Yoram Hazony's thesis is probably not correct

Submitted by Rajeev (United States), Aug 17, 2010 at 23:55

Dear Dr Pipes:

There is no need to explain events with complicated theories when they can be explained with simpler ones. First, Yoram Hazony's theory is probably incorrect because if it were true the people who are opposing Israel would also have opposed other nation-states. They should have, particularly, opposed the Islamic states that have no systematic mechanism to safeguard the rights of their citizens and those of foreigners. But they are only criticizing Israel and the nations that stand by Israel. So, invoking Kant, though sexy, is not sufficient. There are simpler ways to explain people's hatred for Israel. The following factors may be contributing to why people oppose Israel:

.. People are jealous of success. How can a country as small as Israel be more productive than many Islamic nations hundreds of times bigger in size, population and resources than Israel?

.. There is a history of anti-semitism in Europe and anti-judaism in Islam.

.. In the post-colonialist world and in a world where Marxism has already been invented, we have come to believe that every opposition to authority is justified and every war of independence is correct (even if it breaks all rules of civilized interaction).

.. Our standards for good and bad are unsymmetric. One mistake of Israel will make it evil but hundreds of crimes by Islamic fundamentalists will not make them bad. So if the mosque in Manhattan is disallowed, people will raise all sorts of doubts about western democracies. If Saudi Arabia allows no churches, it will still remain a great country.

.. Israel is losing the propaganda game. There are not enough jews to post as many youtube videos as there are Islamists. Not to mention that jews have better things to do than post youtube videos.

.. Last but not the least, the world, as a whole, is going through a Stokholm syndrome. We are held hotages by Islamists and we have learned that opposing them is more expensive than just taking their side.

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