What if Arabs had recognized the State of Israel in 1948?
I HAVE been exposed to Palestinians since I was in first grade in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia They were my favorite teachers. They were the most dedicated and the most intelligent among all my instructors, from elementary to high school.
When I was attending New York-based SUNY Maritime college (1975-1979), I read a lot of books about Palestinians, Arabs and the Israelis. I have read every article about the many chances the Palestinians had and missed to solve their problem, especially the Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel.
I have seen and read about the lives of the Palestinians in the US and other places. They are very successful in every field. And at the same time I saw the Arab countries at the bottom of the list in education and development. And I always ask the question: What if the Palestinians and the Arabs accepted the presence of Israel on May 14, 1948 and recognized its right to exist? Would the Arab world have been more stable, more democratic and more advanced?
If Israel was recognized in 1948, then the Palestinians would have been able to free themselves from the hollow promises of some Arab dictators who kept telling them that the refugees would be back in their homes and all Arab lands will be liberated and Israel will be sent to the bottom of the sea. Some Arab leaders used the Palestinians for their own agenda to suppress their own people and to stay in power.
Since 1948, if an Arab politician wanted to be the hero and the leader of the Arab world, then he has a very easy way to do it. He just shouts as loud as he can about the intention to destroy Israel, without mobilizing one soldier (Talk is cheap).
If Israel was recognized in 1948, then there would have been no need for a coup in Egypt against King Farouq in 1952 and there would have been no attack on Egypt in 1956 by The UK, France and Israel. Also there will be no war in June 1967 and the size of Israel will not be increased and we, the Arabs would not have the need for a UN resolution to beg Israel to go back to the pre-1967 borders. And no war of attrition between Egypt and Israel that caused more casualties on the Egyptian side than the Israeli side.
After the 1967 war, Israel became a strategic ally of the US because before this war, the US was not as close to Israel as people in the Arab world think. The Israelis fought in that war using mainly French and British weapons. At that time, the US administrations refused to supply Israel with more modern aircraft and weapon systems such as the F-4 Phantom.
The Palestinian misery was also used to topple another stable monarchy, this time in Iraq and replacing it with a bloody dictatorship in one of the richest countries of the world. Iraq is rich in minerals, water reserves, fertile land and archaeological sites. The military led by Abdul Karim Qassim killed King Faisal II and his family. Bloodshed in Iraq continued and this Arab country has seen more violent revolutions and one of them was carried out in the 1960s by a brigade that was sent to help liberate Palestine. Instead it made a turn and went back and took over Baghdad. Even years later, Saddam Hussien said that he will liberate Jerusalem via Kuwait. He used Palestinians misery as an excuse to invade Kuwait.
If Israel were recognized in 1948, then the 1968 coup would not have taken place in another stable and rich monarchy (Kingdom of Libya). King Idris was toppled and Muammar Qaddafi took over.
There were other military coups in the Arab world such as Syria, Yemen and the Sudan. And each one of them used Palestine as their reason for such acts. The Egyptian regime of Jamal Abdul Nasser used to call the Arab Gulf states backward states and he tried to topple the governments of these Gulf states by using his media and his military forces. He even attacked southern borders of Saudi Arabia using his air force bases in Yemen.
Even a non-Arab country (Iran) used Palestine to divert the minds of their people from internal unrest. I remember Ayatollah Khomeini declaring that he would liberate Jerusalem via Baghdad and President Ahmadinejad making bellicose statements about Israel, though not even a single fire cracker was fired from Iran toward Israel.
Now, the Palestinians are on their own. Each Arab country is busy with its own crisis. From Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Somalia, Algeria, Lebanon and the Gulf states. For now, the Arab countries have put the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on hold.
