Tawfik Hamid in his blog (tawfikhamid.com) today makes a very valid point regarding peace in the Middle East and I would say, the world. We know the Middle East is a powder keg that could explode like the Japanese nuclear plants at any time, however, Tawfik makes the point that in the Palestinian and Arab mind, they fear strength and with strength conflict is reduced. I did not say eliminated as that would be too much for which to hope.
We should look at two different Israeli experiences. In Gaza, Israel unilaterally withdrew and then was pounded for months by rockets from the very territory from which they had withdrawn. Once the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) went into Gaza and attacked the attackers, the rockets ended. Why? According to Tawfik, the Palestinians "feared" the reprisal of the IDF.
Another example is the 1973 Yom Kippur War which Israel won and Egypt lost. For nearly 40 years there has been a "cold peace" with Egypt and you ask why? Egypt was afraid of retaliation by Israel which has decimated the their troops and tanks in the war. Did it make the countries best friends, hardly. It made the Arab leadership circumspect and hesitant to start another war. So there was a "peace" that continues today and hopefully with the new Egyptian leadership.
So what is the lesson here for the Israelis and the United States. I think that the world should remember something that former President Teddy Roosevelt said a 100 years ago. That was "Walk softly but carry a big stick." The Israeli leadership (and the United States) must insure the IDF has the arms necessary to send a message of strength, of superiority in abilities, and of the willingness to defend Israel at all costs. All Arab and Palestinian leaders must understand that an attack whether it be small or large, will be repulsed with viciousness and power. And that all steps will be taken to make those responsible pay the ultimate price.
If this message is not heard loudly and clearly, there will be those leaders who will feel that Israel is becoming complacent, fat and lazy and that it will be time to get rid of this pesky little country and those who inhabit it. This cannot be allowed to happen.
As far as the United States, the current occupant of the White House would rather talk then "carry a big stick" and this is going to cause problems for the U.S. If your enemy knows that you will come at him with everything you have, overpowering him at every turn, he will hesitate to attack. However, if we appease like Chamberlain did toward Hitler, those who think it is their turn to run the world, will try to do just that. President Obama has not learned this lesson yet, however, when he does, it will cost American dearly.
Neither Israel or the United States have visions of conquering the world regardless what some might say. Both countries want peace and both just want to live their lives and prosper. Unfortunately, this world is made up of men who do not want the same and therefore it is imperative that both nations keep their military strong to insure that the enemy pays dearly for attacking. Other countries should "fear" the retaliation. Through strength you get respect. It is not the other way around.
Here is Tawfik's posting, it is worth the time to read.
Ensuring Israel Military Superiority is Vital to Maintain Peace Treaties in the Middle East
Tawfik Hamid - www.tawfikhamid.com, March 14th, 2011
The recent e-revolutions that swept several countries in the Middle East have created a new situation that can seriously affect the current peace treaties between some Arab countries and Israel. These include the Camp David peace treaty with Egypt. Arab regimes that pretended to be friends with Israel have allowed -for several decades-unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism to flourish in their societies. Unlike anti-Semitism in the Arab world during the 1950s and 1960s that was predominantly political, the current form of anti-Semitic views in the Arab world is predominantly religious in nature. This change makes addressing anti-Semitism much more complicated and difficult to solve.
It appears that some of the former Arab leaders allowed anti-Semitism to develop to pathological levels so that they could always blame Israel for the problems within their countries. For example, it was normal for some government officials in Egypt to blame “foreign hands” (referring to Israel) to put the blame on Israel for any problem they face – including terrorist acts.
Currently, there are two important trends that can affect the course of the relations between Arabs and Israel.
The first trend is caused by having more hostile governments toward Israel as a result of these revolutions. The worst case scenario of this trend is if such governments decided to end their peace treaties with Israel.
The second trend is one that can have a positive impact on Arab-Israeli relations and is based on the following observations:
1 – Arab countries are now more concerned about their local national problems after the revolutions than with the Palestinian issue. For example, despite the attempt of some religious scholars such as Sheikh Al-Quradawy attempting to resurrect the Palestinian issue with Egyptians, the general theme of the revolution in Egypt has been focused on the domestic situation rather than the Arab-Israeli conflict. This trend was also noticed in other Arab countries such as Tunisia and Bahrain.
