Ramallah
Photo: AP
Space lizards land in Ramallah!
Some 'alternate history' and sci-fi stories are too implausible to believe
One of the hottest genres in American pulp fiction is "alternate history." It is considered a branch of science fiction, even if no overt sci-fi elements are included.
The stories take off from some imagined sequence of events that did not happen and explore the consequences thereof. They often feature real-life historical figures in improbable settings.
One popular theme is that the Confederate States won the U.S. Civil War and remained independent and at odds with the United States. There are numerous stories with that as the starting point, including a few with a sci-fi twist. In one book, 21st century South African white supremacists travel back in time to Virginia in 1863 to supply Confederate General Robert E. Lee with automatic weapons.
There have been several novels supposing what might have happened had the U.S. not entered World War II, or had Nazi Germany succeeded in conquering all of Europe. The fate of the Jews in those worlds is even more horrible than what happened in real life. Had that scenario played out, it is inconceivable that Israel would have been created.
U.S. novelist Philip Roth gave the genre, usually the province of pimply teen boys and adult geeks, a sheen of respectability last year in his masterful, “The Plot Against America.” In that book, Nazi-sympathizer Charles Lindbergh wins election at the beginning of World War II and keeps the U.S. out of the war. The walls slowly begin closing in on American Jews in an imagined parallel to how the U.S. really began imprisoning its Japanese-American citizens in camps.
I've toyed with an "alternative future history" novel in which fanatic Christian fundamentalists take over the U.S. government and begin herding America's Jews into concentration camps. In that scenario, Israel sends undercover agents into the U.S. to set up a modern version of the real-life slavery-era Underground Railroad to bring out as many Jews as possible.
I haven't written it, perhaps hoping that doing so would prevent it from happening. Of course, with Israel's current love affair with the evangelical Christian community, and that community's being enamored of Israel, perhaps it is a bit too far-fetched to be believable.
But all of this has gotten me to thinking about an alternate history - or future - taking place right here.
In one possible scenario, despite numerous efforts at creating ties and improving relations with the Palestinians, Israel continues to face nearly constant attacks from terrorists, and must spend an enormous amount of resources and manpower defending against them.
Bloodthirsty political frontmen
The news is filled with stories such as, "Two Palestinians stopped in Bethlehem on way to perpetrate terror attack in Jerusalem," and "Rockets and launchers found in West Bank," and "Iranian support found for Palestinian terrorists."
In that story, even as their fledgling civil society was facing attack from Islamic fundamentalists, the Palestinians freely elect a terror organization as their political leadership as U.S. and international observers watch in amazement.
Following that election, responsible international figures such as former U.S. presidents who have won Nobel Peace Prizes urge Israel and the international community to engage in dialogue with the bloodthirsty political frontmen for the terrorists even as they continue to foment anti-Semitic and anti-Israel caricatures and rhetoric, and call for Israel's destruction.
At the same time, the new fundamentalist Palestinian terror government begins cracking down on what few civil and “liberal” freedoms exist in Palestinian society.
Palestinian women, among the most liberated in the Arab world, begin to face a tightening of restrictions that could create a neo-Taliban-like atmosphere for sophisticated Ramallah cafe society. Some new Palestinian leaders even begin calling for all women in the primarily secular society to wear the hijab and lose their driving privileges.
Meanwhile, Israel keeps its powder dry and braces for the next attack, which has been promised over and over by the fanatics in power in Ramallah and Gaza City.
It's easy to imagine what would happen next, don't you think? Even if the West would stay firm in its resolve to choke off funding for the Palestinians, they find funding from their brothers in Allah in Iran. Moderate Palestinians are cowed into toeing the line.
I haven't gotten to the story's end, yet. I haven't wanted to admit the likely climax of such a story: a truly horrible military and terror conflagration with terrible loss of life on both sides.
But don't worry. I don't think I'll ever write that story. It's way too implausible and contrived.
Why, it's even more contrived and preposterous than the best-selling alternative history trilogy in which lizards from outer space land on Earth during World War II and force the Allies and Axis powers into an uneasy alliance in an effort to defeat the aliens. At least I hope it is.
Alan D. Abbey is the Founding Editor of Ynetnews. His website is abbeycontent.com. His email is alan@abbeycontent.com
