During 1945 there were up to one million Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa outside modern-day Israel— many living in communities dating back more than three millennia. Their mass-exodus in the 20th century occurred due to extreme antisemitism with the rise of Arab Nationalism.
DOWN WITH THE DICTATORSHIP IN IRAN
Neda Agha-Soltan was shot and killed by the Islamic Regime of Iran during the June 2009 protests in Tehran. Neda was killed while exercising her fundamental human rights. All she wanted was to support her friends and to advocate for freedom.
1,000,000 MIDDLE EASTERN JEWS
In 1948 the Arab League declared all Jewish people enemy citizens, regardless of the fact that the majority had no will or motivation to leave their homes. Jewish bank accounts and property were confiscated, Jews were arrested and fired from their jobs, and synagogues were attacked. Homes were looted, women were raped and people were killed.
ETHNIC CLEANSING?
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity. I see Israel as one of the great outposts of democracy in the world, and a marvelous example of what can be done, how desert land can be transformed into an oasis of brotherhood and democracy. Peace for Israel means security and that security must be a reality.” -Martin Luther King, on March 25, 1968
FAVORITE QUOTES
"Along with the rise of Arab nationalism and Arab independence, life for Jews in Egypt and other Arab countries became intolerable. All this started happening years before Israel was established. Within a 20-year period starting in 1945, nearly a million Jews were forced out of Arab countries. Being Jewish was criminalized in Egypt in the late 1940s. Other Arab states such as Iraq, Libya, and Syria, passed similar laws. Jews began facing iron walls of discrimination and harassment by the authorities. Most of us were dispossessed. Our schools, homes, synagogues, businesses, farms, and hospitals, were all confiscated by Arab governments. Our rich, 3,000-year-old culture and heritage was decimated. No trial, no jury, no justice." -Joseph Wahed
“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away, and that in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
"My parents came from Iran and Tunisia, but nobody is going to give our property back to us. It's all been confiscated ... We have this little sandbox we call Israel. We give our hearts and lives to make it a proud country." -Kobi (Subliminal) Shimoni
"There are things in this world a man does well to carry to extremes." -Cyrano de Bergerac
"Am Israel Chai! / !עם ישראל חי"
"Peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Even though I'm not Jewish...Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting." -Ray Charles
"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who didn't do anything about it." -Albert Einstein
"!כל הכבוד לצה"ל / Kol Ha'kavod Le'Tzahal!"
"Today, the Middle East is a cauldron of chaos and change. What is not known is that Jews lived in what are now Arab states for over 2,500 years. Their communities pre-date the rise of Islam 1,400 years ago in the 7th century. Jewish communities from North Africa to Iraq date from the Babylonian destruction of the first Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, 500 years before the birth of Christianity. All of this is long before the establishment of today’s Arab Muslim countries." -Natalie Zeituny
"I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." -Barry Goldwater
"I know we are the 'chosen people' but, once in a while, can't you choose someone else?" -Tevye (Chaim Topol)
"And disgusted by the anti-Semitism of many Italians, of many Europeans, I am ashamed of this shame that dishonors my Country and Europe. At best, it is not a community of States, but a pit of Pontius Pilates. And even if all the inhabitants of this planet were to think otherwise, I would continue to think so." -Oriana Fallaci
"Jerusalem has been our capital for 3000 years. We were here when your forefathers were drinking wine, burying their daughters alive, and worshiping idols." -Mordechai Kedar
"It has been our belief that the Jewish state must be, and indeed, will be, one wherein there will be equal rights for all its citizens regardless of race, nationality and origin." -Menachem Begin
"Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war." -Ernest Hemingway
"To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." -Elbert Hubbard
"We, Jews from the Arab/Islamic countries, want to tell the world our story. But there is one problem: our generation is getting old and we don’t have much time left. The media doesn’t care much about us, neither does the UN." -Joseph Wahed
"When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." -Edmund Burke
"Do not pass up a chance to express your views on important issues.... If a dictatorship ever comes to this country, it will be by the default of those who keep silent." -Ayn Rand
"I do not reject peace, but I am afraid of war disguised as peace." -Cicero
“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” -Ayn Rand
"Please do your best to get me out of here, because Lebanon is no place to be, and I really want to see you all -- no one should have to remain in captivity when there are other alternatives... Yom Kippur is approaching and I will be praying together with you. Let’s hope that He will help the leaders make the right choices. But you can also help." -Ron Arad in a letter to his wife, Rosh Ha'Shana 1987
"The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?" -Mark Twain
"We make war that we may live in peace." -Aristotle
A Thai foreign worker in Israel was killed by a kassam rocket which struck a kibbutz neighboring the Gaza Strip. The civilian was pronounced dead following his arrival at Israel's Barzilai Medical Center.
