Singling out Israel... [View All]

[Violet_Crumble]

by Mitchell Plitnick
January 14, 2004


The Executive Commission of the European Union recently conducted an opinion poll of member states asking respondents to indicate which of 14 countries they believe is "a threat to world peace." Slightly over half - 52 percent - said Iraq was a threat. Fifty-three percent cited Iran, North Korea and the United States. And 59 percent, the highest percentage, said Israel.

In many circles, the results of the survey were seen as evidence of rising anti-Semitism in Europe. But, that debate aside, it also raises another question that activists working on peace in the Middle East hear all the time: "Why do so many people single out Israel, when there are so many other issues in the world?"


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Through all of this, Israel and its supporters have never sought to lessen Israel's public exposure. On the contrary, there has only been an increased attempt to garner more and better publicity. No doubt, there are those who highlight Israel's aggression more than others' because they are committed to doing harm to Jews. But as we can see, there are far more obvious and clear answers as to why Israel is paid so much more attention than anti-Semitism.

Yet this does have some major pitfalls for those of us engaged in this work. There remains a great deal to do in shifting public opinion on the Israel-Palestine conflict. We serve ourselves ill if we paint a picture lacking perspective. For 25 years, Indonesia occupied East Timor, wiping out over one-third of the Timorese population, while the world stood silent. Morocco's ongoing occupation of Western Sahara has seen 80% of the native population of that region transferred and living in squalid refugee camps, mostly in Algeria. Again, the world has stood silent. Crimes against humanity abound in this world. The ongoing, and utterly pointless, American embargo against Cuba, China's continuing occupation of Tibet, violent conflicts in the former Soviet Union, Turkish projects to wipe out Kurds and Kurdish culture, and the potential nuclear confrontation between Pakistan and India are all threats to "world peace" just as grave as anything happening in Israel/Palestine. The entire continent of Africa, still embroiled in post-colonial conflict and ravaged by AIDS while America prevents affordable drugs from going to that continent is a crime of mass murder by any standard. The destruction of Afghanistan, first by America's allies, the Taliban, and later by America itself when it tired of its allies; the destruction of Iraq, first by war, then by sanctions and then by occupation; major upheavals in Central and South America, with the clear involvement of the United States; there are many other areas of conflict and crime in the world. Ongoing American efforts to stifle global environmental laws, as well as continuing floods of small arms into war-torn areas are equally criminal. It would be a much better world for all of us if the suffering of the Palestinians were unique. Sadly, it is not.

There is no doubt that the brazen aggression of the Sharon government has cast a greater spotlight on Israeli crimes against the Palestinians. There is no doubt that Israeli aggression during the current intifada has increased instability all around the world. There is good reason to focus specifically on the Middle East and the Israel-Palestine conflict as a fulcrum for much of what is happening in the world. And the suffering of the Palestinians is severe. But let us not forget that the Israeli occupation happens in the context of a political world rife with suffering, with violence and with war. Let us not, in our eagerness to express the gravity of the situation in Israel-Palestine, place that conflict outside of its perspective. To do so undermines our efforts and only aids those who work to prolong the occupation and prevent any justice from coming to the Palestinians.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4838