How to Create MORE Islamic Extremists....

If ever there was any doubt, that the West's unconditional support of Israel fomented more violence in the Middle East, the latest developments in Israel and Gaza are the perfect case in point.

For the slow learners in the Republican party, any straggling Neo-Con sympathizers out there I offer below, an excerpt from today's NY Times article on the anger in Egypt. It's growing. It's predictable and it's understandable.

I have railed against Israel's blatant military blitz on the Palestinian people in other posts, so I will assume my position on that is clear and a given on the prison camp that is Gaza. What I want to say is that in my opinion, the Palestinian plight is THE issue of this century. Unless and until the Palestinian people have their OWN SOVEREIGN nation in their own land, going back to the 1967 borders, there will be no Peace possible in the Middle East. Period. THAT is the crux of the matter. Forget oil, forget "strategies" of the West and it's military fantasies about bases, control of resources etc. It's about Palestine.

US support and funding of Israel makes us a TARGET. Period. WE are part of the problem and the Muslim world KNOWS it. Iran knows it. Syria knows it. For sure, the people in the streets of Egypt KNOW it. Now they also know that their government, being allied with Israel is part of the problem too. From the NY Times:

Nowhere in the Arab world is the gap between the street and the government so wide as here in Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel and has refused to allow free passage of goods and people through its border with Gaza, a decision that has been attacked by Islamic and Arab leaders and proved deeply troubling to many Egyptians. And so the government of President Hosni Mubarak appeared to lean back on its standard formula for preserving authority at Friday Prayer, relying on its security forces to keep calm on the street and government religious institutions like Al Azhar to try to appease public sentiment, in this case by lashing out at the Jews in response to Gaza.

“The pressure is mounting on Egypt,” said Abdel Raouf el-Reedy, a former Egyptian ambassador to the United States. “How come you keep the Israeli ambassador here? How come you keep the Egyptian ambassador in Israel? How come you still export gas to Israel in spite of a court order to stop? The system is on the defensive. Public opinion is more clearly on the side of Hamas.”

The mood on the streets of Cairo feels somber, dark, dejected. There is a heavy security presence. Armed riot police officers are massed outside of professional organizations, like the Doctor’s Syndicate, that are often run by members aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, the officially outlawed but tolerated Islamic movement. Massive troop carriers clog small side streets.

Over three days of interviews here, people seemed deflated about the public criticism their country had received, let down by the failure of their own government to help the Palestinians and sickened by the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, not only combatants but many women and children as well. Over and over, Egyptians said they felt the only ones they could trust were the Islamists — not their government.

There you have it. The Islamic religionists are going to rise to more prominence. They are the only ones speaking out, forcefully against the actions of Israel. They are earning more and more legitimacy and respect everyday. Is that what we want? It's not what I want; being a woman, I have to say the idea of Medieval religionists seeking to create a Caliphate gaining more power is not in MY best interest or the interest of women everywhere. However, I can understand how this is happening. Our greedy, stupid, callous, paranoid Western stance on Israel/Palestine is the fuel for the propulsion of Islamic fundamentalism. It IS that simple.