Topic: U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East
Highlights:
I kicked off the session with the following statements:
"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents . . ." –Lifted from Mr. Obama’s inaugural speech.
Does the West practice a double standard in its treatment of nations (democratic exceptionalism?)—a question on BBC’s January 24 broadcast of the January 18, 2009 Doha debate (http://www.thedohadebates.com) organized by the Qatar Foundation. E.g. Islam is the ideology for their country for both Iran and Saudi Arabia (SA). Yet Iran is considered a threat and not SA.At the salon, the question related to Mr. Obama’s statement was, should we not extend the same freedom to other nations? Was not going into Iraq the latest illustration of our double standard? Of course, Senator Obama had voted against the war in Iaq.
The group agreed that yes, there is seeming double standard in U.S. dealings with other nations and this doesn’t serve the U.S. well in the long run. Only fair and balanced foreign policy will make the U.S. a nation that deserves the world’s respect. Here is a good link on the subject: http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?id=5838976
Other points that covered included:
Everybody, including the Muslims wish to lead a "normal" life.
With regard to the point about conflict resolution needing to be taught from a very young age, which was suggested by one of the participants as being done at Baldwin Schools, another speaker voiced the opinion there are some in this world who just don’t want conflicts resolved. To this, yet another speaker said that some do not think confrontations are avoidable. Not that they don’t want conflicts to be resolved.
The perception being Israel enjoys special relations with the U.S. can the U.S. be perceived as an effective mediator in the Middle East?
The following document was shared at the meeting. It evoked some discussion and care was taken not to ruffle anyone’s feathers:
A German's View on Islam
By
Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a well-known and well respected psychiatrist.
A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.
We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.
It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill.It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent majority,' is cowed and extraneous.Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority was irrelevant.
China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our posers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them and the end of their world will have begun.Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it wastoo late.As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
A response from an Indian-American Muslim: It is true that overwhelming majority of people including Muslims are passive, they mind their own business since they do not want to draw attention to themselves or their families. And that in turn allows only the voices of the extremists to be heard.
At the same time the ordinary people Muslim and Non- Muslim alike, also do not protest or take their leaders to task for the inhumane policies of their Governments in their own country and other parts of the world . Also they sit idly by when atrocities are committed towards innocent people by Governments supported by their Governments ( 60 years of Israeli aggression against innocent civilians of Palestine is just one example). Just like the terrorists brainwash it's recruits, the people in power brainwash ordinary people to give tacit support for it's military incursions ( Iraq war is just one example ).
The ordinary people sit idly allowing the economically and militarily powerful nations to use small vulnerable nations as pawns to achieve their agendas (Training and arming the people of Afghanistan as a proxy for the U.S. against Russia is just one example). The ordinary people allow their Governments not to recognize democratically elected parties in their own and other countries just because they are at odds with them (trying to undermine the elections in Algeria, crippling economically the people of Gaza for electing Hamas are just a couple of examples).
The ordinary people also are silent when for the sake of their way of life, they allow their governments to colonize and humiliate citizens of other countries for the sake of resources (colonizing and creating divisions in numerous African countries, as well as giving tacit approval for Saddam Hussein to invade Iran - the war lasting 8 years which killed about 1million Iraqis and Iranians are a couple of examples ). Where was the outrage?
By not standing up for what is morally right, the ordinary people including the author and myself ( especially those of so called Democracies ) have abdicated our right to speak up against terrorists who also use what is in their means to address their grievances and try to get what they want.
It is true that at this point in History, Islamic terrorism is very virulent. But to chalk it all up to fanatics is being in denial and is not going to help us combat it.
I have used the examples of many recent events in the Islamic world, since the author was mainly concerned about Islamic terrorism. Does that mean the Muslims do not do these things? Of course, they do! Are the ordinary Muslims sickened by the ineptitude, corruption and arrogance of the rulers of Muslim countries ? Of course, they are! Are the Muslims themselves embarrassed and saddened by the degradation of the populations in Muslim countries? Of course, they are! But they stay silent, out of fear and embarrassment, JUST LIKE A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC ABUSE ! Why are they not doing anything about the Terrorism perpetuated in the name of their religion? Just like all the other groups they have lost their moral authority!
Even though the vast majority of Muslims hate what the terrorists are doing to their religion, a part of them understand their actions due to the sheer hypocrisy of the West and the total contempt the west shows towards Islam. (In the name of free speech, Prophet Muhammed can be ridiculed and humiliated.......but a politician will have to apologize or resign if he says anything negative about gays or lesbians, just to give an example).
