Humble Opinions

Being Israeli for a total of 6 days, I can definitely say I am proud to be so. I am proud to have immigrated during a war and to show my support, and am most proud of how the Israeli army has been handling their strikes thusfar. One might think it somewhat evil of me to be proud of the Israeli army, who in the last 8 days has been responsible for over 50 Palestinian civilian deaths, but I think those people are not seeing the full picture.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, and destroyed the Israeli civilian settlements there, forcing thousands of Israelis from their homes, jobs, communities, and ways of life. This was done to “give the Palestinians a shot” at living without Israeli security in their midst, and as a token for peace. Hamas quickly seized control of the strip, and ousted the ruling Fatah party out of power, blindfolding many Fatah leaders, and throwing them of the roofs of buildings (I’ve seen videos).

Since then, Hamas has been smuggling thousands of Iranian/Syrian rockets, machine guns, and armor into Gaza via underground tunnels they dug from Egypt. From the 2nd day that Israel withdrew from Gaza, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have been firing rockets into Israel, at this point totaling to 6,000 - all aimed at civilian settlements. Also, Hamas captured an Israeli solder and has held him hostage, offering to trade him for 1,000 jailed Palestinian/Hamas militants.

Israel has spent 3 years warning Hamas to stop the rocket fire, and have been pushing the political front both in the United States, and at the UN - all to no avail. Also keep in mind that this has been happening simultaneous to Israel’s Hizballah threats and 2006 Lebanan war coming from the North, and an Iranian nuclear threat that has been building.

The reason I am so proud to support the Israeli army is because they are acting in the most humane way an army ever has compared with similar circumstances. Consider what America’s response would be to Hamas shooting rockets into southern California. There has never been a single reported case of an Israeli soldier raping an Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian, Arab, or Palestinian. Israel never knowingly targets civilians, and many times gives civilians warnings about pending Israeli attacks.

In the last week, Israel has done a few very smart things:

1. It allowed around 400 foreigners to safely exit Gaza before any ground invasion took place. I can’t think of another army that has done that.
2. It dropped leaflets all over Gaza written in Arabic, explaining that Hamas militants will be targeted in the Israeli campaigns, and if a civilian hides or helps a Hamas militant, they are putting their life in danger.
3. The IDF called Gazans and left voicemails informing them of the pending attacks, and told specific civilians to leave their areas, to avoid any kind of injury.
4. The IDF has mounted cameras into all of their airplanes, and is capturing every bombing on tape. They opened a YouTube channel and are posting videos of the IDF targeting Hamas militants as they load missiles to fire into Israel. They also have been posting videos of the IDF destroying weapons/explosive warehouses, in which a secondary explosion is seen in the video, caused by the Hamas explosives in the buildings.
5. They even mounted cameras onto the Israeli rockets themselves, and have posted many “rocket view” video clips of them specifically targeting Hamas offices, militants, and ships.

How many armies do any of those? There is no count of Iraqi casualties from the American invasion, but I believe there have been literally millions of Iraqis killed, the overwhelming majority being civilian. Compare that with Israel, who is targeting militants only, doing everything to keep civilian casualties down, and is currently keeping a 20% civilian casualty rate. I’m not saying 20% is good, it’s horrible. I, as well as the IDF, are hoping for a 0% civilian casualty rate, but if you compare that with other world armies, the number is extremely impressive. Compare that with the enemy, Hamas, who solely targets civilians, and whose goals are to inflict as much death and tragedy as they possibly can.

In light of the attacks, Israel has closed many of its schools that are within range of Hamas rockets, and are running classes online for its students instead. Israeli President Shimon Peres kicked this off by giving the first online class in Social Studies himself! Want to guess whether Hamas has done the same for the Palestinians?

Here is a small comparison chart between Israel and Hamas:

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a clearer picture of good vs evil in my life. I have many friends serving in the Israeli army. On Saturday, when the IDF was calling their troops up preparing for the invasion into Gaza, all 4 of my roommates were called up, and 1 other friend of mine as well. I know the people fighting for Israel. They are good people, and they want to bring peace to Israeli citizens and their children living under barrages of rockets for years. Hamas, on the other hand, beheads Israelis on video and posts it to the Internet.

I can’t understand how any of this blame can be placed on Israel.

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A 6-month shaky ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip is officially over, and Hamas says it will not renew it, because “the Zionist entity has not respected its conditions.” I know this topic has been argued endlessly, and I imagine that very few supporters of either side has changed their opinion by much. Nonetheless, I thought I’d give my humble opinion.

