Israel Matzav

Tom Friedman's racism

In addition to his selective use of facts, Friedman invents a paradigm – a simple formula that explains who's who in this story – the children of Egypt (good) vs. Pharaoh (evil):

"And when young Egyptians looked around the region and asked: Who is with us in this quest and who is not?, the two big countries they knew were against them were Israel and Saudi Arabia. Sad. The children of Egypt were having their liberation moment and the children of Israel decided to side with Pharaoh – right to the very end.

Israeli leaders, including President Shimon Peres and former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky (actually quoted extensively in this Friedman piece), along with many journalists such as Shlomo Avineri and Anshel Pfeffer of Ha'aretz, have written and spoken in support of the people of Egypt. Where is this in Friedman's analysis? It doesn't fit the paradigm so it doesn't make the cut.

Meanwhile, it is more than likely that the Egyptians' attitude toward Israel is not based on this single event, but has been fomented and developed over many years of vehement anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic broadcasting, teaching and state sanctioned propaganda. (For examples of incitement on Egyptian TV click here and here.) But Friedman will have you think that if and when the newly born democracy in Egypt turns against Israel – it will be our own damn fault.

True to form, again, Friedman is showcasing his own subtle form of racism. It does not matter what the Arabs think, believe or teach their children. After all, the Arab world is only reacting to what we, the West, do or say. Friedman is still suffering the "white man's burden." If we're nice to them, they'll be nice to us – a ghastly assumption for a disastrous foreign policy.

Labels: Egyptian regime change, Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, Tom Friedman

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:17 AM