Stanford prof outlines Middle East conflicts' ties

By Laban Pelz
The Collegian

Whether connections between the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the war in Iraq and the war on terror exist is often a point of contention among people, but Stanford history professor Joel Beinin said Thursday at Fresno State they do.

The ties between Israel and the United States are partially responsible for U.S. involvement in the Middle East, Beinin said.

“It’s the evangelical element in the Bush administration,” Beinin said of the continuation of the religious connection the United States has historically had with Israel. “(For them,) the state of Israel is the Kingdom of David and the chaos in the Middle East points to the second coming of Christ.”

Beinin said these notions have led to the heavy U.S. involvement in the Middle East, along with the search for secure supplies of oil.

Immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “used moralistic language that Bush loves,” Beinin said, to paint the terrorist attack as part of the “struggle between the free world and the forces of darkness.”

Sharon said all terrorists, from those that attack Israel, like Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Organization, to a transnational organization like al Qaeda, are the same, words akin to those of the Bush administration.

When Bush first took office, he ignored the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the rest of the Middle East, Beinin said, and it was the events of 9-11 that brought the United States’ focus back to Iraq.

This was by design, Beinin said, as members of the Bush administration had since the mid-1990s wanted to return to Iraq. These members were both “muscular militarists” and the “American branch of the Likud Party,” Sharon’s political party in Israel, Beinin said.

Beinin also said the recent Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip was just for show, as it was done unilaterally and it was advantageous for Israel. However, it bolstered the confidence of the Palestinians.

“They say, ‘we kicked them out, just like Hezbollah kicked them out in Lebanon,’” Beinin said.

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