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Pouring Gasoline on a Fire

Bonnie Kristian
Jan 17, 2009 at 10:39 AM
By Bonnie Kristian
Dr. Charles Kennedy makes the case for American non-intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  He acknowledges the complexity of the situation, avoiding the tendency of many supporters of both sides to trivialize the others' grievances, but also draws attention to the gravity of U.S. involvement:
This writer accepts the view that Israel has the to right defend itself from attack by radical Islamists (or any other attackers). However, it must be kept in mind that it is weaponry paid for by taxpayers here in the U.S. that gets used in Israeli military actions. When Israel responds to attack (or attacks preemptively) in such a way as to inflame its enemies to perpetrate more violence, it cannot happen without some sort of consequence to the U.S. We imperil ourselves by attempting to take one side or the other, or even worse, attempting to play both sides of the conflict, as we have done at various times. Our on-again, off-again policy has essentially jerked people around who should be left alone to try to resolve their own problems and conflicts. The more we interfere, the more inflamed tensions and passions become. It’s rather like pouring gasoline on a fire.
Citing the long-held stance of Ron Paul on the subject, Kennedy suggests that complete American neutrality could speed up the process of creating peaceful coexistence in the region, and would certainly better both our financial situation and international relations in the mean time.

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While I agree that the United States should maintain an official position of neutrality with regard to this conflict (we should certainly not be subsidizing Israel's military ventures to the tune of billions of dollars of American taxpayer money), we should nevertheless not refrain from making a personal distinction between the parties involved. The European Right has been largely supportive of Israel, because the Europeans are able to identify with Israel's difficult position; Europeans have for years been dealing with large, hostile Muslim populations of their own. This is a situation that we in the U.S. have been so far largely spared due to geography, but if open borders advocates have their way, our children may one day find themselves in a situation very similar to that of the Europeans. Perhaps then Israel's acctions may seem a bit more comphrensible. Perhaps then Americans will finally come to fully realize that Islam is a violent, backward religion, the tenets of which are fundamentally opposed to a belief in personal liberty and freedom of conscience. This is a religion in which clerics dispense, with a straight face, advice on how to "properly" beat one's wife. Islam poses a serious threat to all open societies founded on a belief in liberty and freedom. Just ask Theo van Gogh.
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Submitted by Nockian (not verified) on January 17, 2009.