Loading ...Broken Promises and White House Meetings
by Archbishop PHILIP Saliba and Dr. Najib E. Saliba
Broken Promises and White House Meetings (Antakkya Press: Englewood, NJ, 2015), was written by brothers Archbishop PHILIP Saliba and Dr. Najib E. Saliba to explain the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict since the founding of modern-day Israel, as seen through the lens of the policies and actions of American presidents.
The first section, “Part I, Broken Promises,” was written by Dr. Najib Saliba, professor of Middle East history at Worcester State University, in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is an excellent summary of American presidential attitudes toward and involvement in the Arab-Israel conflict, and provides a straightforward account of the history and background of the conflict, as well as the behind-the-scenes machinations. This book is a terrific resource for anyone who wishes to understand the roots of the conflict and its sad and enduring consequences.
People often find the conflict to be too complex to understand and too intractable to resolve. Dr. Saliba’s clear and concise writing cuts through the confusion. He presents the facts and explains the conflict in a way that is understandable and accessible. He also provides analyses and conclusions about the errors in judgment as well as the deliberate acts of duplicity, and their unfortunate consequences.
Each chapter in Part I covers the history of the conflict under a particular American president, beginning with President Eisenhower and ending at Barack Obama’s first term. A conclusion chapter ties it all together. The book demonstrates that, with the exception of President Eisenhower and to some extent a few others, American presidents while giving lip-service to seeking a just and fair resolution, have, in fact, either outright supported Israel (no matter what it does) or have been utterly unable to break through Israel’s intransigence. And it makes clear the reasons why the United States has never been and cannot be a so-called “honest broker”. Dr. Saliba states it quite succinctly in his conclusion: “It has become abundantly clear that the Arabs, especially the Palestinians, cannot depend on American mediation to obtain a fair and equitable settlement with Israel they can live with. America will always favor Israel in negotiations. It has backed Israel politically, economically and militarily…U.S. policy is to keep Israel stronger than all the Arab states combined.” (p. 174)
The current state of affairs in the Middle East have been shaped by the Zionist movement and supported by U.S. policy. The combined efforts have brought the Middle East to its current state of disarray and chaos so that the Arabs cannot unify to control their own destiny. As Dr. Saliba concludes: “For the Arabs to obtain a fair settlement in Palestine they have to realize first and foremost, that solutions do not come from without but from within. They have wasted too much time looking Westward for salvation, only to be met with empty promises, procrastination, and endless negotiations. If the West created the problem in the first place, how can we expect the West to solve it?” (pp. 175-176)
His Eminence PHILIP Saliba dedicated his entire life to the Antiochian Orthodox Church and served as the Archbishop of New York and all North America from 1966 until he passed away in March 2014. As the leader of this vast church, he was able to meet with U.S. presidents as well as other political and spiritual leaders around the world. In part II of the book, Archbishop PHILIP shared his recollections and stories about his meetings with many of these leaders, including his efforts to educate American presidents, many of whom were not well-versed in the history of the Middle East, about the plight of the Palestinians. His brief stories are often funny, sometimes disheartening. Most of the presidents had a skewed, one-sided perception of the Middle East conflict, and a few were barely educated about it at all. For mostly political reasons, they were not interested in understanding both sides of the conflict, despite Archbishop PHILIP’s attempts to explain it to them and put a human face on the conflict. This led to their failed attempts at resolution and, in some cases, their utter indifference to the disastrous consequences of their actions.
Broken Promises and White House Meetings is an excellent primer about the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It provides insight into the American personalities who helped shape the conflict, but who, sadly, could not bring about a just and sustainable resolution. It also has a valuable bibliography. This book is an excellent resource for anyone who is really seeking to understand the history of the conflict and some of the reasons for Arab despair and anger.