24 August 2011

Israel as Xanax for the Arab world

Starting with the demise of Mubarak's regime (actually, with the military putsch that deposed him, let's be precise), the anti-Israeli sentiments, so rife in Egypt, were given a free rein. Which is good, in general: people must be free to display their true feelings, even if we may be unhappy with some of them.


Still, when you see something like this going on in the center of the country - where most of the citizens live below the poverty line, where no one knows what tomorrow will bring (most probably, it will be some kind of Islamist/military-controlled government), where sectarian fighting is on the rise - the attention given to Israel is quite outstanding, wouldn't you agree?

And the explanation (courtesy of Elder of Ziyon) is fairly simple and straightforward:
Israel is our security blanket, our Xanax—call it what you will. We are a people who don’t want to consider any alternative to a safe but ultimately stunting worldview that casts Tel Aviv as the villain. Buying into Israel as the bogeyman is the drug we take to assure ourselves all is well.
Notice that the author of these words is far from being a Zionist.

Says it all, doesn't it?

4 comments:

Katie said...

It must be warming to know that your country is nothing more than a blankee to make you feel better about yourselves.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Yes, I already feel encouraged by the fact.

jams o donnell said...

It's an ancient ploy but poor arbs have fallen for the old trick. Then again I daresay it is easy to point to Israel than to make Andorra the scapegoat...

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Yeah, Andorra stays hidden for too long. Someone must put an end to their obscurity.