Sunday, August 27, 2006

Definitely Not Oprah's Book Club - Part Deux

The Gun and the Olive Branch, David Hirst, Nation Books, 3rd edition, 2003.

Imagine peace in the Middle East, an end to the Arab-Israeli conflicts. Now that you've imagined it, you can forget the whole idea. To reach any peaceful resolution we would first have to sweep aside the blinding fog of myth and deception that has so powerfully been used to warp our views and understanding of this dilemma that threatens all of us.

How many of us know that the roots of this violence began in the 1880's with a Rabbi in France? Would you be surprised to learn that, from the outset, the Zionist movement fully intended to use violence to drive the Palestinians from the new Jewish homeland? That's right, ethnic cleansing. Can you believe that all of us, especially in North America, have been given a highly deceptive account of these conflicts that villifies the Arabs and almost completely buries anything that reveals Israeli aggression and persecution of the Palestinians?

I am not a holocaust denier. I am not an anti-semite. I deeply resent those who use these slurs to intimidate others who are justifiably critical of the state of Israel and its deplorable treatment of the Palestinian people.

Like so many of us in the West, I was solidly pro-Israel in the years following the 1967 war. I began to have doubts when I met a Canadian army officer who had just returned from peacekeeping duties on the Gaza Strip. He told me we were being brainwashed by our media about the reality of this conflict and that the great majority of the ceasefire violations they dealt with were the doing of Israel, not the Arabs.

The Palestinian subjugation lies at the very heart of Islamic terrorism and continues to unite Muslims, Shia and Sunni, as perhaps no other issue can. If America genuinely wants to wage war on terrorism, this is the only place that war can be fought and won. Washington alone has the necessary influence to compel Israel to end this persecution and thereby undermine the terrorist cause. That, of course, is not going to happen.

America props up the myth of Israel as victim. The role and power of Christian fundamentalism, of itself, is sufficient to keep Washington on this delusional course. These powerful religious nutbars (yes, I called them dangerous lunatics) firmly believe that biblical prophesy requires Israel to conquer all of Palestine as a precondition to the Second Coming and the utter fantasy that they refer to as The Rapture. So long as these key players remain devotedly delusional this dark farce can't and won't be stopped.

I'm not going to take you through the roughly 600-pages of The Gun and the Olive Branch. I will, however, present a sampling of the reviews:

"An epic tale told relentlessly well ...a serious account
of Zionism and a sobering review of Israel's new role
as conqueror and occupier." Christopher Hitchens
"Massively documented, this book will make uncomfortable
reading for many who will no doubt do what they can to
discredit him. But they will find it difficult to challenge the
integrity of this quizzical and caustic reporter who has an
unrivalled record of offending Arab governments and being
banned by them." - Financial Times
"Amongst the many topics that are subjected to Hirst's
piercing analysis are: The Oslo peace process, the Israeli
occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, the destabilizing
effect of Jewish settlement in the territories, the second
Intifada and the terrifying rise of suicide bombers, the
growing power of the Israel lobby - Jewish and Christian
fundamentalist - in the United States, ...and the spectre
of nuclear catastrophe that threatens to destroy the
region." - The New Statesman
A word or two about the author, David Hirst. Mr. Hirst was sent to the Middle East when he was conscripted into the British army and he stayed. He was involved in the American University in Beiruit and became the Middle East correspondent for The Guardian for about 20-years. He's been kidnapped twice and banned from six Arab countries. It's probably good to know that neither side cares very much for his critical, often scathing insights.
The Gun and the Olive Branch is a must-read. If nothing else you will come away from it realizing how our leaders - in Ottawa as well as Washington and London - are misleading us and perpetuating this extremely dangerous conflict.

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