2008 Woodie Awards
Anti-Semitism proves roadblock to peace process
Jonathan Gair
Issue date: 2/8/08 Section: OpEd Page
Military action and bloody events overshadow the economic and social work that has to occur to bring both sides together. This is story of Israel, but it's also about something much larger. The question at hand is what to do about the rampant and seemingly invisible anti-Semitism that ravages the mindsets of those in the Middle East and prevent the foundation for any peaceful coexistence to occur in its current state.
The statistical research behind the systemic problem is staggering: the Pew Research Center's most recent religion favorability study shows that in the country of Jordan there is a 100 percent unfavorable rate against those of the Jewish faith, and in Lebanon the results are a mere one percentage point lower. These numbers cannot be an accident-especially not when other Middle Eastern states in close proximity (and even Indonesia and Morocco) are witnessing unfavorable rates of their own at an average of more than 80 percent per country.
These numbers only tell a portion of the picture-in the same study, the Center found that not only is confidence in Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda decreasing in Islamic states, but so is Muslim tolerance for suicide attacks. While many studies on the situation work to include the global historical context of opportunistic anti-Semitism, my focus on current developments should provide a clear avenue for examining some of the deep culture aversions that have to be engaged before any real policy-level action can occur.
This is a dangerous situation that allows a double standard to exist in world politics that focuses Western eyes on Israel while ignoring the plight of displaced Palestinians. The news media plays a large part in this-focusing on the back-and-forth rocket attacks and not on the continuing plight and exploitation of the Palestinians by their own leaders. How can there still be those out there who level heated attacks against Israel when it is perfectly acceptable for Muslims to live and work in Israel, but that at the same time it is all but unheard of for a Jewish individual to do the same in an area like the Gaza Strip.
The statistical research behind the systemic problem is staggering: the Pew Research Center's most recent religion favorability study shows that in the country of Jordan there is a 100 percent unfavorable rate against those of the Jewish faith, and in Lebanon the results are a mere one percentage point lower. These numbers cannot be an accident-especially not when other Middle Eastern states in close proximity (and even Indonesia and Morocco) are witnessing unfavorable rates of their own at an average of more than 80 percent per country.
These numbers only tell a portion of the picture-in the same study, the Center found that not only is confidence in Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda decreasing in Islamic states, but so is Muslim tolerance for suicide attacks. While many studies on the situation work to include the global historical context of opportunistic anti-Semitism, my focus on current developments should provide a clear avenue for examining some of the deep culture aversions that have to be engaged before any real policy-level action can occur.
This is a dangerous situation that allows a double standard to exist in world politics that focuses Western eyes on Israel while ignoring the plight of displaced Palestinians. The news media plays a large part in this-focusing on the back-and-forth rocket attacks and not on the continuing plight and exploitation of the Palestinians by their own leaders. How can there still be those out there who level heated attacks against Israel when it is perfectly acceptable for Muslims to live and work in Israel, but that at the same time it is all but unheard of for a Jewish individual to do the same in an area like the Gaza Strip.
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