Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Israeli-Arab conflict is the small lab where trends get tested first and then go global.- By Thomas L. Friedman - The Houston Chronical, Houstan, Texas, USA

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Friedman-Israel-a-wonderful-country-5198660.php



Friedman: Israel, a wonderful country [?]

Thomas Friedman says, The Israeli-Arab conflict is the small lab where trends get tested first and then go global.


By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN | February 2, 2014 | Updated: February 2, 2014 6:22pm
TEL AVIV, Israel - One of the most popular shows on Israeli TV is called "Eretz Nehederet" or "A Wonderful Country." It's a comedy show that lives to make fun of Israeli politicians and the absurdities of life here. It recently opened its 2014 season with a cartoon graphic of a beautiful, multicolored, flower-filled garden with a butterfly fluttering across the screen. Then, suddenly, a concrete wall rises up all around the garden, which was an image the producers used last year. But this season, not only does the wall emerge but a glass dome rises out of the wall and seals off this Garden of Eden from above.

This scene is noteworthy for a couple of reasons: I've long believed that the Israeli-Arab conflict is to the wider global war of civilizations what off-Broadway is to Broadway. It is the small laboratory where trends get tested first, or are perfected, and then go global - from airline hijacking to suicide bombing to the attempt, through force and rebuilding, to create a negotiating partner out of a traditional foe (Israel in Lebanon 1982 and with the Palestinians in the Oslo process; America in Iraq and Afghanistan).

So it is useful to ask: What's playing off-Broadway now? What do you see? You see Israel, as in the "Eretz Nehederet" skit, literally trying to wall itself off from the multiplying threats around it and contending with all the ethical dilemmas that entails. And you see a wider region that is no longer divided along pro-U.S. and pro-Soviet lines, socialist or capitalist, secular or religious. You see instead a region increasingly divided between "the world of order" and "the world of disorder."

What Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kurdistan, Turkey, the Gulf states and even to a lesser degree the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank all have in common is that they are islands of order, where at least there is someone to answer the phone, it doesn't come off the wall when they do and there is a minimum of human security.

That is less and less true today in Syria, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, not to mention nearby Somalia, Eritrea and northern and southern Sudan.

Guess how many African migrants, mostly from South Sudan, Eritrea and Uganda, have entered Israel in recent years and are here illegally: 54,000! Stroll around the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv, where many have found shelter, and you'll see African men on cellphones on every street. They sailed, walked or drove to Israel's borders and either slipped in on their own or were smuggled in by Bedouins across Egypt's Sinai Desert. 

That's why the latest fence Israel has built is along the Israel-Sinai frontier. The Sinai is so out of control that last week Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter there with a surface-to-air missile believed to have been smuggled in from Libya.

I wonder if the torrid pace of technological change, the rising education demands for running a successful economy, the super-empowerment of individuals to organize as militants or come together against corrupt governments and environmental and population stresses aren't putting unbearable pressure on fragile states and literally blowing them apart. And there is no Soviet Union or America to hold them together as in the Cold War.

The PowerPoint maps that Israeli military briefers use for Sinai, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria today consist of multicolored circles, and inside each are clusters of different armed groups. Israel is like a Petri dish of the new world, with nonstate actors, armed with rockets, dressed as civilians and nested among civilians on four out of its five borders: Sinai, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

I understand why all this makes even some moderate Israeli military leaders more wary about any West Bank withdrawal. But the status quo is not neutral. Israel needs to do all it can to avoid turning itself into a kind of forced binational state - with a hostile minority in its belly - by permanently holding onto the West Bank. That's exactly the kind of states blowing up in the world of disorder. And it's why the success of John Kerry's peace mission is so important for Israelis, and Palestinians.

You don't want to be in these wars. This is not your grandfather's battlefield. When the enemy is nested in homes and apartments and no one wears a uniform but everyone has a cellphone camera, you have a real strategic and moral challenge - as the United States has discovered with its own drone wars. It's hard to defeat this enemy without killing a lot of civilians. It's no accident that every Israeli brigade now has a legal adviser.

This is what's playing off-Broadway. Take note. It may be coming to a theater near you.

