A Thought Experiment?

Israel and the Surrender of the West - WSJ.com: "This is something new in the world, this almost complete segregation of Israel in the community of nations. And if Helen Thomas's remarks were pathetic and ugly, didn't they also point to the end game of this isolation effort: the nullification of Israel's legitimacy as a nation?"

Ulf Bjereld brings statistics to the fore on DN.se today in discussing the foreign policy of Sweden. I have seen comments in the Israeli press where they are not very interested in what the Swedes say about Israel. Sweden is far away and represents relatively few people. Justifying my own interest in the situation of Israel, I am interested in Judaism and in the pursuit of the state Israel, which is impressive. The above cited article on WSJ.com tries to discuss the reason for why Israel is scape goated today.

Concerning Helen Thomas' conclusion, I wonder if she did not have partly the same idea as I when I early on in the wake of Operation Cast Lead concluded that the best choice for Israel might have been an exodus if this indeed is the end game of Iran et al. I have since realized that Israel's security situation is not that precarious. Living in Sweden and reading the Swedish press I definitely get a feeling that anti-semitism is a growing problem though. Jews feel they have to leave the third largest town of Sweden, Malmö, for their security.

The notion of a "surrender of the West" as a phenomenon that morally scape goats Israel is of course an interesting thing, if true. The "third world" is gaining in clout and the West is suffering from second thoughts based on their past of racism, colonialism etc. I'm not sure I agree with this conclusion because the benefits to the world from the activity of the West is so great that it outweighs past injustice. I don't fear hatred from what was once called the third world.

The hard question is what fuels the hatred of Palestinians so that 50% harbor thoughts that suicide bombing is OK? Shelby Steele says "If the Palestinians got everything they want—a sovereign nation and even, let's say, a nuclear weapon—they would wake the next morning still hounded by a sense of inferiority. For better or for worse, modernity is now the measure of man".

Very much depends on which friends you choose. Israel exports 35% of their goods to the US, for example. It is politically correct in Sweden that one should treat Israel and a future Palestine equally but I must say that the actions over time makes me more impressed by Israel. However, the reason for the belligerency of the Palestinians is perhaps not inferiority? I have gotten a feeling that it is that wretched piece of land that everyone covets. For Hamas it represents a waqf. Furthermore they never accepted "The World's" idea to place the Jews there.

Steele's question is highly warranted though. Is world opinion changing on the legitimacy of Israel's small piece of land? Personally, I don't think the Jews are on occupied territory. They were attacked during the Six Day War and won, to the surprise of many. In such a situation it is highly justified to keep land for one's own protection. A moral punishment for the attackers.