An Israeli response: people first
By Christopher Beddow
The Arab Spring of 2011 has been marked by popular movements ranging from protests to revolutions, and has shown us a possible new horizon for the Middle East.
What separates this year's historical events frompast conflicts in the Middle East is that Arabs—not to mention
Persians—are turning not against Americans, Israelis, and other Westerners, but against institutions that have defined Middle Eastern politics for decades.
Protests in Syria have been overlooked over the past few weeks, and are only now gaining wide coverage.
What is happening in Syria, however, is what has happened for decades in the region—violence has been utilized by Arab governments as part of everyday business, right next to taxes and decrying Israel.
The regimes that have condemned Israel have almost in the same moment turned around and tortured their own people and caused even worse damage. Bashar al-Assad's slaughter of his citizens this week is one example, while Hezbollah's careless terrorizing of the Lebanese population is another.
No better is Hamas, a government that is as corrupt and ill-intentioned as they come. Organizations such as these are losing their momentum, and the uprisings are not the only blow they've suffered. Another blow was the unofficial retraction of the Goldstone
Report, where a member of the UN committee that accused Israel of war crimes in its 2008-2009 Gaza conflict, Operation Cast Lead, said that the report would not have been the same if he knew then what he knows now.
Essentially, it was invalidated by its nominal author, leaving Hamas as the only party that actually committed war crimes.
Israel has taken this as a cautious victory, but realizes that an official retraction of the report is more important yet would be too late.
The propaganda machines that blamed Israel, America, and liberalism for the woes of authoritarian states with poor economic and social policies are collapsing rapidly, and 2011 is the year of crucibles for the fledgling governments that emerge.
New governments must resist the extremism that places them at risk of becoming worse than their predecessors—just like Iran in 1979.
Egyptian public opinion, as captured in a Pew Research Center poll in January, shows that extremism is indeed a risk.
Egyptians have significantly favorable views of extremist groups, as 30 percent approve of Hezbollah, 49 percent for Hamas, and 20 percent for al-Qaeda.
Also, 82 percent support stoning as punishment for adultery, and 84 percent support the death penalty for converting from Islam.
This is not the sort of public opinion that builds a free and thriving democracy—one like Israel, where despite the criticism, the government is Palestine's source of fresh water and economic aid, among other things.
If there is to be a two-state solution, it will be because Palestinians resolve their lack of unity and their political corruption and focus on a cooperative future next to their permanent Israeli neighbors.
If anything is to happen in Palestine this year, it is doubtful that it will be a concerted, peaceful movement for democracy and liberty.
More likely is a third intifada following such foreshadowing violence as the bombing of a public bus station in Jerusalem this March.
Israel has long made it known that killing its citizens comes with dire consequences, and the Palestinian people should distance themselves from the strategies that have brought notoriety to such groups as Hamas and Hezbollah.
When Syria and Iran see democracy, Palestine's year will come.
Until then, its people will continue to be pawns of a larger struggle that is anti-Israel, anti-liberal, and anti-human...
Christopher Beddow is a senior political science major.