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UNCLE SAM IS READY TO DO BUSINESS WITH MODI - By Dr. Aslam Abdullah, Editor Muslim Observer, USA | 1 comment by Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

My Comments posted on Caravandaily.com website over Dr. Aslam Abdullah's article: Uncle Sam ready to do business with Modi:

“ The sudden change in US estimation of Modi from an extremist who has committed mass murder genocidal crime in Gujarat, the state in which he was the Chief Minister, to a possible ally in wider geopolitical US interests, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Middle East as well as US trade and investments priorities in India, is a direct result of Indian Foreign Ministry's mishandling of the Khobargade case, the repercussions of which appear to be ever-widening the gulf between UPA administration, and the US establishment. UPA government has for all practical purposes given up on any meaningful future planning on strategic matters and is prepared to hand over India to Modi on a silver platter. Though anti-Modi opposition has been exclusively concentrating on Modi role in 2002 Gujarat massacres, the opposition in political field as well as in media has completely ignored the wider implications of a Modi win, for the future of Indian in the subcontinent's geopolitical placement. India, at the behest of US may have to get involved in military misadventures with its neighbors --- Pakistan, China, Afghanistan, Iran and Middle East too. A seriously weakened US, with hardly any will and even means to now protect its global interests through armed interventions, is looking for pliable proxies to carry out its bloody war abroad. The warmonger Neo-con Zionists entrenched in US State Department, are past masters in instigating wars and global conflicts through proxies. They have used US itself to further their own Zionist New World Order's nefarious agenda, all along. India under Modi will become a willing sacrificial lamb for the Zionists. It is time for India's thinkers to project the dangers in Modi coming to power through US support in his election victory. There is no secret how Modi will perform the task of US proxy, as his inclinations are all very well known in public arena. Even though he has dwelt hardly on any international matter in his election forays, the gullible public is hardly informed of what it means for India to be under a BJP/RSS rule and that too under a ruthless and reckless leader like Modi.
Those who see a ray of hope in the emergence of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party as frustrating Modi’s progress toward forming a majority government, are yet to know how far Arvind Kejriwal is aware and prepared to deal with international changeover of India's entire global posture, if and when Modi forms an effective government at the centre. Both Congress and THIRD FRONT should take up this subject to keep the voters well informed about this live and kicking danger of India getting into the global whirlwind as an America proxy, in exchange for a US visit visa for Modi."
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai

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Home / Big Story / UNCLE SAM IS READY TO DO BUSINESS WITH MODI

Dr Aslam Abdullah is a noted Islamic scholar and Editor of Muslim Observer published from Farmington, MI, United States.
Uncle Sam ready to do business with Modi
  in Big Story, Dr Aslam Abdullah, India 9 hours ago 1 Comment 239 Views
The US State Department in its internal discussions has realized the emerging reality in India The US State Department in its internal discussions has realized the emerging reality in India

India will remain a republic committed to secularism, pluralism and democracy under Modi but the definitions of these ideals would change

DR ASLAM ABDULLAH
 
THE reality has not yet dawned upon Muslim leadership in India that the forthcoming elections in India would be different from those that ever took place in the country. They would determine and seal the destiny of India for the foreseeable future. Muslim leaders are still stuck with their lethargic and indifferent political attitudes coupled with sectarian, caste and political as well as religious squabbles. Among India’s political elites they are considered a significant electoral chunk, to be manipulated easily, to be cheated speedily and to be bought cheaply. 

The coming election and their outcome would not alter India’s commitment to secularism. It would not transform the country into a Hindu Rashtra or deny minorities the rights the constitution promises. India would remain a republic committed to secularism, pluralism and democracy. However, if Modi becomes the Prime Minister, the definitions of secularism, democracy and pluralism would slowly be changed to accommodate the interests of a resurgent majority ( resurgent majority or resurgent Brahmin minority? - GM)  that wants to see its country reflect its pre-Islamic past in a post modern world.

Thus educational curriculum would undergo monumental changes, history would be reproduced and recreated to suit the interests of the majority, and culture would be defined in the context of old traditions and customs, India would see the rise of a new nationalism that would be secular in external appearance but primarily upper caste Hindu driven in its spirit.

Two groups would immensely suffer from this change that may come once Modi becomes the prime minister. Women and religious, cultural and linguistic minorities would face the brunt of the political change. In the name of unifying India, unified civil code would be introduced with initially granting rights to minorities to follow their person laws but gradually eroding their independence.

Under the disguise of enforcing a national language, linguistic minorities would b promised protection to their languages but simultaneously making them irrelevant for future economic or financial growth.

Women’s right would suffer under the BJP administration. Their quest for equal representation would be resisted. They demand for equal pay would be ridiculed. Their freedom to determine their own matrimonial and reproductive destiny would be met with resistance.

The changed political situation would see Muslims and religious institutions would be tolerated as long as they do not interfere in the politics of the state and keep quiet during elections. It would not be shocking to hear Muslim religious leadership approving of BJP administration and describing it the best for Muslims in independent India. There is no dearth of such people in the community who could issue whatever statement as whatever fees.

India would move to a totalitarian regime under the guise of democracy. It would happen because the new political power would ensure that those occupy the top and middle management in bureaucracy, police, army and educational institutions come from a political ideology that wants to see the Hinduization of India without using that term.

RSS would no longer be an organization. It would become part of the state. Communalism, chauvinism and hatred would be institutionalized in a form and shape that no one would be able to point fingers at.