Let’s discuss why Israel “has not respected its conditions.” Less than three weeks ago, Israeli armed forces discovered a hidden tunnel leading into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Israeli intelligence (which ranks among the best in the world) determined the tunnel’s purpose was to enable Gaza militants to kidnap another Israeli (preferably a soldier) and hold them hostage. Israel used controlled explosives to destroy the illegal tunnel, rendering zero dead, and zero injured. In response, Hamas launched several rockets aimed at open Israeli civilian settlements for the few days that followed.

Was Israel justified in doing this? Well let’s see… On June 25th, 2006 Hamas raided Israel by crossing through the Kerem Shalom kibbutz, and kidnapped a then 19-year-old Israeli soldier named Gilad Shalit. Gilad is still in captivity over 2 years later, and Hamas has offered to trade him for over 1,000 jailed Palestinian and Hamas militants. Nice.

Sigh. It is beyond me how the world stands for this for even a single moment. What do you think America’s response would be if an Islamic group recognized as a terrorist organization setup a small camp in Los Angeles, and fired rockets into other Californian cities on a daily basis; sometimes more than 10 rockets per day? My opinion is the entire organization would be demolished in a matter of hours of the first rocket launch.

But instead, Israel sits with both hands tied behind its back, all the while Hamas continues smuggling more weapons, and longer range rockets into the Gaza strip. Every Israeli response is met by a UN condemnation. Not only that, but Israel has been accused of committing war crimes, and has been compared to the Nazi regime.

Let me paint the picture to you: Israel has some of the most advanced weapons on earth. So advanced, that even the monstrous country Russia has recently made a bid to purchase Israeli spy drones. Israeli armed forces visit the United States to offer training to US armed forces on a regular basis. For more than the first year of its existence, the US sold its highly acclaimed F-16 fighter jets to only Israel, as Israel was to test them out, give feedback, and offer ideas for improvement to them. Israel has missile stockpiles, unmanned fighter planes, remote-controlled machine guns, satellite intelligence, and much much more.

How many Israeli suicide bombers have you seen blowing up Palestinian malls, pizzerias, hotels, and weddings? How many Palestinians or Hamas militants has Israel beheaded on live television? The answer to both is zero. And by the way, who provides the electricity for the Gaza strip? Who pays their water bill? Their hospitals? Israel! In fact, Israel never targets civilians. Never. The reason the Palestinian civilian death toll exceeds Israel’s is because Hamas sets up their rocket launchers in civilian areas, their bomb-building factories next to kindergartens, and uses civilians (many times children) as human shields. If you don’t believe me, there are videos of this practice being used on the Internet.

Israel could very easily take over the entire Gaza strip, and utterly destroy Hamas to pieces. Instead, they waste an enormous amount of resources, and lives of Israeli army personnel performing things like door-to-door raids, and blowing up Hamas buildings (always with at least a 15 minute warning). Every year since 1977, the UN has been observing an International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

My question: What the hell?? Where is the International Day of Solidarity for the Tibetans who have been living in incomparably worse conditions under Chinese occupation for almost 60 years. How many Tibetan suicide bombers have their been? Zero. How many Chinese have been kidnapped by Tibetans, tortured, and beheaded? Zero.

Why is it that the Palestinians enjoy such an imbalance of media coverage? Simple: they use the most disturbing tactics in the world to make their statements. People love action - it’s like watching a movie. But what amazes me is the insane criticism Israel receives for simply trying to defend its civilians. Practically every recent US president has tried to form a 2-state solution, carving out part of Israel for the Palestinians. Can someone remind me why terrorism is being rewarded?

The State of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians has been compared to a system of apartheid, like that of South Africa’s treatment of non-Whites from 1948 - 1990. This is simply ridiculous. Israelis do not enslave Palestinians. They do not beat them randomly, nor do they arrest them without cause. Israel gladly admits Palestinians into its hospitals. Many Jewish business owners gladly employ Palestinians, and offer them far better pay and working conditions than they could obtain in any of the surrounding Arab countries. In fact, while we’re on the topic, lets make a few comparisons:

Between the years 1948 - 1953, 850,000 Jews were kicked out of Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq in response to the establishment of the State of Israel. Israel accepted them with open arms, integrated them into society, and offered them all jobs. To compare, many Palestinians were told to flee from Israel between 1947 - 1948, while the invading Arab armies would throw the Jews into the sea - then they could return. When things didn’t work out as planned, did any of the more than 20 surrounding Arab nations offer to settle the Palestinians? No. They have been purposely exacerbating their plight as political pawns.

And how did the West Bank come under Israeli control? Let’s see… In 1967, Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser (armed and trained by Russia) coordinated with Syria and Jordan to invade Israel and kill every single Israeli. The Egyptian radio broadcast statements such as these: “Jewish women prepare yourselves! We will throw the men into the sea!” Days before the 1967 Six Day war, Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol addressed the nation, telling everyone to keep calm. Mid-speech, he broke down and began crying. The numbers simply spelled utter defeat for Israel any way a person looked at it.

