In America, one by-product of the War on Terror seems to be an increasing criticism of the nation of Israel. I guess there have always been those who felt the United States has no business being allied with the Israelis, but what I’m sensing now is a rising anti-Semitism. One writer lamented that, if the United States doesn’t take military action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, then Israel might!
He seemed to think that would be a bad thing.
Go Israel!
I, for one, sincerely hope they do. Israel stopped Iraq’s nuclear program in 1981 and did it very effectively. They picked a quiet Sunday when no one was expected to be working and took it out. The only casualty was a French inspector the Israelis didn’t know was there.
I’ve always admired the Israelis. When it comes to a fight, they’re the cowboys of the Middle East. Always outnumbered and roundly condemned by the rest of the world, they refuse to lie down and be slaughtered…again. Why does that single fact bring so much condemnation down upon them? Do we only love the Jews after they’re dead?
The Jews (and most Israelis are Jewish) are in a tough spot. Look at a map of the Middle East (see above). Color Israel blue and all the surrounding Arab territories red, then try to figure out what percentage of the land is “occupied” by Israel. It looks like about 5%, maybe even less. Now consider that all those red territories HATE the nation of Israel. On a half-dozen occasions, one or more of those Arab territories (usually a coalition of them) have tried to destroy Israel. You have to admire the courage and determination of the Israelis to survive.
And why are the Arabs so hell-bent on Israel’s destruction? It’s such a tiny piece of land!
But give the Arabs their due and let them continue to hate. More important to this article is why are so many Americans siding with the Arabs? Don’t we usually root for the underdog?
Rooting for the Underdog
Some people might argue that the Jews had no right to “invade” Palestine and “displace the inhabitants” who had lived there “from time immemorial”. Well excuse me! You don’t have to believe the Bible to recognize that Jews have lived in Palestine for well over 3000 years. There have always been Jews in Palestine, From Time Immemorial. There have also been Arabs. They have coexisted for millennia, so why not now? (I suspect that many of the same people who condemn the Jews for “displacing” the Palestinian Arabs would condemn the American Indian were he to rise up and do the same thing in the United States.)
Israel-haters and the news media (is that a redundant statement?) love to sensationalize the deaths of Palestinian civilians when Israel throws a shell or rocket into a “peaceful” neighborhood, willfully ignoring the fact that such events usually are the result of targeting a military objective. They whitewash the fact that Israel’s enemies are prone to placing military assets in civilian settings so that collateral damage will be maximized if the Israelis do hit back, simply because they understand that the Western media will excoriate Israel for the deaths of “innocents”.
You don’t have to love the Jews, or hate the Arabs. But give the Jews a break! When was the last time you heard (and you would have heard — the media would have made sure of it) of an Israeli Jew walking into a crowded restaurant and setting off a suicide bomb? Yet the Palestinians do that all the time. And I’m supposed to feel sorry for them?
Hey, if the Palestinians have a grievance, then I hope they get it redressed. But blowing up babies does not advance their cause. Not with me.
10/16/2008
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Private Thoughts 