The Observer, September 8, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 2
Israel has right to defend itself
Every country has a right to defend itself and Israel is no exception. Currently, the reality is such that Israel is in possession of the British protectorate formerly known as Palestine. Islamic fundamentalists, namely Hassan Nasrallah (Hezbollah), Ayman al Zawahiri (Al Qaeda), Osama Bin Laden (Al Qaeda), and other top leaders in various terrorist organizations want us to believe that it is all about the land. The Holy Land. The land so holy that odds are some crazed militant strapped with a shrapnel explosive belt will walk into a Sbarro pizzeria and detonate himself in the name of Allah. Oh, that Holy Land? And the reason for doing this is supposedly to put an end to the occupation of Palestine?
Stop the presses! Did I hear the term Palestine? We've all heard the propaganda: before Israel, there was Palestine. Let's review a little bit of history not taught in high school. Palestine refers to Gaza and the West Bank. Before Israel, Gaza was part of Egypt. The West Bank belonged to Jordan. And yes, Jordan was meant to be the Islamic state, much like Israel was designated to be the Jewish state.
Let's not forget that Israel is situated within nuclear range of over 20 different hostile Islamic states, the overwhelming majority of which do not recognize Israel's right to exist. Dare I say that it is hypocritical of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya, Syria, or the UAE to call Israel a terrorist state when these nations routinely burn American and Israeli flags, lynch Jewish citizens, finance the families of homicide bombers, and fly airplanes into the World Trade Center.
So now with regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, let's get a few things straight. First of all, it's the Arab-Israeli conflict. And when Israel is attacked, it has a right to defend itself because no one else will. If you're out there thinking that the Israel-loving hypocritical poet laureate of peace known as the United Nations is going to step in, think again. Israel is the only country out of the 185 member nations of the UN that is ineligible to serve on the UN Security Council. And let's not forget UN Resolution 3379: "Zionism is a form of racism." Besides, how effective was the UN in the past ten years in anything it has done? And where has the UN been when Muslim homicide bombers detonated themselves on buses headed to the Wailing Wall, a holy site for both Jews and Muslims?
There's an old saying: "When good men fail to act, evil prevails." Good men only fail to act, however, when blindsided by irrationality.
