Did I Miss Something?

Did I Miss Something?

By

Leonard Zwelling

The world is collectively bemoaning the bombing of Gaza by the Israelis. Huge crowds are calling it genocide. They chant “from the river to the sea” with no understanding that this is an anti-Semitic trope used by the vilest of Palestinian terrorists and their Iranian sponsors. College campuses are filled with pro-Palestinian crowds of left wing wokeists calling for Israel’s destruction.

Let’s get the history clear.

There is no such country as Palestine and there never was. It’s an area of the Middle East defined by the British after World War I. When the British were driven out (or just left) by the nascent Israelis in the late 1940’s, the United Nations partitioned the area known as Palestine (not then or now a country) and some of the land was sanctioned to be a free Jewish state, Israel. In May of 1948, Israel declared its existence and began the fight with the Arabs in the land that was some of the territory of Palestine to see who would occupy the small sliver that was the newly developed Jewish state—a return of Jews after 1800 years to the land they had inhabited at one time or another for 3000 years.

What is a Palestinian anyway?

A Palestinian is an Arab, usually Muslim or Christian, who lived in the area called Palestine by the British, and who fought with the Jews in that area in 1948, 1967, and many, many times before and since. Why? The Jews and the Palestinian Arabs both want that land including the Old City of Jerusalem where Jews could not go until 1967. That’s right. The Arabs kept the Jews from the Wailing Wall until Israel “liberated” it in 1967.

Now, do I think the Jews should have ceded some of the area that was British Palestine to those Arabs to form a state? I do, and they kind of did in 1948. It was called Jordan. But, wait, there was also that offer in 2000 to Yasser Arafat who turned Ehud Barak’s (and Bill Clinton’s) offer of a Palestinian state down and launched the Second Intifada. Why? Because the Arabs of the area called Palestine by the British never wanted to share the land anyway. They always wanted from the “river (Jordan) to the sea (Mediterranean).” Most Israelis don’t want it all. Unfortunately, some in the current government do. Thus, the settlements in “Judea and Samaria,” areas of the West Bank that were part of Israel many years ago, but are in the West Bank now.

The last 16 years or so have been a disaster for both the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs when it comes to solving this dilemma. While Israel has profited wildly as a start-up nation, the Arabs of Gaza and the West Bank have continued to struggle because the leadership in Gaza (Hamas) had just one goal—the destruction of Israel. The leadership in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority (Mahmoud Abbas), was hopelessly out of touch with the people. Both Palestinian areas refused to hold new elections and the people (Palestinian) suffered even more. In suffering is born terrorism.

For a couple of years, Israeli leadership was too busy trying to keep itself out of prison. It encouraged the incursion into the West Bank area by Jewish settlers in the hundreds of thousands and the settlers started to commit violence on their Arab neighbors. The current Israeli government was installed with many of its leaders advocating the annexation of the West Bank into Israel just as past governments had annexed East Jerusalem. This would be unacceptable to the Palestinian Arabs, of course.

Step-by-step the Israelis undermined any chance for peace while its people turned their backs on the Palestinian population. The Palestinians had feckless leaders who could never figure out what they wanted and the Israelis were all too happy to accommodate their haplessness. There is plenty of blame to go around.

Then came October 7 and genocide was committed on innocent Israelis in southern Israel when the security apparatus of Israel fell asleep.

But, for Americans to demonstrate in favor of terrorists and to advocate for the end of Israel as a country (that’s what from the river to the sea means) is outrageous. Furthermore, I seriously doubt that the United States would seek a pause in aggression against Canada (bombing Ottawa), if Justin Trudeau’s military had entered Detroit, and killed 1400 Americans.

So, everybody, get a grip.

Israel cannot allow Hamas to exist on its borders. It never could. It should have taken care of this in 2007. The Palestinians in Gaza bear some responsibility, too. They have been ruled by a terrorist network for years and now are surprised that bombs are raining down on them because their leadership is hiding underground. And the West Bank Palestinians have never had competent leadership to partner with the Israelis on finally agreeing on the outlines of a Palestinian state.

Lefties, stop supporting terrorists. Half of you would be killed by them if they could get at you. If you are Jewish, gay, or Christian, Hamas would kill you. You are demonstrating for those who would be your executioners. What are you stupid?

And, Mr. Biden, you are once again undermining your credibility by trying to hold back the Israelis who are trying to prevent another genocide. Even I am ready to vote for Trump if this continues.

Israel has to finish the job of eliminating Hamas from Gaza just as you, Mr. President, would bomb Ottawa if Mr. Trudeau invaded Detroit. If Hamas wants to return all of the hostages, then perhaps, Israel can pause the bombing. Short of that—forget it.

The current morass has been cooking for many years. Everyone with responsibility has taken his or her eyes off the ball—the Gazans, the West Bank Palestinians, and the Israelis.

Just tell me, even if Israel eliminates Hamas from Gaza. What then?

None of the actors in this play have been responsible—Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, or the Israelis. There is more than enough fault here, but for Americans to advocate the elimination of a sovereign state in the name of a state that never existed is ludicrous.