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| Typical protest message - Free Palestine -End Zionism (Forward) |
Apartheid was the official policy of the white government of South Africa. It was a truly despicable system that institutionalized segregation. A white colonialist minority marched into that land, and dominated its indigenous majority black population. Both socially and economically.
Blacks were systematically removed from their homes (sometimes en masse!) and relocated into segregated depressed neighborhoods. They were forbidden to marry whites, disenfranchised (not permitted to vote) and had no representation in government. Resistance was met with brutal government crackdowns resulting in thousands of deaths - and included long prison terms for black anti Apartheid leaders like Nelson Mandela.
Israel’s treatment of its indigenous Arabs is of course nothing like that. They have full social, economic and voting rights and are fully represented in government. Israeli Arabs are generally as prosperous as are Israeli Jews.
Palestinian refugees on the other hand have been pawns of the Arab nations since they all rejected the 2 state solution envisioned by the original UN partition. – which Israel had accepted right away. Had the Arab nations accepted it too, they would have had their state over 76 years ago. And could have lived side by side with Israel in peace and harmony.
Instead the Arabs decided they would attack tiny little Israel and get rid of their pesky little problem right quick. That did not happen. Israel won that war. But in the process many of the indigenous Arabs fled.
(Whether they fled at the instigation of the Arab nations claiming Israel would be slaughter them… or whether they left because Israel chased them out is almost irrelevant. The point it that Palestinian refugees were created as a result of the Arab nations declaring war against the Jews of Israel.)
Those fleeing Arabs became refugees and were kept in refugee camps on the West Bank (then under Jordanian jurisdiction) for 19 years with a promise that they would be repatriated to their old homes. That was the case until Israel was again atttacked by their/Arab neighbors. Only this time Israel won big – retaking all of biblical Israel, Gaza, and the Sinai dessert all the way to Egypt.
This put Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank into Israeli hands - and that’s pretty much the way its been since then. Until Prime Mister Ariel Sharon decided to give Palestinian refugees the entire Gaza strip to rule as they chose. The hope was that they would build a city that would be a model for a future Palestinian state. Something many of us hoped for if Israel was going to stay a Jewish majority.
But instead of building a city where its citizens could prosper, their leaders turned Gaza into a system of terror tunnels designed to attack Israel until they got it all back. A policy that was supported almost universally by all Palestinians regardless of where they were located. Thus proving that there was never any serious intent to have a 2 state solution despite the rhetoric coming out of the more ‘moderate’ PA. They see a 2 state solution as an interim step towards the eventual restoration of all of Palestine from the river to the sea. And that is exactly what Hamas has sworn to achieve.by any means necessary.
On October 7th of last year we saw exactly how far they are willing to go. That Israel dropped the ball on that day is a serious issue that its government will have to deal with. But for now, these truths are as self evident as is the American credo that all men are created equal. Which is why Hamas was cheered by Palestinians in Gaza and on the West Bank after the October 7th attack.
This is why Israel has absolutely no choice but to finish off Hamas no matter how many innocent civilians Hamas throws in its way. No matter the international political cost. If they don’t succeed in doing that Israel will surely be subjected to many more attempts at massacres. Even if Israel beefs up its security apparatus there is no guarantee that (with the continued help and encouragement of Iran and its proxies) Hamas will not succeed yet again if they are allowed to stay in power.
Which brings me to the current hostage deal agreed to by Hamas – which has been unanimously rejected by Israel’s cabinet. This has understandably upset many hostage families. And I can’t say that I blame them. The deal would mean that Hamas would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails and a permanent cease fire that would leave Hamas in power.
Last time a deal like that was made it resulted releasing the mastermind behind the October 7th attack. But more importantly, Hamas is not exactly known for keeping its word. They have broken many cease fires they had promised to keep. Why would they behave any differently now? Especially with Iran backing them up?
Israel has no choice but to proceed with their goal of completely eliminating Hamas.
That the Biden administration, many Democrats, and the mainstream media keeps talking about the unacceptably high number of Palestinian casualties if Israel goes ahead with its planned attack in Rafah might seem like a humanitarian approach.
But I do not believe that there is another more humanitarian way to do that. If there was - why wouldn’t Israel do it that way? If for no other reason that to retain full US support. Even if one believes Netanyahu wants to win the war for his own personal reasons. A win is a wain no matter how you get there.
There are many other supporters of Israel in congress whose moral outrage has led them to criticize the president for not fully supporting Israel in this regard. They have correctly said that the US should be 100% behind what our ally Israel is doing. And that any talk of civilian casualties should be placed exclusively upon Hamas. Blaming Israel is as morally detestable as is calling Zionists Nazis
This holds true for all the college protesters as well. They are either ‘river to the sea’ Palestinians, anti American anarchists, or ignorant fellow students misled by antisemitic, anti American professors who spew their socialist garbage as the as though it was gospel - and their students eat up like it was chocolate cake.
More than a few of those anti Israel - anti American protesters have been pretty violent. (Over 2400 arrested on college campuses all over the US.) I agree with former President Trump who said watching the police clean up the UCLA campus was a beautiful thing. Glad to see America’s finest doing their job and enforcing the law.
It’s just too bad the mainstream media has expressed any sympathy at all for these protesters. As though it was a free speech issue. Committing - or even advocating - violence against the Jewish people is not a free speech right. Their lack of pointing that out often enough is a stain on their supposed objectivity