2 – The logic that was used in the past that Israel is behind all the problems in the Arab world has become invalid as the same logic was used by the former Arab regimes to defame the revolutions and the revolutionaries by claiming that popular revolt in the Arab world was an Israeli conspiracy and that the revolutionaries were being paid by Israel.
3 – Challenges to the orthodox Islamic way of thinking that suppressed individual thoughts and freedoms are now available on mainstream media in the Arab world. For example, there is a rising doubt about the accuracy of the authentic books of the Hadith (words and actions) of prophet Mohamed. Some of these Hadith were behind the mainstream Islamic teaching that Muslims must fight all Jews and kill them. As an example of this rising doubt about Hadith books a main stream TV Egyptian Channel called Dream 2 has aired recently several discussions with Adnan Al-Refaaii that created unprecedented doubt about the accuracy of the Hadith books. These discussions (in Arabic) were on a program called “Fi Sabeel Al-Hikma” (In the Path of Wisdom).
Israel cannot rely solely on the above positive trends as Islamist based anti-Semitism is deeply imbedded in the minds of millions of Muslims. In fact, ensuring Israel military superiority is the best antidote for wars in the area. For example, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) that repeatedly stood against the peace treaty with Israel has recently announced that they will respect the treaty. This was not simply because they changed their views about Israel and the Jews but it was primarily because of the 'fear' of the Israel Military retaliation. The MB knows very well that if they came to power and cancelled the peace treaty with Israel, the Israel military retaliation in such a case can paralyze the country and prove beyond doubt to many Muslims that the slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood “Islam is the solution” is hoax.
It is important in this context to mention that 'fear' is an important component of Islamists minds. The fear of “Hell Fire” is for example an essential component of the religious education of millions of Muslims. The fear from retaliation of “Allah” is what makes many follow the religion so strictly as they are afraid of the punishment.
Israel MUST learn the lesson that all its negotiations with the Palestinians to stop terrorism inside Israel were virtually fruitless. On the contrary, a single powerful attack on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 that created 'fear' in the mind of the Palestinians from the Israel Military power managed to almost stop Palestinian terror attacks inside Israel until today. The existence of the security barrier has also possibly contributed to such an effect.
In brief; “fear' is an important and influential component of the Arab Muslim minds. If Israel lost its Military superiority in the area, the new Arab governments will be encouraged to end the peace treaties with Israel which can drag the whole area into wars. The best guarantee to maintain peace treaties in the area is to ensure the Military superiority of Israel in the Middle East.
We should look at two different Israeli experiences. In Gaza, Israel unilaterally withdrew and then was pounded for months by rockets from the very territory from which they had withdrawn. Once the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) went into Gaza and attacked the attackers, the rockets ended. Why? According to Tawfik, the Palestinians "feared" the reprisal of the IDF.
Another example is the 1973 Yom Kippur War which Israel won and Egypt lost. For nearly 40 years there has been a "cold peace" with Egypt and you ask why? Egypt was afraid of retaliation by Israel which has decimated the their troops and tanks in the war. Did it make the countries best friends, hardly. It made the Arab leadership circumspect and hesitant to start another war. So there was a "peace" that continues today and hopefully with the new Egyptian leadership.
So what is the lesson here for the Israelis and the United States. I think that the world should remember something that former President Teddy Roosevelt said a 100 years ago. That was "Walk softly but carry a big stick." The Israeli leadership (and the United States) must insure the IDF has the arms necessary to send a message of strength, of superiority in abilities, and of the willingness to defend Israel at all costs. All Arab and Palestinian leaders must understand that an attack whether it be small or large, will be repulsed with viciousness and power. And that all steps will be taken to make those responsible pay the ultimate price.
If this message is not heard loudly and clearly, there will be those leaders who will feel that Israel is becoming complacent, fat and lazy and that it will be time to get rid of this pesky little country and those who inhabit it. This cannot be allowed to happen.
As far as the United States, the current occupant of the White House would rather talk then "carry a big stick" and this is going to cause problems for the U.S. If your enemy knows that you will come at him with everything you have, overpowering him at every turn, he will hesitate to attack. However, if we appease like Chamberlain did toward Hitler, those who think it is their turn to run the world, will try to do just that. President Obama has not learned this lesson yet, however, when he does, it will cost American dearly.
Neither Israel or the United States have visions of conquering the world regardless what some might say. Both countries want peace and both just want to live their lives and prosper. Unfortunately, this world is made up of men who do not want the same and therefore it is imperative that both nations keep their military strong to insure that the enemy pays dearly for attacking. Other countries should "fear" the retaliation. Through strength you get respect. It is not the other way around.
