Israel The Nation What is Zionism? (Retrieved from: The Center For Ethnic Jewish Studies) What is Anti-Semitism, and it is the same as anti-Zionism? Anti-Semitism is the denial to the Jewish people, their rights as equal citizens within a given community. Webster’s defines it this way: Anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism \n, usu cap S 1: hostility towards Jews as a religious or racial minority group often accompanied by social, economic, and political discrimination - compare RACISM 2: opposition to Zionism : sympathy with opponents of the state of Israel. Webster's Third New International Dictionary Another definition: “The attributing of all or part of one's own misfortunes, and those of one's country, to the presence of Jewish elements in the community, and proposing to remedying this state of affairs by depriving the Jews of certain of their rights; by keeping them out of certain economic or social activities, by expelling them from the country, by exterminating them etc.” (Jean Paul Sartre, from "Anti-Semite and Jew) Anti-Zionism is the same as anti-Semitism, but it is expressed on a global scale. Ant-Zionism is the denial of the nation of Israel its right to exist as an equal member in the community of nations. “Anti-Zionism is the conviction that Israel, of all the world's countries, does not have the right to exist. It is the conviction that the determination of what constitutes Israel's "secure and defensible borders" should not be made by the Israeli people, either directly or via representation. It is discrimination or double standards against Israel, even if because of ignorance; the criticism of Israel while displaying relative silence on often much more pressing and tragic situations all around the world.” The Society for Rational Peace Anti-Semitism has, unfortunately found acceptance in the guise of “anti-Zionism.” Many who demean Israel claim that they are not anti-Semitic but simply do not like Israel. Israel is a nation of Jews. It was founded by Jews for Jews. Its chief religion is Judaism; its mother tongue is Hebrew. There is no way to hate Israel and yet not hate Jews. Anti-Zionists pretend to care about the plight of the Palestinians, when in reality, their affection and care for the welfare of the Palestinians exists only insomuch as it can be used as tool to bludgeon the nation of Israel. When does criticism of Israel become anti-Semitic? Criticism of bad policies put forth by the government of Israel is not anti-Semitic. Israel is not perfect, and there are times when decisions have been made that deserve the criticism they have received. Israel, like any other nation is not immune to criticism in the arena of world public opinion. Legitimate criticism of Israel should never be discouraged. Criticism of Israel becomes anti-Semitic when Israel is singled out for unique condemnation for sins that Israel’s enemies are guiltier of, yet receive little, to no rebuke from the international community. Israel, to be sure, has had its share of mistakes, and miscalculations, and just downright bad ideas. That cannot be denied. It is, however, unfair to single Israel out, as has been done in recent years, as the greatest threat to world peace, or the worst human rights violator on the planet, when we can find in the Arab/ Muslim world, the most disparaging human rights violations not only occurring, but occurring in even greater quantity. “Though Israel may often be deserving of criticism, what is missing is the comparable criticism of equal or greater violations by other countries and other groups. This constant, often legitimate criticism of Israel for every one of its deviations, when coupled with the absence of legitimate criticism of others, creates the impression currently prevalent on university campuses and in the press that Israel is among the worst human rights violators in the world....it is not true, but if it is repeated often enough, it takes on a reality of its own.” (Alan Dershowitz, noted civil rights lawyer)
Isn’t making Israel a “Jewish” State racist? One of the criticisms leveled at Israel’s very existence is that it is a racist nation on the grounds that it was created to be Jewish nation, with a Jewish controlled government and a Jewish majority population. Israel was created to be Jewish state. It was created by Jews and for Jews to be a safe haven against the bigotry and unbridled evil that perpetrated the holocaust. Israel’s immigration laws are designed to further the Jewishness of Israel. The assertion that Israel is racist is uncalled for since having an ethnic majority in other nations is not unheard of. China, Japan, Korea, Holland, Germany just to name a few, have immigration laws that favor the ethnic majority of those nations. One has to be ethnically Dutch to be a citizen of Holland. China is a nation with a Chinese majority. The nation of Pakistan was created for Muslim Indians. Go to any Arab nation and see that they hold to an Arab majority, and Arab controlled