The Arab world, driven by Islam, see interactions with others as a power dynamic. No scholar of the Middle East ignores this, and the history of the Arab world is rife with examples. Yet the elites in the halls of American power ignore those lessons, or simply never learned them.
Just read Bernard Lewis, the great scholar of the Arab world, if you want a glimpse into the Arab mind. No post-modernist he!
The reality is that our “betters” in Washington seem to think that Hamas and Hezbollah are just like us! And they aren’t. They see the world from the standpoint of strength vs. weakness, and our incessant and tedious assumptions that they seek some sort of benign Jeffersonian democracy for their subjects, hysterically contrary to their plainly spoken goals, makes them think that we are weak and can be manipulated and outlasted.
And they are correct.
Gaza’s Understanding of U.S. Humanitarian Aid: A “Free Lunch”
Gazans interpret U.S. humanitarian aid without a quid pro quo as unqualified American support for Hamas and Gaza and a rejection of Israel. Gazans note that the United States helps them more than the Arab states. Therefore, Gazans interpret U.S. aid as an implicit justification for their actions on October 7, 2023. Gaza views American air drops, seaport plans, and aid convoys as concrete illustrations of American solidarity with Palestinian “liberation,” which aims to eradicate Israel. Unconditional aid strengthens the Gazans’ sense of self-righteousness and understanding that October 7 was a milestone in achieving victory in their dedication to never-ending jihad against the Jewish state.
We telegraph our weakness with every unilateral action. Israel telegraphed its weakness with its own many unilateral concessions.
Israel has seen the folly of its ways and has begun a paradigm shift inside its halls of power. America keeps plodding along, ignoring the obvious lessons about how to deal with the Arab world in general, and Hamas specifically. “Send them mountains of humanitarian aid…they’ll love us!”
No…they will hate us for being weak and not demanding concessions before the aid is given, and they will harden their stance towards any American-led initiatives. Hamas has stolen billions from the West and created their own horrible little world where they wield sole power. Giving them more aid simply reinforces the status quo, and emboldens them that their dystopian nightmare of a world-view is the correct one!
Israel seems to be threading the needle by controlling the aid and keeping it from Hamas, all the while planning their ultimate destruction. Whether they can withstand the pressure from America and the West to let Hamas off the hook and live to fight another day remains to be seen, but the tone in Israel has changed. The Biden/Obama junta is actively undermining the Israeli efforts by sending exactly the wrong message.
President Trump understood the respect for power in the Arab world, and was far more successful than any other American administration. The Abraham Accords was a perfect template for Western influence in the Middle East, and the undermining of Trump’s efforts is one reason why Hamas felt emboldened to carry out its Pogrom.
If one is pro-Israel, there is no other vote in November…a second Trump presidency will shift the Middle East back toward a rational examination of Israel, America, and the possibility of dragging itself into the modern world. That means confronting Iran once and for all. Regime change is the only answer. And that would calm the region far more than any ridiculous “Two-State Solution” ever could!
Remember the fable of the frog and the scorpion. Or the song about the pretty woman and the snake.