With unparalleled military planning, execution, and divine providence, Israel preemptively struck all the surrounding Arab air forces, and won the war in a shocking 6 days… during which, the West Bank came under Israeli control. Obviously, Russia forced a cease-fire in the UN immediately (had it been the other way around, I assure you that would not have happened). In 1988, Jordan finally ceded its claims to the West Bank, leaving over a million Palestinians under Israeli control. Israel now provides health care, security, education, and the highest standard of Arab living in the Middle East to these people.

Now let’s compare numbers: The Arabs have a stained record of not accepting peace plans. In 1952, West Germany settled to paying Israel and Holocaust survivors $750 million as reparations for the Nazi holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were systematically starved, raped, tortured, gassed, burned in ovens, and endured brutal medical experimentation. In the year 2000 at the Camp David Summit, then Prime Minister Ehud Barak offered Yasir Arafat 98% of the West Bank and Gaza strip as a state for the Palestinian people, plus $30 billion as reparation for Palestinian displacement during the wars being waged against Israel. Yasir Arafat turned this offer down, made no counteroffer, and instead began a wave of violence known as the Second Intifada.

Can someone please explain to me how any of this is happening?

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Over the last few days, the largest financial scandal in Wall Street history has begun to unfold. The facts are still coming in, and it will be some time until the full scope of the scandal is truly understood - but so far, it appears devastating. Bernard Madoff was arrested on Friday, December 12th 2008 after admitting to having been running the largest Ponzi scheme ever, spanning decades, and involving over $50,000,000,000 (that’s right, billion) of investor money - now all gone.

As I began reading the initial news article, my jaw hung open. Not only did someone work up the inhumanity of stealing tens of millions of dollars from countless individuals, and spending it on mansions, a yacht, and a first class lifestyle, but this is unfolding at what can be said as literally the worst possible time. The United States (and much of the Western civilized world) is just beginning to plunge into the worst economic situation in memory. Then it got worse…

Mr. Madoff is a Jew! Not only a Jew, but he served as the treasurer of the board of trustees for Yeshiva University - one of the most well-known Jewish institutions in all of New York. At this point my jaw was on the floor. Upon his arrest, Yeshiva University instantly took a catastrophic hit on its endowment. Many prominent Jewish people have been completely wiped out, many of them elderly (living in Florida, obviously).

Why is it that people don’t realize their actions will paint future history books, and shape the world of their grandchildren? Is there any doubt in your mind that when the history of American Jewry is written, Madoff’s name will not be written in bold letters, and described as the name that did enormous damage to the entire Jewish nation, and ran American Jews’ reputation through the mud? His family is ruined. His future descendants are ruined. And to a certain extent, American Jews are ruined. Worst of all, it seems his only response can be “Who, Me?”

What is the world to think of Jews now? Factor in that Mr. Madoff was a huge contributor to Jewish charities across the globe. What is the world to think of Jews that give charity now? In Jewish law there is a well known concept called Mitzva HaBaa b’Aveira - a good deed that comes as the result of a bad one. The individual responsible is not credited for that good deed. It is invalid. Rather, they are punished for the bad one. We are witness to the clearest example of this that I have ever come across.

Mr. Madoff is officially responsible for the destruction of thousands of lives, families, Jewish institutions, and more. It has been 1 business day since this scandal has surfaced, and already two non-profit Jewish organizations have been forced to terminate their entire staff, and close their doors. What will be the future of Yeshiva University, no one knows. This man has single handedly prevented an untold number of Jews from receiving a greater Torah education, from visiting the land of Israel, from being able to afford Kosher food for their children!

If all this isn’t bad enough, major foreign banks have been hit, some for as much as over a billion dollars. Great job Bernard - I’m sure Jews have all really been missing the atmosphere of open anti-semitism, like that of 19th century France, which produced the Dreyfus Affair (read about it). I cannot express how damaging this is for worldwide Jewry - and at a time when the security of the state of Israel is in tremendous limbo… I need not remind you the 6-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is coming to an end, and Hamas has vowed not to renew it. I need not remind you Iran is still rapidly assembling a nuclear weapon with Israel’s name on it, in open defiance of the entire world. I need not remind you the security of the state of Israel (which believe it or not is a security blanket for all of world Jewry) GREATLY depends on the stature and reputation of powerful foreign Jewish communities (at the present time, those in America).

We are in serious trouble, fellow Jews. Do not take this lightly. And please do not respond “Who, Me?”

Yes, You!!!

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