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Whither Zionism?

by Ernst Rodin

111 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #01-0067; ISBN 1-55212-666-8; US$16.50, C$21.88, EUR14.30, £9.90

The antecedents of the State of Israel from Maccabees to Herzl. The reasons for the current impasse in the Middle East.

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about the book      about the author      excerpts      catalogue info

About the Book The state of Israel was conceived on the model of the Maccabean era. Yet, most people know only of the heroic feats of Judas Maccabeus who led a successful revolt against Greek overlordship, cleansed the Jerusalem temple, and established the feast of Hanukkah. The historical facts surrounding these times are not discussed, although they are vital to our understanding of the currently unfolding events in the Middle East. Human emotions, and as a result human behavior, have not changed in 2000 years and we are now witnessing a replay of history. We know how the Maccabean era ended. We also know the real reasons why the Jews lost their homeland, but only the myths rather than the facts keep getting repeated. This is outright dangerous for the future. We are guided by political and religious propaganda and since our politicians cannot, or will not, take the time to really study history they stumble from one disaster into another. This book is intended to deprive them of excuses because it is short and written in everyday language.

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About the Author Dr. Rodin has spent his professional life in academic medicine. He has published extensively in the international scientific literature, especially on aspects dealing with brain-behavior relationships. He is known for calling a "spade a spade," which has earned him at times venomous critiques by some detractors, but mostly the respect of those who value truthful behavior. He has recently published War & Mayhem: Reflections of a Viennese Physician and his website, www.thinktruth.com provides more information.

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Excerpts

Preface

    Our country, the United States of America and the "Leader of the Free World", faces great difficulties. When only about one half of the population bothers to go to the polls, and a presidential election is decided by one vote of the Supreme Court, warning flags have to go up. Of the numerous problems besetting our society in the field of foreign affairs, none seems to be more dangerous and urgent than the developments in the Middle East. With passions running at fever pitch in that area of the world, genuine peace is a chimera. Our leadership and the public mass media ought to take a step back and take a close look at the facts as they have evolved over millennia before rushing into actions.
    We keep proclaiming that "Israel is our friend" and don't know that this particular phrase is more than two thousand years old. During the times of Judas Maccabeus, the Senate in Rome had declared that the "Jews are our friends" and had warned the Seleucid king Demetrius to abstain from further hostile action against the forces of Judas Maccabeus or Rome will step in. The outcome of that friendship is known but the reasons are being swept under the rug. We know also fully well that nations have no friends but only self-interests. The current slogan makes good propaganda and is intended to win Jewish votes at elections but at the same time it thoroughly alienates us from the Muslim world. This presents a grave danger to our country and is clearly not in the best interest of even the Jewish members of our society. If a major war were to break out in the Middle East America's oil supplies are likely to be seriously curtailed with an inevitable economic downturn as the result. It does not take much imagination as to who will really get blamed. "The Jews," of course!
    Jewish organizations are trying with all their might to prevent another Holocaust by keeping the memory alive through museums, books and lectures. These efforts are bound to fail because they ignore the fundamentals of human nature and the reasons why there was a Holocaust in the first place. In order to shed some light on the latter question I have published a book War and Mayhem, and another book The Moses Legacy is in preparation at this time. Since major publishing houses tend to shy away from controversial topics by unknown authors, one is forced to go the print-on-demand route. This in turn has the disadvantage that the major media will not review the material, thereby relegating it to obscurity. Furthermore, there is a tendency in our society to stay away from serious topics and a book which in manuscript form takes up nearly four hundred pages is not likely to be read in full except by some very dedicated souls.
    The general public, and especially the politicians who hold our fate in their hands, cannot be expected to read the antecedents of the current Middle East conflict, which go back more than 2000 years, in their entirety. Nevertheless, unless one knows them, wishful thinking will dominate over reality. For this reason I have extracted some pages from War and Mayhem in addition to four chapters from The Moses Legacy which bear most directly on the Middle East problem. This, what one might call Reader's Digest version of the events, will be sent free of charge to key members of Congress and President Bush's cabinet. Whether or not they will read it, let alone act on the information, is not up to me. If they choose to ignore it, they and their children will also have to bear the consequences. The words "Whoever does not know history will be forced to repeat it" have never been more true, especially in regard to that part of the world where ancient dramas are re-enacted in our time.
    The Jewish people, more than any other ethnic group, are painfully aware of their history, but it seems that they are mainly guided by myths that have evolved over the millennia rather than the historical facts. To dispel these myths in favor of the facts is the purpose of this publication. The book is available through trafford.com, as well as amazon.com. Further information can also be obtained through the URL:www.thinktruth.com.

