Israel a "failed state"
Defining moments
US think tanks may have coined the term "failed state". They refuse, though, to apply it to Israel, the one state that meets all their criteria for failure, argues Gamil Mattar A "failed state", according to the US think tanks that coined the term, is one headed for extinction, that threatens the security of its immediate neighbours and the wider international community because it triggers conflict and war and practises various forms of discrimination against groups or peoples under its control or within the range of its threat.
My generation has seen the birth of many nations. Within the space of two or three decades after World War II, UN membership doubled, swelled by newly independent states from Africa and Asia. The bets at the time were on the ability of these nations to survive and it was a general optimism that won out. Moreover, the newly independent nations continued to survive in the face of enormous obstacles thrown up by international powers and despite enormous mistakes committed by new ruling elites that were either corrupt or insufficiently trained in the principles of government. Most of these nations still exist, persisting doggedly in the face of cruel circumstances. Others are floundering, but refuse to be intimidated by American claims that they are failed states, which is to say on the verge of extinction. I have never heard anyone, in an official or non-official capacity from the nations that emerged in the post-World War II period, whether successful or not so successful, discuss the likelihood of the disappearance of their state. The sole exception to this rule is Israel.
On the very day it was established Israel's founders articulated their fears of the extinction of their state, the same "threat of extinction" that has been chorused until today, when Israel is celebrating the 60th anniversary. The refrain has been chorused by Jews in Israel and Jews abroad, by Jews of every political stripe -- secular, liberal, conservative, ultraconservative, extremist, fundamentalist and terrorist -- and by the new Jews who are sometimes discovered in Africa, India, China and emerging nations in Asia. The refrain is echoed by neo-conservatives in the US, by the advocates of the revival of conventional colonialism, and by proponents and apologists of the neo- colonialist enterprise. It has also been taken up, albeit in a pitiful way, by Arab media figures, politicians, academics and others on whom the term "neo-colonised persons" might be applied.
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US think tanks may have coined the term "failed state". They refuse, though, to apply it to Israel, the one state that meets all their criteria for failure, argues Gamil Mattar A "failed state", according to the US think tanks that coined the term, is one headed for extinction, that threatens the security of its immediate neighbours and the wider international community because it triggers conflict and war and practises various forms of discrimination against groups or peoples under its control or within the range of its threat.
My generation has seen the birth of many nations. Within the space of two or three decades after World War II, UN membership doubled, swelled by newly independent states from Africa and Asia. The bets at the time were on the ability of these nations to survive and it was a general optimism that won out. Moreover, the newly independent nations continued to survive in the face of enormous obstacles thrown up by international powers and despite enormous mistakes committed by new ruling elites that were either corrupt or insufficiently trained in the principles of government. Most of these nations still exist, persisting doggedly in the face of cruel circumstances. Others are floundering, but refuse to be intimidated by American claims that they are failed states, which is to say on the verge of extinction. I have never heard anyone, in an official or non-official capacity from the nations that emerged in the post-World War II period, whether successful or not so successful, discuss the likelihood of the disappearance of their state. The sole exception to this rule is Israel.
On the very day it was established Israel's founders articulated their fears of the extinction of their state, the same "threat of extinction" that has been chorused until today, when Israel is celebrating the 60th anniversary. The refrain has been chorused by Jews in Israel and Jews abroad, by Jews of every political stripe -- secular, liberal, conservative, ultraconservative, extremist, fundamentalist and terrorist -- and by the new Jews who are sometimes discovered in Africa, India, China and emerging nations in Asia. The refrain is echoed by neo-conservatives in the US, by the advocates of the revival of conventional colonialism, and by proponents and apologists of the neo- colonialist enterprise. It has also been taken up, albeit in a pitiful way, by Arab media figures, politicians, academics and others on whom the term "neo-colonised persons" might be applied.
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