Arab Journalist: Engage American Jews

Youssef Ibrahim, a former reporter for the New York Times, writes in the Beirut Daily Star: Engage American Jews, all else has failed the Arab world.

"Why talk to American Jews? Because they are a diverse, powerful and focused community. Many among them are fair and moderate and will not insist on crushing the other side, knowing they have already won. American Jews have made it repeatedly clear they agree on one thing: the need to assure the safety of Israel. There is nothing wrong with that, as Arabs and Muslims, similarly, claim that their main interest is the well-being of the Palestinians, and now that of their Iraqi brethren.

"Within these parameters, the American-Jewish community holds a multitude of views on Israel and how best to defend its interests. Many of these views run counter to those of the current Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and in fact meet halfway with those of moderate Arabs. More important, it is naive and self-defeating to see American Jews as mere puppets of Israel. American Jews can tell Israel what to do because they pay for Israel's economic well-being, and have pressured Israel many times in the past to change its policies, as we saw during the 1956 Suez crisis and, more recently, during the Oslo process."

Comments

[Jonathan Edelstein]

You know, it's so crazy it just might work. Actually, given the stake that both the Jewish and Palestinian diasporas have in the conflict, maybe the next peace conference should include representatives of both in addition to the Israeli and Palestinian governments.

[Jonathan Edelstein]

One thing I think Ibrahim has wrong, though - American Jews don't "pay for Israel's economic well-being." Israel has a $100 billion economy, very little of which comes from American Jewish remittances. The Israeli government relies on American Jews for political rather than economic support, which still gives them leverage but of a different kind.