"Has not the time come for Arabs and Muslims to recognise the need for a dialogue with the American Jewish Community in its capacity as the only policy-making establishment in the Untied States that shapes all things concerning the Middle East agenda?"
Thus begins an article in the Dubai-based, English-language Gulf News by Youssef M. Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times and Energy Editor of the Wall Street Journal. In the article, Ibrahim on the one hand writes that "Arab editorialists, writers, professional syndicates and a variety of militant intellectuals have been [insulting Jews] for some 50 years...." while at the same time, he promotes the canard that the "American Jewish Community set the tone for all Mideast policies in America with an inviolate veto power."
Ibrahim explains what he thinks the Jewish "inviolate veto" has meant: "It has long been obvious that begging the American Anglo-Saxon political establishment is a waste. Arab leaders have been making their pilgrimage to White Houses populated by Democrats and Republicans, including Bill Clinton and the Bush family, where they humiliated themselves with secret promises of oil and support in return for protection, and acceptance. To no avail."
On the flip side, Ibrahim portrays "quite a few" Arab-American "self-appointed leaders" as "seedy characters" who are "lining their pockets...."
Anticipating his Arab readership, Ibrahim writes: "One can almost hear the outcry at this point. What? Talk to American Jews? Admit to capitulation and defeat?
"Except that the war has already been lost. Just look at the Palestinian and the Iraqi conditions and greater catastrophes on the way. It is high time for some time out.
"The American Jewish Community holds those keys. A simple test is: can you name a single Arab-American member of the National Security Council, the Defence Department Policy Board, or any of the big think-thanks that shape the American policy in the Middle East? No.
"Facts are hard things to argue with. So, instead of fuming over it by insulting 'Zionists' all the time as Al-Jazeera Satellite does, or kissing the Americans feet as Al-Arabiya satellite does - deal with it. American Jews are a diverse, powerful and focused community.
"True, their main interest is the safety of Israel. Nothing wrong with that, as Arabs and Muslims claim their main interest is the Palestinians' well-being and now the Iraqi brethren. Within those parameters, the fact is that American Jews have a multitude of views and shades on Israel and how best to defend Israel's interests, many of which run counter to those of the current prime minister of Israeli, Ariel Sharon."
As an example, Ibrahim explains that Jews should be told that "Israel is committing war crimes in their name and the name of Judaism, which I know to be a view shared by many of my Jewish Liberal friends."
This leads the writer inexorably to the following conclusion: "Clearly liberals are better. More important, it is naive and self-defeating to see American Jews as puppets of Israel. American Jews tell Israel what to do because they pay for Israel."
As an example of success in dialoguing with American Jews, Ibrahim writes that the late Egyptian premier Anwar Sadat "secured through American Jewish influence enough pressure on Israel to return the entire Sinai desert and start a grant programme for Egypt that has paid since 1979 a total of $50 billion in financial and military assistance."
So, what are the Arabs' goals in "engaging" the American Jews, according to Mr. Ibrahim? "[The] two-state solution in Palestine, an end to the attacks on Islam which are inspired by the American Jewish Community's neo-conservative Republicans, as well as a suspension of the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim American foreign policy by economic and other sanctions."
To his credit, Ibrahim decries "the use of expressions such as 'the Zionist Lobby' and 'Zionist Entity'" as "both anti-Semitic and unnecessary." He also writes, "I agree with American Jews when they decry that too many Muslim preachers are calling upon the 'faithful' to kill Jews and Christians. We see these preachers on Saudi and Qatari TV all the time. Let us not kid ourselves, because Arab governments have not done a thing to stop this hate-mongering."
Thus begins an article in the Dubai-based, English-language Gulf News by Youssef M. Ibrahim, a former Middle East correspondent for the New York Times and Energy Editor of the Wall Street Journal. In the article, Ibrahim on the one hand writes that "Arab editorialists, writers, professional syndicates and a variety of militant intellectuals have been [insulting Jews] for some 50 years...." while at the same time, he promotes the canard that the "American Jewish Community set the tone for all Mideast policies in America with an inviolate veto power."
Ibrahim explains what he thinks the Jewish "inviolate veto" has meant: "It has long been obvious that begging the American Anglo-Saxon political establishment is a waste. Arab leaders have been making their pilgrimage to White Houses populated by Democrats and Republicans, including Bill Clinton and the Bush family, where they humiliated themselves with secret promises of oil and support in return for protection, and acceptance. To no avail."
On the flip side, Ibrahim portrays "quite a few" Arab-American "self-appointed leaders" as "seedy characters" who are "lining their pockets...."
Anticipating his Arab readership, Ibrahim writes: "One can almost hear the outcry at this point. What? Talk to American Jews? Admit to capitulation and defeat?
"Except that the war has already been lost. Just look at the Palestinian and the Iraqi conditions and greater catastrophes on the way. It is high time for some time out.
"The American Jewish Community holds those keys. A simple test is: can you name a single Arab-American member of the National Security Council, the Defence Department Policy Board, or any of the big think-thanks that shape the American policy in the Middle East? No.
"Facts are hard things to argue with. So, instead of fuming over it by insulting 'Zionists' all the time as Al-Jazeera Satellite does, or kissing the Americans feet as Al-Arabiya satellite does - deal with it. American Jews are a diverse, powerful and focused community.
"True, their main interest is the safety of Israel. Nothing wrong with that, as Arabs and Muslims claim their main interest is the Palestinians' well-being and now the Iraqi brethren. Within those parameters, the fact is that American Jews have a multitude of views and shades on Israel and how best to defend Israel's interests, many of which run counter to those of the current prime minister of Israeli, Ariel Sharon."
As an example, Ibrahim explains that Jews should be told that "Israel is committing war crimes in their name and the name of Judaism, which I know to be a view shared by many of my Jewish Liberal friends."
This leads the writer inexorably to the following conclusion: "Clearly liberals are better. More important, it is naive and self-defeating to see American Jews as puppets of Israel. American Jews tell Israel what to do because they pay for Israel."
As an example of success in dialoguing with American Jews, Ibrahim writes that the late Egyptian premier Anwar Sadat "secured through American Jewish influence enough pressure on Israel to return the entire Sinai desert and start a grant programme for Egypt that has paid since 1979 a total of $50 billion in financial and military assistance."
So, what are the Arabs' goals in "engaging" the American Jews, according to Mr. Ibrahim? "[The] two-state solution in Palestine, an end to the attacks on Islam which are inspired by the American Jewish Community's neo-conservative Republicans, as well as a suspension of the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim American foreign policy by economic and other sanctions."
To his credit, Ibrahim decries "the use of expressions such as 'the Zionist Lobby' and 'Zionist Entity'" as "both anti-Semitic and unnecessary." He also writes, "I agree with American Jews when they decry that too many Muslim preachers are calling upon the 'faithful' to kill Jews and Christians. We see these preachers on Saudi and Qatari TV all the time. Let us not kid ourselves, because Arab governments have not done a thing to stop this hate-mongering."