Here is Tawfik's posting, it is worth the time to read.
Ensuring Israel Military Superiority is Vital to Maintain Peace Treaties in the Middle East
Tawfik Hamid - www.tawfikhamid.com, March 14th, 2011
The recent e-revolutions that swept several countries in the Middle East have created a new situation that can seriously affect the current peace treaties between some Arab countries and Israel. These include the Camp David peace treaty with Egypt. Arab regimes that pretended to be friends with Israel have allowed -for several decades-unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism to flourish in their societies. Unlike anti-Semitism in the Arab world during the 1950s and 1960s that was predominantly political, the current form of anti-Semitic views in the Arab world is predominantly religious in nature. This change makes addressing anti-Semitism much more complicated and difficult to solve.
It appears that some of the former Arab leaders allowed anti-Semitism to develop to pathological levels so that they could always blame Israel for the problems within their countries. For example, it was normal for some government officials in Egypt to blame “foreign hands” (referring to Israel) to put the blame on Israel for any problem they face – including terrorist acts.
Currently, there are two important trends that can affect the course of the relations between Arabs and Israel.
The first trend is caused by having more hostile governments toward Israel as a result of these revolutions. The worst case scenario of this trend is if such governments decided to end their peace treaties with Israel.
The second trend is one that can have a positive impact on Arab-Israeli relations and is based on the following observations:
1 – Arab countries are now more concerned about their local national problems after the revolutions than with the Palestinian issue. For example, despite the attempt of some religious scholars such as Sheikh Al-Quradawy attempting to resurrect the Palestinian issue with Egyptians, the general theme of the revolution in Egypt has been focused on the domestic situation rather than the Arab-Israeli conflict. This trend was also noticed in other Arab countries such as Tunisia and Bahrain.
2 – The logic that was used in the past that Israel is behind all the problems in the Arab world has become invalid as the same logic was used by the former Arab regimes to defame the revolutions and the revolutionaries by claiming that popular revolt in the Arab world was an Israeli conspiracy and that the revolutionaries were being paid by Israel.
3 – Challenges to the orthodox Islamic way of thinking that suppressed individual thoughts and freedoms are now available on mainstream media in the Arab world. For example, there is a rising doubt about the accuracy of the authentic books of the Hadith (words and actions) of prophet Mohamed. Some of these Hadith were behind the mainstream Islamic teaching that Muslims must fight all Jews and kill them. As an example of this rising doubt about Hadith books a main stream TV Egyptian Channel called Dream 2 has aired recently several discussions with Adnan Al-Refaaii that created unprecedented doubt about the accuracy of the Hadith books. These discussions (in Arabic) were on a program called “Fi Sabeel Al-Hikma” (In the Path of Wisdom).
Israel cannot rely solely on the above positive trends as Islamist based anti-Semitism is deeply imbedded in the minds of millions of Muslims. In fact, ensuring Israel military superiority is the best antidote for wars in the area. For example, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) that repeatedly stood against the peace treaty with Israel has recently announced that they will respect the treaty. This was not simply because they changed their views about Israel and the Jews but it was primarily because of the 'fear' of the Israel Military retaliation. The MB knows very well that if they came to power and cancelled the peace treaty with Israel, the Israel military retaliation in such a case can paralyze the country and prove beyond doubt to many Muslims that the slogan of the Muslim Brotherhood “Islam is the solution” is hoax.
It is important in this context to mention that 'fear' is an important component of Islamists minds. The fear of “Hell Fire” is for example an essential component of the religious education of millions of Muslims. The fear from retaliation of “Allah” is what makes many follow the religion so strictly as they are afraid of the punishment.
Israel MUST learn the lesson that all its negotiations with the Palestinians to stop terrorism inside Israel were virtually fruitless. On the contrary, a single powerful attack on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 that created 'fear' in the mind of the Palestinians from the Israel Military power managed to almost stop Palestinian terror attacks inside Israel until today. The existence of the security barrier has also possibly contributed to such an effect.
In brief; “fear' is an important and influential component of the Arab Muslim minds. If Israel lost its Military superiority in the area, the new Arab governments will be encouraged to end the peace treaties with Israel which can drag the whole area into wars. The best guarantee to maintain peace treaties in the area is to ensure the Military superiority of Israel in the Middle East.
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