There
are some broad and
important political issues raised by a minor flap concerning
presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s visit to Israel. To look at these
questions in a detached and honest way can tell us a lot about the
future of the world and of U.S. policy.
The controversy began when Romney said at a meeting with donors:
"As
you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in
Israel which is about $21,000 dollars,
and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed
by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita, you
notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality."
Romney said the economic history of the world has shown that "culture
makes all the difference."
Palestinian
leaders complained, saying that this showed Romney was racist and out
of touch with the realities of the Middle East. Actually, their reaction
showed that they are counterproductive leaders who are out of touch
with the realities of the Middle East and human history.
The basis of the complaint is two-fold:
First, is a reference to culture in some way “racist” and why is Israel so far ahead of the Palestinians?
Racism
refers
to a belief that some people are inherently and biologically inferior.
Consequently, nothing that they do can alter their inevitable
backwardness.
This
has nothing to do with culture, which is an alterable state of being.
Indeed, racism has been disproven precisely because of the abilities of
society to change their culture. Once, the Britons were a bunch of
barbarian tribes who endlessly warred on each other and painted
themselves blue. They have progressed considerably since then.
Countries
like China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Singapore—to restrict
oneself to Asia alone—have dramatically developed in the last
half-century. They kept many aspects of their culture and society while
altering others. In America, the descendants of slaves brought
unwillingly from Africa have proven able to accomplish a full range of
technological, cultural, professional, and other things.
So
it is never racist to state the reality that some societies at any
given time are in advance of others, you are only racist if you say that
this can never change. In other words, if Arabs decided to do certain
things they could be just as prosperous and developed as Israel or
America or anyone else.
Unfortunately,
though and with some exceptions—particularly in the smaller Persian
Gulf, oil-rich sheikdoms—the Arab polities and societies are changing in
the wrong way. Both Romney and President Barack
Obama have spoken of being on the “right side of history” but the
phrase would better be on the right direction of history.
But
since Palestinian Authority leaders want to discuss culture, here’s one
out of thousands of examples. Recently, at a cultural performance whose
audience included the PA minister of culture, the songs and poetry
spoke of how the main priority of raising children is to make sure they
were ready to use guns—not computers—against you-know-who. And Hamas,
which governs the Gaza Strip, holds summer camps where thousands of
young people are encouraged to grow up to be suicide bombers and
terrorists.
By
heading toward Islamism, increased ethnic strife, and
Sunni-Shia conflict, most of the Arab polities are either going
backwards in time or being threatened by neighbors who are doing so.
This ensures that the gap will not only remain but become larger. Arab
and Iranian liberal dissidents have the right ideas but are losing the
battle.
Now
here’s the problem: If Palestinians deny that there’s a problem they
cannot resolve the problem. Failure to acknowledge that there is a real
difference is disastrous for the Palestinians. Insisting on the very
ideas responsible for that difference is catastrophic.
When
Romney refers to “culture” he’s not referring to literature and music
but to what is usually called “political culture.” And
Romney uses the precise same criteria when he’s talking about America.
Democracy, individual liberty, free enterprise, and the rule of law are
among the ingredients necessary for success of any society.
Ironically,
Romney actually understated the economic differences. In 2011, Israel’s
per capita gross domestic product was about $31,000 while that of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip was just over $1,500.
Now
one way of explaining this is to talk about the sources of economic
progress. What’s the alternative? For the Palestinians as in the
American debate the answer is: victimization. And being part of the
“victimization” side, the Associated Press agrees with the Palestinians,
claiming that Romney’s:
“Comparison
of the two economies did not take into account the stifling effect the
Israeli occupation has had on the Palestinian economy in the West Bank,
Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem—areas Israel captured in 1967 where the
Palestinians hope to establish a state.
