Ducote is a fifth-year physics student.
By Justin Ducote
According to columnist Matthew Knee, it would appear a
preemptory strike on every regime in the Middle East is in order
““ that is, with the exception of Israel (“Attacks on
Israel are really aimed at Western society,” Viewpoint, Jan.
18).
Knee attempts to redefine the entire Palestinian-Israeli
conflict within a single sentence: “When Palestinian
terrorists kill innocent Israeli citizens, their motivation is not
to fight an oppressive apartheid state, nor is it more than
incidentally related to land squabbles or anti-Semitism.”
But inconsequential to him is that many respected historians
hold the opinion that the conflict is, indeed, solely a dispute
over property.
With the mention of a few impertinent facts, Knee attempts to
establish himself as a scholarly critic of modern Middle Eastern
affairs, offering his own opinion without many supportive facts.
And when he does present facts, not only are they irrelevant, but
often false.
For example, Knee mentions 732 A.D. as the year in which the
Muslim expansion into Europe came to a halt at the hands of Charles
Martel in the Battle of Poitiers. The year is correct, as is the
Christian leader, but the battle name isn’t. Martel lead the
Christians in the Battle of Tours.
Martel’s grandson, Charles the Great, had excellent
relations with the leader of the Islamic Empire at the time, Harun
al-Rashid. Charles (also known as Charlemagne) regularly exchanged
gifts and pleasantries with the Islamic leader. Al-Rashid always
welcomed Christian envoys who sought to make a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem. In short, Muslims did not seek revenge for Tours. In
fact, most Muslims today probably don’t know of the Battle of
Tours anymore, so why would they want revenge?
To accept Knee’s premise that organizations such as
Hezbollah and Hamas seek the fall of Western civilization ignores
the fact that these organizations have openly condemned Sept.
11.
Hezbollah publicly declared, “We are sorry for any
innocent people who are killed anywhere in the world.” In
addition, every Muslim nation ““ along with the overwhelming
majority of Muslims around the globe ““ has shown enormous
sympathy and support for the victims and their families.
Prince Al-Waleed of Saudi Arabia donated $10 million to aid in
disaster relief, but this donation was rejected by Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani because Al-Waleed asked the United States government to
re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more
balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause.
Knee asks us to forget the propaganda. Whose propaganda? Should
we forget the propaganda in his inaccurate article, or the
propaganda of the Rubenstein Associates public relations firm, whom
Israel has hired to bolster its image here in the United States and
abroad?
And why?
The United Nations General Assembly is so conscious of
Israel’s bad human rights record that it decreed “the
fundamental right (of Palestinians) to struggle … by any means at
their disposal.”
The pattern of errant notions continues with his claim that
Salahuddin “made peace with the crusader states in order to
build up his forces to slaughter them.” But the Crusaders, a
few centuries earlier, violently marched into Jerusalem and burned
down its synagogues. These same Crusaders had no intention of
making any peace deals with the surrounding Muslims. They also had
no intention of allowing the Jews and Muslims to worship in the
city.
Salahuddin sought to re-establish the freedom of worship in
Jerusalem, managing to gather forces in order to accomplish this
goal. If Salahuddin’s intentions were to
“slaughter” the Christians, he would not have sent his
personal physician to aid a dying Richard I.
Equally flawed is Knee’s notion that Hamas, an Islamic
group, prevents “Palestinians from emigrating.” But why
would any group advocate its people leave their land to those
occupying it?
Even as Israel prevents Palestinians from returning to their
land, the Israeli government continues to build more and more of
its own settlements, both in Israel and the occupied territories.
This allows the Israeli government to provide immigrating Jews with
discounted living accommodations and subsidized housing. How can
there be any hope for peace as long as practices like these
continue?
This is exactly why the U.N. passed Resolution 446 which
deplores Israel’s settlements and asks all member states not
to assist Israel’s settlements program.
Knee points out that there have been nearly 1,000 fatalities
since the start of the uprising. What Knee fails to mention is that
according to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization,
there are nearly nine Palestinian deaths for every one Israeli
death. And yet, he still accounts for this ambiguously as
“1,000 lives on all sides.”
What does Knee propose with the implications of his last
sentence? “If we allow them to continue to strike at us
indirectly, it is only a matter of time before the direct attacks
increase in both number and destructiveness.” Knee’s
use of the word “them” is a veiled attempt to draw a
widespread connection with almost every Middle Eastern country in
opposition of U.S. policy.
This kind of connection only helps perpetuate a level of fear
many could draw upon in order to wage more conflict and see the
increased loss of innocent life.