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The Israeli story
People should abandon prejudices and support Israel as it strives for peace and freedom in the Middle East
As peace talks in the Middle East continue for yet another week with little progress, a central question looms large in the minds of many: Why should we care about Israel? It seems like a fair question. Why should we bother learning about Israeli history? Why should we seek to understand the nuances of a conflict that is seemingly without end? It is, admittedly, far easier to silently support Israel, or even turn a blind eye, than to vocally defend her. So why bother?
The answer is simple; because if we do not, we - not as Jews, but as humanitarians - have lost our place in the world. The world has been increasingly condemnatory toward Israel in a way that is frightening not just for the existence of the Jewish State, but perhaps more ominously, for the future of human rights and freedom. Israel is one of the only nations in the Middle East that accepts refugees from Darfur; the only nation that offers more than 300 courses on water management, emergency medicine and refugee absorption for emerging nations annually; the only nation that has built hospitals and treatment facilities in nations of individuals who have sworn to destroy her; and the only nation in the Middle East where Arab women are free and equal in the eyes of the law. It is also the only nation that is condemned an average of 18 times per year by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The Commission has passed negligible resolutions against a number of countries, such as Turkey, which refuses to admit its part in one of the most grievous genocidal campaigns in human history - second only to the Holocaust; Iran, where women are legally murdered by their fathers because they are too Western or too "loose;" Sudan, which has, through a terrifying program of government sponsored mass-murder, slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Africans; and China, which has been terrorizing illegally occupied Tibet for years. When Israel responds to more than 10,000 rocket attacks from Gaza with military force, though, "human rights" officials have no problem labeling that "genocide," all the while letting the real genocides and human rights violations go unresolved – and oftentimes unacknowledged.
If we do not care about Israel, then we allow terms like "human rights," "freedom," and "humanitarian aid" to be mercilessly hijacked by terror organizations and corrupt governments. We allow organizations founded on the values of equality, progressivism and unalienable rights to be blinded by a block of nations founded on theocracy, xenophobia and, as is increasingly the case, jihad. If we do not care about Israel, we cannot bring her truth to the world, and in doing so, help refocus international attention on serious human rights violations.
It is up to us not just to stand up for Israel, but, in so doing, to stand up for the values she holds dear - ones that are not unfamiliar to us as Americans. Israel is at the forefront of the environmental movement and is the only country that entered the 21st century with a net gain in trees and with plans to use electric-only cars by 2025. She is also at the forefront of medicine, having brought what were unanimously praised as the top medical treatment facilities to Haiti during this year's earthquake. She has rescued hundreds of thousands of refugees and has developed groundbreaking research for treating diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. She has helped develop the technology required for cell phones and laptops and is even in the process of developing a flying car! All the while she stands up for human rights and freedom, unilaterally returning more than 93 percent of any land she has ever won in war and negotiating with all Arab leaders – like Jordan and Egypt – who will agree to sit at a table.
What separates Israel from many nations, however, is that she even negotiates with those who have consistently responded to her peace efforts with hatred and violence. Although both Fatah and Hamas have within their founding charters a promise to destroy Israel and the Jews, Israel has refused to allow this to deter her efforts toward achieving peace with her Palestinian neighbors. In 2000, Israel offered Palestinians 97 percent of the West Bank, all of Gaza and East Jerusalem. Ninety-four percent of Palestinian civilians believed this offer was sufficient. Palestinian leadership - far from listening to the pleas for peace from its own people - instigated the Second Intifada, resulting in the deaths of over 5,500 of its own people, 1,100 Israeli civilians and 64 foreigners. When Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 in a gesture of peace and reconciliation, Arab leaders used the territory not to build up their own governments and work toward democracy in Palestine, but rather to set up weapons caches and launch rockets into Israeli kindergartens. Yet, even to this day, Israel continues to push for peace in the hopes that one day the Palestinian Authority's political manipulation of its own people will be replaced by an honest desire to work toward the democracy and peace so desired by most Palestinians.
In articulating a basic framework for human rights in the 1940s, Eleanor Roosevelt said, "I know that we will be the sufferers if we let great wrongs occur without exerting ourselves to correct them." Looking at the facts, it becomes clear: Without Israel, it is not just the Jews who will suffer, but the humanitarians. It is not just the existence of Israeli developed cures, treatments and technologies that will be forgotten, but the very concepts of freedom, peace and liberty themselves.
Carrie Filipetti is the president of Hoos for Israel and a fourth-year student in the College.
Commentary
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Arafat
(10/05/10 2:17pm)Report
Beautifully written article and unlike most articles on Israel yours is honest.
JD
(10/05/10 5:38pm)Report
A well-meaning but misguided defense of Israel. For a differing take on the entire matter, I suggest Phil Weiss's site:
http://mondoweiss.net
Saad
(10/05/10 5:45pm)Report
I read this and i was shocked by the wording system you chose.