"In
the West Bank, Palestinians have only limited self-rule. Israel
controls all border crossings in and out of the territory, and continues
to restrict Palestinian trade and movement. Israel annexed east
Jerusalem in 1967, but has invested much less heavily there than in
Jewish west Jerusalem.
“And
although Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in
2005, it continues to control access and has enforced a crippling
border blockade since the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory in
2007.
“The
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund repeatedly have said
that the Palestinian economy can only grow if Israel lifts those
restrictions.”
I
have quoted this at length so that when I say that this is utterly lies
and rubbish you will have heard both sides. Note, however, that the AP
did not present the other side.
The
fact is that in
economic terms the West Bank and Gaza Strip did well in the years of
occupation, as can be statistically documented, except during periods of
high-level, Palestinian-initiated violence. Especially egregious is
that the AP highlights a blockade on the Gaza Strip without explaining
why that happened. How can Hamas be a victim if you are the perpetrator
of the problem by continuous rocket, mortar, and cross-border attacks
against Israel?
In
addition, by turning to violence instead of negotiating—remember the
Palestinians could have negotiated a two-state solution as early as the
late 1970s after Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat’s initiative—they
damaged their own situation. Repeated intifadas, terrorism, corruption,
and the Hamas-Fatah war, plus Hamas’s attacks on Israel have a lot more
to do with economic damage
than anything Israel has done. Why were there once tens of thousands of
Palestinians earning good money by working in Israel daily and now only
a handful? Racial discrimination or the fact that some used the
opportunity to commit terrorist violence?
Far
from being victims, the Palestinians have been coddled by the
international community for more than two decades. The Palestinian
Authority has not been held responsible for corruption and squandering
money, behavior that had no effect on the flow of proportionally huge
cash payments. Nor have they been punished politically for their
incitement and intransigence. And it refuses to resettle people from
refugee camps into regular housing. Only Palestinians in all the world
receive refugee status and UN welfare payments over many generations.
While
Israeli economic pressure has played a role, Israel has also
transferred millions of dollars of customs and other payments to the PA
while always opposing cut-offs in international aid because that might
destabilize the Palestinian regime and lead to even more violence.
Moreover, World Bank and International Monetary Fund reports have
repeatedly said that such pressures werea relatively secondary factor in
comparison to the internal flaws of the Palestinian governments and
economy. In other words, the Associated Press has dishonestly
misrepresented the contents of the reports.
And
finally there is one simple, decisive argument. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon,
and Syria, for example, have not been under Israeli occupation.
So why haven’t they flourished?
Whining
eternally that you are a victim and putting your priority on getting
sympathy and hand-outs gets in the way of doing what’s necessary to
start being successful. Those Third World peoples and countries who have
learned these lessons have done well; those who haven’t done so have
become basket cases.
The
bottom line is this: Romney is bringing us back to the proper argument
on the causes of economic development and stagnation. Indeed, his
standpoint is the same as post-colonial liberal development theory in
the era before radicals, drawing on Lenin and Marxist ideology,
redefined it by blaming everything on some endless imperialism.
Romney’s
points also apply to America as well as to the Middle East. The main
problem is not Israel or capitalism or a racial group meanly oppressing
someone else but on bad and undemocratic governance along with demagogic
leaders encouraging their followers to adopt behavior not conducive
with progress and prosperity.
And
what can we say of the Western intellectuals, “experts,” journalists,
and politicians who encourage the Third World and many other groups to
continue going down the road of poverty, hatred, violence, and
instability?
Barry
Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs
(GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International
Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His book, Israel: An Introduction, has just
been published by Yale University Press. Other recent books include The
Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab
Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About
Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). The website of the GLORIA Center and of his
blog, Rubin Reports. His original articles are published at PJMedia.
Professor Barry Rubin, Director, Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center http://www.gloria-center.org
The Rubin Report blog http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/
He is a featured columnist at PJM http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/.
Editor, Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal http://www.gloria-center.org
Editor Turkish Studies,http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t713636933%22
-- 
No comments:
Post a Comment