Five kassam rockets from Gaza have hit Israel in the last two days.
A foreign civilian was killed on Thursday morning (Mar. 18) by a Qassam rocket that hit a hothouse in a kibbutz neighboring the Gaza Strip. The man was fatally injured by the strike of the rocket. A Magen David Adom ambulance team arrived at the scene and transferred the man to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. His death was pronounced shortly afterwards, when he died from his injuries.
On Wednesday night (Mar. 17), a Qassam rocket hit an open field north of Sderot; no injuries or damages were reported regarding this incident. In an earlier incident on the same evening, an additional Qassam rocket was fired at the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council, as well as two more rockets on Tuesday (Mar. 16). No injuries or damages were reported regarding these rocket firings.
Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, was present in the region during the attack and claimed that she condemns any violence. Ashton also asserted that residents in Gaza need aid while neglecting to mention or acknowledge, like the bulk of politicians, that despite billions of dollars in Palestinian aid violence from the Palestinian-Arabs has increased. Ashton's words do nothing to condemn the real perpetrators of violence and instability in the region. In fact, these weak-willed responses which refuse to identify the root causes of the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinian-Arabs helps to empower Islamic Totalitarian regimes by demanding Israel's hand. Yesterday Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil's president and comrade of Venezuela's megalomaniac Hugo Chavez, visited the grave of the Palestinian godfather of terror, Yasser Arafat. Brazil's president decried Israel's security fence while expressing his solidarity with corrupt Palestinian leadership. Perhaps what is most hypocritical is that Brazil's government hasn't indicated that they'll be removing the concrete barrier in their own country anytime soon.
It is important to recognize that even under proposed peace treaties, such as the Oslo Agreement of 1993, it was established that decisions on Jerusalem would be met at a later date. The Oslo Accords granted Palestinian autonomy, yet the reaction of Palestinians has been non-stop terrorism in return, thereby rendering the agreement ineffective and counterproductive.
Furthermore, the current U.S. administration, which apparently expects a building freeze in a city within Israeli jurisdiction and the “green line” under Israel's Jerusalem Law, is backtracking on past agreements that building in Jerusalem would continue as normal. In fact, by calling for a building freeze, President Obama is backtracking on his own assertions that simply “slicing” Jerusalem, a city that he says will always be the capital of Israel, is not a solution to peace.
It is nauseating that the Obama administration now demands suicidal concessions of Israel, including the release of violent Palestinian-Arab terrorists, in order to make amends for Israeli plans to build within their own nation. Below are some of the U.S. demands made by Hillary Clinton (courtesy of Ha’aretz, 3/17/2010):
1. Investigate the process that led to the announcement of the Ramat Shlomo construction plans in the middle of Biden's visit. The Americans seek an official response from Israel on whether this was a bureaucratic mistake or a deliberate act carried out for political reasons. Already on Saturday night, Netanyahu announced the convening of a committee to look into the issue.
2. Reverse the decision by the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee to approve construction of 1,600 new housing units in Ramat Shlomo.
3. Make a substantial gesture toward the Palestinians enabling the renewal of peace talks. The Americans suggested that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners be released, that the Israel Defense Forces withdraw from additional areas of the West Bank and transfer them to Palestinian control, that the siege of the Gaza Strip be eased and further roadblocks in the West Bank be removed.
4. Issue an official declaration that the talks with the Palestinians, even indirect talks, will deal with all the conflict's core issues - borders, refugees, Jerusalem, security arrangements, water and settlements.
In contrast there has been no response from the Obama administration about the deliberate provocations from Palestinian leaders, both from the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, who are at fault for the lack of any sort of stable peace initiative. Moreover, the Obama administration was comparatively silent about the captivity of a British journalist and filmmaker, Paul Martin, who was captured in Gaza and released last week after nearly a month in captivity. Interestingly enough, the Obama administration is also relatively quiet about the fact that they have helped to boost the morale of violent Muslims who declared a “day of rage” yesterday in which rioters, who are Israeli-Arab citizens, threw Molotov cocktails and rocks. Unfortunately, it is convenient for these rioters to live in Israel, where they are granted full civil rights and the highest standard of living in the Middle East, while they attack the very country that bestows these rights upon them.
