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With the wonderful mix of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran (oh my!), I currently check the Israel news way too much.
During times of calm, I check far less frequently. I receive a newsletter a few times a week that keeps me up-to-date on the vast majority of the top issues going on in the country. And that’s more than enough for me.
But when things get crazy–and that’s not an uncommon phenomenon–I’m glued to the news. I keep it open 24/7 in my browser, and I check it to see if there are any updates that are essential to know for practical reasons or just general awareness of what’s happening in my home.
See the Patterns
If you pay attention too long, you start noticing patterns. You start seeing how certain news outlets react to things. What stories they choose to tell, and what gets left behind.
For example, many don’t realize how many attempted terror attacks happen in Israel. If someone is murdered, that usually makes the news everywhere. But if someone is “lightly injured” or no one was hurt at all, then it’s agenda dependent. If you want to present Israel as a scary place, inundated by terror, you want to print as many stories as possible to support that narrative. If your goal or hope is peace and understanding with the neighbors, you want terror presented as an uncomfortable aberration. Showing every last attempt at Arab’s maiming people would not advance your cause.
And the news outlets take advantage of the laziness of the readers, in the hopes to push forward a narrative, and to get eyes on their sites. It’s effective… but dishonest. And in the big picture, I think they undermine their own integrity. And they make so many of us long for a medium to get our information that is exactly that: Information. No commentary. No manipulation. No agenda. No bias. Just the facts on the table, so we can form our own thoughts and opinions about what’s going on in the world.
It’s wishful thinking. But still an ideal.
The Enticing Headline
The other day I saw a headline interesting and enticing enough that I decided to click and find out what the bigger story was. It basically said that five or so countries had declared that Iran should not strike Israel. Yes, Iran was pissed that Israel killed a Hamas leader on their land. But it was not in their best interest to retaliate, according to these countries. They’re better served just cooling off for a few days and then moving on. Letting it go.
I opened the article because I was intrigued. Were fellow influential Arab nations coming forward and pushing Iran to not escalate things? Maybe Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were waving their influence around, and pushing its brethren toward a measured and, dare I say, modern approach to regional conflict resolution. Or perhaps it was nations like Russia and China. These giants towered above puny Iran and maybe warned them that they might reduce their support if Iran didn’t back up slowly into a bush, a la Homer Simpson.
But no.
Italy Waves its Finger
The nations flexing their might and pushing Iran toward restraint were all Western European countries, like Italy and France, telling Iran their way is not the right way.
And my head dropped in a combination of emotions. Defeat. Confusion. Even a small smidgeon of laughter.
What in the world makes these countries think Iran cares at all about their opinions? All I think when I see things like this is that the Western World is far too out of touch with the Middle Eastern mindset to be even remotely involved with negotiations here.
The West knows about money. And politics. They don’t want war to touch their lands. They don’t want their citizens harmed. And they take being reasonable and having adult conversations as a sign of strength.
Iran and the Middle Eastern Mentality
The Middle East is filled with religious zealotry. It’s packed with idealism. It sees greater causes then just earning money and getting reelected. And many are willing to die for their causes. Or are at least willing to sacrifice the safety and security of their own people if it will advance their cause.
When Israel stepped on Iran’s toes, so to speak, Iran didn’t hesitate. They sent missiles and drones to pummel Israel, damn the consequences. In their eyes, they were attacking the enemy. They wanted to bring death and devastation. Their mission failed. Miserably. But it doesn’t change the goal. And their mentality has not shifted.
Some Middle Eastern countries have started to develop a bit of a Western mind. Those countries are capable of creating and maintaining peace treaties with Israel. They’ve learned to enjoy the benefits of not living through constant war and bloodshed. They decided that missiles landing on them is not their lifestyle of choice.
But it certainly wasn’t always that way.
A few short decades ago, they were attacking Israel left and right. And even when they were soundly defeated, just a few years later they’d lick their wounds and try again. Many of those countries have grown a lot since then. Iran is not one of them, at least insofar as it keeps itself heavily involved in regional conflicts.
The West is Out of Touch
The United States found itself face-to-face with a nation like that at the beginning of the 20th century. Two of its most iconic buildings came crashing down. Thousands of lives were lost. No one at the time considered negotiating with the Taliban. Nobody threw around phrases like “disproportionate force”. And no one made any silly assumptions that waving angry Western fingers would make a lick of a difference.
But that was a whopping twenty years ago.
And now Italy, a nation that a couple of generations ago fought alongside Adolf Hitler, can now wave a peeved finger at Iran, make a bunch of frustrated grunts, and can seriously imagine a reality where the Ayatollah will look at them and say, “Oh, so sorry my Italian brethren. Mi dispiace. We didn’t realize our actions would upset people as important as you. We’ll tone down our threats and rhetoric. It won’t happen again. All apologies!”
The Western World could not be more out of touch with the mentality of the region. And it’s to the detriment of the entire universe.
