What is Next?

Monday, 07 August 2006
By Sabria S Jawahar
The Saudi Gazette

EACH time an Arab or an Islamic country is targeted, the rest of the Ummah explodes, condemns and curses both American and Israeli foreign policies. However, during such critical times, business flourishes at coffee shops all over the Arab world simply because people like to discuss politics over a cup of coffee and a puff of Shisha. For instance, people in Cairo, Damascus or even Jeddah are talking about a conspiracy and suspicious goals in the region. The heat of rage, however, can be felt equally in all of those Arab and Islamic cities regardless of the differences among their climates.
But, as history has proved, those waves of rage and anger usually subside as soon as the assault is stopped, no matter how great the loses.
In other words, when the attackers have done enough and accomplished their goals, the generous Arab runs and exerts every possible effort to raise funds to rebuild what has been destroyed, as if it has become their duty to clean up after the United States and Israel make a mess.
It is always the Arabic who pay the bill for each war in the region though they have never asked for compensation for the destruction of their countries or for the killing of the innocent people. And no wonder – Arabs are the best at healing the wounds of their beloved but, unfortunately, they don’t know how to erase the psychological effect of aggression on children. They can never give life to their dead parents.
I do not want to undermine these efforts to help our brothers and sisters in the Islamic world. What I mean, basically, is to ask what have Arabs done since 1949 and all the crisis years that have followed? Have they learned how to tackle crises? Have they learned how to build a strong and convincing lobby in each country where they have interests that need to be served?
Yesterday, I was shocked when I read in a local newspaper a report about the extent of the Israel lobby’s pressure on India. The report talked about the ban by India’s Ministry of Information on taking video and news feeds from Arab TV channels under pressure form Israel.
“It seems the ban is a move to ensure that Indians do not get to see the atrocities that are presently being committed by Israel in Lebanon and the occupied territories,” the report said.
That reminded me of the academic essay of Professors John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen M. Walt of Harvard University entitled “The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy.” The paper, published in March 2006, discusses the influence of the Israeli lobby on American foreign policy.
It has been characterized by critics as a great and brave step by those professors who proved to the Western world that revealing the truth might harm your career as well as your social life but never kills you. In that paper, the authors argued that a wide-ranging coalition including neoconservatives, Christian Zionists, leading journalists and, of course, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, exerts a “stranglehold” on Washington’s Middle East policy and public debate on the issue. They cited examples that varied from the different American administrations and media outlets.
Mearsheimer and Walt disclosed the Israeli ability to use its power to pass any agenda or project that supposedly serves its well-being. The paper also shows Israeli influence can reach the highest level even in the strongest and most independent country. They know how to shut people up.
The bottom line of this article, however, is to remind Arabs and Muslims that Israel, as a country, is nothing but a spot on the map of Middle East.
Nevertheless, what has made Israel what it is now is its effective lobbies that work like an octopus everywhere and at all levels, from politics to society. Thus, I believe it is time for Arab and Muslim countries to stop spending their money on false, self-promoting media campaigns.
They have to move and start investing in the Western media. They also have to invest their money in vital fields in a way that gives them control over the world’s economy.
Taking into consideration the current Arab position, they have to acknowledge that the war cannot be won by military confrontations. Only by influencing strong countries can they get what they want, including military support. Once again, let’s learn from Israel’s way of doing business.
Arab leaders should also know that diplomacy cannot be discussed during parties where someone can always hear you. It is run by money and discussed in private.
They have to teach the world that if “anti-Semitism” is the secret word for gaining support and violating international accords, then Arabs are also Semites and killing their children is anti-Semitism.
Finally, if Lebanon is not enough of a lesson for them, then let them dig their graves with their own hands. Because they are going to be the next.