governments. It is unfair to label Israel as a racist nation for behaving in the same way as other nations. Did the Jews displace the Arabs in Palestine in the early nineteen hundreds? No. The land settled by Jewish immigrants was mostly uninhabited swamp and desert wasteland. The Jews purchased worthless inhospitable land from absentee Arab landowners at outrageous prices. The claim that anyone was displaced is simply not supported by history. For almost 1200 years, the region of Palestine was controlled by non-Arab Muslim entities including most notably the 402-year rule of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Prior to the Turks, the Mamluks, Seljuks, and other non-Muslim entities ruled the land after the last Arab jurisdiction ended in 1099 A.D. Strangely, Wasn’t Palestine a nation? Palestine has always been the name of a region, not a country. Since the final expulsion of Jews in 135 A.D. after the failure of the Bar Kochba revolt, the Land was never under any other sovereignty. It was never an Arab nation or a nation of any other peoples. Palestine gets its name from the Roman Emperor, Hadrian. He named it, “Syria-Pelestina” after the Philistines the archenemies of ancient Israel under Kings Saul and David, and whom David finally defeated. Calling the Land “Pelestina” was meant as a derogatory name, and as an insult the Jewish people. After the expulsion of the Jews, the Land was controlled by the Romans, the Arabs, and various other Turkish/Muslim leaders and warlords, until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1917. Isn’t Israel occupying Palestinian land? No. Israel is not occupying anyone’s Land. The term “occupation” properly understood, refers to the military takeover of a sovereign nation by another sovereign nation. For example, the U.S. would properly be referred to as an occupying force in Iraq at this time, but with Palestine the situation is much different. Often when greater public refers to the “occupation,” they are referring to Israel’s former presence in the Gaza and current presence in the West Bank. Israel’s presence in both of those two regions was made necessary because of hostilities emanating from Jordan, and Egypt in the 6-Day War. From 1948 – 1967, the West Bank and Gaza were under Jordanian and Egyptian control. They are the last portions of the British mandate not assigned to any sovereign nation. Israel was attacked in June of 1967 from the West Bank, by Jordan and from Gaza by Egypt. Such military action necessitated Israel entering those areas and, according to the international rules of law, taking control and setting up a military buffer to prevent Jordan and Egypt from attacking from those territories again. Since the West Bank and Gaza were not part of any sovereign nation, Israel’s presence cannot be classified as a true “occupation.” It also cannot be claimed that Israel’s presence in either the West Bank or Gaza is illegal since their presence is the result of a war that was Arab instigated. The Arab world made Israel’s presence in those areas necessary. Did the Jews create the refugee situation in the West Bank and Gaza? No. The current refugee situation in the West Bank and Gaza is Arab instigated. On Nov. 23 1947, the United Nations passed General Assembly Res. 181 calling for a partition of the remaining 25% of the region of Palestine into both a Jewish and Palestinian nation. The Arab nations voted against the partition, but the Zionists and the rest of the world voted for it. In the months that followed, the Arabs planned on a joint invasion of Israel once it had declared statehood. In the months and weeks leading up their planned invasion, the Arabs encouraged their fellow Arabs to leave what would become Israel into the outlying territories (Gaza and the West Bank) and after the invasion and successfully destroyed Israel, they could return and not only regain their own property, but also the property of the dead Jews. Israel was attacked on May 15, 1948 one day after they declared statehood. Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq carried out the invasion. It was a failure, and Israel managed to prevail. As a result, the Arabs that fled became refugees that the Arab world refused to absorb even though they caused the refugee crisis. Instead, Jordan gained jurisdiction over the West Bank and Egypt gained jurisdiction over Gaza. That the Arab world is responsible for this situation is attested to in Arab publications dating back to the days of the 48-49 war. Don’t those who support Israel believe that Israel can do no wrong? You might a find a few who, in their zeal see any criticism of Israel as bad, but most of those who support Israel are well aware that Israel makes mistakes and do not support EVERY policy. Supporting Israel does not entail the endorsement of every Israeli policy or action. We, who are believers in Yeshua, especially are supporting Israel in their self-defense against the Arab war of annihilation being waged against