Equipoise in the Middle East

DocBrain had the opportunity to speak with an expert on the Middle East last night. Having lived in the Middle East among various groups, this expert has had the opportunity to learn the details of the struggles from different perspectives. The expert concluded: everyone is equally to blame; there is no solution at this time that would satisfy this equipoise position; any barrier zone would be breached by those wanting to inflict harm to the other side, and in particular, by rockets aimed at Israel which would provoke Israel into violence.

Not being an expert on Middle Eastern affairs, DocBrain has this view:

• While all parties have acted poorly at times, those who are not Israelis look to harming Israel as part of the solution to their problem, while Israelis look to self-defense.
• Israelis are appalled by their own bad conduct (as evidenced by the investigation into war crimes in 1982), while other groups revel in their infliction of harm upon civilians.
• The overall support of anyone opposed to Israel in the typical arab man-on-the-street is grounded in pride and xenophobia. Israel can do nothing in itself to overturn the hostile feelings of its neighbors. Even if every Israeli converted to Islam, they would still be seen as the enemy, as the conversions would not be believed and the underpinning is not just religious but also the insult of Israel being triumphant in prior conflicts.
• The western mind sees atrocities as being at the heart of the anti-Israeli feelings. The citizens of the Middle East are used to atrocities applied against them by their own rulers and by rogue groups living in their midsts, and so an atrocity, by and of itself, has little lasting meaning to them. It is the loss of personal pride in being unable to defeat Israel and the xenophobia of strangers.
• The land, the land. While it sounds nice, it is a red herring. It may be a rallying cry that the extremists use to pump up their supporters, but a red herring it is. Think about it. It is the value of land that is important. If you owned 1000 acres of desert and a developer took 500 acres away from you and built a shopping center that attracted a lot of people, your land would increase in value, much more than the value of the land the developer took. This is the concept that underlies joint venturing, a common practice in real estate development. A map of the Middle East shows that Israel occupies a very tiny piece of land. It is what you do with your land that matters.
• The West Bank and Gaza, now parts of the Palestinian state, are not being optimally developed for the good of its citizens. Political corruption in the PLO, Fatah, and Hamas and the support of their leaders by the populace is not Israel's fault.
• While Muslims, Christians and Jews can all live among each other, Muslims do have a problem with not being in control. If they are not in charge, they will be unhappy.

DocBrain does see that there are good and bad individuals on all sides of the issue and that many innocents are caught in the middle. If people can not get along, what choices are there? If you believe in the healing property of time, then what is the evidence that it is operating in the Middle East? If you believe in the need for Israel to cease to exist and all will be fine, then how can you look at the poverty of the Palestinians and the opulence of the Saudi Princes and see the hand of charity, or at the continuing violence among different Islamic sects?

DocBrain sees the problem in the Middle East as being, as usual, not external but internal. It is due to beliefs. The steadfast concern with these beliefs has prevented the Palestinians from focusing on job 1... moving forward with their lives. And perhaps, it has prevented Israel from considering the final option: relocating all dedicated Israelis to someplace else (perhaps Montana?) and leaving the Middle East to the arabs. Perhaps, in an exchange, we could export all arabs from Europe and North America to the Middle East so they wouldn't have to exist among infidels. Which solution sounds more "ecumenical" to you? More rational? More easily accomplished? So much for equipoise!