A few weeks ago, Dan Hanson ’12 wrote an article in The Wooster Voice entitled “Reevaluate Israel: Imperial Zionism.”† In this deceptive article, Hanson slandered and attacked the state of Israel and its supporters in a very offensive way.† Here is my favorite quote: “The Jewish right to Palestine is a purely naive belief that derives from a backwards and tribalistic expression of a cultural identity.”† This is a radical and dangerous statement.† The mentality that the Jews have no right to be in Palestine has led to a steady stream of bloody attacks on them over the past 60 years.
The Jews lived in what was originally called Judea for centuries throughout the first millennium B.C. (long before the Arabs were around), and were expelled in the first century A.D. by the Romans.† It was then that the Romans renamed the land Palestine.† Despite living in exile, Jews retained a connection to the land for centuries afterwards, perpetuating the memory and traditions associated with it.† The land of Israel remained, and still remains, an inherent part of the Jewish religion; that is where the right of return comes from. Backwards and tribalistic cultural identity, I suppose.† Silly Jews.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews streamed back to Israel.† On May 14, 1948, the United Nations† established a Jewish state.† A day later, all of the surrounding Arab countries attacked it.† Unable to eliminate Israel, they did manage to capture part of the land that had been set aside for the Palestinians.† Of course, they never bothered setting up a Palestinian state, even though they occupied the West Bank and Gaza for almost 20 years.† In my opinion, their goal in 1948 and in 1967, when they attacked again, was not to help the Palestinians, but to eradicate Israel and kill Jews.† I feel that this goal has been the ultimate basis for all of the Arabs’ violent actions ever since.† They do not, and never did, care about the Palestinians.
The popular portrayal of Israel ó the one used recently by Hanson, – is one of aggression and imperialism.† But compare Israel to the Arab world –ó which the Palestinians are a part of culturally ó and then see if you can still call the Zionists imperialists with a straight face.† The 21 Arab states cover roughly 8 million square miles.† China, by comparison, is under 4 million square miles in size.† Israel is under 9,000 square miles ó a little bigger then New Jersey.† Apparently it is imperialistic to want a sliver of land to call home.
Hanson also brushed off the problem of Palestinian terrorism.† Gaza is just one example of this phenomenon.† In 2005, despite the Second Intifada having only recently ended, Israel ceded the Gaza Strip entirely to the Palestinians without preconditions.† The Palestinians’ response was for Hamas, a violent organization openly dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel and the killing of Jews, to take power.† Hamas proceeded to launch rockets at Israeli cities with the aim of killing civilians.† Hundreds of rockets and mortars were launched in 2006 and 2007.† In 2008 alone, over 3,000 rockets and mortars were launched.† In order to halt the rocket attacks, Israeli forces invaded Gaza in December 2008, severely crippling Hamas.† Rocket attacks dramatically dropped in the months following the operation, proving that for Israel, the use of force is far more effective in stopping terror than are Munich-like concessions.† Which is not to say that Israel should not negotiate -ó it just has to be smart about it.
After the war in Gaza ended in January 2009, the U.N.’s Goldstone Report made the charge that Israeli forces had intentionally targeted civilians, and was therefore widely criticized in pro-Israel circles ó it did also point out war crimes by Hamas.† But just last week, the head of the investigating panel, Justice Richard Goldstone, issued a retraction of this charge.† He also noted that “while Israel has assiduously investigated allegation of wrongdoing by its soldiers” during the Gaza war, “Hamas ó which has made no secret of targeting civilians -ó has not opened a single investigation into its own alleged war crimes.”† There you have it.
Hanson also omitted entirely the extensive negotiations between Israel and Palestinian officials in the West Bank.† Tensions remain, but both Fatah and Israel deserve credit for their commitment to a peaceful solution.† The Palestinians have a far better chance of establishing a legitimate state using the Fatah model rather than the Hamas model.
In summary, Zionism, the belief that Jews have a right to a state in Palestine, is legitimate; the real reason for Arab aggression is not Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, but rather the Arabs’ desire to see Israel “wiped off the map.” Israel is entirely justified in using armed force to protect its civilians from Palestinian terror attacks, and is much more discriminate and accountable in its use of force than many realize. It is much more dedicated to peace and possibly even the establishment of a Palestinian state than it is given credit for.† I brought up many issues that Hanson did not mention because they are important to this topic, thus making for a far more sensible conversation than does attacking a people’s identity as he does.† People like him need to accept the Jewish State’s legitimacy and existence.† The sooner they do, the closer the Middle East will be to obtaining peace.