The left side of the Middle East argument leaves me feeling deeply dissatisfied. Their argument, essentially is, “the side that suffers most is the side that has to be right.”
That logic is deadly.
In order for the Islamists to take over the world, all they have to do is put their civilians in front of our guns and dare us to kill them. If we do not kill their civilians, they will take over the world. They are using our morality as a weapon against us. We love life. They love death. For that reason, they are bound to win.
Over the past eight years, Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at southern Israel. Although Israel initially decided against a military response she had to respond in some way, and she chose to severely limit the flow of commercial goods to Gaza. Of course the Gazans suffered; Israel was blockading Gaza to force Hamas to stop firing rockets into her sovereign territory.
What response did the world want Israel to take? No response.
The raison d'etre for the existence of Hamas is the destruction of Israel. Its only negotiating position is to agree to temporary cease-fires that allow it to smuggle in more weapons with which to attack Israel, and to stop any peace process that would recognize Israel’s right to exist.
What’s left? Capitulation? Because the world refused to come to the aid of Israel and force Hamas to stop its rocket attacks, Israel was compelled to take military action. How can military action not hurt civilians when Hamas places its rocket launchers amidst those civilians with the malevolent purpose of causing civilian casualties - specifically for the media's cameras?
I blame the left-wing sympathizers of the world for allowing Hamas to hope that it can achieve its aims by placing its civilians in front of Israeli guns. Hamas cowers behind its children. The world sees only that Israel is killing civilians. Hamas would not use this tactic if the world saw it for what it is.
I blame the world for alienating the Israelis. How can the Israelis possibly be expected to take advice from people who are so blatantly biased? Would you?
I want the world to help the Israelis and the Palestinians achieve peace in a two-state solution, to negotiate an agreement that makes sense. It makes no sense that the Palestinians raise their children to viciously hate Jews and then demand that they be allowed to return to Israel in their millions (the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of the original refugees).
The concept of partition needs to be the guiding principle. Demonstrably, Palestinians (actually, their leadership) have not been willing to live in peace with Jews for well over a hundred years - ever since the start of the Zionist movement at the end of the 19th century.
Do not demand that perniciously angry Palestinians be allowed to return to Israel. Free the Palestinians from their refugee camps; allow them to become citizens of other Arab countries. That is the humane thing to do.
I am a Jew. I believe myself to be a caring and compassionate person, concerned for the suffering of other people, Jew or non-Jew. I don’t hate Arabs. But how can I honestly feel compassion for a non-Jew and not feel compassion for my fellow Jews? That would be dishonest and insincere.
I believe that the Jews are suffering at the hands of a world that is applying a double standard. The world treats the Arabs as less than human because it doesn’t expect moral behavior from them. The world treats the Jews as super-human and expects Israel to refrain from defending herself lest she hurt the civilians her enemies use as human shields.
That duplicity is intolerable.
"He who is merciful when he should be pitiless will end up being cruel when he should be merciful." (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7, 36).
That logic is deadly.
In order for the Islamists to take over the world, all they have to do is put their civilians in front of our guns and dare us to kill them. If we do not kill their civilians, they will take over the world. They are using our morality as a weapon against us. We love life. They love death. For that reason, they are bound to win.
Over the past eight years, Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at southern Israel. Although Israel initially decided against a military response she had to respond in some way, and she chose to severely limit the flow of commercial goods to Gaza. Of course the Gazans suffered; Israel was blockading Gaza to force Hamas to stop firing rockets into her sovereign territory.
The raison d'etre for the existence of Hamas is the destruction of Israel. Its only negotiating position is to agree to temporary cease-fires that allow it to smuggle in more weapons with which to attack Israel, and to stop any peace process that would recognize Israel’s right to exist.
What’s left? Capitulation? Because the world refused to come to the aid of Israel and force Hamas to stop its rocket attacks, Israel was compelled to take military action. How can military action not hurt civilians when Hamas places its rocket launchers amidst those civilians with the malevolent purpose of causing civilian casualties - specifically for the media's cameras?
I blame the left-wing sympathizers of the world for allowing Hamas to hope that it can achieve its aims by placing its civilians in front of Israeli guns. Hamas cowers behind its children. The world sees only that Israel is killing civilians. Hamas would not use this tactic if the world saw it for what it is.
I blame the world for alienating the Israelis. How can the Israelis possibly be expected to take advice from people who are so blatantly biased? Would you?
I want the world to help the Israelis and the Palestinians achieve peace in a two-state solution, to negotiate an agreement that makes sense. It makes no sense that the Palestinians raise their children to viciously hate Jews and then demand that they be allowed to return to Israel in their millions (the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of the original refugees).
The concept of partition needs to be the guiding principle. Demonstrably, Palestinians (actually, their leadership) have not been willing to live in peace with Jews for well over a hundred years - ever since the start of the Zionist movement at the end of the 19th century.
Do not demand that perniciously angry Palestinians be allowed to return to Israel. Free the Palestinians from their refugee camps; allow them to become citizens of other Arab countries. That is the humane thing to do.
I am a Jew. I believe myself to be a caring and compassionate person, concerned for the suffering of other people, Jew or non-Jew. I don’t hate Arabs. But how can I honestly feel compassion for a non-Jew and not feel compassion for my fellow Jews? That would be dishonest and insincere.
I believe that the Jews are suffering at the hands of a world that is applying a double standard. The world treats the Arabs as less than human because it doesn’t expect moral behavior from them. The world treats the Jews as super-human and expects Israel to refrain from defending herself lest she hurt the civilians her enemies use as human shields.
That duplicity is intolerable.
"He who is merciful when he should be pitiless will end up being cruel when he should be merciful." (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7, 36).
