Recently, General Petreaus stated that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict foments “anti-American sentiment” in the Middle East before the Senate. He went into further detail about this belief in a report that he submitted to the Joint Chiefs, that was part of an argument to add Israel to CENTCOM. Although I think Petreaus’s main motivation behind his statements was to attempt to move Israel in CENTCOM’s AO (which has been debated for years), I take issue with how much the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (more specifically the supposed plight of the Palestinian people) really shapes Arab attitudes toward the US.
There is no doubt that Islamist terrorist groups use the conflict as a propaganda tool against the United States. However, even if we were more forceful with Israel in pushing to make peace or even if we went as far as not to recognize their right to exist, groups like Al Qaida or Hezbollah would still attack us because we do not adhere to their radical version of Islam. Those in the anti-Israel camp (both left and right) like to push the line that the main reason why Al Qaida launches attacks against us is simply because we support Israel, which is of course nonsense. I also do not dispute that there are millions of Arabs who sympathize with the Palestinians and who view the United States as a tool of Israel.
However if you look at how most Arab governments have behaved towards Israel in the last two decades and how they treat their own large Palestinian populations, it is clear that the Arabs aren’t exactly as anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian as the media portrays them. Even though most Arab governments still don’t recognize the right of Israel to exist, they aren’t opening plotting to destroy Israel anymore and aren’t lending the Palestinians a lot of material support. Even in 2006 when Israel invaded Lebanon, there was no military opposition from other Arab governments. This includes Syria which is arguably the most anti-Israel country in the region had military and political interests in Lebanon. After their complete and utter defeat in five wars at the hands of the Israelis, obviously most Arab governments grew wary of throwing valuable military resources against one of the world’s best fighting forces. In addition, they realized that it really doesn’t matter for them and their people whether or not Israel builds a few new settlements in the West Bank or whether or not Israel occupies Gaza. Most have larger problems to worry about. Granted, at times Israel is convenient punching bag for some Arab leaders to distract their people from their own leadership failures. But the days of that rhetoric turning into serious military action or support for Palestinian terrorist groups seem to be over.
How many Arab countries treat their own Palestinian populations says a lot as well. Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt restrict the movement of Palestinians within their own countries and usually confine them to refugee camps. Jordan even fought a war against its Palestinian population in the 1970s. After the PLO supported Saddam Huessin during Desert Storm, most of the wealthy gulf states kicked their Palestinian populations out. Obviously, these Arab governments treat their Palestinians “brothers” worse than the Israelis do.
I’ve talked a lot here about how many people like to paint the Middle East in broad strokes. Again, here is another example of a complex issue that just can’t be simplified to bash American policies in the Middle East.