Why every person on the planet should defend Israel.
By Jeff Marcus
“Evil may so shape events that Caesar will occupy a palace and Christ a cross, but that same Christ will rise up and split history into A.D. and B.C., so that even the life of Caesar must be dated by his name. Yes, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King
This article will examine the current situation based on some uncomfortable questions:
1. Does Israel deserve to exist? How did Israel come about? What has occurred since 1917.
2. What actions by Israel are justified to defend themselves?
3. What should we make of the current worldwide protest? Is it fair? Is it proportional?
Before answering these questions, it is necessary to start from a common basis. The following statements provide the foundation for contextual understanding.
The belief in heroes and villains
Human beings like to divide stories into heroes and villains, no gray, no compromise, no possibility that each person is a little bit at fault. We believe that people are right and wrong, but in most cases, people are partly right and partly wrong. People are usually part good and part bad. The truth is that of the billions of people that have existed on the planet Earth, very few are just heroes or just villains.
The desire for simple answers
Most people want simple answers. The idea that there will be simple answers given the differences between people is a non-starter. The tendency towards simple answers has increased because of the complete overflow of information available to any human with an electronic device. Using an overused analogy, to digest this flow of information would be like trying to get a drink from a fire hose. The 24-hour news cycle repeats any current theme every day and many times a day. There is an increased tendency for humans to believe anything if they hear it repeatedly.
Lack of historical context
Finally, we get much of our information from social media, which usually comes in short, digestible bites without context. It’s kind of like watching 50 slides of a two-hour movie and trying to figure out the story, the plot, the characters, the drama. Then, people make decisions based on limited data and no context. Problems like the crisis in the Middle East demand an understanding of historical context.
Facts and opinions
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but everyone is not entitled to their own facts. A civilized society requires that all people be willing to accept a certain set of facts instead of a subset of facts or a story that a group of people believe is true. Facts, data, and history are immutable. History can be interpreted in different ways, but history consists of a series of actual events. Just like 1 + 1 always equals 2, 3 X 3 always equals 9, water is always made of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom, and the law of gravity exerts its force on everything, there is a single history for everything that has happened on the planet earth. Knowing and agreeing on that history is imperative for making decisions about the present and the future.
History cannot be undone
The fact is that countries that exist today came about over hundreds and thousands of years. One cannot randomly take a snapshot and decide that is the point in history that is the proper condition. If you are going to come to a conclusion about geopolitical matters, you must have the full historical context. Whatever perceived or real wrong got us to where we are, it is also important to accept that we cannot turn back the clock to get to some desired state. For example, the U.S. is not going to give back the land it took from North American Indigenous people who had lived here for 10,000 years before European settlers arrived 400 years ago. We also cannot unkill the millions of Indigenous people who were wrongfully killed.
We cannot undo the wrongs of slavery or bring millions of African Americans, whose ancestors were taken, back to their homeland. We cannot undo the devastation wrought by centuries of European colonialism that altered forever the makeup of Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East. We usually accept that history cannot be undone, but this is not the case with Israel. Unlike the rest of the world that accepts the realities of history, large swaths of the Moslem world cannot find a way to accept the idea of the Jewish people having one small piece of land in the entire world where they can be at peace.
Note: US protestors who believe that Israel should relinquish its country to the Palestinians should, following the same reasoning, be willing to surrender their homes and wealth to the American Indians and leave the United States.
Antisemitism, or Jewish Persecution, has been around for 5000 years, and it's alive and well today. Consider that the Jewish religion was the first monotheistic belief in the world, and it was founded over 5000 years ago. Christianity is based on a Jew who was born over 2300 years ago. Islam was founded on Muhammad who lived around 800 AD. With a head start of thousands of years, there are still only about 16 million Jews on earth, but there are about 2 billion Christians and 1.8 billion Muslims.
Israel is the result of the Jewish people, and frankly, the most powerful European nations, deciding that there must be a safe haven for Jews. Understanding the long swath of history, it was decided that no one else but the Jews could protect Jews. Only a Jewish nation would give the Jews a fighting chance at survival. The main players, Great Britain, and France, had not only witnessed the pogroms that were widespread in Europe in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and devastation of the Holocaust but had, in their collective memory, their own part in the persecution of non-Christians and many Jews throughout the Crusades and other battles for power, land, and wealth.
