Claeskrantz.se

Intressant diskussion från amerikanska synvinkel men ändå aktuell även för Sverige tror jag. Även i Sverige finns det en slentrianmässig och i många fall okunnig syn på mellanöstern där Israel presenteras som det ständiga offret. Något som jag hade hävdat inte stämmer med verkligheten. Varför kan Israel granskas och kritiseras i Israelisk media på ett sätt som inte förekommer i väst. I israel finns om inte annat en debatt över politiken som de svenska Israel vännerna inte klarar av. Eller finns det en tyst grupp som tänker annorlunda men inget säger av rädsla för att framföra offentlig kritik mot Israel?

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The underlying assumption of this article is that the present situation is disastrous
not only for Israel and the Palestinians but also for U.S. national interests.
There is a wealth of information and critical commentary, much of it by
Israelis, on the terrible consequences of Israel’s policies and behavior toward
the Palestinians—and not just for the Palestinians but also for Israeli security,
society, civil culture, and even the future of Israeli democracy.
What is less understood—or even denied—is that U.S. support of Israeli policies
is gravely endangering critical U.S. national interests: it exacerbates the
expanding threat of Islamic fanaticism; it undermines what remains of Middle
Eastern stability and, in particular, threatens the conservative Arab regimes
(especially Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan) with which the United States has
de facto alliances; and should radicalism spread, it could threaten U.S. access
to oil.

This article argues that a major explanation for this widespread but erroneous
U.S. consensus is the largely uninformed and uncritical mainstream and
even elite media coverage in the United States of Israeli policies, a consequence
of which is that alarm bells that should be sounded loudly and clearly
are muted. In contrast, the debate in Israel is much more far-ranging, and includes
a substantial body of dissenting opinion—especially among the elites—
arguing that Israel bears a considerable share of the responsibility for the
Israeli-Palestinian conºict. Although this is still a minority view, candid criticisms
of Israeli policy appear regularly in the Israeli press and news magazines,
as well as in public statements by leading scholars, writers, retired
military ofªcers, intelligence ofªcials, and even some politicians.