How large a force is support for Israel in American culture and, beyond that, in global political life? How much of life does this question divide? That is a big question.
When Arabs talk about this issue, Tom Friedman dismisses them as conspiracists. I don’t. I think that support for Israel is a large factor in American culture and politics, but I just don’t know how big, and I try and be concrete about what iron filings are following the magnet. Earlier today I posted a piece saying that Elizabeth Taylor was an ardent Zionist– not a bad career move, though it meant that Egypt wouldn’t allow the film “Cleopatra” to be shot there in the early 60s. (A little like Kate Winslet doing a Holocaust movie and getting an Oscar. Or Natalie Portman working for Dershowitz at Harvard and helping him on his book The Case for Israel; seems to have worked out for her.) Yesterday I said that the body count for American support for Israel included Bobby Kennedy.
At LRB, Jonathan Steele has an excellent, uplifting report from the Tunisian revolution including many stories of the people’s political sophistication. (Here is the link, though sorry only subscribers can read the whole thing…) It includes this interesting analysis of the reluctance of the leading party, the Nahda, or Islamist party, to push any kind of fundamentalist agenda:
There were two things Tunisians, including Nahda supporters, would not sacrifice [Ari Larayedh, a member of the Nahda executive] said: to live by the rules of modernity, and to remain faithful to their Arab identity and the values of Islam. There is a reason for Nahda’s caution. Although Tunisia is not a front-line state in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, outside powers are watching it closely: ‘If Nahda beomes the main force that controls the political game, this could add new problems rather than solve old ones. Tunisia cannot afford any extra pressure on people’s lifelines, given our fragile economy, weak trading position and huge debts.’
Fascinating. So one arc of binding energy in the Arab world continues to be globalized support for Israel. And it affects even the revolutionaries.