them. Currently Israel is engaged in a war of attrition. The Arab war against Israel’s existence began on May 15th 1948, and is continuing to this day. We support Israel because we believe that Israel has a right to exist the same as any other nation. We hold to an unconditional love for Israel but not unconditional support. There is no perfect nation in the world right now. Every country makes bad decisions. We who support Israel do not believe that Israel should be held to higher or more rigid standard of behavior than any other nation. Unfortunately the international community holds Israel to an unreasonable standard of conduct that other nations are not held to. Wouldn’t the creation of a Palestinian state stop the terrorism problem and solve most of the problems in the Middle East? No, it would only create more problems, and foster more violence. The “two-state solution” is not a solution because the Arab nations have repeatedly rejected it. The two-state solution was presented 3 times in the 20th century, and the Arab nations rejected it as a solution. The Arabs have never proposed nor agreed to a “two-state solution.” They have consistently called for the “liberation” of all of “Palestine” from the Zionist entity. The entire nation of Israel is seen as illegal occupation and the Arab world will not be satisfied until Israel is eradicated. They instigated five wars with Israel to that end. Many liberals who call for a two-state solution are living in a dreamland. They are not listening to what the Arab world is saying. Even with the most recent disengagement from Gaza, there was not call among the Palestinians for a cessation of terrorism, but rather the call went forth for an amplification, an increase of violence against Jewish Israelis. The only solution is for the Arab nations to relinquish their call for Israel’s destruction and commit themselves to peaceful co-existence with their Jewish neighbors. Aren’t Israel’s military responses equally contributing to the terrorism problem? No, not anymore than a policeman’s response to criminal activity is contributing to the crime problem. What is troubling is that many in the international community, at least where Israel is concerned, refuse to make a moral distinction between genuine acts of terrorism, and legitimate defense countermeasures against terrorist activity by the Israel Defense Forces. Unfortunately, many in the liberal left try to paint both Israel and the Palestinian Authority as morally equivalent entities, and this is just plain wrong. Israel is not contributing to the problem at all. That is not to say that Israel has made mistakes, but to claim that Israel is just as bad as the Palestinians, is like comparing the arsonist with the fire fighter. Terrorism is a criminal activity that purposely targets the most vulnerable members of Israel (or any) society in order to further a political objective. There is no comparison between terrorists who purposely target innocents, and the I.D.F. which targets the terrorists. Doesn’t Israel engage in “tit for tat” responses, thus encouraging the terrorism? No. Israel has no policy of “tit for tat” responses. What is “tit for tat”? If a Palestinian sniper killed a nine-year-old Israeli girl, and Israel sent in a sniper to the West Bank to kill a nine-year-old Palestinian girl that would be “tit for tat.” As it stands, such is not an accurate picture of the current conflict. Palestinians snipers regularly target innocent Israelis and the Israelis target the terrorists. An example of this is the story of Noam Leibrovitch, a seven-year old Palestinian girl who was killed in 2003 by a Palestinian terrorist sniper who targeted her family’s car as it was traveling home one night along Trans-Israel Highway well inside the Green Line. In response, Israel went after Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a senior leader of Hamas. In the process of attempting to kill Rantisi a young Palestinian girl named Amel El Jarusha was tragically, and accidentally killed. Amel was killed because Rantisi made sure that he was installed in the heavily populated community where she lived. The media tried to portray the deaths of both girls as the product of a “cycle of violence.” The truth is that both girls died as the result of Palestinian terrorism. There have been innocent Palestinians who have been killed in Israel’s retaliation, but they are accidental deaths. Israel has no policy for killing innocent civilians on purpose. In fact, Israel’s responses have been amazingly measured in order to limit the number of civilian casualties. It would be unrealistic to expect Israel to respond in its defense and there be no civilian losses given the kind of enemies that it has to contend with. Every war ever fought with our modern weapons has civilian casualties. Perhaps if we fought our wars on Mars, it would be different. One must keep in mind that Israel is being forced to fight war against enemies who don’t wear uniforms and make every attempt