Israel before democracy

Editorial

A Zogby poll of 2,600 people in five Arab states indicates near-total ambivalence to political reform. The results, discussed in Sunday's New York Times placed employment opportunities, understandably, at the top of the priority list and expanding democracy at the bottom. The second most urgent issue – can you guess? – was "resolving" the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In 1947, the anti-Zionist movement was "internationalized" by Palestinian Arab leaders who used the presence of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem as a wedge to draw pan-Arab and Muslim opinion leaders into the erstwhile localized issue of the conflict between Arabs and Jews for a tiny bit of land in Palestine. The benefits to the Palestinian cause were obvious: leaders representing about 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide now see Israel as a sworn enemy. This assertion was proved when the former leader of Malaysia was given a passionate standing ovation by the leaders of every Muslim state after disgorging one of the most vitriolic anti-Semitic public screeds since the Second World War.

But Arab and Muslim political leaders have their own interests in mind when they advance the anti-Zionist agenda. The Arab world is home to some of the world's most oppressive, corrupt and totalitarian regimes. Being a woman or a minority in most Arab societies is a dangerous position. Having an opinion, being an artist or not conforming can be fatal.

Despite this near-unanimous absence of freedom in the Arab world, one of the most comprehensive polls ever undertaken of Arab opinion places political reform at the bottom of the priority list and "resolving" the Palestinian-Israeli conflict second from the top. For the dictators who run the Arab world, the advantages of turning public opinion away from their own corruption, violence and oppression by pointing to Israel as a devil incarnate is pure brilliance. That many Europeans, Americans and Canadians have taken the Arab side too is just gravy that allows that oppression to continue unchallenged internally and internationally.

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