Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

Before I go to sleep I like to read a few pages of something, anything, to take my mind away from the days events. This summer I have been reading Miles Copeland’s 1969 The Game of Nations: the Amorality of Power Politics, about Egypt’s leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and the events between his rise to power in 1952 and the 1967 Six Day War between the Arabs and Israel. Last night’s page was particularly effective. I fell asleep on page 206 (literally “on” the page) with all the lights on. I offer here a selection from p. 204:

A player of limited popular resources such as Nasser is understandably tempted to use fanatics, whereby, as has been proved time and again in history, small minorities can cause majorities to make concessions to them out of all proportion to their numbers or the strength of their arguments–if, indeed, they have any clear arguments at all. When entirely on their own (and this is rare), fanatics sooner or later make such nuisances of themselves that the majority clamps down on them, paying whatever price it takes. In the hands of nonfanatical leadership, however, they can become a weapon of flexibility and finesse. They can be brought to a halt just short of suicide, while their willingness to go to suicidal lengths is so manifestly genuine that the opponent cannot know where they will halt–or even be sure that they will halt. The nonsense they talk can be polished up so that it not only makes a modicum of sense, but seems to be on a high moral plane. So long as the more vocal members keep their mouths shut (or can be kept away from direct contact with journalists) a fanatical movement can be excellent public relations material. They are “a valiant body of men fighting for their beliefs against overwhelming odds.” They are sometimes as valuable dead as they are alive. They are beautifully expendable.

One hundred and two more pages left. It’s going to be a restful summer.

Note: for biographical information on Miles Copeland see here and here.

It seems the Palestinian people want nothing more than statehood.

At the recent Arab economic summit at the Dead Sea, that’s all King Abdullah talked about–statehood for Palestine. The prime minister of Jordan met yesterday with U.S. congressional aides to discuss Palestinian statehood. The Jordan Times has taken to mentioning the subject somewhere in every edition. And this week’s Zogby column is on the subject of Palestinian statehood.

Why then is Palestine not a country already? What is preventing their leadership from declaring independence? It seems that the Palestinian people are being ill-served by their leaders if they truly want independence and their leaders aren’t giving it to them. Why do they continue to cry about it on the world stage but do nothing?

Reminds me of the much-quoted statement of Jordan’s first king, Abdullah I, who in 1937 wrote in a letter to the president of the Young Men’s Muslim Association in Egypt:

O Brother in Islam, the pillars of Zionism in Palestine are three: the Balfour promise; the European nations that have decided to expel the Jews from their lands and direct them to Palestine; and the extremists among the Arabs who do not accept any solution, but simply weep and howl, calling for help from those who cannot do them any good. So behold Palestine, breathing its last!

So is that it? Some sort of national trait that makes the Palestinians eternal complainers who never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity? It seems that with the Hamas takeover of Gaza and the expulsion of Hamas extremists from the West Bank government, one of Abdullah’s pillars obstructing Palestine–the extremist element–has been dealt with. Surely this is another opportunity, if only Palestine’s leadership would wake up in time.

Every successful liberation movement in the world knows this fact: No one gives you your rights; you have to take them.

So what are the excuses being bandied about for not declaring Palestinian independence right now?

It has been said that Palestine could not win a war of independence against Israel. But Palestine has attacked Israel multiple times, fighting several wars and two intifadas without any well-defined objective. They are willing to fight for nothing, but not for independence?

It has been said that there are still Israeli settlements in Palestinian areas. So what? There are Palestinians in Israel, some of them even in the Knesset. Palestinians don’t like the Jewish settlers, but neither do the Israelis. The settlers are difficult. Nobody likes them.

And the Jewish Israelis find the Israeli Palestinians difficult, cooperating in private but unleashing barrages of bombastic rhetoric in public. Still Israel attempts to guarantee the rights of the Palestinian Israelis and tries to protect them. Surely the Palestinians can accept a few settlers as citizens, if the settlers would be willing to stay on those terms…

It has been said that Palestinians do not want a two state solution. That’s not what the latest Zogby International poll says, but supposing it was true? How would Palestine declaring independence have any effect whatsoever on the question of statehood for Israel? Preventing Palestine from becoming a nation does not prevent Israel from becoming a nation. It only prevents Palestine from becoming a nation.

With independence secured, Palestine could then go about its other international priority: the right of return. Many say the “right of return” is just a red herring to try to get some compensation from the international community for those who have been displaced. But I say you can have real return. controlled by the Palestinian government. They can set up a department to do nothing but study return. Not everybody all at once, of course. They could start with the businessmen who have been successful somewhere else . The Palestinians have been called the “Jews of the Arab world” for their skill with business. Just as the Jews were once the only religious group that could trade because of Christian prohibitions on charging interest, business leaders from the Palestinian diaspora have become adept at what they do. Surely some of their skills could be harnessed to build a new Palestine.

Palestine has wasted too much time and energy throwing useless stones at Israel instead of tending their own garden. Palestinian leadership needs to get a vision of what they can be. They need to communicate that vision to their people and to the world. And then they need to get off their butts and make a country.

I get so frustrated with these Palestinians. Hey, Palestine: JUST DO IT.

7/5/07 UPDATE: The Jordan Times and BBC News both report Alan Johnston was released yesterday.

Johnston is fortunate indeed to work for a high-profile organization like the BBC that can organize a worldwide moment of silence or an online petition. How many other reporters have been killed or disappeared without so much publicity?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is no justice without truth, and there is no truth without a free press. More than 100,000 people have signed on online petition to free BBC reporter Alan Johnston who was kidnapped in Gaza three months ago.

If you would like to sign the petition for Johnston’s release, here is a link to the BBC online petition.

You can also put a button on your own blog.

Forget the talk about the tenth Illinois casino. Proposed legislation now before the Illinois house would triple Illinois gambling, including the creation of a downtown Chicago casino.

While casinos can be very profitable, they are harmful to economic development. Restaurants are the hardest hit when a new casino opens, although expenditures in other sectors decrease also. Casinos can make more than half of their income from non-gaming revenues, including hotel and restaurant facilities on the premises. According to a study by E L Grinols and J D Omorov reported in the Spring 1996 Illinois Business Review:

Restaurants in many states, including Illinois, have reported that their revenues dropped as much as 50 percent in response to the opening of a nearby casino, and many restaurants have closed.

The social costs from gambling to the surrounding community can also be high. Costs associated with bankruptcy, debt, criminal justice costs, and other consequences of gambling problems can cost the community somewhere between four to eleven times the amount of tax revenue they bring in, depending on which study you look at.  Gambling impoverishes whole communities.

And once a gambling enterprise is let into the state, it doesn’t go away. Although the racing business ceased being profitable long ago, the taxpayers of Illinois are still subsidizing that industry to keep it from going out of business.

Gambling is not good for business and it’s not good for Illinois.

The bill is being discussed in the Illinois house this week. This is the time to contact your representative. You can find the contact information for your Illinois state representative here. If you don’t know your district you can find it here.