Israel commits to peace, but won’t stand and watch its citizens killed

I read with consternation the blatantly biased article by LeeAnne Germanos in The Citizen (29 December, 2021).

There has been an uninterrupted Jewish presence in Jerusalem since biblical times. Over the past 120 years, Jews worldwide purchased land from willing Arab sellers in what was Palestine. In 1947, the UN passed a resolution that Israel would be a Jewish homeland adjacent to the Arab land.

The Arab world rejected this and in 1948, they attacked the new state with the openly stated objective of destroying the Jewish state and driving its citizens into the sea. Genocide and the theft of land that had been fully paid for was advocated. This philosophy continues to be propagated and multiple wars have been fought over the past 74 years to achieve this goal. Despite this, Israel has thrived and provides a safe haven for both its Jewish and Arab populations.

Israeli Arabs have full citizenship with voting rights and are represented in the coalition government. Germanos’ contention that Arabs in Israel are in a similar position to the blacks in apartheid South Africa is ludicrous and
insulting to the freedom struggle that was won in 1994 in SA.

Blacks were treated as second-class citizens with no voting rights. There was job reservation and restriction of movement into the cities. There was separate and inferior education, forbidden intermarriage and restrictions of
property ownership. Israeli Arabs have full rights, can live wherever they wish and have equal opportunities for education and employment.

In contrast, over the past 70 years, more than one million Jews who resided in Arab lands were forced to flee their homes and lost their properties and wealth. No compensation has ever been offered to these refugees. Palestinian leaders have consistently rejected proposed solutions to the conflict. They have put their own ideologies before
the welfare of their people.

Had the original partition plan of 1947 been adopted, both an Arab and an Israeli state would have thrived in the region. Extremist groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, have preferred to build up their armoury in a futile attempt to destroy the state of Israel in preference to providing basic services. Humanitarian aid given to Palestinians
largely goes towards purchasing destructive rockets and building tunnels in order to destroy the Jewish state.
Germanos, like all pro-Palestinian writers, reiterates the lie of the disproportionate response to Arab incursions
into Israel.

Bombings by Hezbollah and Hamas have been ineffective but these have been murderous attempts that have targeted innocent civilians. Attempted murder deserves an appropriate response from a government that is protecting its citizens. Must Israel wait for thousands of its own citizens to be killed before responding?

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Germanos’ comments about Israel’s misappropriation of the culture and cuisine of Arabs is deluded. By definition, the ideas, customs and social behaviour of a particular people or society represent their culture. Almost half
of the Jews in Israel are Sephardic – meaning they have come from Spain and Arab countries.

It is not surprising their cuisine, clothing and customs are similar to their Arab counterparts. Israel most certainly does consider itself to be part of the Middle East and has made vast strides in normalising its relations with surrounding Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, UAE, Sudan and Morocco.

These countries have benefitted from their peaceful existence with Israel. In contrast, countries such as Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Iraq have continued to encourage conflict with Israel at the expense of their citizens. These countries remain backward, with poor economies. Unfortunately, declarations by Palestinian leaders that their Israeli neighbour should be annihilated has led to regrettable but necessary restrictions on the movement of their populations.

Border controls and walls built in order to discourage incursions are essential to safeguard Israel’s citizens. These measures have been successful in minimising the killing of innocent civilians. Only through dialogue and diplomacy can a solution be found.

It is time for the Palestinian leaders to put their people first. It is imperative the Arab world recognises the state of Israel as it is impossible to negotiate with anyone who is advocating your destruction. To emphasise Israel’s willingness to pursue peace, in 2005 the state gave up control of Gaza.

This desperate act showed how committed they were to advancing the peace process, but it backfired when a fundamentalist government, Hamas, was elected. Since 2005, Israeli civilian targets have been bombarded
relentlessly. History and hindsight prove how disastrous the withdrawal was.

Jews and Arabs have lived together harmoniously for centuries. There is no room for Islamic fundamentalism and Palestinians need to reject their leaders who have been solely responsible for their oppression and failure to become a prosperous people