It is funny how in the begining you said we need to know more about the histroy about israel, then you only mentioned slogans which we see in campaigns. I don't say those slogans were lies, but they do give wrong impression.
For example, you said "When Israel responds to more than 10,000 rocket attacks from Gaza with military force, though, “human rights” officials have no problem labeling that “genocide,” all the while letting the real genocides and human rights violations go unresolved – and oftentimes unacknowledged."\nthis gives the impression that there is 10,000 rockets annually falling. i know you didn't say annually, but it does look like it. For fairness, why you didn't mention the time of those 10,000 rockets and more importantly why you didn't mention the amount of rockets Israel dropped on Palestinians.
While i don't agree with attacking civilians on both sides. Israel has worst record than Hamas and Fatah combined.\n"124 Israeli children have been killed by Palestinians and 1,441 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000." Taken from http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ (the site reference those numbers)
Unfortunately i don't have a legitimate source of number of rockets launched from both sides, but i know in the last year but if 10000 rockets were fired and only around 1000 israelis died (including all kind of terror death) then the ration of rockets actually doing real harm is so little. I still think it is wrong, and they do still distill fear. but you can't use it as indication of destruction level.
"1,072 Israelis and at least 6,348 Palestinians have been killed since September 29, 2000." from http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ (the site reference those numbers from legit human rights organizations)
I do agree with you that Israel is significantly better than most if not all countries in the middle east, but that's simply mean it has better economic, better military and better everything. It had better aid and better help than other countries in the middle east. i don't think anyone can deny the amount of american dollars that goes to israel annually.
So even if Israel has better hospitals, better water system, better educational system, that doesn't mean that what she is doing to the Palestinian is fair and it doesn't mean that she wants peace. all what it means that Israel was able to develop ITSELF properly which make her much stronger than other middle eastern countries. like a bully among bunch of nerds.
The fact you are blaming the NON-profit organizations like the human right groups means you don't believe anyone except people on your side. Those organizations are 3rd party organizations, they do not benefit from accusing Israel. and those organizations always accused Hamas and Fatah as well. I wonder what kind of organizations you consider unbiased?
I would really like you to provide sources for most of your facts like "Arab leaders used the territory not to build up their own governments and work toward democracy in Palestine, but rather to set up weapons caches and launch rockets into Israeli kindergartens."\nWhat is the source for such a thing? and who are the arab leaders you are talking about?
You use vague language all over the article so you won't provide wrong facts, but provide wrong impressions.
Engaged Observer
(10/05/10 6:38pm)Report
Very well-researched, informative article on a topic which, unfortunately, many poorly-researched, ignorant people usually write about. With regards to the previous comment by JD, I would take this article's word and logic proof way before Phil Weiss'. A quick perusal of his site reveals reams of misinformation, anti-Israel propaganda and useless rhetoric. He is an insult to journalists everywhere and engages in the same one-sided, biased analysis that any UVa professor would fail on a test for being obtuse.
JD
(10/05/10 7:01pm)Report
Engaged Observer:
Phil Weiss is in Israel at the moment reporting firsthand what he sees as unjust treatment of Palestinians by the IDF and the Israeli government. Dismissing firsthand accounts as "anti-Israel propaganda and useless rhetoric" undermines your own standing on this forum, not Weiss's.
Pro-Israel opinions, known as hasbara, are also biased. It all depends on what bias resonates with one's own perceptions of things, eh?
Doron Levin
(10/05/10 7:05pm)Report
My hat is off to Ms. Filipetti for a well reasoned, thoughtful analysis and argument for supporting Israel. I am a 59-year-old father (and grandfather) whose parents were pioneers in the creation of Israel, an act that was approved by the United Nations. Few of Israel's critics seem to know their history, namely that Israel was created though a compromise between Arab nations and world Jewry, which gave most of the land to the Arabs. Only because of unrelenting hostility and aggression does Israel find itself in possession of the West Bank, after having won the Six Day War. Israel, despite its detractors, wants peace and will make further sacrifices in the name of peace. When the Arab nations and factions decide to accept Israel as a sovereign Jewish state, then almost anything is possible. Jews can live on the West Bank, Arabs can live in Israel -- the region's potential is unlimited. Pray for peace, my friends -- work for peace, and reject those who preach hatred and violence.
Dr Williams
(10/05/10 7:32pm)Report
Excellent well written article, well done
Otho
(10/05/10 8:16pm)Report
Unfortunately, there will be no peace in Israel/Palestine until Israelis stop building settlements on Palestinian owned property.
person
(10/05/10 9:04pm)Report
This article is littered with B.S. and fear propaganda, such as: "If we do not care about Israel, then we allow terms like “human rights,” “freedom,” and “humanitarian aid” to be mercilessly hijacked by terror organizations and corrupt governments. We allow organizations founded on the values of equality, progressivism and unalienable rights to be blinded by a block of nations founded on theocracy, xenophobia and, as is increasingly the case, jihad."
