Israel + 60
Israel’s political independence in 1948 coincided with the arrival of the remnants of Europe’s Jewish population coupled with hundreds of thousands of impoverished Jews of the Middle East – tossed empty-handed from their centuries-old homes. They, and the chalutzim who had been there for the preceding 75 years, built on the presence of Jewish communities that never left after the Second Jewish Commonwealth – and they were successors to the Biblical generations rooted in the Holy Land. Seen in such a light, 60 years isn’t very long.
Israel’s political independence in 1948 coincided with the arrival of the remnants of Europe’s Jewish population coupled with hundreds of thousands of impoverished Jews of the Middle East – tossed empty-handed from their centuries-old homes. They, and the chalutzim who had been there for the preceding 75 years, built on the presence of Jewish communities that never left after the Second Jewish Commonwealth – and they were successors to the Biblical generations rooted in the Holy Land. Seen in such a light, 60 years isn’t very long.
But in those 60 years, modern Israel has built a multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic Jewish democracy with a UN “Top 20” economy, world-class high-tech and medical innovation, as well as arts, literature and a frequent playoff berth in European basketball. There is no shortage of political opinions, political parties or political literature – and no one goes to jail for them. Israel has military and intelligence services that protect the people and share tactics, technology and secrets with its friends. (See CIA Director Michael Hayden’s comments on Israel sharing information on Syria’s nuclear facility and how our intelligence professionals appreciated Israel’s skills.)
No long-term refugee camps; no UNRWA; no suicide bombing and no veneration of bombers; no inter-generational refugees; no demonization even of those who still seek to kill Jews and destroy Israel. The opposite – we are constantly amazed, and frustrated, by the lengths to which Israel will go to send food and fuel into Gaza, provide medical passes to Gazans for treatment in Israel (even after they found the ones with bombs they planned to detonate in the hospitals), and hold out the possibility of Palestinian independence as Hamas announces plans for the military destruction of Israel and Fatah demands that Israel stop being a Jewish state. We are constantly amazed, and frustrated, by the amount of time, technology and ingenuity Israel spends figuring out how to minimize collateral damage to the civilians with which Hamas and Hezbollah surround themselves as they fire at Israeli civilians.
Israel is the destination of choice for Darfur refugees who have heard that if they walk through the desert and reach Israel they will be safe – and they are.
It is not perfect; it is not close. But modern Israel is an extraordinary political, social and military accomplishment and we take our hats off to Israelis of all stripes, styles, colors, political persuasions and religions.
So how does such a country come to rank second in European opinion (after Iran) as the greatest threat to world peace? How in living memory (growing less frequent every day) of the death camps and in an obvious, disgusting and verifiable lie, can Israel be accused of building Auschwitz in Gaza and committing genocide against Arabs who’s population in Israel proper (where they are citizens with representation in the Parliament) and in the territories continues to grow rapidly?
We have a theory in two parts: the Arab part and the European part; they are related.