The Occupation that Time Forgot

I read a stupid article today about the West Bank by Sandy Tolan that was endorsed by Tom Engelhardt,  who runs a blog that normally has better articles. Here's what I think about it:


Maybe you forgot that the Jews were tormented and slaughtered not just in Germany but in surrounding countries too as crazy Nazis and Soviets unfairly blamed them for their own problems, gained more territory, and continued their campaigns of hate in all their new territories. Has anyone done that to the Arabs? No.

Maybe you forgot that Arabs initiated wars against Israel in which Israel defeated them and captured a lot of land - and then gave it back in hopes of achieving peace. Have Arabs given any land to Israel in hopes of achieving peace? No.

Maybe you forgot that Israel allows Arabs (and other Muslims) to live within its borders. Do Arabs allow Israelis or any Jews to even visit their countries? No.

Maybe you forgot that before Israel declared independence, the "Palestinians" were the same people as the Syrians and Jordanians, all under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and then the British. In fact, King Faisal of Syria later was also king of Iraq, and the Ba'ath Party controlled both Syria and Iraq for some time. And when Israel declared independence, it was its Arab neighbors who refused to let their Arab brothers immigrate to their countries, forcing them to stay in Israel.  They purposefully closed their borders to force a continued Arab presence in Israel - to be a thorn in its side.

Maybe you forgot that for a long time Arabs have been conducting suicide bombings, shootings, and kidnappings in Israel against Jews, and also launching rockets into Israel towns in order to kill civilians. Do Israelis do that against the Arabs? No.

The Arabs are waging war against Israel in any way that they can. They tried to do it militarily and they failed. So they had to resort to planting bombs and launching rockets to do any damage they can. The peace "process" is just what Arabs have to pretend to be doing since they can't win by force. It's a farce because they aren't interested in peaceful co-existence, they are interested in a victory for them and for there to be no Jews in Israel.

Why? Why the hatred? Why do Arabs in Arab countries blame Israel for their problems, when clearly their problems have been the same for hundreds of years before Israel was created?  When clearly their problems are a direct consequence of their culture and not anyone else's?

Anyone who understands Arabs and looks at a map can see why Israel can't give up the West Bank. To have a fully Arab-controlled West Bank means a serious military disadvantage to Israel when the Arabs initiate the next war, because it gives them an easy way to divide the country in half.  Only people who don't understand the Arab intentions fail to see the significance of that territory. "Oh, just give them their country" you say.

This is very much a one-sided conflict. The Arab side is the one that always initiates force.  Israel has nothing to gain by fighting the Arabs. It can never have peace as long as there are Arabs who are convinced that they need to destroy it.   If you were to miraculously stop the Arab attacks for a month or even a year you would observe that Israel would not conduct even one offensive military operation against them. It would have no reason for that.  As Ghandi said, there is no way to peace - peace is the way.

You want to talk about an occupation that time forgot?  How about Europeans (now called Americans) occupying nearly all of North America? We fooled everyone into thinking this is our land. It isn't, we robbed the natives.  How lucky are we that Native Americans don't teach their kids to hate us in their reservations and conduct suicide bombings in our neighborhoods?  We could have a similar conversation about Australia and their natives too.

Americans are such hypocrites. We INVADED TWO COUNTRIES in hopes of deterring attacks on our "homeland", and yet we sympathize with people who routinely conduct terrorist attacks on Israel and we think it's a good idea for Israel to give them land??? In proportion to the rest of Israel, that would be like giving 13 states of the United States to Al Qaeda!!   It's unthinkable!  

We DROPPED TWO ATOMIC BOMBS on Japan to end a war yet we criticize Israel when it uses conventional military weapons against military targets. We hold Israel accountable to GENEVA CONVENTION standards yet look the other way when the Arabs bomb Israeli civilians and  hide their military operations behind women, children, and mosques to guarantee collateral damage they can cry about when Israel retaliates.   We METHODICALLY DISPLACED NATIVE AMERICANS TO GAIN NEW LAND yet we criticize Israel for developing settlements in its own territory.

How about this?  Give Jews 9,000 square miles in Alaska to create a Jewish state and move all the Jews from Israel there. They won't have any "natural enemies" in the region and the Arabs can have all the land that is now Israel to themselves.  You STILL won't have peace in the Middle East, because the Arabs will still be there, but at least the Jews would have peace in a place they can call home, even if it isn't the home they were promised.