PORTS

About the Dubai ports deal, I have the following comments to make.

It is my understanding that the security of the ports would be still enforced by the US Coast Guard and that said ports would of course still fall under the jurisdiction of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Right? It is not like the ports will be a separate nation with their own laws; they will not be a country within a country.

In that sense, I believe that the focus here should be on making sure that those involved in security and customs are well trained, well equipped, well educated and - as incorruptible as possible.

That’s right. Incorruptible.

Here is a little background for my comment: I arrived in Los Angeles in 1995, and lived for a long time in the midst of the Israeli community in the San Fernando Valley. My friends were mostly Israeli, I spoke Hebrew day in and day out, I shopped at Israeli-owned stores and so forth. As if I had never ever left Tel Aviv.

The Israelis in Los Angeles, like any other immigrant community, are divided into those who are legal and those who are not. And like most immigrants, they know how to work the system to their advantage.

In those days, pre-9/11 and the ensuing hysteria, there was talk among Israelis of Social Security Administration offices where one could go and get a Social Security card – a real one - with no mention of INS restrictions of any kind. There was also talk of DMV offices where one could go and obtain a driver’s license even though his visa would not be enough to provide him with the real thing (only a piece of paper with a very short expiration date). All of this, of course, for a fee – and that fee could go up to $5,000 at the time for the driver’s licenses, if I remember it correctly.

I personally was protected by my student status (which was real, not bogus - I did go to school) and later my work permits, and not only that: I am not an Israeli citizen. My situation was different than that of most of my friends. And of these friends, I myself do not know of any who made use of such kombinot, like we say in Hebrew. But I heard of acquaintances of acquaintances who did. Most Americans are not aware of such things because the immigrant world is like a parallel universe – this is true everywhere, by the way, but maybe more so here in some strange way (well, this is a nation of immigrants, no?).

In the current ports issue, the impression I get is that until very recently most people did not even know that the ports in question were owned by foreign companies. Most of these senators jumping up and down had no clue up until a few days ago that Dubai Ports World had purchased the British company currently operating the ports, even though the deal was not a secret and negotiations had started back in September 2005 (here is a BBC article from November) – and that the purchase did not make an exception for those ports on American soil.

And yes, I do know that some of the 9/11 hijackers had ties with UAE (which, for those who are not familiar with it, is actually a loose federation of seven emirates and Dubai is only one of them), and today I also awoke to the (no) news that the UAE (or more so, Dubai Ports World) paticipates in a boycott of Israeli products.

Er, that is kind of standard in Muslim countries. Again, Americans seem surprised and overwhelmed by the world at large.

I am not saying that the deal should be approved, that is not for me to decide. I just find it all very naïve. Really. Ports (man-made or not) are surely vulnerable points of entry into any country with a coastline (heck, so many Jews got into then-Palestine on little boats), but that is no excuse for not letting Dubai Ports World operate the ports in this age of globalization and considering that this could be seen as a result, indirect or not, of the current administration’s foreign policies (which are obviously brimming with double standards - but then again, what isn’t?).

And let’s not forget that Dubai (and the UAE) is one of the most important allies the Americans have in the Middle East – it is one of the busiest ports of call (if not the busiest) for the United States Navy outside the continental United States. And, to finalize it, there is always the money - and there is a lot of it involved.