Imagine you were living in San Diego, California. Suddenly you hear the sound of rockets exploding in your neighbourhood, hitting schools, kindergartens, and apartment buildings indiscriminately. You run to a shelter for protection. You hear that the missiles have been fired by terrorists from neighbouring Tijuana, a mere 17 kilometres away. What would you think if your government failed to take aggressive action?
This scenario is what is currently playing out in Israel. Hamas, a terrorist organization that controls Gaza, fired over 3100 rockets randomly onto Israeli cities and settlements At last count. One of the targets is Ashkelon, 17 kilometres from the Gaza border. The Israeli military has done what any country would do. It is attacking the source of the terrorists in the Gaza strip. Hamas attacking civilian populations constitutes a war crime. Israel strikes military targets, but the result is unfortunately, incidental civilian casualties. Hamas is also committing war crimes against Gazans by embedding weapons in residential areas.
Make no mistake about it, the goal of Hamas––as stated in their Covenant––, is the destruction of the State of Israel through Jihad (Islamic Holy War). This latest action in an ongoing conflict is not coincidental. The new Biden administration––much like the Obama administration––has encouraged this because it has provided funds to the PLO, which the Trump administration stopped. It is also attempting to restore aid to Iran, the number one exporter to the merchants of terror.
The Palestinian leadership engages in what is called "Pay-To-Slay". It's a program that rewards terrorists and their families if they are arrested or killed. How can anyone with any conscience provide funds to an organization that is engaged in such a policy?
The whole Arab-Israeli conflict is based on lies, and unfortunately, much of the world buy into the lie.
Lie Number One - Israel is an Apartheid Country
Strolling through the streets of Israeli cities makes you realize how absurd it is to think that Israel is an apartheid country. Apartheid refers to separating different groups of people by race or colour. Well-known outspoken people such as Roger Waters from Pink Floyd, actress Vanessa Redgrave and Alexandria Cortez, a member of the U.S. Congress, have promoted this falsehood. They are not alone; many others are spewing this toxic hatred.
When I was in Israel in 2018, I recall walking through Jaffa, the port city of Tel-Aviv, and seeing many Muslim Arabic families with their children in strollers. Israeli Jews were also sharing the beautiful sunny day. Everywhere in Israel, the street signs are in English, Arabic and Hebrew. The Israeli state recognizes all religions, and the Bahai religion––an offshoot of Islam––has its world headquarters in Haifa.
In the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, there are currently three Arabic parties. In the military, you have Arabs and members of Islam serving. For Arabs, military duty is optional, while for Jews, it is mandatory. Contrary to the false narrative of Apartheid, Israel is a democratic country in the same way as the U.S. and Australia. It has a Supreme Court with Arab justices who adjudicate legal conflicts. The irony is that in Israel, Arabs are freer than anywhere else in the Middle East.
Is Israel perfect? Is there discrimination? Of course, there is some, as there is in any country where there are different groups; it's a human phenomenon. Just look at the racial division happening currently in America and the wave of antisemitism that, unfortunately, has been endemic in many European countries.
Lie Number 2: The Palestinians are justified because Israel stole their land
It's important to state that there has never been a country called Palestine. The area was given over to Britain by the League of Nations after the First World War when the Ottoman Empire collapsed. The British Mandate of Palestine was an administrative area that preceded the creation of modern-day Israel and Jordan.
I was born in British Palestine, and my birth certificate states, "Government of Palestine". Both Jews and Arabs lived there for many years. The land originally belonged to ancient Israel over 3,000 years ago, long before Islam existed.
Attacks on Jews did not start in 1948 with the establishment of Israel; they happened frequently in British Palestine:
In 1936, the Arab Higher Committee, led by Grand Mufti Husseini, an ally and friend of Adolph Hitler, launched a campaign of anti-Jewish violence across Palestine.
On August 23, 1929, more than 1000 Arabs launched attacks on Jews in Jerusalem, killing 47.
August 29, 1929, in the Hebron Massacre, Arabs slaughtered 67 Jews and wounded 60.
In the pogram (genocide) of 1936, Arabs murdered Jewish children and adults in various cities with attacks on buses, farms, universities and cinemas.
These are just a few of the attacks that occurred before establishing the modern state of Israel.
In 1947, the United Nations approved the establishment of Israel and Jordan out of British Palestine. The Arabs got the better land. Most of what Israel got was the Negev Desert in the south.
In 1948 when the British left and Israel declared its statehood, immediately seven Arab countries attacked from all sides. The Arab nations told their brethren in Palestine to leave their homes because they would drive the Jews into the sea. George Hakim, Greek Catholic Bishop of Galilee, stated in 1949, "The Arabs of Haifa fled in spite of the fact that the Jewish authorities guaranteed their safety and rights as citizens of Israel." That is what started the refugee problem.
Miraculously, the nascent and ill-equipped Israeli army and air force defeated the Arab armies. In the armistice that was signed, Israel's borders expanded somewhat as the original borders were indefensible. This is apparent on the map. Jews in Arab countries were murdered or forcibly removed with their properties confiscated. No one speaks of those transplanted people.
Following the Six-Day 1967 war, Israel again was victorious, and it expanded its territory for added security from the constant threats. Israel returned the Sinai to Egypt and Gaza to the Palestinian Arabs in 2005 in exchange for "peace". Then the terrorist group Hamas took over in 2007, and since then, there has been a constant threat of rocket fire into Israeli civilian centres.
Israel's goal has always been for peace with its neighbours, and there have been treaties with Egypt, Jordan and most recently under the Trump administration with the Gulf Arab states. Palestinian Arabs have repeatedly refused peace overtures. Peace is not possible with a fanatical terrorist organization like Hamas that is bent on genocide.
"If the Arab and Islamic states put down their weapons, there will be peace. If the Israelis put down their weapons, there will be no Israel."
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