martillo@ihuxt.UUCP (Yehoyaqim Martillo) (07/15/84)
In February an article called "Blaming Israel" by Ruth Wisse appeared in Commentary. This article was boring and unworthy of Professor Wisse but one of the responding letters is worth reading. To the Editor of Commentary: In her article "Blaming Israel," Ruth R. Wisse overlooks two possible explanations for Israel's failure to counter Arab delegitimation propaganda...Both are based on the recognition that the underlying culture of Islam rejects the right of non-Muslims to individual or collective human or political rights...Islam divides the world into two spheres, the dar al-Islam, the realm of Islamic power, and the dar al-harb, the realm of war. Muslims are enjoined by their faith to fight on its behalf although nothing compels them to be belligerent when prudence dictates otherwise. It is no coincidence that the Islamic world is demarcated by the front lines of all the world's chronic wars: Turks vs. Greeks and Armenians; Lebanon; Arabs vs. Israelis; Pakistanis vs. Indians; Somalis and Eritreans vs. Ethiopians; and northern Sudanese Muslims vs. southern Sudanese blacks. Throw in Afghanistan and Chad and one has a nearly continuous ring of fire. Islamic clergymen were very forthright on Israel, Jews, and Judaism at the Fouth Conference of the Academy of Islamic Research, held at al-Azhar in 1968, to discuss the theological significance of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The papers presented included several with temperate titles that one might expect at such a conference: "The Jews in the Quran," "Muslims and the Problem of Palestine," and "The Jihad." These differed little in content from the accurately titled papers: "The Jews Are the Enemies of Human Life as Is Evident from Their Holy Book," and "Good Tidings about the Decisive Battle between Muslims and Israel in the Light of the Holy Quran, the Prophetic Traditions, and the Fundamental Laws of Nature and History." The sentiments expressed by these clergy put the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to shame and would have made Hitler blush, yet the Egyptian government was sufficiently proud of what had transpired to publish the proceedings in English, apparently for the benefit of the West... This brings me back to the two reasons for Israel's failure to mount a campaign of delegimation against the Arabs. One reason is based on the belief that exposing the Islamic dimension of the conflict would require a campaign to delegitimate Islam. For a people which has seen its faith vilified for centuries, the prospect of attacking another faith must be daunting. So, to avoid getting caught up in the logic of the situation, Israel and most Jews have simply chosen to ignore the evidence and not start down this path... The other possiblity is that recognition of the problem as a fundamental one with Islam, rather than one that is basically political involving hostile regimes, leads to the conclusion that there may be no real solution. The implication is that only continued military superiority will enable Israel to maintain a modus vivendi with its neighbors and that acceptance will never come. Such a bleak prospect is a far cry from the dreams of the founders of the state and may be a greater liability for morale within Israel than any gains derived from propaganda successes. Yale M. Zussman North Quincy, Massachusetts -- Who wouldn't break for whales? Yehoyaqim Shemtob Martillo