The state of Israel is the only thing that means survival for Jews throughout the world. Israel is not a guarantee for the Jewish people, but it’s the best chance for survival. Israel is not fighting for retribution for past wrongs, they are fighting for survival. Any other way of looking at it is wrong and from critics who sit in much more comfortable positions.
Uncomfortable questions
1. Does Israel deserve to exist? How did Israel come about? what has occurred since 1917.
2. What actions by Israel are justified to defend themselves?
3. What should we make of the current worldwide protest? Is it fair? Is it proportional?
To answer these questions fairly, it is not enough to look at what has occurred since Hamas fighters invaded Israel killing and raping on 10/7/23. It is also not fair to just examine history back to World War 2 or the Balfour Declaration of 1917. A true understanding of the current situation will also not be satisfied by reaching back to the founding of Islam or Christianity. A true understanding of the current conflict demands at least a cursory knowledge of history going back over 3500 years when Jewish tribes first came to the Holy Land.
This must be said: Any killing and unnecessary death is wrong and against a just human moral code. Violence should only be used as a last resort and in defense of one’s self and one’s people.
The rest of this article will show that:
1. Jews have a historic right to Israel for many reasons.
2. The idea that Israel does not have the right to exist defies geopolitical norms.
3. The lack of Arab willingness to accept solutions led to the current situation.
4. The facts show that not only has Israel not committed genocide or forced emigration, but they have actually treated the Palestinians far better than Jews in Arab states have been treated and better than any other country would deal with a people that seeks their destruction.
5. The current worldwide protest is unfair and out of proportion given just the past 20 years of world history.
1. Jews have a historic right to Israel.
It is worth doing a quick bit of time travel back 5000 years to tell the story of Palestine and the Holy Land. Of course, the records from 5000 years ago are not as accurate or vibrant as they are of the past 100 years, but that is okay because the parties on all sides of this conflict hold a common piece of evidence as the truth – the Bible. The Old Testament is accepted by people of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic faith. The Bible’s story provides the backdrop to the conflict that exists today. In fact, many of the Jews in the Old Testament are held up as prophets for Muslims.
When Palestinians claim a right to Israel, they draw a random line in history as if nothing came before or after their presence in the Holy Land. The 3 great religions of the world all have deep historical ties to Jerusalem and Israel.
Pardon the cursory summary, but it goes something like this. Judaism is the oldest monotheism in the world. Over 5000 years ago Abraham was chosen by God to spread the word that there is one God. Abraham married Sarah, who had trouble giving birth. Sarah gave their Egyptian slave Hagar to Abraham to bear a child. The product of that union was Ishmael. Later, Sarah finally had a child, Isaac. Hagar and Ishmael fled as they were treated unfairly. Later, God saved Hagar and Ishmael in the desert. Isaac is the beginning of a line that will become the Jews and Ishmael’s descendants are the Arabs.
Around 3500 years ago, the Jews were slaves in Egypt until they were led on their Exodus by Moses. After 40 years in the desert, Joshua and 12 tribes of Jews came to the Holy Land in the area that is now Israel and Palestine.
2300 years ago, Israel and the Jews were occupied by the Roman Empire. A Rabbi or holy man named Jesus Christ was crucified by the Romans. Around 570 AD, Muhammad was born in Mecca (now Saudi Arabia). Muhammad traveled to Jerusalem, where he died and rose to heaven.
One spot, in particular, can show the important timeline and history of the area. The Dome of the Rock is the oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, but it sits atop the ruins of the second Jewish Temple built by Solomon. It is believed to be the spot where (1) God created Adam, (2) Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac, but was stopped by God’s angels, and (3) the spot where Muhammad ascended to heaven. Just to make the religions even more proximate, a long baseball throw from the Dome of the Rock, is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is the place where Jesus was crucified and the tomb where Jesus was believed to have been buried and then resurrected. The Dome of Rock sits on top of the SECOND temple of Jerusalem, which was destroyed in 586 BC by Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, when he conquered Jerusalem.1 So, Muhammad rose to heaven over 1000 years after the second temple was destroyed. Jews had already been in Jerusalem almost 2000 years before the arrival of Muhammad.
At the time of World War One Jews were still being persecuted across much of Europe and Russia. My grandparents fled from Russia and Ukraine around 1915 – fearing for their lives.
The end of World War 2 saw the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Great Britain and France controlled much of the Middle East, which had been under Turkish rule. I will not dive into the Balfour Document or other agreements, but I think it is fair to say that the agreements that were made were not fair or, at least, not equally fair to everyone. It is, however, fair and accurate to state that many people on both sides of the current conflict agreed to the right of Israel to exist starting in 1917, including Emor Faisal – at one point King of Syria and Iraq2, Anwar Sadat, Yassar Arafat, major world powers, and the U.N.