February 28, 2001
Ash Wednesday

Conclusion

    Prominent members of the Jewish community keep reiterating that the task of Judaism is to be "a light to the Gentiles" and "a blessing to the world." Jewish religious leaders also tell us that the main difference between Judaism and Christianity is that the former is based on deeds (Mitzvoth) while the latter relies on faith. At this time one can only say, "let words be matched by actions." But in order to achieve the desired result, these acts must take human nature, its emotions as well as demographics into account.
    The Israelis live on an island in an Arab sea. No amount of chutzpah can overcome this simple fact. Common sense would seem to dictate that some accommodation with the neighbors ought to be the prime task of Israeli politicians. It will be argued that the Arabs don't want peace and reject any offer that has been made especially when it comes to Yasser Arafat's Palestinian leadership. Our newspapers keep repeating that former Prime Minister Barak has offered the most far reaching concessions yet to Chairman Arafat who rejected them and unleashed terrorism to gain a greater advantage. This may or may not be the case.
    There is more than one reason why the Camp David proposals were rejected. We do know that neither ex-Prime Minister Barak nor Chairman Arafat were negotiating from a position of strength in regard to their respective peoples. The Israeli public is split right down the middle as to the type of peace they want and Arafat may or may not be able to restrain the passions of the extreme wing of his party. Furthermore, and this point is critical, to the best of my knowledge the American public has never been shown the fine print of the agreement Arafat was supposed to have signed. As we all know, the devil lies in the details.
    We have been told that Arafat was offered 94 percent of the West Bank and even parts of Jerusalem. We are told that he refused this offer but we have not been told whether these 94 percent of the West Bank represented a contiguous entity or a patchwork quilt where Jewish settlers would continue to live in close proximity with Arabs. We have also not been told whether or not Gaza was supposed to have remained detached in perpetuity from the rest of the Palestinian state. Under those circumstances the Israelis could halt traffic within the two sections of the state at a moment's notice. Let us remember that the second world war began ostensibly over Danzig and the Polish corridor which separated East Prussia from the main body of Germany as a result of the Versailles treaty. Since American taxpayers are footing the bill for the Israelis as well as the Palestinians, we ought to have a right to the information mentioned above.
    The frantic rush of ex-President Clinton towards a Nobel Peace Prize legacy, which led to the collapse of the so called peace process, was doomed to failure. Had he known the history of that part of the world he would have proceeded more cautiously and with lower expectations. Fortunately, a new administration took over in Washington on January 20 with more seasoned individuals at the helm of our ship of state, and there is hope now that the new spirit which emanates from the White House will also reflect itself in our conduct towards the Middle East. On the other hand, the air strike ordered by President Bush on Iraqi targets (February 16, 2001) made one wonder whether or not this will indeed be the case. That the missile strike was carried out only a week before Secretary of State Colin Powell embarked on a Middle East fact finding mission seemed to make it even more inappropriate. Why would one want to deliberately strain the already difficult relations to one's Muslim negotiating partners before one has even met them? Under the stewardship of ex-President Clinton, the display of American military might was obviously tied to domestic considerations in order to deflect public attention from embarrassing scandals, but this is clearly not the case now. This seems to suggest that even the Bush team may on occasion fail to appreciate the intensity of human emotions, and this is potentially dangerous.
    As I have pointed out in War and Mayhem, diplomacy by bombs is an exercise in futility. As a recipient of American bombs during the second world war I am an expert witness on that topic. People who live under a totalitarian regime cannot rise against their leaders because they get shot! Believe me, the death penalty, when carried out immediately, is indeed a mighty deterrent! The second world war was not won by bombs but by troops on the ground, the Vietnam war was lost in spite of massive bombing, and the recent non-war in Yugoslavia was not ended by American and British bombs but by the pressure of the Russian government on Mr. Milosevic. Bombs or rockets cannot win wars. If a victory is desired, troops on the contested ground are needed, as exemplified by the Gulf war under President Bush's father. In that instance, the objective was limited to the restoration of Kuwaiti sovereignty. But if one wants to remove a tyrant one has to physically do so and one cannot rely on others in order to save one's own troops. "Surgical precision strikes" make nice propaganda but are considerably overrated in their real effectiveness and the unavoidable civilian dead and wounded are relegated to "collateral damage" status. Will this make the affected people any fonder of America? Or will they just regard us as a schoolyard bully? Is it really a wise stance to permanently alienate the more than one billion Muslims of our world? There must a better way than bombs and rockets!
    The ticking time-bomb of Arab babies which threatens Jewish majority status even in Israel, has already been mentioned, but it ticks here as well for the Jewish people. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica of 1998, Jews form 2.1 percent of the population in the United States, but Muslims are close on their heels with 1.9 percent. Jewish mothers, of the secular variety, frequently chose to abort unwanted pregnancies, but this is not the case with Muslims who tend to bring all of their children into the world. The respective demographics will, therefore, shift even in the United States. Once the Muslims discover the power of their vote, as Jews have done, and create adequately funded political action committees of their own, the scales may well become balanced in the near future. Under those circumstances the "Israel is our friend" stance may no longer be politically profitable at elections.
