Humble Opinions

Today, Israel and Jordan celebrate 15 years of official peace between them. I think analyzing the history, and circumstances of this peace reveals a lot of insight into the general situation in the Middle East, and also shows how overall peace in the region could be obtained. Also, this morning, Israel told the UN it would continue gathering intelligence in Lebanon as long as the Lebanese government was not in full control of its country, after the UN questioned Israel about potential wire tapping machinery discovered in Southern Lebanon the other day. I think these two things can be related in an interesting way. Let’s see how much smarter we can get:

On October 26, 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and Jordanian Prime Minister Abdelsalam al-Majali signed a peace treaty that ended almost 50 years of warring between the two countries. The main points of the treaty were that the two governments agreed on (1) Official borders between their two countries, (2) Normalization of relations (opening of embassies, granting of tourist visas), and (3) Respect of sovereignty and territories. What caused this, and what took so long?

Since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, Jordan consistently subscribed to an anti-Israel policy, and participated in multiple attempts to destroy it. They did so especially in the Israeli War of Independence (1948), and Six Day War (1967), however the entire time the Jordanians controlled East Jerusalem (1948 - 1967), they made it exceeding difficult for Jews to live in Jerusalem. They would snipe at Jewish mothers shopping for their families, and would pour garbage onto those who came to worship at the Western Wall, among other things. So if Jordan was not down for having Jewish neighbors, then why the peace treaty?

I believe Jordan agreed to peace for a few reasons. The first is that their anti-Israel position was costing them bigtime. For starters, they kept losing wars. Particularly during the Six Day War, Israel sent a message to the Jordanian government on the morning the war broke out, and told them Israel would not attack them if they stayed out of the war. Instead, Jordan decided to try and capture West Jerusalem, and failed miserably. Israel not only stopped them, but was forced to take over East Jerusalem, causing many Jordanians to flee. This also gave Israel complete control over the Western Wall. Was that worth it?

Additionally, Israel consistently offered the possibilities of trade between the two countries, as well as other forms of economic development that the Jordanians simply refused to acknowledge. But things changed during the 70s and 80s. In 1970, Jordan waged the war of Black September against the PLO who were based in Jordan at the time. In response, Syrian troops entered Jordan to fight on behalf of the PLO. In an attempt to try and contain the situation, Israel flew fighter planes over Syrian airspace, to indicate they should stop - and they did. In the 1973 Yom Kippur war, Jordan did not participate in the joint surprise Egyptian-Syrian attack on Israel, perhaps indicating they had learned their lesson.

Eventually, Jordan caved. They realized they could not beat Israel militarily, and that they were losing out by not embracing a relationship with Israel where both countries could capitalize on economic opportunities, and could benefit from the sharing of certain intelligence. So what does this have to do with what Israel said about Lebanon?

Last week, the Lebanese military uncovered machinery buried underground in Southern Lebanon. Upon their discoveries, the machines were immediately blown up, seemingly remotely by Israel. The general theory is that during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Israel planted wire tapping devices in the ground, to keep a good eye on the Iranian backed terrorist organization, Hezbollah. When confronted about it by the UN, Israel did not confirm or deny it had planted anything in Lebanon, but told the UN it would continue gathering intelligence there while Hezbollah still controlled part of Lebanon.

The underlying theme, as it seems to me, is that Israel does what it needs to in order to ensure its own security and defense capabilities. As soon as it is no longer threatened by one of its enemies, Israel is more than happy to embrace a two-way relationship with them. Israel did not only not hold a grudge against Jordan for the previous 50 years, but also did not hesitate to sign a peace treaty with even Egypt, who tried MUCH harder than Jordan to destroy Israel. Meaning, if the Middle East would finally recognize a tiny Jewish state in their midst, and decided to work with them instead of against them, all countries would benefit. Perhaps the 21st century could finally be the one where the Jewish nation for the first time doesn’t have an attempt made for its complete destruction? Maybe? But then again, Iran’s nuclear program is probably for peaceful purposes.

P.S. If you think Israel is going to sit back and let Iran school the world while obtaining a nuclear weapon, you gotta be out your mind. Crack a history book.

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Shalom. Let’s just right into the meat and potatoes: Netanyahu is the man!!

