Since Israel originated as a state shortly after WWII, this tiny country has attracted massive waves of hatred from the Islamic/Arabic world. Why is this so?

Let me try to analyze the ‘logic’ and reasoning in this hodge-podge of hatred. Some reasons are concrete, other explainable in the context of Arab nation building efforts, whilst the true underlying reasons may have metaphysical and strategic origins:

1. The expulsion of the Palestinians.

Many Palestinians were driven from their homelands. Understandably, this has caused a lot of grief. But is it unusual for the 20th century? Certainly not. Many nations, tribes etc throughout the world have lived through similar events, and have settled their grief ever since. Other than in Europe, where also many people were forcefully displaced, wounds in Palestine have remained open given poverty, and a continuous stream of bombings and revenge attacks.
More important so, the original grief has been preserved, hedged and multiplied as a political weapon. No Arab or Palestinian leader has ever seriously attempted to relieve the suffering of the allochthonous populations. Interestingly, the money sent by the Arab ‘brothers’ ended up in the coffers of the corrupt Arafat clan. Combined with every form of illicit trading, it seems the latter amassed a fortune exceeding a 200 million USD that way. Not a drop reached the needy ones. On the contrary, the impoverished refugees were kept in social pressure cookers to yield harvests of hatred and a reservoir of desperate zealots.

2. The punch-ball logic to obtain unity

Arab nations, never in love with each other and unable to unite beyond a verbal level, have used Israel as a punch-ball to achieve alignment – the perceived weak one is being beaten up by a crowd of the strong. Creating a common focus of aggression was and is used as means to stimulate alignment – a rather perverse tactic that also failed to deliver in the end.

3. Pride, Jealousy, and Sentiments of Humiliation

Many Islamic cultures, such as those of the Middle East, are essentially pride-based. Pride is the feeling that dominates interpersonal, family and business relations. Pride and honor are often valued as more important compared to the value of a human life. Pride cultures only function relatively well, if these are combined with affluence. Israel, having withstood and reversed several Arab onslaughts with great heroism, has damaged Arab pride over time. This may count even more, when considering Israel’s neighboring Islamic governments as failed states. This unfortunately applies for many Muslim-dominated countries. Just look at the ending “stan,” and you’ll find an encyclopedia of human right abuse, wasted resources, repression, controlled-press, the eye of the secret service, suppression of women, dictatorship, corruption, and perhaps even genocide.

4. Poverty and Intellectual Starvation

The situation is being further complicated given the fact that many Islamic (and most of the Arab countries) are very poor. Economically mismanaged, and burdened with ‘wrong’ priorities, these countries are simply outclassed by the rise of the Asian Tiger nations. But even in Asia, countries with a Muslim majority (Indonesia, Philippines) are trailing the pack. Malaysia is doing somewhat better, given (I) a relatively small population, (ii) ample resources and (iii) a substantial population of hard-working Chinese. Fact being that today’s world competition is ruthless, it is not possible any longer to achieve a level of well-being associated with a life-style of ease, and little effort. The Islamic population of the world is above one billion, or around 20 %. This population, however, contributes little to the world, other than oil and gas in a few dedicated spots.

5. The Islamist’s Quest To Dominate The World

To the monotheistic religions, the Holy Land contains many sites of spiritual power. These are burial sites or remnants of previous cultures. The historical claim of evidence for these sites is arguably very strong for the Jewish heritage, fairly strong for the Christian faith, and very weak for Islam. All three religions, however, agree on the importance and power of this Biblical heritage. That’s why these religions are battling to control the precious sites – it has been like this for a long time. Just think about the crusades. Jewish settles are holding out in Hebron, just to control an antique grave that has apparently got some spiritual powers.

In our time, political Islam is pushing hardest for a share of the holy cake. The Holy Land, however, is not only metaphysically important – it is also a source of spiritual power that can be converted into mundane currency. More than that, it is a place of complex geographical and historical crossroads with a high strategic connotation. Many human migrations eventually reaching places as far as the Americas, and Australia, have led through these lands. The exodus from Egypt, as written in the Bible, is in many ways a metaphor for many earlier and forgotten migrations.

The strategically importance of the Holy Land was already understood at the beginnings of the 20th century. On the issue of an independent Jewish State in 1907, a commission convened by the British Prime Minister Campbell-Bannerman issued a report declaring:
"There are people who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources. They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language, one history and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate these people from one another ... if, per chance, this nation were to be unified into one state; it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and would separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never-ending wars. It could also serve as a springboard for the West to gain its coveted objects."

Conclusions and remarks

The bottom-line is that Israel forms the most essential bulwark against Islamism. As long as Israel exists, there won’t be an Islamic domination of the world. Being Israel, she always will be in the focus of Islamist hatred. Though Israel is vital for the preservation of freedom in the world, she cannot and may not continue her policy of counter-terror, without eventually eroding the fundaments of Law and democracy within her borders. One cannot call the other party “terrorists,” whilst engaging in unlawful activities (President Bush is facing the same dilemma in Guantanamo Bay).
For the orthodox believers of the three religions originating from the Bible (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), the writing is on the wall: analyze and rethink your behaviors and traditions. Saying that,” it’s written in the holy book” is not good enough anymore. What fared well in the past won’t work tomorrow, and interpretations of faith have changed all through human history.
Though faith has a reasonable track record in guiding people on an inner level, it is less appropriate to shape society, and has lead and is leading to a string of social disasters. Theocratic societies are systems hardly any (non-perverted) being enjoys. Well-being in the 21st century requires the use of pragmatism, moderate views, and intelligence. The Islamic world should emulate the example of the relatively prosperous Malaysia and Turkey that indicate that societies of Islamic origins can prosper, if the essential requirements (education, law, respect, human rights, and security) are met.


© 2006 by Franz L Kessler