Current U.S. foreign policy, while it continues many initiatives set out by past presidents, is far more aggressive than ever before in its treatment of Israel. Now that he’s been elected, the U.S. president’s new position is to make demands on Israel which puts their national security at risk while making no demands on the Palestinians.
The current conditions prescribed by Hillary Clinton, which calls for Israel to turn over land in the West Bank to Palestinian control, does not take into account what past "land for peace" strategies have meant. The disengagement of Gaza is a perfect experiment of what this misguided formula for peace actually means. Indeed the response to Israel's gesture of goodwill was the election of Hamas.
In an ideal scenario it would be most practical to annex all of the "disputed territories" to Israel, which neither Jordan or Egypt want if it means integrating Palestinian-Arabs into their societies, and to extend full rights to all inhabitants irrespective of their religious or ethnic background. But there is idealism and there is realism. The never-ending violence, predominately inspired from a homicidal and hateful Palestinian leadership, is the reason that such an idealistic view of peace is terribly unrealistic. It is fanatical hatred, driven by Islamists and Arab Nationalists, which propagates more animosity and makes attaining peace impossible. It is the reason that security fences and checkpoints are necessary in an Israeli society that must protect its civilian population. The real obstacle to peace is not building in Jerusalem. It is leaders, such as the Hamas Deputy Minister of Religious Endowments, who asserts that Jews are not human beings and merely bacteria. The obstacle to peace is not Israel, but the Palestinian Authority's rampant corruption. Perhaps the Obama administration didn't get the memo.
Last August the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, was released from a Scottish prison on "compassionate grounds." At the time it was widely reported that the terrorist had a few weeks to live. The son of Libya's leader, Saif Gadaffi, boasted this week that the health of al-Megrahi has "greatly improved." In fact, the Lockerbie terrorist may live for years thanks to medical advances. Meanwhile, the family members of the 270 people, who were murdered when their Pan Am Flight 103 crashed over Lockerbie in Scotland, have no closure and no sense of justice. The morally bankrupt move to pardon such a cruel man raises plenty of questions about the motivations involved.
Though the UK government can't officially tell the Scottish government to release someone, they can put pressure on them to do so. The indication that this may have been the case with al-Megrahi is reinforced by leaked ministerial letters which note that treating al-Megrahi with careful consideration is beneficial to the UK's relationship with Libya. While the Scottish government is officially in charge of whether or not to release prisoners on such grounds, the Scottish government is still part of the overall UK government system since there are powers the UK government has reserved for itself which Scotland doesn't have. Therefore, the UK government does have influence over Scottish matters despite some assertions that the release of al-Megrahi was purely compassionate. Furthermore, since pardons on compassionate grounds are typically done for criminal cases with exceptional circumstances, it is difficult to understand the release of a mass-murderer like al-Megrahi.
The late Anwar Sadat characterized Muammar Gaddafi as a madman for his reckless, violent behavior. Prior to Lockerbie, Gaddafi’s government funded dozens of terror organizations in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. The Libyan government incited coups in Egypt and Tunisia, and orchestrated plenty of assassinations. Gaddafi's fomentation of violence ranges from the Philippines to India. He is also no stranger to extreme anti-Semitic attitudes which have caused the remaining Jews of a minority population in Libya to flee.
Some experts, such as Dr. Walid Phares of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, have theorized that the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 was retribution for an American air raid on the Libyan regime’s military installations during 1986. The United States military, responding to acts of terror against U.S. military personnel, launched the raid on April 15, 1986. Gaddafi, Dr. Phares has argued, likely ordered the destruction of the American flight with possible help from Iran. Gaddafi and his government reformed their extremist image and made compromises after the Ba’ath Party of Iraq was rendered ineffective. One of Libya's compromises, offered in May 2002, was to compensate the families of the victims of Pan Am 103.
Despite Libya’s alleged denunciation of terror and alliances with western nations, many Libyan political prisoners, often arrested for arbitrary reasons, continue to languish in prisons. Libya's regime continues to maintain a dismal human rights record.
Earlier this week the Israeli government announced that 1600 new apartments would be constructed in Jerusalem. As expected, United States Vice-President Joe Biden, who was visiting Israel, voiced his disapproval of Israel's announcement.