The creation of Israel was a humane act by the United Kingdom at the tail end of centuries of unkindness by its empire and European powers for centuries.
Israel has fought 3 wars against overwhelming force for survival in 1948, 1967, and 1971.
2. The idea that Israel does not have the right to exist defies geopolitical norms.
If Israel has to be undone then let's roll back lots of other history. It would be fantastic if the history of mankind was defined by peace and kindness, but it has been predominated by war and cruelty.
“Here is a map showing in white the twenty-two countries that the most successfully predatory European imperialist power, Britain did not invade.” How are we to even start to undo this history? 3
Israel was given a mandate to exist in and around the end of World War 2. Much of the world signed off on its existence, and it successfully defended its right to exist over the next 75 years. As was stated earlier, “History cannot be undone. The fact is that countries that exist today came about over hundreds or thousands of years. One cannot randomly take a snapshot and decide that is the point in history that is the proper condition.”
In early December 2023, the state of Saxony-Anhalt has said people who do not recognize Israel's right to exist cannot become naturalized citizens. The eastern state's interior minister said Germany's other 15 states should take similar steps. Germany, which has probably come to accept its responsibility for the horrors committed against Jews of World War 2 more than any other country, fully recognizes the precarious state of Jews in the world.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel proclaimed in an address to the Israeli parliament in 2008. “
“Germany, which claims a special historical responsibility to protect Jews after the horrors of the Holocaust — in which Germany's then Nazi government organized the industrial-scale murder of over 6 million European Jews during the Second World War — has called Israel's security its own "Staatsräson," or "reason of state,"
The world should take notice of the correct perspective to assume for a people that has been persecuted for thousands of years.4
3. The lack of Arab willingness to accept solutions led to the current situation.
In 1948, the UN partition plan created 2 states for 2 peoples. The vast majority of the former British Mandate of Palestine is now Jordan, not Israel. The Jews, who got well under 15% of the mandate, mostly desert, accepted. The Arabs rejected and launched a war coordinated by the Arab League to sweep in from the east, from the Jordan River, and drive the Jews into the sea.
In 2000, after years of negotiations led by President Clinton and others, the Palestinians were again offered statehood. To the surprise and horror of many, Yassar Arafat rejected it and instead launched the 2nd Intifada – starting decades of killings and bombings.
Arab extremists have continually called for a global intifada to “murder innocent Jews and anyone who supports them on a global scale.”
Over the years, many people have suggested that other countries that surround Israel merely accept the Palestinians into their countries. This simple solution has always been rejected. In fact, Palestinians who have emigrated to Jordan and Lebanon are still being denied citizenship.
4. The facts also show that, given the past 75 years of history, Israel has been more tolerant than most countries would have been in a similar situation.
Remarkably, the argument has always been that Israel expelled Moslems or that they fled from the occupied areas, but the numbers prove this to be the very opposite of the truth. There are 1.8 million Moslems in Israel; making up 20% of the total population of Israel. Also, in 1950 the population of Gaza was less than 300,000. Its current population is 2,000,000. West Bank Arab residents number almost 3 million. The population growth rates in Gaza and the West Bank have been annually about 4% and 3.5%, respectively, for decades. These are some of the highest growth rates in the world. The claim that Israel has been forcing people out of these areas or committing genocide is absurd.
The actual situation is far from genocide or forced removal. In fact, the situation is actually a testament to the extreme tolerance of the Israelis. Given that the polls showed that half the population of Palestine supported Hamas whose goal was the destruction of Israel and Jews, it would seem that allowing a fifth of its population to live within its borders and travel back and forth from Gaza to work, would be seen as very tolerant.
Israel’s population is 8.5 million. Israel consists of 8,500 square miles. The 22 member states of the Arab League represent over 400 million people and with a total area of 5,148,048 square miles. The Arab population is 50 times that of Israel and its land mass is 600 times that of Israel.
As the population of Arabs in Israel and Gaza has increased geometrically in Israel, the population of Jews in Arab countries has been reduced to almost nothing (see the table below).
Palestinians have forced the current tragedy to unfold because they left Israel with few alternatives to guarantee safety.
