Regarding recent notes by V.T. Rajshekar and Lars Martin Fosse on Israel and anti-semitism, etc. (Zionist Arthta Satra), Amarijit Singh writes: “l would also ask Dr. Steve Farmer to please make some comments, if possible”.
My feelings in Israel are quite complex. My good friend, Lars Martin Fosse, is certainly correct when he writes that massive support of Israel is an American phenomenon, not a European one. It is ironic that America speaks repeatedly of bringing “stability” to the Middle East, when its real aim, for which it has used Israel for many years, is to ensure permanent instability to the region, as part of its successful divide and conquer strategy. Israel, which is essentially a European/American state on Middle Eastern soil has served that purpose well for many decades. Due to the so-called “Law of Return®, anyone of Jewish descent anywhere in the world can claim immediate citizenship in Israel on Arabic land.
No religious state of this nature exists any where else in the world, and yet most Americans accept this highly disruptive situation without question, since the US media has uniformly presented Israel in a favourable light for decades.
The massive atomic arsenal that Israel possesses is never mentioned in US papers — presumably not to be impolite to our allies — while US tanks and planes in the Middle East, in both US and Israeli hands, routinely murder the region’s indigenous peoples.
Israel behind WTO bombing: With all this in mind, | understand and entirely sympathize with V.T. Rajshekar’s desire to link Palestinian and Dalit interests, since both are third-class citizens (or worse) in their own native lands.
But | also agree with your comments that use of old racist forgeries like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion do nothing to forward those interests. Certainly, there are plenty of legitimate intellectual weapons around to demonstrate the dangers that Israel and the United States pose for the rest of the world: It is a tactical and moral error to attack Israel using easily discredited sources like this one. The historical reality is ugly enough to do the job on its own.
Shortly after the World Trade Center bombing, the Dalit Voice published stories that similarly propagated the story that Israel was behind the bombing which is -easily discredited. | wrote V.T. Rajshekar at the time (and, as | recall, the Dalit Voice printed my Letter, though much edited) stating pretty much what you said in your note, Amariit: it is counterproductive to fight dangerous political forces with easily discredited myths. That is a theme that | take up in the Indus article as well, since Indus history is often misrepresented not only by the Hindutva Vadis but by Western researchers and Dalits as well, although in their cases | with the best of intentions.
I hope all Dalits will join the fight against Bush’s new west war in the Middle East. Injustice is the same wherever in the world it is found.