Barry Rubin, a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, Israel, astutely pointed out that the announcement might have been ill-timed. However, Rubin asserts in his article that Israel's building projects in eastern Jerusalem, a city under Israeli jurisdiction, is nothing new.
When Israel signed the Oslo Agreement in 1993, Israeli officials stated they would continue projects in Jerusalem. Indeed both Israeli and Palestinian positions on territories like Jerusalem and borders were to be decided at a later date under the 1993 agreements. Unfortunately, the international community has neglected to address and recognize that the Oslo Accords, aimed at creating a viable Palestinian entity and promoting a peaceful coexistence, was broken by terrorist factions within the Western-backed Fatah movement. Over recent years Israel has uprooted Jewish settlements and relinquished land to Egypt and Jordan in return for peace treaties. The Oslo Accords, which had similar motivations for peace, granted Palestinian autonomy. The Palestinian response was non-stop terror.
Many in the media have asserted that the ill-timed Israeli announcement suggests Israel is not interested in peace. Such declarations can only be described as naïve.
Israeli officials, for the most part, have not wavered from the position that they are not interested in giving up Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Instead of imprudent condemnation of Israel, the international community should analyze the viability of peace when Abu Mazen and the Fatah faction are no less interested in the destruction of Israel than Hamas.
It is rather astounding that the Palestinian Arabs are the only refugee group that despite billions of dollars in aid have not created a prosperous and peaceable existence for themselves. The answer to Palestinian strife lies with the leadership of the Palestinians but the world appears disinterested in these relevant details.
Israel’s overtures for peace, some of which have been rather suicidal, are consistently dismissed. In 2005, for example, Israel dragged their own civilians out of their homes in Gaza in order to turn over that territory to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. The result of that peace gesture was the Palestinians’ election of Hamas, a cowardly group which hides among Palestinian women and children during wartime.
For a thorough, realistic view of Hamas and Fatah, including the power dynamics of both groups, Jonathan Schanzer's book Hamas vs. Fatah offers a concise, thoughtful examination of both organizations and their own internal conflicts. Schanzner also notes the important role of Iran in his well-researched text. The important assessment of the internal rivalries within Palestinian politics ultimately shows that international efforts to promote peace are futile under the current circumstances.
Richard Lederer, an American author and teacher, has accumulated some of the most hilarious quotes from students I have ever read. Lederer taught at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. According to the former teacher, instructors from around the United States sent in their students' bloopers.
The following is one of my favorites:
Meanwhile in Europe, the enlightenment was a reasonable time. Voltare invented electricity and also wrote a book called Candy. Gravity was invented by Isaac Walton. It is chiefly noticeable in the Autumn, when the apples are falling off the trees. Bach was the most famous composer in the world, and so was Handel. Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.
Over the last couple of days I have witnessed right-wing pundits on prominent Republican sites and popular Fox News programming engage in the vilification of Geert Wilders (pictured). On Monday evening Glenn Beck implied that Wilders is a “fascist.” Bill Kristol, appearing on Bret Baier’s program “Special Report,” called Wilders a “demagogue.” Considering that both Beck and Kristol are habitually disparaged on personal levels by their political opponents, their injudicious attacks on Mr. Wilders are rather bizarre. At the very least Mr. Wilders should be granted a fair hearing. Although Wilders’ ideas are certainly provocative, it was just a year ago that the United Kingdom’s Home Secretary allowed a radical Lebanese propagandist, who calls for violence and terrorism in the name of Islam, to enter the UK. Yet there was comparatively less condemnation of the Islamist who was welcomed by a country which clearly decided to selectively enforce the right to freedom of speech. In contrast Mr. Wilders, who was banned from entering the UK until October 2009, does not advocate for violence but rather has a harsh view of the Islamic faith.
This week Fox News pundits made some impetuous claims about Mr. Wilders while neglecting to speak about the significance of his trial. Glenn Beck, in particular, tried to make the case the success of Mr. Wilders in the Netherlands is indicative that Europeans are favoring zealous right-wing parties as a result of the global recession. In order to convince his audience of this impression, Beck asserted that Dominique de Villepin’s current approval rating, which is at around 57 percent according to a recent poll, demonstrates that “center-right” politicians like Nicolas Sarkozy are suffering in the polls due to alleged “far-right” figures like Villepin. Realistically, Villepin, a protégée of Chirac, is unlikely to run for public office. Furthermore, I’m not convinced that characterizing him as a far-right, even right-wing, dignitary is an accurate portrayal of Villepin’s political beliefs. Had Beck taken a serious and honest look into French politics, he would have recognized that Nicolas Sarkozy’s ratings are falling because he is regularly denounced by the French media of which a sizable portion of journalists favor leftist principles. Ultimately, the far-left in France enjoys considerably more support than the far-right.