Under the new political administration, India would offer fresh blood to dying capitalism. It would sustain the unbridled capitalism for a few more decades as India with its largest middle class would offer the best purchasing population to the world where consumerism would reign supreme and venture capitalism would thrive.

Religion would be commercialized and rituals would become huge sources of income. Diwali, Rakhi and Kadwa Chowth etc would become the pride of India’s economy and a major source of providing boost to India’s manufacturing sector. Entertainment would also use the religious symbolism to create its own financial niche.

But something else may also happen. India could become the new policeman of the imperialist political powers in Asia. Through the new political administration, the big industrial nations and their ideologue would ensure that India does the dirty job for them in China, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Central Asia and even Russia.

An RSS-inspired political leadership can play that role effectively and the big powers would not care as long as the target is not the Christian community. The RSS led administration in India might be willing to let Christian missionaries work in areas that are ruled by Maoists in eastern or north eastern Indian regions.

All this may become a reality if Modi assumes power as either the leader of the BJP in case it wins a majority or as the candidate of a coalition of parties. If he is a coalition prime minister, the outcome may not change. The only change would be in the time-frame of implementation.

The US State Department in its internal discussions has realized the emerging reality in India. It believes that RSS is deeply entrenched in India’s bureaucracy, police and the military. It believes that it has significant presence in the business and IT sector in the US. 

The political parties have also realized the financial importance of the pro-RSS groups in the USA and both parties seem to be wooing this sector vigorously. Moreover, several think tanks in the US tend to believe that India could serve as a US guard in Asia against terrorist groups.

The US political pundits and advisers to the State Department as well many State Department officials are of the opinion that Congress is not in a position to carry the day in the forthcoming elections. Unless the situation changes dramatically in the next few months, Congress would not be able to secure enough votes and seats. They are not very hopeful of the third front that is primarily forged among leftist parties.

The scenario may change if the new political entity, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) manages to throw a few surprises here and there.

The possibility that AAP, Congress and the third front may all come together to form a national unity government cannot be ruled out. But that would create an unstable and chaotic situation leading to reelection and paving the way for the emergence of BJP as the sole winner.

Meanwhile the Indian Muslim leadership is least concerned with the overall political situation. “Nothing would happen even if BJP assumes power and we shall see if that happens.” This is their usual response to a BJP led India scenario. They have not studied either Madhya Pradesh or Gujarat properly where the BJP has been in control for a long time.

A careful study of the two states clearly demonstrates that the RSS is now well entrenched in all branches of government. The business favors BJP supporters. The educational institutions are focusing in symbols that promotes RSS brand of Hinduism. All this is happening with the constitutional framework of India. Perhaps Muslim leadership should seriously study the political culture in the two states before forming their judgment about the BJP.

Rather than focusing on developing a unified strategy to face the next election, they are as usual fighting among themselves. They have no trust in each other and even though they may claim that they are united, they are known to be working against each other in the background. Ask them what their agenda is and you would get 10 different responses from leadership.

There is hardly any grassroots effort to develop a bottom-up agenda of the community keeping in view their aspirations and dreams and the emerging political situation. A top-down agenda is all that everyone who is someone in the community is offering.

Ironically, Rahul Gandhi, could grasp the essence of BJP politics when he said that the party is the mouthpiece of RSS, an organization responsible for the murder of Gandhi. An organization that can kill a Hindu leader for its gain can commit any act for its politics.

Indian Muslims are victims of their own leadership. No single leader or party has ever cared for the faceless, nameless, helpless Muslim masses who are born in poverty, live in poverty and die in poverty. Not many have ever bothered to elevate their social and economic status and educational level. They live in a caste ridden society and perpetuate the stratified system through their political, religious and social leadership. They have never been involved in decisions taken in their names by their leaders without even knowing what those decisions were.

Political leaders have used them as vote banks to achieve higher political goals. Religious leaders have used them as means to flex their theological muscles and play the game of ‘takfir’ (practice of declaring fellow believers beyond the fold of faith) on their shoulders. They feel betrayed and even though Muslim politics is run in their name, they have remained marginalized in India’s politics.

In the coming election, their status would not change. They would still vote on the basis of their caste, class, regional, sectarian and factional loyalties and follow different leaders at different levels without realizing where their true interests lie. Meanwhile, those who have grand designs on India and its future would carry the day and would ensure that the already scattered minority of India is further divided into bits and pieces in the name of sect, faction, religion, ideology and caste.

They know they could always find Muslim leaders ready to play their agenda. What they know for sure is that this time they would want to play to finish the game and what Muslim leadership would not be able to see even with its wide open eyes is that the game is to ensure that as a political entity in Indian politics, they are finished as an effective unit

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