Andrew Sullivan misses the elephants
Blinded by his liberal obsession with Israel, Andrew Sullivan misses the elephants in the room. A revolt along three borders puts Jerusalem in the company of other Middle Eastern states with large, restive Arab populations:How much did Sullivan miss? Well, for starters, the 'Arab spring' is supposed to be about people taking their own countries back, not about destroying another country. For seconds, the attempts to invade Israel from Syria and Lebanon (and Egypt and Jordan, although there the local armies stopped them) have nothing to do with the 'Palestinians' in the 'West Bank' and everything to do with an attempt to destroy the State of Israel. Third, the 'Palestinians' feel so 'repressed' in Judea and Samaria that all they really want is to be part of Israel, and not part of 'Palestine' should such an entity ever - God forbid - be formed. Fourth, even if we wanted to give up the 'West Bank,' no one would take it without also getting a 'right of return' to what would be left of Israel, which would destroy what is left of the Jewish state via demographics. Fifth, what country is Sullivan counting as a democracy in this region other than Israel? Egypt? Let's see what happens after the Muslim Brotherhood wins the elections before making that judgment.
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Will Jerusalem follow Cairo's lead and allow true democracy for the residents of the West Bank and Gaza, allowing them to forge their own destiny? And how will Washington cope with an important Middle Eastern ally bent on repressing the people whose land it occupies?
The logic of the Arab Spring - self-determination and democracy as a fundamental right - cannot but involve Israel's occupation and continued settlement of the West Bank at some point. Israel is, after all, no longer the only democracy in the Middle East. It is just the only democracy forcibly occupying a foreign land and refusing to give the occupants full civil or political rights.
Andrew is so blinded by his obsession with Israel that he can't see the elephants in the room. And you thought it was only Sarah Palin's bustline that did that to him.
Labels: Andrew Sullivan, elephants in the room, Sarah Palin
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:45 AM
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