    What can be done now as far as the Middle East is concerned? It is useless to argue that one cannot negotiate until the slaughter stops. Acts of terrorism are likely to persist until people see that both sides are serious in their negotiating efforts. It has been reported that while Barak negotiated with Arafat about withdrawal of Israeli forces, the building of settlements continued on the West Bank. This is not conducive to promoting good will. It will also be argued that since all negotiations will require some concessions from Israel, and the Palestinians will always up the ante, there will be no peace anyway, regardless of how much Israel is willing to give. But what is the alternative to talking? Wishful thinking by either side about what might have been will not save the day. The Israelis will now be forced to choose a position somewhere between that of Leibowitz and that of Kahane. The time for either has passed. The Palestinians will have to accept a solution where they receive only some part of their former land rather than all of it. The Arab world will have to come to recognize that they will have to tolerate a Jewish state in their midst and initially some kind of "cold peace" can be worked for. Thereafter, it will be up to the Jewish state - as a relative newcomer - to show that its presence in the Middle East is not a detriment for the other inhabitants of the region, but an advantage. Most people, apart from religious or secular fanatics, recognize and appreciate good will as well as tangible benefits. They will respond accordingly. The golden rule works both ways. "You will be treated by others as you treat them," tends to be a common human trait regardless of religion or nationality.
    As an immediate concrete suggestion, it would be advisable that the rhetoric should be toned down by all sides. This refers especially to the mass media. To demonize one's opponent by painting him totally evil and onself as completely saintly has always led to disaster. As far as the United States is concerned, Secretary of State Colin Powell has taken an admirable first step towards a well meaning and impartial approach. As a follow-up, the United States should support an independent fact finding commission under UN auspices. This commission should, over a period of several weeks or even months, carefully study the conditions in the West Bank and Gaza. It should then publish a White Paper which establishes the facts without assigning blame to either side. Our media should publish this document so that the citizens of this country are indeed fully informed about the situation. As mentioned earlier - we are paying the bills, we are getting blamed and when things go wrong, we have to send our troops. The United States of America is not some nebulous entity but a country of free citizens who must demand an accounting from their government, especially when it comes to issues of war and peace. If this were not the case, we might just as well live under a Hitler, a Stalin or a Saddam Hussein where questions are answered with jail or worse. When American weapons are used against Palestinian civilians, we have a right to be concerned. For these reasons we deserve an honest, factual report, which is not tainted by politics, about the true conditions in that part of the world.
    Keeping human nature in mind, the members of this commission should be as neutral as possible. This would exclude the United States and Russia, because power politics will inevitably come into play. Certain European countries which have been subjected recently to demands for "Holocaust reparations" also need to be excluded. These demands have not helped the image of Jews in those parts of the world. Since the Middle East is in Asia, citizens of countries like India, China-Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan might be most appropriate to serve on such a commission. They would have the additional advantage of not having been reared on the Bible or the Koran and they would thereby be able to look more objectively at the situation than they might otherwise.
    Although the United States and Russia would be excluded from the fact finding commission and its report to the UN, they would have a major role to play thereafter. Only by joining forces and working with, rather than against, each other can the recommendations of the commission be honestly debated and whatever is reasonable for Israelis as well as Palestinians implemented. It would seem that only such a step by step approach has any hope of bringing a modicum of peace to that troubled region. It would also serve the immediate purpose of a decrease in the current level of violence.
    It is known that the Palestinians would welcome such a mission, but Israelis may need to be persuaded that this is indeed in their best interest and their only chance for a secure future. This is where the American Jewish community could be most helpful. Their members look with anguish at what is happening, but the time for action is now before the situation gets totally out of control. The Jewish people have always pursued justice and they are being tested now. If justice is applied to both sides of the conflict rather than only one, then there is hope for a solution.
    As far as Saddam Hussein is concerned, it is important to remember that he does not have a common border with Israel. All he can do is send rockets, but as mentioned above, they do not win wars, and he knows it. If he were an utter fool and had produced no benefits whatsoever for his people, he might not have been able to stay in power as long as he has. The key to neutralizing him lies not in bombs or assassination but in cultivating good relations with the new rulers of Syria and Jordan, as well as the other Arab states in the region. If Saddam has no allies, he is isolated and a nuisance, but not a danger. We must realize that every rocket we send to destroy "his capacity for making weapons of mass destruction" is not only wasted because it cannot achieve this objective, but positively harmful because it will further inflame the Arab world against us. It is therefore essential that we displace him from the headlines and not turn him and the Iraqi people into martyrs for the cause of Islam...

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