Truth and the Israeli Position :: Herbert I. London

The drum beat of anti-Israeli sentiment goes on virtually unabated and challenged infrequently. When three fourteen year olds were killed by Israeli soldiers, the European newspapers emphasized their youth and the tragedy of their death, not the fact that they wore explosives around their waist and were killed seeking martyrdom.

In response to the one sided United Nations’ (UN) view of Middle East events the Israeli ambassador objected. He was summarily reproved by Secretary General Kofi Anan with the incredible statement “Do you think you’re right and the world is wrong?”

The now aborted UN mission to be sent to “uncover atrocities” in Jenin hadn’t even been assembled before the judgement could be heard from Paris coffeehouses to Harvard Square. Jenin has been converted into the Israeli My Lai.

Yet U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell, after visiting this refugee camp, said, “there isn’t any evidence of a massacre.” As of this writing 39 Palestinians and 23 Israelis were found dead.

The available evidence also indicates that many homes were booby-trapped and that the Palestinians were armed and prepared to fight. Of course, homes were destroyed; after all this is war, but the destruction was limited to an area in Jenin where known terrorists were hiding.

However, the jury hasn’t waited to provide a verdict. Israel has been found guilty in the court of world opinion. In this case, the evidence is irrelevant.

Most startling of all is the belief that Israel is not entitled to strike at those who want only to kill women and children. Keep in mind that Prime Minister Sharon did virtually nothing when teenagers were killed in a Tel Aviv nightclub and when guests were killed at a Bar Mitzvah or when dozens were slaughtered in Sbarro’s pizza parlor. In fact, even when helicopter gun ships were sent into the West Bank, Palestinian leaders were told and urged to leave the site of potential military targets. Considering this obvious restraint, it is risible to think of Sharon as a bloodthirsty warmonger. But the beat goes on.

According to official French figures, there have been more than 300 acts of anti-Semitism there in the last several months ranging from the desecration of grave sites to graffiti on synagogue walls, the beating of Jews dressed in traditional garb, and the burning of temples. When I inquired at the French Embassy about acts against Muslims and mosques the answer was “none to my knowledge.”

The French may criticize the United States for insufficient attention to global warming, a topic near and dear to French leaders, but burning synagogues doesn’t engender the same level of concern.

The French are not alone. Left wing opinion in the United States has found a new cause. At a recent rally held in Union Square Park demonstrators called for Israeli withdrawal from the “occupied territory” and an increase in the minimum wage. First, of course, the words “occupied territory” should raise all kind of red flags, but as significant, what, if anything, does the minimum wage have to do with Israeli policy? Not only do causes have strange bedfellows; strange bedfellows have strangely allied causes.

Let me turn to Kofi Anan’s acidic question: Is Israel right and the world wrong? I would answer unequivocally yes. Despite all the contentions about brutality, despite all the allegations of unfairness, Israel has maintained restraint and adherence to a just war position.

I am sympathetic to many Palestinians who have been used as pawns by Arab leaders and whose plight has been ignored by those who can and should help. That is where animus should be directed. Instead, Israel is regarded as the bogeyman and in the process innocent people die and the Israeli Defense Force is obliged to retaliate.

There may not be an end in sight, albeit utopians expect facile solutions. At the very least those in the West who know the truth should speak out. That is the first step on the road to stability, assuming anyone cares about the truth.

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