georgephillip
Diamond Member
Most Americans US receive a highly biased accounting of how hundreds of millions of Arabs view the United States and its influence on events in Palestine. Professor Shibley Telhami has some insights into the "special relationship" between the US and Israel that the corporate media would rather ignore:
"My journey into understanding Arab hearts and minds began as the cold war ended and just as Iraqs Saddam Hussein was emerging as the perceived winner of the devastating Iraq-Iran war that dominated the 1980s.
"To be exact, it started with a trip to the region that took me to Baghdad in early June 1990, just two months before Iraqs army invaded Kuwait.
"I had taken a leave from teaching political science at Ohio State University to serve, through a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, as advisor to Congressman Lee Hamilton, then chair of the House Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East.
"I would tour the region that spring and summer to research a report for Hamilton on the implications of developments in the region for the global balance of power.
"The Arab governments and people I met and interviewed on that trip were clearly apprehensive about an impending era of American dominance, without the counterweight of the Soviet Union.
"To their minds, America now would be free to intensify its support for Israel, leaving Arabs still more vulnerable. Ever since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the United States had been the principal supplier of cutting-edge weapons to Israel, a substantial provider of economic aid, and Israels protector at the United Nations.
"Indeed, the majority of cases in which the United States employed its veto power at the UN Security Council during the cold war had related to Israel.
"The prevailing sentiment was that American support for Israel stood in the way of compelling Israel to withdraw from the Arab territories it occupied in 1967and that in the post-cold-war era, this would be even more the case.
The World Through Arab Eyes by Shibley Telhami
"My journey into understanding Arab hearts and minds began as the cold war ended and just as Iraqs Saddam Hussein was emerging as the perceived winner of the devastating Iraq-Iran war that dominated the 1980s.
"To be exact, it started with a trip to the region that took me to Baghdad in early June 1990, just two months before Iraqs army invaded Kuwait.
"I had taken a leave from teaching political science at Ohio State University to serve, through a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, as advisor to Congressman Lee Hamilton, then chair of the House Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East.
"I would tour the region that spring and summer to research a report for Hamilton on the implications of developments in the region for the global balance of power.
"The Arab governments and people I met and interviewed on that trip were clearly apprehensive about an impending era of American dominance, without the counterweight of the Soviet Union.
"To their minds, America now would be free to intensify its support for Israel, leaving Arabs still more vulnerable. Ever since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the United States had been the principal supplier of cutting-edge weapons to Israel, a substantial provider of economic aid, and Israels protector at the United Nations.
"Indeed, the majority of cases in which the United States employed its veto power at the UN Security Council during the cold war had related to Israel.
"The prevailing sentiment was that American support for Israel stood in the way of compelling Israel to withdraw from the Arab territories it occupied in 1967and that in the post-cold-war era, this would be even more the case.
The World Through Arab Eyes by Shibley Telhami