Instead of making overtly simplistic claims about Geert Wilders’ views, his beliefs should be discussed and debated. Wilders has come out strongly in condemnation of far-right European parties like Front National and Vlaams Belang, suggesting that the Dutch MP’s beliefs, while inconsistent with regard to the Qur'an and Islam, are significantly more complicated than the pundits portray them. Wilders, who calls himself an advocate of freedom, has argued that the Dutch prohibition of Hitler’s Mein Kampf is contradictory when the Qur'an, Islam’s holy book, calls for violence. His provoking film, Fitna, lays out his case that Islam maintains violent elements. Wilders’ criticism of the Islamic faith should lead to civilized discussion on theology as opposed to calls for censorship and labels which attempt to stigmatize. While I disagree with the position of banning literature, especially as it may open the door for banning both religious and secular texts, Wilders undoubtedly has a right to freedom of speech.
The American media ought to be monitoring Geert Wilders’ trial in which he is accused of “the incitement to hatred and discrimination.” Mr. Wilders' trial has more implications than many may think. Wilders is being persecuted for voicing provocative ideas that should be discussed rather than censored, a point which Fox News clearly missed on Monday evening.
51 people died on Monday in Turkey as a result of a 6.0 magnitude earthquake. Turkish officials promised they would aid the homeless, but it appears that the situation is quite dire based on some Turkish reports. In some towns survivors don't have access to health-care or shelter.
According to reports, the damage was particularly bad in the Kurdish village of Okcular.
Hundreds of earthquake survivors huddled in aid tents and around bonfires in eastern Turkey, seeking relief from the winter cold after a strong earthquake knocked down stone and mud-brick houses in five villages, killing 51 people.
The damage appeared worst in the village of Okçular, which was almost razed. At least 15 of the village's 900 residents were killed, Elazığ’s governor's office said Monday, and the air was thick with dust from crumpled homes and barns.
The pre-dawn earthquake caught many residents in their sleep, shaking the area's poorly made buildings into piles of rubble. Panicked survivors fled into the narrow streets of this village perched on a hill in front of snow-covered mountains, with some people climbing out of windows to escape....
It is extremely unfortunate that Turkey refused Israel's offer of assistance following this quake. Israel's rescue and recovery teams are extremely well-trained. When innocent people's lives hang in the balance, is Turkey's newly adopted anti-Israel political stance truly necessary? My thoughts are with the people who are suffering in Turkey, Chile, and Costa Rica as a result of recent disasters.
This week the City Hall in Haifa, Israel ordered the closure of "Azad Restaurant" which is owned and operated by Israeli-Arabs.
The restaurant, which turned away a soldier in uniform, was violating basic laws which do not allow for discrimination against citizens. The IDF soldier, Raviv Roth, said a waitress at the restaurant told him, "We don't serve soldiers here." The owner argued that he doesn't discriminate against his patrons, stating that Israeli soldiers in uniform are "disruptive to the atmosphere." He also stated that he doesn't receive anyone in state uniform, which includes police, and that he is willing to receive people in civilian clothing.
The same restaurant allegedly has a history of turning away military soldiers. The restaurant complex was also issued a closure order weeks ago over an illegal addition to their building.
In the following video, student protesters take the restaurant management to task for discriminating against customers in military uniform.
Here is a rough translation:
Here in Haifa, we won't let you remain here. Until you're shut down, we won't leave this spot and we'll give you trouble. The soldiers who protect you protect me, too. It's because of them that you exist. The police officers that stand here, they have a right to eat here and to enter any place in the state. Jews, Arabs, Druzim, Charkesim– you can't be selective [discriminate]! This will not be tolerated! This place will be shut down and every place that does not offer service to military soldiers and those in uniform. All of these places will be shut down! All of Israel, all businesses, will welcome military and those in uniform with respect.
Every year self-proclaimed “pro-Palestinian” activists are guilty of an obvious and enormous hypocrisy when they call for the boycott of Israeli companies or any organization doing business with Israel. These activists refuse to distinguish between the fire and the fire department, thereby aiding Israel's well known genocidal and irreconcilable enemies by cooperating with evil. The boycott campaigns are chiefly featured on university campuses in North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe. This year some of these boycotts have become violent and blatantly racist.
