘Herd‘…
How many israelis have internalized the ‘nakbah’ narrative first promoted by morris then pappe avnery regev et al i think a small and vocal minority but they predominate in media academia and certain sectors of government
I put ‘nakbah’ in quotes because it seems a deliberate one upmanship of the Holocaust one might compare it to the masada and bar kochba displacements in roman times but that isnt the intention the husayni clan who had their feifdom validated by the british at least till 1936, after 39 the patriarch fled to Rome and Berlin eventually ended up in lebanon curiously under the French
Mandate i surmised he is the old man of ignatius tale, but it seems to speak of this is verboten
One of his allies rashid ghailani orchestrated the farhud in baghdad that drove most jews out just like a similar event in aden in 1947
His nephew after 1948, a soviet recruited agent sought to follow in his footsteps his protege ali salameh was the son of his chief aide hassan salameh
Of course it was orde wingate nephew of the british attache in egypt and a committed Christian who trained those who would become the Palmach what would become the Idf in broad strokes
Is it unfair to tie morris with the other revisionist i dont think so he opened the door with his extravagant conclussions
Nearly two generations of israelis have consumed this narrative
Israel’s “original sin” was that it failed to be destroyed in 1948-49, a failure that it insisted on repeating during the military and political campaigns that followed since.
Moreover, and perhaps unfairly, Israel—created in “sin”—continues to insist that it should not be destroyed (and has taken measures to prevent its destruction).
The Arabs who have thus far failed to destroy Israel have because of this stubborn, ongoing failure on the part of the Zionist Entity become VICTIMS EXTRAORDINAIRE of what is perceived as Israel’s increasingly inhumane efforts to try to prevent its own destruction…by those pitiful, pitiable and long-suffering victims who have thus far failed to destroy it.
Hence, for as long as Israel continues to exist, it will continue to “live in sin”, IOW it will continue to deserve destruction; the corollary being that the longer it continues to successfully defend itself, the more it DESERVES to be destroyed.
This originally Arab perspective has spread world-wide because of Israel’s success AND because of what Wretchard has defined as “FRAMING”—in this case how the FRAMING of the I/P conflict has evolved over the past 60-odd years (let’s call it since June 1967).
And so, Israel will continue to have to defend itself…
…keeping in mind that its partners in peace only have to win once.
BUT…but…what MIGHT happen as a result of the the GLOBAL success of the Arab RE-FRAMING of the conflict—IOW, the successful CONVERSION of a once-sympathetic general attitude of people (and countries) WRT the Jewish State to BECOME one of distaste, horror, rage and enmity—could make Israel stronger, as significant numbers of Jews decide they must flee once-friendly environments that have turned hostile to find a new home in Israel. Perhaps.
To be sure, should such a significant, even massive, surge in immigration occur, then Hezbullah’s passionate—as Decent Joe Biden might have favorably considered him—leader, Hassan Nasrallah might have proven to be PROPHETIC…when he claimed, about a decade or so ago, that if the “Glorious Resistance” could somehow manage to get ALL JEWS to move to Israel, Inshallah, it would prove to be tremendously advantageous as it would enable those Jews—being concentrated in one relatively circumscribed location—to be destroyed with the greatest of ease, Inshallah.
(Hmm, wonder if that might have made Nasrallah a Zionist…?
Well, whether it does—or doesn’t—he can be considered a forward thinking strategist, one of the Arab world’s greatest, in fact…if, perhaps, not forward-looking enough….)
In the end…clearly…God is Great.
I have made an amateur study of the subject which is more than many so called experts in the field like say tom friedman robin wright et al have done about aspects of the policy well they know to blame israel in every instance like strangeloves salute
The professional arabist vs some iconoclasts like the late hume horan or alberto fernandez both of these i learned from robert kaplan
Good comment, Steve (retired/recovering lawyer)!
Its a fascinating notion that iconoclastic data analyst yacov applebaum suggests that outcome as proof of recent victories on israels part citing the koran no less
However why did nasrallah really care about the jews in so far as the maronites were the lead foes of the shia in the 80s they contested fatah in the battle over the bourj
The answer to that, I’m pretty sure, is Iran’s radical interpretation of Shi’a Twelver messianism (and ultimate divinely-ordained triumphalism) combined with the Mullah-Hezbullah nexus.
(Keep in mind that Fouad Ajami was a Shi’a)
And though Hamas approaches ITS brand of RADICAL Islam from the Sunni end of the spectrum, the uncompromising ideological hatred of the demonic Zionist enemy held in common by both Hamas and Iran is sufficient to paper over any theological differences they might have, though their relationship did suffer significantly during the Syrian civil war.
– – – – – – – –
Now the same UN has welcomed Fidel Castro Ahmadinejad and the late Hugo Chavez had UBl not bombed the WTC would they have welcomed if he had taken over Arabia
Of course Arabs dont need a theological reason to hate jews see sabri al banna nawatmeh habbash et al as a nationalist
WRT Thomas Friedman et al., I think it’s EASIER for them to conclude that if peace isn’t breaking out all over, then it MUST be Israel’s fault. (And this is the meme—constantly projected—that has snowballed).
Let’s call it the humane, sophisticated, liberal—BUT REALIST, knitted brow—and therefore EXASPERATED POV, that MUST hold that it is up to the—perceived—stronger side in the struggle to make concessions to (and thereby achieve peace with) the—perceived—weaker side.
Which opinion had become TRUTH.
There is likely also an element of the pundit’s/journo’s/writer’s personality involved—i.e., the issue of personally wanting (or needing, or believing it possible) to be “in control” and therefore assuming, or rather insisting, that the stronger side IS—or MUST BE—likewise in control and therefore is in a position to bring about peace.
So that once again if peace is not achieved it s the fault of the—perceived—stronger side.
All this may be tinged with more than a bit of perfectionism (in the sense of “the perfect being the enemy of the good”) or even messianism. So that Israel MUST be perfect (or at least more understanding, more humane, more stable, MORE WILLING TO TAKE RISKS FOR THAT ELUSIVE BUT ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY AND MOST DESIRABLE GOAL; Israel’s enemies not so much….
Of course, all of the above may well be nonsense on stilts such that the ONLY reason why Israel is blamed by these paragons of analytic incisiveness, profundity and rectitude is because of the perverse sense of satisfaction they feel when blaming Israel for having consistently “nixed” that powerful elixir of PEACE (or not having done nearly enough to bring it about).
Or maybe it’s merely a matter of—to paraphrase Chesterton: if one has convinced oneself that Israel’s enemies NO LONGER HAVE ANY PLANS, AMBITIONS or DESIRE to destroy the Jewish State, then one is able to believe anything….
Fifty years… half a century and more of this stuff… and for what?
I suppose there’s a certain degree to which one could perhaps admire the single-mindedness, but really, what a waste.