The G-8 countries will be meeting next June to discuss the adoption of an American plan to reorganize the Middle East. This plan is as yet confidential and does not define just what countries are included in the new Middle East.
It is safe to say that the Arab countries and those Muslim countries of greatest interest to Israel will probably figure prominently in the debates.
It is interesting that Westerners seem to be committing themselves to the promotion, by force if necessary, of principles that are increasingly being eroded in their own countries. They are today like the priests of old who promoted a religion in which they had themselves lost faith. They did so simply to maintain their own powers and privileges.
Let us not forget that President Bush was elected by the Supreme Court after gaining the votes of only 18 percent of American voters. Justice Antonin Scalia then led the Supreme Court’s decision.
This is the same honorable Justice who only last week, upon returning from an all-expenses-paid junket with his pal Dick Cheney, responded to questions from the press about the conflict of interest this created with his supposed impartiality to rule in cases where Cheney or his friends would appear before him, by saying — with his usual eloquence — “Quack, quack!”
One of the biggest problems modern democracies face is voter apathy and indifference, as reflected in lower and lower voter turnouts. This reflects the growing loss of faith among the voters in their ability to genuinely affect the political process in a way that restores a sense of sovereignty. Money is the true sovereign now, and it is those who have it that truly wield the power in those states.
Do not misunderstand me; I am not against reforms in the Middle East or elsewhere that will give dignity to citizens and provide social justice. It is simply that I cannot believe that those who blatantly ignore Israel’s repeated, continuous and flagrant abuse of international law and human rights are going to give us lessons in such issues while calmly ignoring the slaughter of Palestinians in our midst.
I believe that the coming G-8 summit is merely an updated version of a new crusade being launched against us in an attempt to finally wipe out our Islamic identity. The problem is that this comes at a time when the West is passing through a period of severe spiritual crisis and self-doubt — despite the bluster. It is also not their first attempt, and there is no reason to believe that this one will be any more successful than the others.
An image of two arm wrestlers comes to mind.
One of the wrestlers, a big burly brute, has pressed the other’s arm down toward the table, but not quite all the way down.
As he struggles to press his opponents arm the last centimeter to the table, he begins to feel his strength slowly ebbing away. He glances up, across their clasped hands and trembling arms, to see his opponent face streaming with sweat and his breath coming in short gasps; and he looks into his grim eyes and realizes with a sinking heart: “This guy is never, ever going to give up!”
Or as the little mouse said to the mighty dinosaur on that bright Jurassic morning: “Bye, bye!”
