Help the Palestinian Arabs by Supporting Israel
Alan Stein
July 17, 2006
Given that the latest flare-up of Arab-Israeli violence was sparked by unprovoked attacks on Israel from territory from which Israel had completely left, no longer can any objective observer claim that attacks against Israel have anything to do with "resistance to occupation."
Since 1967, critics of Israel have been relatively successful in creating the false impression that their grievances against Israel were based on a so-called occupation.
Generally ignored, in the media and elsewhere, is the fact that another Arab state could have been created in 1948 had six Arab armies not defied the United Nations and invaded the newly re-established State of Israel on the date of its rebirth.
Generally ignored, in the media and elsewhere, is the fact that an Arab state could have been created in the disputed territories at any time between 1948 and 1967, when those territories were under the complete control of Egypt and Jordan.
Generally ignored, in the media and elsewhere, is the fact that an Arab state could have been created shortly after the 1967 War, had the Arabs accepted Israel's willingness to withdraw from all the territory it had captured in a defensive war if its Arab enemies would only agree to peace.
The core of the Arab-Israeli conflict has always been, and remains, the refusal of Israel's enemies to accept the existence of a non-Arab, non-Muslim, multi-ethnic and multicultural, free Western-style democracy in the Middle East.
Israel completely withdrew from Gaza nearly a year ago, leaving it under the sole control of the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinian Arabs should have taken the opportunity to build themselves a model society, as they would have were they more interested in freeing themselves from "occupation" than in destroying Israel.
Six years ago, taking what has now been shown to be an excessively dangerous risk for peace, Israel completely withdrew from Lebanon. The United Nations delineated the international border and verified that Israel held not a single square inch of Lebanese territory. Hizbollah, which always claimed its purpose was the removal of Israel from Lebanon, had lost its raison d'etre. Had that not been a pretext, Hizbollah would have disbanded. Instead, it came up with the fiction that "Shebaa Farms," captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 War, was Lebanese territory and used it as an excuse to continue to attack Israel from across the United Nations certified border.
Nobody should be fooled by this.
In the months since Gaza came completely under the control of the Palestinian Authority, Israeli civilians living in the nearby town of Sderot have not known a single day's peace as hundreds of Kassam missiles have been launched at them, killing several and injuring scores.
Hizbollah has launched hundreds of Katyusha rockets at cities and towns in northern Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel has exercised the utmost restraint.
Israel has shown such restraint because both Hamas and Hizbollah, as well as smaller terrorist groups such as Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigade and the Tanzim, deliberately operate from within civilian areas, even launching missiles from private homes with families inside, knowing Israel is reluctant to risk harming civilians.
The recent attacks, with Hamas and Hizbollah forces crossing into Israel, attacking soldiers doing nothing more than guarding their country's borders, murdering several and kidnapping Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, and showering ordinary Israeli cities and towns with missiles, leave Israel no choice. Israel has both the right and the obligation to defend its citizens.
The entire Western world should stand with Israel. The ability of both Hamas and Hizbollah to launch terrorist attacks must be destroyed if there is to be any chance for peace.
We should all recognize that while Arab terrorist attacks are been aimed at Israelis, the Palestinian Arabs are the people most harmed by their jihad to destroy Israel.
Since 2000, when Yasser Arafat made it clear to all that his participation in the Oslo Process was purely a ruse designed to weaken Israel, the Palestinian Arabs have destroyed an entire generation of their youth. Children have been indoctrinated in the cult of the "shaheed," blowing themselves up for the glory of murdering innocent Israelis and gaining their rewards in "Paradise."
Ironically, the best hope for saving future generations of Palestinian Arabs and for establishing an independent Palestinian state in which children can grow up rather than blow up is for Israel to disabuse Arab leaders of their dream of destroying Israel.
If not for the good of the Israelis, then for the good of the Palestinian Arabs themselves we should stand behind Israel.