IRAN’s President Ahmaedinijad caused an uproar in the West over his suggestion to accommodate Jews in Germany or Austria by shifting there the state of Israel. The Americans and Israeli leaders angrily reacted to this proposal by terming it as outrageous. The Iranian leader had merely stated the historical facts. According to him, the Western nations had been lamenting the persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany. Mr. Ahmedinijad contests the occurrence of holocaust but he insists that if it is conceded that Hitler was guilty of genocide of Jews then there was every moral reason for the victorious nations of the West to accommodate the Jews, mainly Europeans, by creating an independent state of Israel.
The continuing Middle East conflict, which in fact has given birth to the much-dreaded international terrorism, is a sequel to the artificial creation of the state of Israel in the midst of the Muslim-Arab world. Israel has become the home of European Jews because they believe that this is their Promised Land. The creation of Israel in the heart of the Arab world is supported only by religious belief and not by its location. In any case, Israel is an unnatural island surrounded by people professing a different faith, speaking a different language and having a different cultural and racial background. The Western powers decided to give the Jews after the conclusion of the Second World War new home in an area to which they did not belong. They stacked their claim on the only ground of their return to the Promised Land. Was it as simple as the West had professed or was it part of a deep-rooted conspiracy of establishing supremacy of the Judaism over Islam?
The West did not stop by giving the Promised Land to the Jews through eviction of millions of Palestinians who had been inhabiting the area for centuries. They went farther. The West and in particular the USA dumped billions of dollars to develop Israel. It was armed to the teeth by them at a colossal cost. Israel in the process acquired sophisticated weaponry from the West and is already an undeclared nuclear power which has destroyed Iraqi nuclear plants and threatens to knock down Iranian nuclear facilities. It defeated Arabs in the two Israel-Arab wars and forcibly occupied more Arab lands and no wonder the Arab nations whose people heavily outnumber the Jews in Israel are forced to accept peace terms dictated by Israel. However, the peace in the region continues to be elusive.
The West and the International Atomic Energy Agency have become quite vociferous in calling upon Tehran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. The Western press reports suggest that Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear facilities by March next year. Iranian President’s demand to shift Israel to Europe has added a new dimension to anti-Iran propaganda. It is now a tussle between Israel and Iran. Israeli leaders have been issuing provocative statements against Iran. The West must confine itself to its own concerns against Tehran’s nuclear programme but gradually it has started to toe Israeli line. The West wants Israel to dominate the Middle East. This means the Muslim perception of a hostile West is not ill-founded.

Way ahead in Iraq

THE state of affairs in Iraq is now beginning to worry Washington’s close allies and friends in the Middle East. Jordan, Iraq’s next door neighbour, has consistently stood by the US. King Abdullah is a frequent visitor to the White House and has been doing his bit to bridge the gulf between the US and the Muslim world. This is why when Jordan offers a word of caution and advice to its friend and ally, it is expected to be treated with the seriousness it deserves. In an article in the Sunday Telegraph, Prince Hassan of Jordan has argued that the US has outstayed its welcome in Iraq. Prince Hassan points out that the US-led coalition has run out of goodwill and must change tack to stop the growing instability in Iraq and the Middle East.
Doubtless, there is truth in Prince Hassan’s observation. Iraq is fast spiralling out of control and unless the US initiates major steps and very soon, checking the country’s free fall into civil war and chaos may not be possible. At this stage, the least the US administration can do is to offer clear signals and indications reassuring the Iraqi people and the Americans that there is a clear Iraq strategy (roadmap?) in place and that the Bush administration knows what it is doing in Iraq. This is necessary to ease the growing pressure on President Bush at home and abroad. The administration needs to send the message to the Iraqi people and the Americans that the US will stay in Iraq only until the Iraqis are ready to take over the reins of their country. This is necessary to help improve the situation and political atmosphere in the country.
Frankly speaking, without offering a clear timetable for Iraq exit, it will be hard for the US leadership to silence its critics at home and abroad. It is not only the opposition Democrats who are up in arms against the President over Iraq. His own party, the Republicans, is getting increasingly uneasy over the Iraq fallout as it looks to the crucial 2006 elections. Then there is the pressure of growing public opinion, which has increasingly turned strident in recent times even as the US toll in the war is touching alarming levels.
The US, therefore, cannot afford to lose any more time and must initiate steps to settle the business in Iraq sooner than later. Iraq goes to the crucial legislative elections later this week. We only hope this democratic exercise will allow the Iraqi people to turn a new leaf and begin a new era of peaceful, democratic nation building with equal say and respect for all. This is an opportunity for the US too to chart out its own course of action in Iraq, if it hasn’t already done so.

—Khaleej Times