Why I Stand With Israel

Forbes ^ | 7/18/2014 | Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

[nickcarraway]

A great many of us pride ourselves on the subtlety of our minds, and on recognizing the complexities, both moral and practical, of the world, and this is a very good impulse.

But when this impulse is raised to the level of dogma, it risks obscuring more than it clarifies. There are some occasions–yes, few, but some–when the moral calculus is exceedingly simple.

I used to have a great personal interest in the policy detail of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I could lecture at length on the subtleties of Camp David, Taba, the Road Map; on the different kinds of settlements; on the security barrier, its precise shape and contours; on the various UN resolutions; on the history of Fatah and Hamas. By now, like Lord Palmerston and the Schleswig-Holstein Question, I have forgotten most of the details.

What I have not forgotten is the following: the State of Israel is a democracy with the rule of law and respect for human rights (yes, imperfect, unlike the United States and Europe, which, as we all know, are perfect); demonic hatred of Jews is a real and persistent fact of history and when left unchecked it always leads to atrocities; this demonic hatred is absolutely clearly distilled into the enemies of Israel; and most, most importantly this: if tomorrow Hamas, Hizbullah and other enemies of Israel dropped their weapons, peace would break out; if tomorrow Israel dropped its weapons, a genocide would break out.

[marron]

if tomorrow Hamas, Hizbullah and other enemies of Israel dropped their weapons, peace would break out; if tomorrow Israel dropped its weapons, a genocide would break out.

[Netz]

Let's be honest for a change and let's state things clearly, for a change.

The world seeks parity in the Israeli-Arab (not Israeli-Palestinian) conflict for some bizarre reason.

The Arab masses are many, the Jews an extreme minority. When they fight as a result of the ongoing and epic battle to destroy Israel, and when Arabs die in GREATER NUMBERS THAN JEWS, the world calls this “disproportionate”.

Events of the last 66 years have shown that ONE JEW is of MORE VALUE than 700 Arabs, (at least) This is not a racist thing to say. The Arabs themselves know this and acknowledge it in their demands to Israel.

Numerically, the Arabs are huge with 22 states while the Jews have but ONE.

All prisoner exchanges done since 1983 have always entailed DISPROPORTIANTE ratios. For example, Israel TRADES hundreds of murderers and terrorists for ONE JEW like Gilad Shalit.

Would the world, the UN and the US State Dept. (amongst so many other state organs) feel BETTER if the kill ratio in Gaza right now was 275:275? Would that be FAIR? Would that make the bleeding hearts and anti-semites feel better, that Jews are dying AT THE SAME RATE AND IN THE SAME QUANTITY as Arabs? Sorry folks, enough Jews died 1938-1945 to last many lifetimes.

The facts are that the Arabs kill (burn, torture, maim, rape, pillage)500 of their own kind in one day in their own infighting. There are weak calls from the UN to halt. President Obama sets red lines never to be enforced.

Israel makes efforts not to harm noncombatants thus becoming the Goliath instead of the David. DESPITE THESE SUPER-HUMAN EFFORTS, the world vilifies Israel IN ANY EVENT AND NO MATTER WHAT SHE DOES.

King David did not DEBATE about flinging the stone into Goliath's forehead. He did not have the Israel Defense Force rules of engagement of shooting in the air and then at the legs. No, he went straight for the death shot and this is what Israel SHOULD BE DOING.

Bunker Busters on top of the HAMAS HQ will enable Israel to destroy the snake head. Israel should quit using gentle techniques and just be done with the existential threats she is facing.
The world should shut it's trap and understand that Israel is on the front lines for Western Civilization. This is an epic struggle between the 21st century and Medieval Barbarism. Israel is fighting OUR CAUSE yet, unfortunately, the Yuppie, Latte sipping, Left is oblivious. The threats are here and now and if the West does not come down SOLIDLY on Israel's side, we are all done.

[sr4402]

Let's see here. Israel gave the "Palestinians" Gaza so they could have there own state. We gave money to the "Palestinians" to build there own state. They used the money to buy rockets, installing them near their schools and public buildings. The "Palestinians" fire hundreds of rockets into Israel for days and days.

Israel accepts a truce sponsored by Egypt. The "Palestinians" fire more rockets before the ink is dried from the truce.

