Opinion & Commentary:
Getting the facts straight on the Middle East
By Debbie Israel
March 14, 2008

Recently, I was driving with some friends to sing in East Brunswick and, because our repertoire this year is mostly Israeli music (in honor of Israel's upcoming 60th anniversary, im yirtza Hashem, God willing) we began talking about Israel and the situation there.

The driver said that Israel wouldn't be in such a pickle (I'm paraphrasing) if the government didn't break treaties and allow "settlements" (which are just towns with houses, businesses, and people).

I was truly surprised by this statement, particularly because I had never heard this argument before. I had heard people say that Israel was going against United Nations resolutions (which is also untrue) but I had never heard that Israel was breaking treaties.

It really saddened me that a friend of mine believed this lie and it further saddens me that other people believe this and other lies about Israel. It saddens me that people (including other Jews and even Israeli Jews) are doing to Israel what courts in Medieval Europe used to do to women who were raped -- they blame the victim.

Israel is not breaking any treaties or UN resolutions. All treaties and UN resolutions that discuss the situation between Israel and the "Palestinians" say that disposition of areas such as the "West Bank" and "Gaza" are still open for negotiation. No treaty or UN resolution says that Israel should be giving this land to people who never "owned" it.

Before 1967, the "West Bank" (Judea and Samaria) area of the former British Mandated Palestine was under Jordanian occupation. These areas were conquered by Jordan in Israel's 1948 War of Independence and annexed in 1950. "Palestine," by the way, was the name given to Israel by the Romans in the early years of the Common Era to denote that they had defeated the Jews and they were "returning" this land to the Philistines (who, mind you, didn't exist any more). The British, knowing the anti-Jewish bend of the name, kept the name "Palestine" when they won control of the area from Turkey (the Ottoman Empire) after World War I. And around that time they issued the Balfour Declaration, which states:

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur James Balfour

I would like to introduce you to another people who are trying to get their own land. They are called Basques. They have lived in the Pyrenees Mountains between modern day France and Spain since long before there was either a France or a Spain. They are ethnically, linguistically, historically, nationally different from any other people on earth.

They trace their ancestry back to Paleozoic times and they have been living in the Pyrenees for thousands of years. They have never had a land of their own. France and Spain have continually refused to give them their own land. The most militant group of Basques (which most Basques disavow because of their violence) bombs empty government buildings. They do NOT lob bombs at populated areas. They do NOT strap bombs to their bodies and blow themselves up at bus stations. And they have a legitimate "beef".

There was never an independent nation called "Palestine". The "Palestinian" people are NOT ethnically, linguistically, historically, nationally different from the people who populate the 20-plus Arab countries in the Middle East. There is no language called "Palestinian". They are ethnically, historically, and nationally Arab and they speak Arabic. There is no reason these people cannot be absorbed by any of the Arab countries in the area. There is also no reason these people cannot continue to live in Israel. Israel isn't expelling them. Israel isn't, contrary to popular belief, doing anything to interfere with the day to day lives of any law abiding people of any ethnicity living there.

The Palestinians, on the other hand, feel the need to expel all Jews from any area they move into. They did this when they were given Gaza. And, ever since Israelis moved out of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority has used the area as a launching ground for missiles aimed at populated areas in Israel.

My nephew went to Sderot, a community that has been suffering daily bombings, for Shabbat a few weeks back to show solidarity with the community there. I asked him about the experience when he got home. Though he was very blasé about it (as he has a tendency to be) he told me about his one day there, how they had to go into the hall (a bomb shelter) whenever they heard the air raid siren. He told me how there are bomb shelters all over town. He told me about the bombs that fell when his group was ready to leave (which hit very near their location). This was just one day there. People who live in Sderot deal with this all the time, day in and day out.

People think that all that needs to happen for there to be peace in the Middle East is for Israel to leave the "West Bank". But the problem with this, besides its overly simplistic and not at all true perspective, is with negotiating altogether. Egypt and Jordan negotiated with Israel for peace. Why? Because it was in their interest. But with the Palestinians, they have no underlying incentive to negotiate. They are getting everything they want by throwing one huge, deadly temper tantrum. They have the world on their side, they have people strong-arming their enemy to give them gifts. Why would they want to negotiate? Why would they want to give anything away?

While it saddens me that there are so many people who think Israel is either partially or totally at fault for the current matzav (situation) in Israel and the Middle East (funny how the infighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims is Israel's fault too), I don't blame the average person-on-the-street for this misinformation festival. I wouldn't even totally blame the media (who seem to make their money these days by printing lies force-fed to them by Arab leaders). I blame the leaders, especially Ariel Sharon and Ehud Barak. In 1967, we could be proud of Israel for standing up to her enemies and doing what needed to be done. But 40 years later, in 2008, we have leaders who are sitting down with murderers and lying down and allowing the world to run roughshod over our people and our land.

Israel is necessary for the Jews of the world. It's time for us to get the facts straight and support our people.

Debbie Israel lives in Highland Park.