Ever since President Bush announced his intention to pursue the countries that make up the Axis of Evil, the world has been trying to see the logic and wisdom (or lack of it) behind choosing these countries — Iran, Iraq and North Korea — in particular, wondering why wasn’t Cuba included in the list. Surely there is enough historical justification to do that. Why wasn’t Turkmenistan? China? Ukraine? Belarus? And the mother of all Axis of Evil: Israel? Inspectors have been looking for any gun (smoking or otherwise) in Iraq for the last few weeks to prove that Iraq possesses arms of mass destruction — without any tangible result. If they could only head toward Israel, there they would find a bounty.
Let’s talk facts: Israel is the only country in the Middle East that possesses nuclear arms, 400 nuclear heads till the last count. It has also repeatedly, in a very arrogant manner, refused any international inspection of its nuclear facilities. It also proudly continues to defy 69 UN Security Council resolutions.
Of course, only to be expected of a country that decides to re-elect a war criminal as its prime minister with a scandal-ridden man as its foreign minister! A country that has long institutionalized terrorism and elected two earlier prime ministers who were convicted terrorists and wanted gangsters (Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin). Israel’s human rights record is nothing short of pathetic and appalling: 90,000 Palestinian students have been prevented from attending schools; 439 of them were killed. Israel has uprooted 112,000 olive trees from Palestinian land. Shot 165 ambulances, killed 4 ambulance drivers in cold blood and injured 122. Its army and occupying settlers have killed 1,251 and injured 18,507. It demolished 7,000 homes creating 762,000 refugees and confiscated 750,000 acres of land.
All this while receiving $5 billion in aid per year from the US. That’s more than what the whole of Africa receives!
Weapons of mass destruction? Well, who uses easy Apache choppers, M-1 tanks and F-16 against children throwing stones? If that is not ethnic cleansing, terrorism and genocide all wrapped in one, then I don’t know what is!! With all these clear facts and staggering numbers one would think a case could be built against Israel. But as long as there is absence of justice, morality and fairness in America’s foreign policy, the call to get rid of the Axis of Evil will be viewed with plenty of cynicism and skepticism.
Arab News Features 9 February 2003