There is no moral equivalency here. Israel should take back Gaza, eliminate the terrorists, and banish the "Palestinians" from Israel.

[miss marmelstein]

Funny, I never pride myself on the subtlety of my mind...

[Star Traveler]

After the cannons fall silent [Israel and Hamas]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3182323/posts

Israel’s military goals for Operation Protective Edge are clear: restore quiet, and pound Hamas’s operation capabilities. Its diplomatic/political aims are murkier. What exactly does Jerusalem have in mind for Gaza, the day after?

Netanyahu’s goals for the operation, which he has repeated almost every time he has met a microphone over the last 11 days, are to restore quiet, and deliver a significant blow to Hamas.

“Hamas left us no choice but to broaden and intensify the campaign against it,” he said in a brief statement to the nation Tuesday evening, before yet another security cabinet meeting. “This is what we will do until we achieve our goal – the restoration of quiet for Israel’s citizens, while inflicting a significant blow on the terrorist organizations.”

Those are military goals. Yet he has been more circumspect about his overall diplomatic goals for the campaign. As the operation was already well in process, he described one political/diplomatic objective as the eventual “demilitarization” of Gaza.

Explaining why Israel had accepted the Egyptian proposal for cease-fire on Tuesday, Netanyahu said before a meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier that this was done to “provide an opportunity through diplomatic means for demilitarizing the Strip from missiles, rockets and [terrorist] tunnels.”

This demand fell on fertile ears, as Steinmeier responded that “Gaza must not be allowed to remain a permanent arms depot for Hamas because – as we have seen in recent weeks – this creates danger for Israel, and the people in Israel. Also, the people in Gaza must not become permanent hostages to the arms stored among the civilian population. “ This is the type of reaction Netanyahu wants to hear, a reaction he hopes to translate into an action plan to be implemented.

[DaveA37]

“There is no moral equivalency here. Israel should take back Gaza, eliminate the terrorists, and banish the “Palestinians” from Israel.”...

I’ve been saying that same thing since Israel turned over the GAZA strip. Wipe the Palestinians out and get it over with and if this is not done, the rockets will continue.

[Star Traveler]

Israel says Gaza ground operation aims to restore calm, not oust Hamas
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3181746/posts

Thousands of Israeli soldiers backed by tanks poured into the Gaza Strip on Thursday night, escalating a 10-day military operation to try to destroy Hamas’s weapons arsenal, rocket firing abilities and tunnels used to send terrorists from the Palestinian territory into Israel.

The goal of the ground operation was to restore security for Israel’s citizens by stopping Hamas attacks, Israeli diplomatic sources said, and not to reconquer Gaza and oust Hamas.

The high-stakes move was compelled by Israel’s growing exasperation over unrelenting rocket fire and followed the collapse of Egyptian-led efforts to broker a cease-fire. It also came after a failed attempt by 13 terrorists to infiltrate Israel earlier Thursday through a tunnel under the Gaza-Israel border near Kibbutz Sufa, only to be stopped by an Israeli strike at the mouth of the tunnel.

Israel’s security cabinet approved the ground offensive in principle on Tuesday, after Hamas rejected an Egyptian ceasefire proposal. The resort to ground forces received unanimous approval; centrist Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said she did not take the decision “lightly,” but had “no doubt” that it was necessary.

[Star Traveler]

Here’s a running account of news reports related to these recent events with Israel and Hamas. If you want to catch up on the news accounts ... they are here ...

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/stisraelhamas/index

It’s listed from newest to oldest, so go to the bottom to start.

[Star Traveler]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that “demilitarization” is the goal he is pursuing for Gaza, and seeks the world community’s help in doing it.

[Teacher317]

To the Left, every issue must be framed as a Hitler-vs-Bambi, evil-crushing-good abomination. And yet in the largest and clearest example of a real monsters-vs-innocents scenario on the world stage, they are utterly silent, other than to cheer on the monsters.

[bert]

Ahhh...... the secret is to have very subtle pride

[Teacher317]

To the Left, every issue must be framed as a Hitler-vs-Bambi, evil-crushing-good abomination. And yet in the largest and clearest example of a real monsters-vs-innocents scenario on the world stage, they are utterly silent, other than to cheer on the monsters.

[bert]

You have the correct thought but the wrong analogy. The classic analogy is Bambi vs Godzilla......

For the full production see

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608040659212108898&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0