Unbiased Mideast conflict analysis

EDGAR ASHER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Why Blame Israel? The Facts Behind the Headlines
By Neil Lochery
Icon Books, U.K., 2004. 257 pages. $30 US

It is said that, apart from the United States, Israel takes up more news hours and newspaper columns than any other country in the world. The Israel-Arab conflict has dominated the political horizon for more than 50 years. Although there are no firm figures, this conflict has probably spawned a record number of books and pamphlets dealing with some aspect or other of this complex issue.

Most books dealing with Middle East issues are inevitably presenting a particular point of view that is either pro-Arab and anti-Israel, or visa-versa. Depending on the reader's point of view, such books are regarded as being right to the point and very positive, or the author is categorized as somebody who does not know what they're talking about.

Many of these books are commissioned by various interest groups and, depending on the publisher's support and skill in promoting the book, can have a very profound effect on public opinion. This can apply to whichever side in the conflict you support. A book that is unbalanced and not objective can inflame passions and make it even more difficult to find a compromise. Books, like television and newspapers, are molders of public opinion.

Why Blame Israel? The Facts Behind the Headlines by Neill Lochery is an unusual and important book on the Middle East, mainly because the author, a lecturer in modern Israeli politics and the director of the Centre of Israeli Studies at University College, London, comes from outside the conflict. As Lochery himself points out, " As a researcher and author of this work I do not claim to be totally objective. I am, however, neither Jewish nor Arab and nor do I have any particular axe to grind."

Lochery's book is essential reading for anybody who wants to have an fair, up-to-date account and understanding of Israel's history. He writes in an unambiguous style, presenting arguments with 12 pages of bibliography and eight pages of chapter notes at the end of his book to support his facts and assertions. He leaves the reader in no doubt that there are many lessons to be learned from the past if Israel and her Arab neighbors are going to exist peacefully side by side.

The book also includes 11 very clear maps that illustrate some of the watersheds in modern Middle East history. These include such landmarks as the Sykes-Picot Agreement for partition in 1916, the Peel, Woodhead and United Nations recommendations for partition between in 1937 and 1947 and the Oslo redeployment map.

Lochery gently guides the reader on an uncomplicated historical journey and shows remarkable insight into the minds and actions of the main players on both sides of the political divide. He brings personalities such as Anwar Sadat, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, King Hussein, Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to life. These political and military leaders, and others who have been involved with the Middle East conflict, are described in their strength and weaknesses. Lochery refrains from giving too of much of his personal point of view, but rather expounds the positions of the adversaries and often gives additional insight and information that was not generally publicly available at the time. It is particularly interesting to read about what the political leaders thought about each other. Diplomatic nicety often prevented the major players from making anything other than tactful comments when they were in the seat of power and political limelight.

The view that Lochery espouses is unquestionably balanced towards Israel, however he does not hold back if he feels there is a need to be critical. He feels that Israel has made more than its fair share of mistakes. Too many short-term, rather than long-term solutions have been sought to solve the country's problems. This, he points out, is because Israel is always under pressure just to survive.

The book is written in a simple, readable manner. There is a flow of history in its just over 200 pages of text and maps. The chronology in the book goes as far as December 2003 and covers the controversial Geneva Accords and the U.S.-sponsored Road Map to Peace. As previously, Lochery treats this in a matter of fact and objective way. Perhaps the most interesting commentary on the book is to think about what has happened between December 2003 and the present day. Even with Lochery's insight, it is doubtful that even he would have predicted the developments of the past six months.

Lochery concludes his foray into one of the world's longest and most intractable disputes with this thought: "Israel needs peace to address its growing poverty gap and other issues. But most of all, Israel needs the conflict with the Arabs to end in order to secure its existence. The question remains; how much do Arab regimes need the conflict to end? If history has taught us one thing it is that the Arabs do not respond well to military defeat and, in the political arena, the Arab-Israeli conflict remains a useful card to play in times of trouble for many Arab leaders. Until this changes, there would appear to be little chance of a comprehensive peace in the region. Despite improvements in Israel's situation over the past decades, the clock today still rests at one minute to midnight."
It's a sobering idea.

Between the end of the period covered by the book and today, Arab leaders in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan still claim that all the world's ills are a product of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Western democracies still kowtow to Arab dictators despite the almost unstoppable rise of Islamic fundamentalism. What will it take for the free world to say enough is enough, whatever the price?

Edgar Asher is director of Isranet News and Media Service.

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