The US Presidency
and the Peace in the Middle East
By Syed R. Mahmood
Fremont, CA
Within a few minutes after
the start of the first presidential debate on
Sept. 30, 2004, President Bush felt compelled
to justify a war in Iraq.
He told the audience that one of the benefits
of a free Iraq is the security of Israel. Sen.
John Kerry matched that commitment for Israeli
security.
In two debates, neither candidate uttered even
one word about the concerns and miseries of Palestinians.
Before the 2000 presidential election, candidate
George Bush said he would destroy the weapons
of mass destruction in the Middle East if he were
elected president.
In a Redwood City meeting with Bush, I asked him,
"During your presidency, are you going to
have an even-handed policy in the Middle East?"
He became very upset and belligerent.
President Nixon wrote in his book Seizing The
Moment, "Israel is the pillar of American
foreign policy, and this pillar should never be
shaken." The same Nixon, during a conversation
with the Rev. Billy Graham about the American
Jewish influence on the American media, said that
he wanted to do something about it.
In the same book, Nixon writes, "The US should
have good relations with Muslim countries."
But he also advocated keeping Iraq and Iran engaged
with each other in conflicts.
In 1988, candidates Michael Dukakis and George
H. Bush were competing zealously to prove their
loyalty to Israel in a gathering of B'nai B'rith,
an organization of Jewish Americans.
In a confrontation in 1991 between Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Shamir and President George H.
Bush over Israeli illegal settlements in the West
Bank, Bush caved in and released $10 billion in
aid to Israel — after 1,200 pro-Israeli
supporters descended on Washington, D.C.
Since the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower,
no other American president has shown success
in resisting pressure from the Israeli lobby.
In October 1956, just before the re-election of
President Eisenhower, Israel made a secret deal
with Britain and France to attack Egypt. This
attack was in retaliation for President Gamal
Abd al-Nasir of Egypt taking over the Suez Canal.
Right after the invasion of Egypt on Oct. 29,
President Eisenhower canceled all economic and
military aid to Israel. Under heavy US pressure,
Britain, France and Israel had to abandon their
invasion.
When Eisenhower was re-elected, Israel had to
withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza because
the president threatened to support a UN resolution
to impose sanctions against Israel.
Eisenhower's Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles,
said, "We cannot have all our policies made
in Jerusalem." Dulles made this statement
to Henry Luce, a pro-Israeli owner of Time Inc.
"I am aware how almost impossible it is in
this country to carry out a foreign policy not
approved by the Jews. But I am going to try to
have one. This does not mean I am anti-Jewish."
Anti-Semitic feelings are rising in the United
States and the rest of the world. A large majority
in Asia, Europe and in the Middle East see the
United States and Israel as members of the same
team.
The culture of violence from both sides is contributing
more hatred. The American public is not going
to wait indefinitely to risk their safety and
security to safeguard Israeli security.
If Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would like
to preserve his name in history, he should deal
with the new Palestinian leadership of Hamas.
Democratic Israel should have respect for the
democratically elected Palestinian government
of Hamas.
The US president has to show the courage and fairness
of Dwight Eisenhower to bring peace in the Middle
East.
(Syed R. Mahmood, a resident of Fremont, is president
of American Institute of International Studies
(www.aiis-website.org). In 2002, he was the Republican
candidate for the 13th Congressional District,
which includes the Tri-City area.)
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