On September 24^th, 2009, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered (what I found to be) an earth shaking speech at the United Nations, in front of the leaders of all the nations of the world. For those who haven’t seen it, I’m obligated to link you to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YJfUlF-xtU

And here is a video of a few statements Netanyahu made immediately after his speech, to an Israeli camera crew:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLCpJTchK8Q

Speaking in perfectly fluent, and elegant English, Prime Minister Netanyahu laid the facts out as they truly are, and was not at all embarrassed or shy about lashing out at members of the UN, or its human rights council. I called the speech “earth shaking” partly because I found myself shaken to the core during certain moments of the speech.

Think about it - what an unbelievably historic moment of world and Jewish history. The individual who is generally accepted as being (in some way) a representative of the Jewish people stood before the entire world and asked “Have you no shame???” and here’s the best part - he lived to tell the story! Placing this into historical perspective is literally mind-blowing for me.

How many times in the history of mankind has a representative of the Jewish nation been afforded the opportunity to address the entire world? And given the freedom to say whatever they’d like? In the late 1200s, well after the Christians had reconquered Spain from the Muslims (all whilst Jews were living there, making it awesome), the Church would demand that a well-known Rabbi stand in front of a large audience, and debate Judaism against Christianity. This happened time and time again, in order so that the Church could publicly disprove Judaism. The only problem was that the Rabbis were not allowed to in any way slander the Church (obviously), lest they be put to death for committing blasphemy. In short, the Rabbis lost every time.

However, in the year 1263, a well-known Jewish convert named Pablo Christiani informed King James of Aragon the 1^st that he could not only publicly disprove Judaism, but that he could use Jewish sources to do so (namely the Talmud). After hearing this exciting news, the King organized a grand debate, and had one of the greatest Rabbis of the time, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman (a.k.a. the Ramban) summoned to participate in this debate. Before the debate began, the Ramban requested of the king the right to free speech, and shockingly, he was granted it. The debate lasted for 4 days (July 20 - 24).

Needless to say, Pablo was less than a match for the Ramban (think Mike Tyson vs a 3 yr old). Each night, the Ramban went home and recorded the arguments and transcription of the debate, and compiled it into a book called The Disputation at Barcelona. Although the Ramban was deemed the winner, he was also immediately exiled from Spain, never allowed to return.

So why do I mention this story? It took place 746 years ago, and since that time, there have been few situations like it…. until Benjamin Netanyahu (the man, if I didn’t already say) stepped up to the podium at the UN five days ago.

The general points of his speech were:

• The holocaust was very real, and anyone who affords a holocaust denier the right to spew their anti-semitic opinions should simply be ashamed of themselves.
• Israel did not WANT to perform the recent military campaign in the Gaza Strip, but rather was forced to, and took every measure possible to limit civilian casualties on both sides of the conflict. The UN had the power to prevent this, but did nothing - and now is accusing Israel of war crimes it very clearly did not commit.
• Israel wants to progress the world and mankind. If the nations of the world work together, we can “cure the incurable,” “lengthen our lives” and offer “all nations magnificent bounty of hope” ….. “and yes, we will clean up the planet.”
• Israel and Israelis are tired of war. They are tired of sending their sons, daughters, grandchildren, friends, and loved ones off to the IDF in order to keep their country safe (Israel has a mandatory military draft). They are tired of losing their loved ones, sick of endless war and attacks being plotted against them, and sick of paying 50% income tax to support their military.
• Israel wants peace. “We made peace with Egypt, led by Anwar Sadaat. We made peace with Jordan led by King Hussein. And if the Palestinians truly want peace, I and my government, and my people will make peace.”
• And one of his main and final points: The world must make a decision. The time has once again come where the Jews could be placed in existential danger. Will mankind continue its unfortunate pattern of ignoring the situation the same way the Allied Forces knowingly did not bomb the railroad tracks leading to Auschwitz - or will they finally step up, and allow the Jewish nation to once and for all live in peace and tranquility, and be given the opportunity to fulfill their destiny of being a light onto nations?

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In Israel’s 60+ year history as a modern-day country, it has continuously bent over backwards regarding its relationship with its neighboring countries, and in how it treats its citizens (Jewish and especially non-Jewish). There are those in the world that believe Israel is an evil, racist, inhumane country, for reasons which I have yet to fully comprehend, but I would press those individuals to describe Israel’s evil agenda. With a very basic scanning of her history, it’s pretty clear (at least to me) that Israel has no aspirations of expanding through Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, or Jordan, and has no genocidal plot of exterminating a race or religion; nor does it seek global domination of any market or financial system whatsoever. It simply seeks peace for its citizens, and an equal opportunity to compete in the global markets - the same way many countries on earth do.