blend in, and make themselves completely indistinguishable from the civilian population. Furthermore, the terrorists make sure that they have plenty of innocents nearby as human shields in order maximize civilian losses if Israel does retaliate. The civilian losses are clearly the fault of the terrorists, and not Israel. It is not accurate to label Israel’s responses as “tit for tat.” They are legitimate, measured responses meant to limit the number of innocent deaths. Is being pro-Israel equivalent to being anti-Palestinian? We who support Israel do not wish harm to come to the Palestinians nor do we call for the annihilation of the Palestinian people. Those who pray for the genuine peace of Jerusalem and for the Jewish people to come to the Messiah, also pray for the Palestinians to come to Messiah, as well. We are not against the Palestinians prospering, and living in peace. In fact, anyone who wishes for the demise of the Palestinians is not really pro-Israel, they are just racists. Those who are pro-Israel will pray for the Palestinians to come to the Lord in order that they will give up terrorism and become spirit-filled believers. We pray for the peace of Israel; we pray for the peace of Messiah to enter the hearts of both Arab and Jew, and thus bring a true and lasting peace. The following questions have appeared in many anti-Israel websites. It has been spread all over the internet, and to my knowledge, they have not appeared on any Zionist websites, nor has any individual who stands for Israel attempted answer these questions… until now. James J. David, Retired Brigadier General, puts these questions forth not so much as questions, but as accusations and allegations against Israel. It is way past time for a supporter of Israel to finally speak out and answer these allegations. Which country alone in the Middle East has nuclear weapons? Which country in the Middle East refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections? I will answer both questions at once. Israel is severely outnumbered in the Middle East. Israel is surrounded by 23 Arab nation comprised of nearly 500 million people unified in the common goal of destroying Israel. Israel’s predicament is further worsened by the fact that it is also threatened by non-Arab Muslim nations who are equally as determined to see Israel destroyed. It is therefore reasonable that Israel would do whatever necessary to offset such a strategic disadvantage. Any nation in this predicament would seek such an alternative. Israel has not signed the Nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and for good reason. Even now, those Arab and non-Arab nations who are signatories on the NPT have violated their commitment to the treaty. Egypt, Iran and Syria are all signatories and are seeking nuclear capabilities in violation of the treaty. It should not go unnoticed that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was also a signatory on the NPT, and would have had weaponized nuclear capacity had Israel not destroyed his nuclear facilities. Israel has not used nuclear weapons and has not threatened to use them. Israel’s nuclear capacity stands as a deterrent to any further wars of annihilation. Which country in the Middle East seized the sovereign territory of other nations by military force and continues to occupy it in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions? The problem is that Israel has never seized any the sovereign territory of other nations. The West Bank and Gaza are the only remaining portions of the British mandate that have not as of yet been assigned to any nation. Israel was attacked by Jordan and Egypt from those territories in 1967, and as result of winning the Six-Day War, legally took control of both areas in order to prevent any further attacks from those regions. From a purely legal standpoint, there is no “occupation” since this term only applies to control of a sovereign government. That does not fit the description of Israel’s presence in the Middle East. It also should be noted that the UN Security Council Resolutions mentioned above were brought about by Arab and other Islamic nations and completely ignore the moral violations committed against Israel. Let’s not forget that the Arabs made the military presence of Israel in the West Bank and Gaza necessary. They have instigated the wars that have made Israel’s military activities necessary. Which country in the Middle East routinely violates the international borders of another sovereign state with warplanes and artillery and naval gunfire? Which countries routinely violate Israel’s borders by sending in either armies or terrorists? If the United States were having terrorist infiltration coming across its border with Canada, the U.S. would violate Canadian borders and take out the terrorist strongholds. That is a legitimate military practice. Questions like this one show why it is important to know what Israel does in the light of those terrorist activities that precipitated such measures. What American ally in the Middle East has for years sent assassins into other countries to kill its political enemies (a practice sometimes called exporting terrorism)? Except that this usually only applies to killing truly political enemies. Israel is not killing kings or heads of state. Israel takes out the leaders of terrorist cells. Terrorist leaders hardly qualify as “political enemies.” In which country in the Middle East have high-ranking military officers admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war were executed? It is silly to pretend that this has not happened in other countries in the Middle East. Why should Israel be singled out? Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Morocco have also killed unarmed prisoners of war. Why do they go without mention seeing that they have done for much longer and in much higher numbers? What country in the Middle East refuses to prosecute its soldiers who have acknowledged executing prisoners of war? This is completely untrue. There are many Israeli soldiers serving life sentences in Israeli prisons for violating the human rights of prisoners of war. Of course, this goes purposely unnoticed by most in the international community. What country in the Middle East created 762,000 refugees and refuses to allow them to return to their homes, farms and businesses? Israel has never created one refugee. It was the Arab world that created the refugee problem after their failed attempt to destroy Israel. Prior to the establishment of Israel on May 14, 1948, the Arab nations called on the Arab peoples living in Israel to flee the nation and remain in Gaza and the West Bank in lieu of a war aimed at destroying Israel the minute the nation was formed. The Arab people fled, and the attempt to destroy Israel failed. It should not go without mention that the Arab world ejected over 600,000 Jews living in Arab lands. Israel, then a pauper state, managed to absorb all of the Jewish refugees created by the Arabs. Yet the Arab nations with far more revenue and landmass simply could not find it within themselves to absorb those who were refugees as result of their own failed plans. What country in the Middle East refuses to pay compensation to people whose land, bank accounts and businesses it confiscated? Israel has not only offered compensation but has even offered citizenship and has agreed three times to the creation a Palestinian state. What about the Jewish refugees the Arab world created. They still refuse to compensate those who were forced to leave Arab countries with nothing, leaving behind bank accounts, and property, etc. Where is the compensation due to the Jewish refugees? In what country in the Middle East was a high-ranking United Nations diplomat assassinated? This is a reference to Count Folke Bernadotte. A Jewish group known as the LEHI murdered him on Sept. 17, 1948. The David Ben Gurion, as well as the Jewish population roundly condemned his murder. This has been true for the last several decades. Jews, as a people are morally opposed to terrorism even when it works in their favor. Which country in the Middle East routinely kills young Palestinian children for no reason other than throwing stones at armored vehicles, bulldozers, or tanks? This is a blatant lie. Israel has no policy of killing children for merely throwing stones. Such accusations have no basis in fact. What country in the Middle East blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt and attacked a U.S. ship in international waters, killing 33 and wounding 177 American sailors? It has already been established that the USS Liberty incident was a tragic accident resulting from miscommunication on both sides. Israel thought they were attacking an Egyptian ship. To claim that Israel “blew up” an American ship is nonsense and blowing the story out of proportions. What country on Planet Earth has the second most powerful lobby in the United States, according to a recent Fortune magazine survey of Washington insiders? Saudi Arabia has the most powerful lobby in the U.S. I fail to see why having a powerful lobby would be a reason to hold Israel in contempt. Which country in the Middle East had its Prime Minister announce to his staff not to worry about what the United States says because 'We control America?' Except that no Prime Minister in Israel has ever said such a thing. Which country in the Middle East signed the Oslo Accords promising to halt any new Jewish Settlement construction, but instead, has built more than 270 new settlements since the signing? Within the first 30 days of signing the Oslo Accords there were over 30 Palestinian violations of the Oslo Accords including the cessation of terrorism. Oslo supplied the Palestinians with a 50,000-man police force that could not control 1500 terrorists. Instead this “police force” became facilitators of terrorism, and not the deterrent promised under Oslo. For that reason, Israel was, rightly, no longer bound to the Accords. |