Palestine: One Man’s Independence, Another Man’s Nakba. The Arabs' Enemy Within.
Real roots of defeat:“Why we were defeated? Today the 'Zionist entity' (that would be Israel in case you didn't know) celebrates its 61st anniversary, and we celebrate our ‘catastrophe’. …..”
The Author goes on to list the causes of the Arab defeat at the hands of the Jewish Haganah in 1948, and all the other defeats since.
He lists them all, except the one he misses: the very most important one, the source of all defeats, the serial culprit that has little to do with Israel, Jews, and Zionism because it is all about the enemy within. It has never been about things like arms, numerical superiority, strategy, tactics, elements of surprise, intelligence (the other kind, the kind we do not lack).
It has always been about one important fact: despotism cannot defeat a democracy, not in a sustained way. The Arabs have always lived under despotism and Israel has always been a democracy, a democracy that they were too short-sighted to extend to the occupied territories when they had the chance. It is hard for a soldier to die for a despot who comes to power through a military coup or through the accident of birth or tribe: even an uneducated soldier has enough sense to wonder what he is dying for.
It is interesting that the only Arab force to put up some decent military show against the Israelis does not belong to any oligarchy, military or tribal. It is an organization that is based on its own system of meritocracy, whose leaders did not stage coups or inherit their power. Unfortunately, it also is fundamentalist and stridently against the kind of compromise that is the only way to achieve peace. Not to blame it all on the likes of Hezbullah: the Israelis have their own zealots who are right now in positions of power, and can derail peace prospects that must be based on a two-state solution.
Iran making friends and influencing people, again:
“Seven Baha'i leaders jailed in Iran face a possible new accusation that could lead to the death penalty, the religious group said Thursday, and a major human rights group has called for their release……Now Baha'i officials say families of those imprisoned have been told that the seven may face the charge of "spreading of corruption on Earth," a count that the group says "carries the threat of death" under Iran's penal code...’’ CNN
Cheers
mhg
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