This is complete bogus. 'If we do not care about IsraeL, we are allowing Jihad to happen' is essentially what the author is saying, and that is completely false logic. I actually think its the other way around, if the U.S (I assume the author means U.S. when she says "we") doesn't provide military aid to Israel, then other middle eastern countries can't legitimately get mad at the US for supporting Israel, and is therefore less incentivized to terrorize the U.S.
Secondly, bringing up China's occupation of Tibet just was not smart. Do you not see the irony in this? Israel is occupying Palestine, and the U.S. is occupying Iraq. Human Right issues? Your whole article is centered around human rights, which is something I'm in favor of. Haven't the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan proved to you that you cannot bring peace or human rights to people through the barrel of a gun (and through occupation)? Do you believe that US is promoting human rights and peace when it provides military aid (i.e. weapons, machinery) to Israel. I think US military aid to Israel has the exact opposite effect. It incites violence and hatred.
I think Jews who feel the world needs Israel or some sort of Jewish state are taking a defeatist, victim-like position. Jews do not need Israel! The world needs Jews! In the words of mark twain: All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?" (http://ohr.edu/judaism/concern/concerna.htm)
One last note, I think people that don't support Israel aren't against a Jewish state altogether, they are just against a Jewish State that is smack dab in the middle of the muslim/arab world. I think they look at the placement of Israel as strategic attempt to infiltrate the middle east, as the US and Israel share imperialistic ambitions of middle eastern oil. Having a refuge for persecuted jews is great, but I think Israel was created with much larger intent and purpose (hence the placement). I think it was created, in part, to further the imperialist globalist agenda - i.e. a one world government with a total loss of American Sovereignty)
Phil
(10/05/10 9:17pm)Report
Otho, there will be no peace in the Middle East until all of Israel's neighbors give up their vow to never quit fighting until the Jews are pushed into the sea and exterminated. Do you see Obama or Bush sitting down to negotiate with Bin-Laden? Israel, although attacked continuously, continues trying to negotiate with the people sworn to kill them. You obviously are a student here...instead of continuing your uninformed opinion, why don't you exercise a little intellectual honesty and learn something about it?
Tanner
(10/05/10 10:01pm)Report
i hope the author realizes she just said Israel would give back 97% of already supposed Palestinian land to the Palestinians. \n"In 2000, Israel offered Palestinians 97 percent of the West Bank..."\n-this just goes to show how this prestigious jargon angles the facts and manipulates the truth in favor of oppression.
person
(10/05/10 10:21pm)Report
Phil,
Your very first statement speaks to the absurdity of the situation. How do you expect to ever convince twenty something countries and 2 Billion Muslims to "give up their vow" and start to like Israel? I think that's an impossible task. (What are we going to do, go try to nation build a democracy in every muslim country?). Your statement essentially says there will never be peace. And I agree. Not unless one side gives up and moves away.
Otho
(10/05/10 10:35pm)Report
Phil stated: "there will be no peace in the Middle East..."
There will be peace in the Middle East when all sides recognize each others' humanity and respect the rights of "the Other", be they Jews, Muslims, Christians, other religions and all races. In 1955, Albert Einstein said:
"The most important aspect of our policy must be our ever-present, manifest desire to institute complete equality for the Arab citizens living in our midst….The attitude we adopt toward the Arab minority will provide the real test of our moral standards as a people."
Phil also said: "You obviously are a student here…instead of continuing your uninformed opinion"
Sir,
Just a sidenote, but I'm probably older than you are as I'm generally the oldest person wherever I go. If you'd like to discuss Herzl, Jabotinsky, the history of the ZOA or any other aspect of Zionism, I'd love to open a discussion.
A hard, cold truth about "facts on the ground" in the Occupied Territories is that with every settler's home built on occupied land , Israel commits a war crime. It's against international law to move settlers into occupied regions. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits it:
"The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Geneva_Convention#Section_III._Occupied_territories
That's not even mentioning the collective punishments against Palestinian innocents in Gaza that are also war crimes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Geneva_Convention#Collective_punishments
Michelle
(10/05/10 11:02pm)Report
Tanner,
Israel annexed the West Bank and Gaza after its previous rulers -- Jordan and Egypt (note: not Palestine) lost the territory in 1967 (they gained it after 1948, when Palestinians rejected the United Nations offer). Immediately thereafter, Israel offered the land back, just as it returned Sinai to Egypt; however, both nations refused to take on the territories. Israel was left with it. The only legitimate Palestinian government was established in 1994 at Oslo, a process in which Israelis were intimately involved. To claim that giving the West Bank to Palestinians is a "return" is a misrepresentation of the facts. Palestinians never accepted the 1948 agreement that would have given them legitimate ownership over these territories.