I remind my readers that Israel was established as a safe haven for Jews, after the previous 18 centuries had left them brutalized, murdered, and raped in every sense by a shockingly large number of world powers. It’s to everyone’s misfortune that Israel has been on high alert defense from her very first day of existence (literally), and has had a continual existential threat against her ever since, by greatly outnumbering enemies. I also remind my readers that all the land Israel has gained since the 1947 UN Partition Plan has been a result of the Arab world denying Israel’s right to exist, and Israel defending herself in wars waged against her.

Despite all this, Israel continues to bend over backward in the treatment of her non-Jewish citizens (whom make up roughly 20% of her population), and in her relations with her neighboring countries (even during wartimes). Here are a few examples:

1. It is pretty well understood that the relationship between the Jews and Arabs inside of Israel is a hairy one. Yet, Arabs are allowed to travel to & from Israeli neighborhoods and Arab neighborhoods inside of Israel, at worst case needing to stop at a checkpoint to ensure they’re not transporting any kind of explosives or weapons. Arabs are also allowed to work jobs in Israel, legally, as non-Israeli citizens. Israelis, on the other hand, are absolutely not allowed to enter Arab neighborhoods within Israel. This is because it is well known that a Jew walking around Ramallah, for example, will likely be kidnapped or killed fairly quickly. I am not exaggerating in the slightest. Around the very dangerous areas, IDF soldiers are stationed at all borders and forbid Israelis from passing for this very reason.
2. Israel has given its Arab citizens an opportunity to participate in its democratic government. Since the first election in Israel in 1949, Arabs have been allowed to run for seats in the Israeli Knesset. Currently, there are 13 Arab members of the Knesset, and 7 of the 120 seats belong to Arab parties. This fact alone is beyond shocking considering the ideologies of the Arab parties revolve around the creation of a Palestinian state, the nullification of Israel being a Jewish homeland, and pretty much everything that works against the goals and interests of the Israeli government. Yet, they are still allowed to run and be included on all voting ballads. The Arab parties in the Knesset are also allowed to run television ads on Israelis television, which they do in Arabic (without Hebrew sub-titles). I wonder what those ads are about…

   The Arab parties of the Israeli Knesset also constantly boycott everything Israeli, and protest everything in the interest of the security of Israelis. During Operating Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, the Arab parties in the Knesset were the only ones that boycotted every single Knesset meeting, and unilaterally opposed the operation - yet, made no protests whatsoever when hundreds of rockets were being shot into civilian, Israeli neighborhoods in Israel from Gaza, which was the primary cause for the war.

   Just yesterday, the Arab parties of the Knesset boycotted a senate session because it was “Jerusalem Day” in Israel - the day that commemorates Jerusalem being united under Israeli control in 1967. Sounds like they’re really looking out for the country whose government they are participating in.

3. One more thing regarding Operation Cast Lead… During the war, Israel had hospitalized members of Fatah, the “moderate” Arabs who helped Israel fight against Hamas (their sworn enemy) by way of providing locale intelligence. Let’s be clear about one thing: Fatah opposes Hamas in the inter-Arab struggle to be the leading group of Arabs that fight the “Israeli occupation” - however, Fatah opposes Israel incomparably more. The Fatah logo is a picture of Israel (from a map) with crossed swords over it, and a grenade underneath it. Shortly after the war, Fatah filed a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice against Israel for allegedly committing crimes against humanity. Thanks, Fatah. We hope your men enjoyed their stays in our hospitals.
4. As is well known, the peace that exists between Israel and Egypt is a cold peace - somewhat of a marriage of convenience. That being said, Israelis are free to travel to Egypt and spend as much tourist money as their hearts desire in the Sinai desert, and even in Cairo, Egypt’s capital city. On the contrary, Egyptians are forbidden to travel to Israel by the Egyptian government. Egypt does not want its citizen to in any way spend any money inside of Israel. In fact, Egyptians married to Israelis could even lose their Egyptian citizenship.

So, maybe someone can remind me what good has come to Israel from all this backward bending over? It doesn’t seem like it gets anything in return but animosity, opposition, and the continual desire for it to not exist.

I mean, how many countries that have been members of the UN for 60 years are still not recognized to exist by over 50 countries? The answer: 1. Israel.

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