Hamas was elected. In the Palestinian legislative election of January 2006, Hamas gained a large majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the ruling Fatah party. Hamas was a spin-off of the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the late 1980s. The United States and European Union have designated Hamas a terrorist organization because of its armed resistance against Israel, which has included suicide bombings and rocket attacks.5
In 2021 a poll showed that “53% of Palestinians believe Hamas is “most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people,” while only 14% prefer Abbas’ secular Fatah party.”6, 7, 8
Support for Hamas has ebbed and flowed as conditions have changed in Palestine, but Hamas has ruled Palestine for 17 years. The people of Palestine have done nothing to remove a terrorist group as its leader. A terrorist group that has not only refused peace with Israel but has called for its destruction and repeatedly taken up arms against Israel through terrorism of all kinds.
For a moment, the detractors of Israel should put themselves in the shoes of a people who were almost eliminated by another political group in Germany in the 1930’s and 1940’s. This was another group that called for the elimination of all Jews. Were all Germans on board with the Nazis? Was the result any different for Jews? The answer is, of course, “no”. Also, should the Allies not have attacked Germany because some of the Germans did not agree with the Nazis in their hearts, but were too frightened to revolt? The answer is, of course, “no”.
Where were the Palestinians when missiles were being fired from schools and hospitals? Where were the parents of children or the families of patients when military tunnels were being dug under schools, towns, and hospitals? People are responsible for what happens in their country right under their noses.
Americans should think about this scenario. If five of your neighbors decided they did not like you anymore and decided to act together to rid the neighborhood of you, what would you do? Let’s say the five families piled into an RV and drove into your driveway. They then started firing automatic weapons into your windows. Would you be willing to throw a grenade into the RV to save your family and yourself? Would your violence be justified to protect your family?
Finally, HAMAS continues to fire rockets at Israel. What does the world think Israel should do in response to being attacked? Would any other country in the world not defend themselves as rockets were being fired at their citizens?
5. The current worldwide protest is unfair and out of proportion given just the past 20 years of world history.
It is strange that Israel’s reaction to Hama’s invading its sovereign borders, raping, kidnapping, and killing thousands of people has drawn more criticism than almost any other conflict in the past 20 years. Below is an incomplete list of conflicts and deaths over the past 2 decades. Somehow, the news coverage and worldwide protest of Israel’s attempt to defend itself from further violence and the deaths that ensued have created more protests and condemnation than the over 4 million people who perished in the 14 conflicts below.
Where were the students protesting or people marching in cities while 900,000 people died over the 20 years that we tried to root out terrorists after 9/11? Where are the banners for Rwanda? Where are the chants for the dead in Sudan? Why aren’t the streets and campuses full of people protesting as Russia bombs target civilians in Ukrainian cities?8,9
Why does Israel have to defend itself? Why does Israel have to make sure they find and kill Hamas terrorists? Because no one else will. Harvard President Claudine Gay remains in charge after her heinous testimony in front of Congress.11 History shows that Harvard was a main backer of Eugenics theory that was instrumental in Nazi reasoning to eliminate the Jews.12 In the United States, not only are a large percentage of people siding with the Palestinians, but a majority of 18-24-year-olds believe Israel should be given to the Palestinians.10 According to a September 2020 article in the Guardian, a survey of 18-39-year-olds found that 23% thought the Holocaust was a myth. This level of ludicrous belief exists even though Germany still pays Jews over $1.1 billion a year in reparations for the Holocaust with over 80% going to Israel.13 . So, who can Israel count on to defend them? “No one else” is the answer to that question. Israel’s fight is for survival.
Conclusions
1. The world wants heroes and villains, right and wrong, and simple answers that require little or no investigative work or history. None of these exist or are possible.
2. Israel has the right to exist for historical and humanitarian reasons.
3. History cannot be undone. Geopolitics changes boundaries and lives. We cannot decide on a situation or point in time that we prefer and expect the world to return to that state. What we can do is work with people to find the best solution for the present.
4. Arabs and Palestinians have created the situation that exists today. It was not done to them. They did it to themselves.
5. Contrary to the current narrative, an investigation of the facts of history shows that Israel has not only not engaged in Genocide or forced exile, but has been and is more tolerant of its Arab counterparts than should be expected of them.
6. Palestinians have refused every opportunity for peace and have elected and supported leaders who have put them on a course of violence. Hamas is still launching rockets into Israel.
7. The current worldwide protest is unfair and out of proportion given just the past 20 years of world history in which there are countless examples of violence that are far worse than what has occurred in Gaza, but elicits little or no protest.
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