Also, the a double standard makes the Muslims not to take the West seriously. In 2002, more than 1000 Muslims were massacred in Gujarat, India, due to the fundamentalist propaganda of the chief minister of the state. Did the vast majority of Hindus protest or stay silent? Did the educated, enlightened Hindus in North America utter any objections when he was invited to be the key note speaker at major ethnic conventions in the U.S. (human rights groups petitioned the State Department and successfully denied him the Visa )?
Also, the IRA fought the British violently many many years on the basis of religion, but no one called them Catholic fundamentalists or fascists. On the other hand, prominent Irish Americans were donating money to the cause.The minority Tamil liberation tigers popularized the suicide attacks way before the Muslims in the 1980s against Srilankan majority in their own country and assassinated Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi of India, but no one called them Hindu fundamentalists. The Israelis who keep talking about the Holocaust had no qualms bombing King David hotel full of foreigners in 1948 as well as committing other terrorist acts during their war to get their homeland. Menachen Begin, Ariel Sharon etc. who were involved in those acts later became their Prime Ministers and defence Ministers. But of course, the Palestinians who are fighting for their land (which is being looted right before our very eyes in the form of Israeli settlements, road constructions and security wall with the blessings of the past many successive U.S. governments ) are terrorists!
All these years we were not even ashamed that we gave the Israelis 3.5 Billion dollars in U.S.military aid each year to suppress mainly the rock throwing youth. The powerful American Jews pressing for it did not worry about the consequences to America . We did not have the wisdom to understand that with that kind of unconditional support, the Israelis will have no incentive to reach a compromise. Now we do not have the guts to admit to ourselves that when a people lose hope and dignity and are on a free fall, they will grasp at anything to survive?
Also, we are still not showing maturity or wisdom if we keep repeating the same Mantra that 'they hate us because they hate our way of life'. Majority in the Muslim world like our way of life, that is why they want to come here! The ones who do not want to come here out of choice, like their way of life! Just like my family, many other Indians came to the U.S., not because we did not like our country or our way of life, but to look for better educational and economic advantages.
Majority of us love the U.S. and are proud to be citizens and we want the U.S. to overcome the challenges facing her and succeed. Now, in a Global economy, some young Indians and Americans are going to India looking for the same opportunities that brought my family here. Does that mean they are leaving because they do not like the way of life here? So aren't we being arrogant to think that our way of life is superior or is good for everyone?
The citizens of other countries who love their country and like their way of life, do not like us preaching to them, getting involved in their affairs and using them as pawns for our benefit. We certainly do not like others doing the same to us! But, if we decide to continue to use our military superiority to subjugate and humiliate others, is it shocking then that Iran, North Korea, Syria etc. would like to have that kind of power? We teach our young children that actions have consequences but we are outraged that our misguided and arrogant actions are not making us safe and want to put the blame on someone else!
I hope that we seek the guidance of God with humility so that we are able to hold high the ideals that made U.S.A. the country that millions of people from everywhere wanted to be the citizens of! And I hope ordinary people everywhere will find their voices to uphold fairness in our dealings with one another.
God Bless!
Returning to the salon's other highlights:
Some published letters to the editor were also shared and commented on: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/opinion/l09mideast.html?scp=1&sq=Hanan%20Watson&st=cse
Here are a few other links (the hard copy articles were provided by a participant):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/weekinreview/25bronner.html?scp=1&sq=The%20Bullets%20in%20my%20in-box&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/opinion/25atran.html?scp=1&sq=How%20Words%20Could%20End%20a%20War&st=cse (A must read)
Others not accessible online anymore.
At the salon it was felt the special relationship that the U.S has with Israel perhaps increases its vulnerability in the region even more. But it was also agreed upon that this special relationship is required but care must be paid to make sure the world understands this is the case.
What I took away from the salon was: Israel is vulnerable and U.S.'s avowed support for it is necessary. The world has to be made to understand this, but given the recent actions by Israel in Gaza, Israel's image may be bruised. The middle east situation is much too complicated but the world must keep trying to forge peace in the region. U.S Foreign Policy is flawed as are many other countries'. Mr. Obama must correct the mistakes of the past, and try not to make mistakes of his own.
It was an amazing coincidence that, that same evening 60 Minutes on CBS aired a segment on exactly the topic we discussed. Since President Obama has made it his priority to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict let's hope that soon things work out to everyone's satisfaction, although the segment on CBS didn't sound very optimistic. We can only hope the seers are wrong.
Ciao!
Ro
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