On the Middle East Crisis
From SP Boston
[edit] International Commission Statement on the Middle East Crisis, 21 July 2006
- Eric Chester
- Convener, International Commission, SP-USA
The crisis in the Middle East is only the latest in a long series of military confrontations that have devastated the region during the last five decades. The use of violence cannot resolve the complex problems that plague the relationship between Israel and its neighbors. As a first step, we call for Israel to stop bombing Lebanon and for Hezbollah to stop launching missiles into Israel. In both cases, civilians suffer most of the casualties from these attacks. A cease fire arrangement will also have to include an exchange of prisoners, as Hezbollah and Hamas return the three Israeli soldiers and Israel releases some of the many political prisoners it holds.
Such an arrangement can make it possible for the region to pull back from the abyss of a full-scale war. Nevertheless, a genuine peace will never be established as long as the underlying problems remain. The Socialist Party believes that the process of bringing peace to the region must begin with Israel's total withdrawal from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Such a withdrawal is a prerequisite for the creation of a Palestinian state with any degree of viability.
Still, the problems of the region run deeper than Israeli military aggression. Israel is a theocracy, where Jews are given special privileges and where Jewish religious rules are imposed upon Muslims, as well as those who do not follow any religion. We believe that Israel needs to move rapidly toward a secular state in which all citizens, whatever their ethnic background or religious beliefs, if any, are entitled to the same rights and opportunities.
Unfortunately, Israeli military aggression, in cooperation with U.S. imperialism, has pushed many Middle Eastern Muslims toward Islamic fundamentalism. Iran, which supplies significant aid to Hezbollah, is also a religious theocracy, and a brutal and dictatorial one at that. As democratic Socialists, we reject entirely the ideology and practice of Shia fundamentalism, as represented by Iran and Hezbollah, as well as the Sunni fundamentalism represented by Saudi Arabia and Hamas. Indeed, the Socialist Party USA is opposed to every form of religious fundamentalism, and we stand wholeheartedly for the complete separation of church, mosque and synagogue from the state.
At the same time, we cannot permit our distaste for Islamic fundamentalism to undermine our adamant opposition to the use of U.S. military force to overthrow the Iranian mullahs. U.S. military threats have already solidified the Iranian regime, while making it more difficult for democratic, secular groups to organize.
The total withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem would create a context in which closer ties could be forged between secular groupings within Israel, whether of Jewish or Arab background, and secular groupings in Palestine. These links would provide the basis for a movement toward a secular unified multi-ethnic state where Arabs and Jews can live together in peace with justice.