Donald K. Allen for President

Top of the Week

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Middle East has been the focus of international attention for 60 years. The birth of Israel and the discovery of huge oil reserves have made the area politically and religiously controversial and economically important to our country and the rest of the industrialized world. Unrest is a mild term to apply to the area, since many wars have been fought in the Middle East during this period and terrorism still flourishes there. A lasting peace seems just a dream.

The United States of America was the first country to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation, and we have supported Israel’s right to exist ever since. I do not believe that our moral and military support will ever wane. I do, however, believe that Israel’s influence over our government and the decisions of our Congress must end. The Israeli government finds more consensus in our House and Senate than they do in their own Knesset. Any member of Congress that opposes a bill favoring Israel with our tax dollars or military aid is immediately labeled ‘anti-Semitic’ by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is tantamount to political suicide for them in future elections. This kind of pressure must end.

As a Christian, by definition and practice, I cannot be anti-Semitic because Jesus was a Jew. A truer definition of anti-Semitism is someone who opposes ‘a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs,’ according to Webster. But the term in this country is a red flag indicating bigotry and religious intolerance. Speaking out against any injustice does not make one anti- anything other than injustice.

The leader of Iran stating that he will destroy Israel is a threat to world peace as well as the survival of a single nation. Two things are needed in the Middle East to ever bring about a lasting peace. First, Israel must be held accountable for all its actions, just as it holds the Palestinians accountable for theirs. An eye for an eye must stop throughout this region, and Islam must destroy the support for and encouragement of terrorism. Secondly, the world must end its dependence on oil and declare the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) an illegal global monopoly. We can only find an alternative to oil through huge investment in research and by breaking the petroleum industry’s grip on our government. The primacy of oil must end.

As your next President, I will ensure fairness in international relations, repeal trade agreements that are causing economic devastation in America, and work with both Israel and Islamic countries to create a Palestinian nation, and I will use American financial support as the primary leverage. Regardless, I will ensure the survival of Israel as a nation.