Israel has been fighting for its survival since its return to its historical home in 1947. The nations surrounding it, including Iran and Egypt, would wipe it off the map if they could. Their spokespeople, from Yasser Arafat to the Ayatollah Khomeini, have said so ad nauseam.
Since its Declaration of Independence in 1947 and its foundation as a nation in 1948, Israel has had to confront at least 7 major wars (1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, 2006, and multiple Gaza incursions). Despite the United Nations giving them a small, fractured territory, the Jews accepted the plan. The Arabs rejected it, and continue to do so. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon attacked the embryonic State. Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria, now called the West Bank, annexing it in 1950, and recognized only by Britain and Pakistan.
Israel regained control of the West Bank from Jordan in June 1967, during the Six-Day War, and has maintained control ever since. By the end of the war, Israel controlled not only Samaria and Judea (the West Bank), but also the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. In the promise of peace that never came, Israel surrendered Sinai to Egypt, also giving up the Gaza Strip.
Before we can understand all the suffering going on in Gaza, we need to accept that Israel is fighting for its survival against an enemy that wants to annihilate it. Also, we need to accept that Gaza is ruled by a terrorist organisation elected by popular vote. From the beginning, propaganda, to gain sympathy from Western countries, has been the primary weapon of the terrorists.
When Hamas invaded Israel with such deliberate barbarism on October 7, 2023, it knew perfectly well how Israel would respond. Hamas got what it wanted, a propaganda Oscar.
Yasser Arafat and his Soviet allies had devised the propaganda strategy in the mid-seventies. It had two aims. One was to develop a narrative claiming the Palestinians were the indigenous people of Palestine. In fact, Palestine has never existed as a country, and those living in the area, both Jews and Arabs, were called Palestinians. “Palestinian”, as it is now used, is a creation out of thin air by Arafat and the Soviets.
The indigenous myth enabled Arafat and the Soviets to present the Palestinian cause as an anti-colonial struggle. Israel was a Western imperialist settler state, and the Palestinians were a native population resisting foreign colonisers.
Efraim Karsh and Soviet bloc defectors like Ion Mihai Pacepa have revealed how Moscow's advisers encouraged Arafat to emphasise the idea that Palestinians were the ancient and continuous inhabitants of the land; they were within their rights to demand decolonisation. A worldwide movement of culture-levelling protesters supported them.
Despite the Hamas propaganda, supported by a prejudiced and partisan United Nations, Israel is not the primary cause of the suffering, a charge reinforced by the United Nations, which, from 2006 to 2016, condemned Israel 135 times. In 2022, it condemned Israel more than all the other countries put together.
And yet, more than any other military in the last 100 years, the IDF has attempted to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas is so morally corrupt that it hides in hospitals and schools, increasing civilian casualties. However, being the most experienced propagandists in the world, they manage to influence television audiences worldwide, as well as journalists. Although the BBC and The New York Times have recently apologised for publishing fake photographs of children who appeared to be starving.
There is substantial documented evidence that would support the IDF’s claim that they try to keep civilians as safe as possible. But it is war, and in war, terrible things happen. That there is horrific suffering in Gaza cannot be denied, but to make Israel stop now in its attempt to destroy Hamas by insisting on a two-state solution will solve nothing. It would give Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon time to regroup and be the initiators of even greater suffering. The just position for our government to take is to encourage a democratic Israel to continue its attempt to get rid of Hamas and restore Gaza either as part of Israel or as a separate territory. That’s a decision that can only be made by Israel.
You should not be surprised if Golda Meir’s words continue to echo throughout Israel. “If we have to choose between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image. We'd rather be alive and have the bad image.” The Israelis understand that submission means annihilation. They must continue to anticipate an attack by always taking the initiative. Most recently, they have dropped accurate bombs to kill the “princes of Hamas” right in the heart of Qatar. The message: if you want to kill Israelis, you are safe nowhere.