Boycotts against Israeli and Jewish interests are not a modern trend.
The embargoes of Jewish interests began in 1921, more than 27 years prior to the founding of modern Israel in 1948 and decades before the establishment of modern Arab states. An official boycott, sponsored by the Arab League, remains in effect today with a Central Boycott Office in Damascus, Syria. The Arab boycott, moreover, is very similar to the Nazi boycott of Jewish interests initiated in the 1930s.
Current boycott and divestment campaigns have gained momentum since 2000, mostly on college campuses where movements have become more like street theater. Some churches, businesses, and non-profit organizations have also participated. These selective Western boycotts against Israel orchestrated by Muslim students from the Muslim Students Association or Students for Justice in Palestine indisputably pander to the Arab League’s malicious propaganda against Israel.
Organizers of these boycotts against Israel fail to appreciate that their campaigns harm Arab interests. In particular Israeli-Arabs who work for Israeli businesses can be hurt by boycotts which could, in turn, cause pay cuts and lay-offs. Most recently the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip issued a statement asserting that the proposed UK boycott on products from Israeli villages in Judea and Samaria, which some in the UK say sit outside the “green line,” will harm thousands of Palestinian Arabs who work alongside Israelis. The group also noted that this harms what is an “example of coexistence.” The so-called green line which divides Israel and the Arabs is, in effect, an arbitrary line which has no founding in history and no authority when one considers the wars initiated by Arab governments in which countries like Jordan and Egypt relinquished claims to land by the same manner that many countries do in a war.
The positive human rights record of Israel, a society which supports individual rights, surpasses the record any other country in the Middle East. Anti-Israel campaigns perpetuate lies about Israel, including the lie introduced by the UN which states that “Zionism equals racism.” Zionism is a term coined in 1896 to describe an international philosophy maintaining that Jews should have a single national homeland in the Middle East where they would not have to worry about discrimination, pogroms, or other persecutions, but be able to live peacefully. The modern State of Israel is situated in the historical Jewish homeland which, prior to 1948, was not a nation but an undeveloped, plague-ridden region that, with the exception of Hebron and Jerusalem, was particularly inhospitable and roamed by nomads.
Condemnation of Zionism is ridiculous when one recognizes that this ideology, which is responsible for modern Israel, has created a country which is tolerant of all individuals and minorities, including Muslims. Arab Christians and Muslims today serve within the Israeli government and Israeli-Arabs enjoy a higher standard of living in Israel than any other country in the Middle East. In contrast, the few remaining Jews in Islamic countries live in fear of persecution.
In recent decades, Israel uprooted Jewish settlements and gave land to Egypt and Jordan in return for peace treaties. Under the Oslo Accords, Israel granted Palestinian autonomy and received non-stop terror in return for their trouble. Furthermore, unlike Arab governments which have used Palestinians as scapegoats, Israel absorbed indigenous Jewish populations of the Middle East who today amount to more than half of the Israeli population.
If “Pro-Palestinian” activists truly cared about the Palestinians, they would voice dissent against financial corruption and human rights atrocities committed by Fatah and Hamas. If the “pro-Palestinian” propagandists were truly pro-Palestinian rather than merely hateful of Israel, they would call for honest Arab leaders who advocate for a peaceful and prosperous coexistence between Israelis and Arabs in which both Jews and Muslims live in mutual dignity.
Ultimately, a boycott against Israel attempts to weaken and isolate Israel. It attacks the only democracy and westernized nation in the Middle East, and helps terror organizations dedicated to war such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and their political masters in Iran whose undiminished goal is the destruction of Israel by any means at hand.
I am a journalist and researcher, and have written numerous research and investigative pieces on various anti-American, antisemitic, and anti-Israel groups. My work has been published with several notable organizations, including CAMERA on Campus, FrontPageMagazine, and the Investigative Project on Terror.
I have worked to raise awareness about issues concerning the Middle East, including the lack of attention to the plight of Mizrahi Jewry and the discrimination of other minorities.
I graduated from the University of California, Irvine with distinguished honors, earning a Bachelors of Arts in English. I can be reached at Reut AT reutrcohen DOT com. While I will endeavor to respond to every e-mail, I am not receptive to antisemitic and anti-Israel propaganda.
