This past Wednesday, while I was reading the Opinion page of The Badger Herald, I read a guest column by Paul Pryce of the International Socialist Organization called "Israel Promotes Imperialism." The column, if not completely outrageous, was at the very least somewhat disturbing. It presents an inaccurate view of history that does not reflect the true nature of events or the reality of affairs in the Middle East. I intend to point out the gaps in the column's theory of a massive Israeli-American conspiracy and rectify the misrepresentation of history and events that Pryce engages in.
Various misrepresentations of history pepper the column. First off, Pryce implies that the Six Day War of 1967 was entirely the fault of Israel. He never mentions the constant border shelling from Syria or the massing of Egyptian troops in the Sinai in the days leading up to the war. Surrounded by enemies, is it any surprise the Israelis struck first? Further, his assertion that the Six Day War sparked American assistance is simply mistaken. Large scale American foreign aid to Israel spiked after the Yom Kippur War of 1973, when the Arab states launched a surprise attack upon Israel. Quite a different story of history appears after a few more facts are introduced into the timeline.
These historical "gaps" are important to note, but are not the main focus of the column. The main focus links the actions of Israel to the imperialism of the United States. According to Pryce, "Israel plays a unique role for the U.S., as a hired thug in the Middle East." Pryce views Israel's role as that of keeping the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan and Syria in line as well as ensuring Arab regimes cater to the interests of the United States.
This broad and ambiguous claim unravels when closely examined. While it is true that Israel has the most advanced and powerful military in the region, other factors render Israel extremely vulnerable. For example, Pryce does not mention the fact that the combined population of the four countries surrounding Israel is seventeen times greater than that of Israel itself. While Israel can threaten the countries around it, any sort of extended warfare would devastate Israel due to its smaller population and economic demands while fighting a war. The world saw this in its inability to properly destroy Hezbollah in southern Lebanon this past summer. All of this hardly makes Israel a good "hired thug" to police the Middle East.
Whenever the United States has gone to war in the Middle East, the Israelis have sat on the sidelines. As a matter of fact, the United States has never wanted to have Israeli backing in these matters. In the First Gulf War, the United States told Israel to sit out the conflict and avoid fracturing the coalition to liberate Kuwait. In the Second Gulf War, despite the obvious need for more troops in Iraq, there has certainly been no talk about bringing in Israeli brigades to police Baghdad. The United States recognizes that using Israel as an enforcer in the Arab world is counterproductive and ineffective.
In sum, Pryce's column haphazardly attempts to connect the Second Gulf War, imperialism and past Israeli actions with the historical relationship between Israel and the United States. In contrast to Pryce's view, Israel is almost certainly more of a liability than a help to the United States, at least in the Arab world. The support the United States gives to Israel has made the U.S. a target for embargo and terrorism for decades. This says to me that the U.S. relationship with Israel is based on a calculation that has less to do with power politics and more to do with protecting the citizens of Israel. Without the protection of the United States, Israel may have been destroyed long ago.
The view of history promoted by Pryce and the International Socialist Organization is wrong. Spending a little time with a history book or just thinking a little bit about events reveals a much more complicated situation than Pryce claims. Generally, people should take claims that every single action taken by a country over the past 60 years is evil, calculated and mercenary with a large, large, grain of salt. This sort of absolute view of history or events has no place in a modern society.
I do not claim that Israel acts in a particularly humanitarian fashion or that Israel has never committed any errors. However, the Israelis do not threaten to destroy or exterminate their surrounding neighbors out of hand. As for myself, I identify with Israel's outlook much more than I identify with jihad or genocide.
Andrew Wagner ([email protected]) is sophomore majoring in computer science and political science.