Bruce Logan a Christchurch based writer, retired teacher, and founder and retired Director of the Maxim Institute. This article was published HERE.
Since its Declaration of Independence in 1947 and its foundation as a nation in 1948, Israel has had to confront at least 7 major wars (1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, 2006, and multiple Gaza incursions). Despite the United Nations giving them a small, fractured territory, the Jews accepted the plan. The Arabs rejected it, and continue to do so. Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon attacked the embryonic State. Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria, now called the West Bank, annexing it in 1950, and recognized only by Britain and Pakistan.
Israel regained control of the West Bank from Jordan in June 1967, during the Six-Day War, and has maintained control ever since. By the end of the war, Israel controlled not only Samaria and Judea (the West Bank), but also the Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Golan Heights. In the promise of peace that never came, Israel surrendered Sinai to Egypt, also giving up the Gaza Strip.
Before we can understand all the suffering going on in Gaza, we need to accept that Israel is fighting for its survival against an enemy that wants to annihilate it. Also, we need to accept that Gaza is ruled by a terrorist organisation elected by popular vote. From the beginning, propaganda, to gain sympathy from Western countries, has been the primary weapon of the terrorists.
When Hamas invaded Israel with such deliberate barbarism on October 7, 2023, it knew perfectly well how Israel would respond. Hamas got what it wanted, a propaganda Oscar.
Yasser Arafat and his Soviet allies had devised the propaganda strategy in the mid-seventies. It had two aims. One was to develop a narrative claiming the Palestinians were the indigenous people of Palestine. In fact, Palestine has never existed as a country, and those living in the area, both Jews and Arabs, were called Palestinians. “Palestinian”, as it is now used, is a creation out of thin air by Arafat and the Soviets.
The indigenous myth enabled Arafat and the Soviets to present the Palestinian cause as an anti-colonial struggle. Israel was a Western imperialist settler state, and the Palestinians were a native population resisting foreign colonisers.
Efraim Karsh and Soviet bloc defectors like Ion Mihai Pacepa have revealed how Moscow's advisers encouraged Arafat to emphasise the idea that Palestinians were the ancient and continuous inhabitants of the land; they were within their rights to demand decolonisation. A worldwide movement of culture-levelling protesters supported them.
Despite the Hamas propaganda, supported by a prejudiced and partisan United Nations, Israel is not the primary cause of the suffering, a charge reinforced by the United Nations, which, from 2006 to 2016, condemned Israel 135 times. In 2022, it condemned Israel more than all the other countries put together.
And yet, more than any other military in the last 100 years, the IDF has attempted to avoid civilian casualties. Hamas is so morally corrupt that it hides in hospitals and schools, increasing civilian casualties. However, being the most experienced propagandists in the world, they manage to influence television audiences worldwide, as well as journalists. Although the BBC and The New York Times have recently apologised for publishing fake photographs of children who appeared to be starving.
There is substantial documented evidence that would support the IDF’s claim that they try to keep civilians as safe as possible. But it is war, and in war, terrible things happen. That there is horrific suffering in Gaza cannot be denied, but to make Israel stop now in its attempt to destroy Hamas by insisting on a two-state solution will solve nothing. It would give Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon time to regroup and be the initiators of even greater suffering. The just position for our government to take is to encourage a democratic Israel to continue its attempt to get rid of Hamas and restore Gaza either as part of Israel or as a separate territory. That’s a decision that can only be made by Israel.
You should not be surprised if Golda Meir’s words continue to echo throughout Israel. “If we have to choose between being dead and pitied, and being alive with a bad image. We'd rather be alive and have the bad image.” The Israelis understand that submission means annihilation. They must continue to anticipate an attack by always taking the initiative. Most recently, they have dropped accurate bombs to kill the “princes of Hamas” right in the heart of Qatar. The message: if you want to kill Israelis, you are safe nowhere.
Bruce Logan a Christchurch based writer, retired teacher, and founder and retired Director of the Maxim Institute. This article was published HERE.
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