America, Israel & the Violent Middle East Enigma By Tom Timberman

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Introduction:

It’s useful to have some understanding of what motivates Middle Eastern males to violence and war, before addressing the current Israel-Iran/HAMAS/Hezbollah conflict and US involvement. Prime Minister (PM) Netanyahu is a Jew, educated at MIT and Harvard and reasons quite differently.

Every male born to proletarian parents generally in the rural Middle-East-North-Africa Region (MENA), :population some 500 Million, will inherit 4 life-long identities from their dads: (1) family, (2) race, (3) religion and (4) native language. And some sons may also inherit generational hatred for specific families or males with different identity clusters or even a group that has harmed or disrespected his people. This alienation can descend through a man’s family and/or be personally experienced. Whatever the origin, all are laden with relatively easily aroused emotions,.

The MENA bourgeois and upper classes also inherit the same markers, but their identities and attitudes are framed by other factors: wealth, influence, education etc. Although, those among them who become MENA political leaders, recognize and use or subdue, the power these ID clashes can exert. The following chart shows the 3 possible ID elements beyond family, that can be combined and passed on by fathers to sons.

RACE RELIGION LANGUAGES

Egyptian Islam (Sunni and Shia) Over 60 – 5 principal:

Arab Zoroastrianism Arabic

Berber Christianity Farsi

Kurdish

Berber

Turkish

Kurdish

Persian (Indo-European)

Turkish

There is one category of Middle East “enemy” , not mentioned above, that can transcend, but aggravate these 4 personal triggers, generate mass male anger and lead to violence. And that is the intrusion of “outsiders”, e.,g. the Roman Empire, the European medieval crusaders and the French and British colonies. Why? Because they shared no recognizable identity with MENA men. And often, these strangers killed them, took their land, violated their culture, especially Islam and dominated their lives. .

And, the deepest, current regional “outsiders” antagonism , began in the 1880s with the settlement of European Jews on Palestinian tribal lands, then part of the Ottoman Empire[1]. And in 1897, an Austrian journalist launched the Zionist Political Movement. Its mission: to press for the creation of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. In 1917, the British Empire supported the Zionists; in 1922 the League of Nations granted Great Britain an international Palestinian Mandate and over the next 4 years, 75,000 mostly European, Jews emigrated to it.

Americans’ Early Contact with the MENA: During America’s colonial period, interaction with the MENA and its people was largely confined to missionaries, ships, their crews and the trading of goods. Until US independence, the British Navy protected our ships from 4 North African predators: 3 satraps (imperial territories) and the Kingdom of Morocco.

They captured Western ships & crews and demanded ransom from the owners or national governments could pay an annual tribute, to spare their ships. But, if neither were paid, the ships were sold and the crews sent to the slave markets. In 1801, desperate American ship owners appealed to President Jefferson for help. He had just refused to pay a $225,000 tribute ($10 Million today) and ordered Commodore Decatur and the US Navy to convince the 3 pashas and 1 king, to cease and desist and to sign a treaty with the US (done 1805).

By 1900, Americans had gained an international reputation for honesty and money-smarts. In 1911, following an Iranian revolution that led to a rough parliamentary democracy, William M. Shuster, an American lawyer, was appointed Treasurer General of Persia. He designed a modern tax system and hired 500 armed men to collect the taxes. However, the Imperial Russian Government overthrew the parliament and expelled Shuster.

US-Israel Relationship: The German & Japanese WWII surrenders were followed on 10/24/1945 by the creation of the United Nations, introducing a new international environment. The slowly emerging horrors of the Holocaust, led the UN to prioritize the partition of the British Mandate into two countries: one Jewish and one Arab (Palestinian). With the strong support of the US, the USSR and other WWII Allies, the partition plan was approved on 11/29/1947. The Arab negotiators refused to accept the territory offered, possibly because it was smaller than Israel’s designated slice.

The official relationship between the US and Israel began on its independence day, 5/14/1948, when President Truman was the first head of state to congratulate his new Israeli counterpart, Chaim Weizmann and to deliver US recognition of his government. Unmentioned, were the earlier ‘assaults on the Native Palestinians.

In April 1948, Zionist militias attacked and destroyed a number of Palestinian villages, killing hundreds of residents and occupying 78% of historical Palestine. Eventually, some 750,000 Native Palestinians were expelled. The descendants of those who remained in Israel, continue today without civil rights and are still subject to harsh martial law, enforced by the IDF. The seeds for hatred were sewn[2].

Over the next 76 years, the US provided Israel with military, political, financial and development support and informally, guaranteed its security and independence in MENA , that mostly wanted Israel to disappear. Israel is now a prosperous, modern – if challenged – democracy with the most powerful military in the Middle East.

Moreover, different US Administrations worked, with mixed results, to broker more stable, peaceful relationships between Israel and the Arab states and the Native Palestinians: 1978 Camp David Accords and 1993 Oslo Accord, both negotiated with the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (PLO and Fatah Party head).

Arafat’s death in 2004 weakened PLO/Fatah, allowing the considerably more militant HAMAS, an Iranian proxy, linked back to the Muslim Brotherhood, to defeat Arafat’s more moderate Fatah governance of Gaza. HAMAS later, refused to accept any agreements Arafat had accepted in the 2 Accords.

HAMAS’ 10/07/23 brutal attack on south Israel, led to a massive IDF military assault on Gaza, now largely destroyed, driving residents South. Over 1.2 Million Palestinians now confront a catastrophic humanitarian disaster. After a year’s combat, some 44,000 Palestinians (civilian and military) have been killed. HAMAS’ ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah, fired missiles into northern Iraq on 10/08/23, forcing some 60,000 Israelis to leave their homes. The IDF’s heavy air and recent ground counter assaults, killed Hezbollah’s long-time leader, Hassan Nasrallah, 6 of its 9 most senior military leaders; and caused substantial destruction in Beirut.

Concluion

The war comes at high human and economic costs to Israel, but Netanyahu continues deflecting President Biden’s and the UN’s repeated calls for a ceasefire, hostage/prisoner exchange and peace talks. Why? There are two overlapping reasons: (1) he believes there is a short term opportunity to continue fighting and crush or severely weaken Iran’s two proxy national security threats to Israel (HAMAS & Hezbollah) and (2). he wants to avoid the loss of political power and its negative aftermath. (His interrupted corruption trial). (1) Crush Enemies: The PM wants the considerable success of the IDF against HAMAS and Hezbollah to continue and joins others who believe Iran is in no condition to fight a war with Israel. And most important, Netanyahu’s public support is rising. Moreover, only the US can force Israel to stop the war, but days before a presidential election, the USG wouldn’t consider it until after 1-20-25. However, there is one possible US-related problem:America has helped build & strongly supports, Lebanon’s military and the IDF very recently engaged it.

(2) Political Power Loss: There are also domestic political reasons behind Netanyahu’s dogged determination to expand the war. His 6 party ultra conservative coalition (most conservative in Israel history) has to stay intact for him to continue the combat. However, several members have threatened to leave if he moves towards a ceasefire or peace talks. If that happened, his government would collapse and without his winning war-leader persona, he would lose the next election.

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Notes: 1 – Judaic religion began some 3500 years ago in Canaan, today’s Israel. Jewish diaspora followed Roman destruction of 2nd Temple in 70AD. 1931 total Mandate population = 1,035,821, Muslim – 759,712, Jewish-174,610, Christian – 91,398.

2 – Zionist murders first of British officials began in 1944 and continued until Israel’s independence. But then 4 months later, they killed Count Folke Bernadotte, a UN peace negotiator and the Swedish King’s brother., they considered him too pro Arab.

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