Rudolph Giuliani"s Middle East Policy
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Giuliani is the most pro-Israel candidate in the GOP field. In 2002, he said, “Israel is the only outpost of freedom and democracy in the Middle East and the only absolutely reliable friend of the United States.” He has not yet developed a coherent policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue. But in sharp contrast with Hillary Rodham Clinton, who wants to restore America’s mediation role in the peace process, Giuliani says that “[t]oo much emphasis has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians—negotiation that bring up the same issues again and again.” For now, Giuliani opposes the creation “of another state that will support terrorism,” presuming a prospective Palestinian state guilty of terrorism and putting it on Palestinians to prove their innocence first.
Giuliani gained populist notoriety in 1995 when he had Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yaser Arafat ejected from a New York Philharmonic concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, organized partly by Giuliani to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. Arafat was in town to speak at the United Nations. “I would not invite Yasir Arafat to anything, anywhere, anytime, anyplace,” Giuliani said. Following the 9/11 attacks, Giuliani accepted a $10 million contribution to the 9/11 victims’ families from Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal (who’s also donated $20 million to Harvard and $20 million to Georgetown to advance the study of Islam). The check was cashed, but Giuliani rejected the money when Bin Talal was quoted saying that “the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause.”
During Giuliani’s eight years as mayor, crime in New York continued to decline, as it had in the previous administration, the police force was enlarged, and various parts of the city, especially its red-light districts, were sanitized and, as in Times Square, replaced with tourist-friendly re-developments.
Giuliani’s administration as mayor was nevertheless unremarkable and frequently marred by controversy and misjudgments. City policing was harsh and civil suits against police soared under his administration. New York firefighters criticized him severely for not updating the city’s emergency telecommunications system despite a report in the early 1990s, following the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, that called for modernization. The death of scores of firefighters on 9/11 was blamed on a lack of proper communications, as firefighters inside the second tower—after the first fell—never heard the warning to leave the building immediately: their radios couldn’t capture the signal. While mayor, Giuliani was also criticized for locating the Office of Emergency Management, including huge diesel tanks for back-up generators, on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center, which also collapsed.
Giuliani’s foreign policy is louder than it is defined. It combines rhetorical elements of big-stick, Ronald Reagan-like foreign policy backed by enormous military power with a continuation of Bush administration wars on many fronts by virtually the same means. While Giuliani’s outline of why and where the United States must fight and remain open-endedly on the offensive, his strategy for how to sustain the fight without further alienating allies and other regimes in the Arab-Islamic world is non-existent.
On Israel and Palestine
Giuliani is the most pro-Israel candidate in the GOP field. In 2002, he said, “Israel is the only outpost of freedom and democracy in the Middle East and the only absolutely reliable friend of the United States.” He has not yet developed a coherent policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue. But in sharp contrast with Hillary Rodham Clinton, who wants to restore America’s mediation role in the peace process, Giuliani says that “[t]oo much emphasis has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians—negotiation that bring up the same issues again and again.” For now, Giuliani opposes the creation “of another state that will support terrorism,” presuming a prospective Palestinian state guilty of terrorism and putting it on Palestinians to prove their innocence first.
Opposition to the Palestinian Cause
Giuliani gained populist notoriety in 1995 when he had Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yaser Arafat ejected from a New York Philharmonic concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, organized partly by Giuliani to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. Arafat was in town to speak at the United Nations. “I would not invite Yasir Arafat to anything, anywhere, anytime, anyplace,” Giuliani said. Following the 9/11 attacks, Giuliani accepted a $10 million contribution to the 9/11 victims’ families from Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal (who’s also donated $20 million to Harvard and $20 million to Georgetown to advance the study of Islam). The check was cashed, but Giuliani rejected the money when Bin Talal was quoted saying that “the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause.”
Giuliani as Mayor of New York City
During Giuliani’s eight years as mayor, crime in New York continued to decline, as it had in the previous administration, the police force was enlarged, and various parts of the city, especially its red-light districts, were sanitized and, as in Times Square, replaced with tourist-friendly re-developments.
Giuliani’s administration as mayor was nevertheless unremarkable and frequently marred by controversy and misjudgments. City policing was harsh and civil suits against police soared under his administration. New York firefighters criticized him severely for not updating the city’s emergency telecommunications system despite a report in the early 1990s, following the first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, that called for modernization. The death of scores of firefighters on 9/11 was blamed on a lack of proper communications, as firefighters inside the second tower—after the first fell—never heard the warning to leave the building immediately: their radios couldn’t capture the signal. While mayor, Giuliani was also criticized for locating the Office of Emergency Management, including huge diesel tanks for back-up generators, on the 23rd floor of 7 World Trade Center, which also collapsed.
In Sum
Giuliani’s foreign policy is louder than it is defined. It combines rhetorical elements of big-stick, Ronald Reagan-like foreign policy backed by enormous military power with a continuation of Bush administration wars on many fronts by virtually the same means. While Giuliani’s outline of why and where the United States must fight and remain open-endedly on the offensive, his strategy for how to sustain the fight without further alienating allies and other regimes in the Arab-Islamic world is non-existent.
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