De Amr Yossef, In defense of reason, not Israel.
1. Israel works to weaken Egypt
Common among conspiracy theorists in Egypt is the notion that Israel wants an Egypt that is weakened, divided, and torn by sectarian violence. (…)
In fact, a stable Egypt is in Israel’s interest. A divided Egypt might turn into another Iran, where organized Islamists took over a shattered state after a democracy-seeking uprising. Alternatively, it might turn into another Lebanon, where state weakness allows actors like Hezbollah to attack Israel at will. Would Israel be interested in creating a similar situation in which Jihadists join Hamas and operate from Egypt? Of course not.
At best, a chaotic Egypt might turn into a Mexico (or a Pakistan?) where another weak state fails to stop cross-border illegal immigration, drug and weapons trafficking. Thousands of African illegal immigrants enter Israeli territory from Sinai each year, despite measures taken by Egyptian authorities. Skyrocketing numbers of African infiltrators, drugs, let alone explosives, would reach Israel in case the Egyptian government loses control, or is domestically too busy to control borders.
None of these scenarios are good for Israel, and therefore it would certainly be interested not in undermining Egypt, but rather in an in-control, stable government in Cairo to keep the peace, and maintain order on the southern border.2. Israel wants to occupy Egypt
The conventional view that Israel plans to occupy Egypt or re-occupy Sinai is part of a broader myth that Israel’s long-term strategic objective, out of Jewish religious beliefs, is to rule from the Nile to the Euphrates. Alleged “evidence” maintains that over the Knesset’s entrance hangs a map asserting that “the Land of Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates,” and that the Israeli flag’s two horizontal blue lines represent the Nile and the Euphrates rivers. Yet the truth is that there is no such a map in the Knesset, and the lines in Israel’s flag are derived from the design of the traditional Jewish prayer shawl.
The “Greater Israel” claim is as true as the contention that Muslims plan to establish a world-ruling Islamic caliphate. Some ultra-extremists might want to, but the vast majority does not even think of it. First, it would take a fairly insane Israeli leadership to bear the massive military and economic burden of invading a country of Egypt’s scale. Note that occupational experiences have exhausted Israel in areas as small as the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon, and even the West Bank. Second, paradoxically, this claim contradicts another generally accepted view by the Egyptian public asserting that Israel is militarily superior and enjoys full, unconditional US support. Why, if this really is the case, has Israel not attempted an invasion? The answer is simple: Israel is satisfied with the current status-quo — in which, it perceives, Israel is the one deterring its neighbors and not vice versa — and is not interested in a territorial expansion that would go far beyond its capabilities.3. Israel is all-powerful
Most Egyptians apparently believe that the premises of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, displayed in an Egyptian TV series titled “A Horseman without a Horse” in 2002, are true. Within this framework, obviously inflated notions — such as that Israel exploited agricultural cooperation with Egypt to either cultivate cancer-causing products in Egyptian soil or export these products to Egypt, and that the Mossad stood behind the December 2010 fatal shark attacks to hit tourism in Egypt’s Red Sea resorts — are easily accepted. Notwithstanding that such allegations have no factual or logical grounds, no one stops to ask why should an Israel facing serious security challenges (Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.) busy itself with that kind of stuff.
On a larger scale, Israel, or the Jewish people (as people hardly distinguish between Jews and Israelis), is viewed as a mighty force that rules the world through Jewish communities. It follows that any Israeli (or Jewish) economic or cultural activity in Egypt is seen as part of a “grand plan” to penetrate the society and gradually pervade all walks of life. While the Israel lobby in the US and elsewhere is truly powerful, the claim that the Jewish state controls the world provides, unfortunately, a tool to cover up one’s own failures than a realistic proof.
That these misconceptions are shared by a large part of the Egyptian public, which in a representative democracy will significantly influence the foreign policy agenda, is disappointing. That is because the revolution against the old regime has not yet removed old myths which deny the public opinion credible and informed judgments, regardless of whether a democratic Egypt would see in Israel a friend or a foe.
Pedro Sette-Câmara
André Azevedo Alves
Carlos Guimarães Pinto
Helder Ferreira
Bruno Garschagen
João Luís Pinto
LA
Bruno Alves
Miguel Botelho Moniz
ruicarmo
Miguel Noronha
Elizabete Dias
António Costa Amaral (AA)
LT
Rui Oliveira
BZ
dos ∫antos
André Abrantes Amaral
planca12
rui a.
Rodrigo Adão da Fonseca
Adolfo Mesquita Nunes
Michael Seufert
Luciano
Carlos M. Fernandes
Maria João Marques
jtcb
Nuno Branco
elisabetejoaquim
filipeabrantes
Tomás Belchior
Bruno Gonçalves
Ricardo G. Francisco
Tiago Loureiro
Ricardo Campelo de Magalhães
Filipe Faria
Ricardo Arroja
Ricardo Lima
O Israel quer um Egipto estavel que satisfaca os interesses deles. Sobre o ponto de “Israel is all powerful.” Eh obvio que eh e especialmente para as populacoes em redor dela. 1- Reconhecer que o Israel tem um lobby poderissimo, senao o mais poderoso lobby no pais militarmente mais poderoso no mundo e fazer dessa relacao com o estado de Israel inconsequente eh irreal. Para alem disso, e irrespectivamente do lobby, o Israel continuaria a ser “all-powerful” naquela zona devido ao seu exercito subsidiado por americanos que contem centenas de armas nucleares vs. nenhumas nos outros paises a volta que nao simpatizam com Israel.
E possivel mesmo defender intelectualmente o Estado de Israel em algum sentido?
Comentário por Scott Lipton — Maio 31, 2011 @ 04:28
Israel existe e prefere viver em harmonia, por muito que isso aborreça quem o queira tirar do mapa. Não lamento a sua angústia, mas é a vidinha. Amr Yossef percebeu-o e escreve sobre isso, desmitificando os mitos que os soctts liptons insistem em acenar.
Outro ponto básico, na política e relações internacionais, não existem estados de alma mas interesses. É do interesse dos vizinhos – Egipto e Israel – “darem-se” de forma civilizada. A todos beneficia.
Comentário por ruicarmo — Maio 31, 2011 @ 09:18
“E possivel mesmo defender intelectualmente o Estado de Israel em algum sentido?”
Mais um anti-semita.Imoral e Ignorante como era de esperar. Só a cidade do Cairo com vários milhões de habitantes – quase tantos como Israel inteiro- basta para engolir o exército israelita.
“ao seu exercito subsidiado por americanos” – 2 “biliões americanos” de Dólares para comprar equipamento aos americanos – Só o Governo Português pediu emprestado no ano passado 19 mil milhões ou 19 biliões americanos…
Israel é o país mais avançado e mais respeitador dos direitos humanos no mundo. É só olhar para as guerras no mundo e comparar.
Comentário por lucklucky — Maio 31, 2011 @ 18:38
“Israel é o país mais avançado e mais respeitador dos direitos humanos no mundo.”
Caro lucklucky,
Ao menos podia ter trazido disso que está a fumar para todos.
Comentário por João Luís Pinto — Maio 31, 2011 @ 18:41