—Abdulateef Al-Mulhim, is Commodore (Retd.), Royal Saudi Navy. He is based in Alkhobar, Saudi Arabia, and can be contacted at: almulhimnavy@hotmail.com
- 4 Comments
Mar 20, 2011 00:30
Report abuseMar 20, 2011 00:30
Report abuseMar 20, 2011 00:31
Report abuseMar 20, 2011 00:33
Report abuseThrough the shaking, Japan comes together
For centuries, Japan had operated on the unvoiced logic that the only certainty in this world is disaster — specifically, tensai (天災, heavenly disaster). Four centuries ago, Edo (江戸, Old Tokyo) citizens said to each other that they had four major things to fear: jishin (地震, earthquakes), kaminari (雷, lightning), kaji (火事, fire) and oyaji (親父, fathers). These four were the major culprits to wreak havoc but at the same time there was little anyone could do to prevent them. Jishin heads off the list as a matter of course — accordingly, Tokyoites approach earthquakes with a particular mindset.
| |
First off, they are prepared. As soon as Tokyo children can walk, they become equipped with a bōsai zukin (防災頭巾, safety hood) to ward off flames and flying debris, and a small rucksack packed with emergency food, bottled water, a towel and first-aid paraphernalia. And when they mature into adulthood, they know that a good employer always keeps stocks of these hoods for its employees. When the devastating quake struck Japan on Friday, many men and women started their long walk home wearing them.
Speaking of walking, many Tokyo companies assume there will be a time when trains stop, the subways close down and employees will have to walk. There's a word for such people, kitaku konansha (帰宅困難者, those who have difficulty making it back home), and employees are encouraged to participate in simulation drills (sponsored by the company but more often by the Metropolitan Government) where everyone gathers at a preordained meeting spot (the favored choice is around the Imperial Palace) on a weekend, and walk their way back carrying emergency backpacks. The distance varies between 15 and 21 km — this will usually take people out of the city and into the suburbs of Chiba or Saitama prefectures, where they live. Last Friday, the streets were full of kitaku konansha, but it was indicative of the Tokyo disaster psychology that a lot of the ippai nomiya (一杯呑みや, drinking bars) and yakitori stalls in and around major train station terminals were open late into the night, catering to people who didn't or couldn't make it back on foot, but chose to get plastered and immerse themselves in grilling fumes. Great move.
It's said that the Japanese woman shows some fine stuff in the event of a disaster #8212; from time immemorial, women have rolled up their kimono sleeves, somehow managed to procure some rice and done the takidashi (炊き出し, cooking out) for the injured, wounded and hungry. In Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, where 70 percent of the populace are now in hinanjo (避難所, evacuation facilities), the few wives and daughters whose houses were left unscathed immediately got together, raided their own rice bins and made hundreds of onigiri (おにぎり, rice balls) — the traditional takidashi staple — to distribute among the needy. The men, on the other hand, have turned into kyūjo (救助, rescue) heroes, and tales of great courage, snap decision-making and sheer altruism are enthralling people across the nation.
In the Kanto area, the keikaku teiden (計画停電, planned blackouts) are forcing people to leave work early, or in the case of Ibaraki Prefecture, succumb to the jitaku taiki (自宅待機, wait at home until further notice). This is not all bad: Husbands and fathers are home, maybe for the first time in their adult lives, to share the crisis with their families. Wives and mothers are also staying home to be with their kids, and since the shokuzai busoku (食材不足, shortage of food supplies) in the metropolitan area has resulted in kyūshoku katto (給食カット, cutting school lunches), a lot of school children are also going home early and sticking close to their parents. To save on power, there are fewer people glued to their mobagē (モバゲー, mobile phone games), more people engaging in actual conversation, and there's a newly sprung camaraderie in the workplace. The disaster and subsequent tragedy have resulted in some enforced downtime, and families are reporting with some surprise that they are sitting down to eat together for the first time in many years.
The blackouts and yoshin (余震, residual quakes) are expected to last throughout April, and as of Tuesday the 15th, the number of confirmed dead and yukuefumeisha (行方不明者, missing people) was reported to be well over 6,000.
Keisatsu (警察, the police), jieitai (自衛隊, Self Defense Forces) and jichitai (自治体, local governments) are making efforts to sōsaku (捜索, search) for people who are alive.
The most frequently sighted word these days is buji (無事, safe), comprised of the kanji characters mu (無, nothing) and koto (事, incident). Without incident: It's a state we're all praying for.
No comments:
Post a Comment