Ashley
(10/06/10 1:01am)Report
"How do you expect to ever convince twenty something countries and 2 Billion Muslims to “give up their vow” and start to like Israel?"
Wow what a pathetic point. Using this logic, if enough people wanted Australia leveled, we can't do anything about it, and should in that case push with the masses for Australia's destruction, even if Australia never did anything to deserve it in the first place. Just because everyone thinks one thing doesn't make it right.
Also, Person, are you really going to bring up humans rights and not talk about Hamas, Iran, Sudan, etc.? Listen, I'll cut you a deal. You list all the human rights that the governments in Iran, Iraq, Sudan, as well as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the PLO have broken, then you speak to us about human rights.
Until you understand that human rights violations apply to ALL nations instead of just 1st world countries, you can't say jack.
Socrates
(10/06/10 1:17am)Report
Michelle,
Before we mention the 1948 "agreement", it is necessary to first mention the U.N partition plan for Mandate Palestine.
This plan entailed the following: The UN essentially decided to create a homeland for the devastated post-Holocaust Jews. They decided to conveniently place this homeland in Palestine, the former British Mandate which so happened to be land inhabited by Palestinians for hundreds of years. Cool. Why not place them somewhere else? The world is a HUGE place with LOTS of unused land (especially in 1947), right? Well the Jews believed that they religiously had a right to the land inhabited by the Palestinians. Therefore, since we KNOW international law is based off of the Jewish religion, it was justified. The Palestinians got pissed because a large chunk of their land, their homes, farms, and schools, were forcefully taken away from them and given to a completely foreign group of people with opposing religious beliefs.
So now Michelle, after brushing up on your Partition Plan history, why in the hell (using logic now) would the Palestinians ever agree to concede and "agree" on giving their lands and livelihoods away? If you don't see the logic here, then lets imagine for a second that you are a 1947 Palestinian who just got kicked out of the home she's known for her entire life. Would you make an "agreement" with the Israeli's?
Which gets me to my point. There was no 1948 "agreement". You must be referring to the useless UN resolution 194, which was essentially ignored by both Palestinians and Israelis.
Just wanted to point that out to those unfamiliar with the situation.
Will
(10/06/10 10:50am)Report
Let's stop changing the subject.
If we're going to talk about the Israeli economy, fine. If we want to have a discussion of the Holocaust, let's have a discussion. If we are going to look at the status of Sudanese refugees in Israel, by all means, we should be praising this instance (however ironically) of an Israeli policy towards a refugee population.
Instead, this article on "The Israeli Story," while evidencing all of these weighty issues, calls for people to "abandon prejudices and support Israel." Why? What are we talking about again? After looking at the title of the article, I expected to be reading something about the roadblocks for Israeli and Palestinian politicians as they enter into another round of what already look like doomed negotiations. I thought I might see a defense of Israel's recent decision to resume building settlements in the West Bank, or perhaps a discussion on the difficulty of entering into peace talks with a divided Palestinian polity.
Instead, we are prompted to consider this question: "Why we should care about Israel?" Despite the its nice socratic ring, the question misses the point. Indeed, it illustrates a larger theme of why negotiations are failing and why we, as Americans, have such a difficult time sifting through the media to get to the core of the conflict in the Holy Land: we keep changing the subject. The stalled peace talks in Jerusalem can only lead to the conclusion that the issues at stake are a little deeper than some grand narrative about an Israel the sole bastion of “peace and freedom in the Middle East.” The sad part of this story, and here I agree with the author, is that as Americans “it is easy to silently support Israel, or even turn a blind eye,” especially with regard to American aid to Israel. The conflict is so politically charged on our side of the Atlantic, that whenever we are presented with a report on current peace talks, or the question of borders, or water rights, or the status of refugees, we are equally as likely to encounter a discussion on Israel’s right to exist, or anti-Semitism, or the President of Iran.
I would hope that this most recent round of peace talks, both here and in Jerusalem, at the very least serve to illuminate the essential issues at stake in this conflict. Rather than raise our voices with articles like these and talk past each other, let’s try and have a discussion about what is important: the rebuilding of a Palestinian economy, the marginalization of a people without a state, the right for everyone—Israeli and Palestinian, politician and farmer—to live in peace and security. It is only by resolving these questions that we can have any hope of preserving the concepts of “freedom, peace and liberty.”
---FYI: Alison Weir, American freelance journalist and creator of the website ‘If Americans Knew,’ will be speaking tonight at 8pm in Minor 125.
Sean
(10/06/10 12:00pm)Report
The partition plan was drawn up in 1947-48 only after a vicious terrorist campaign waged against the British and the Arabs by the Ergun. Someone ought to ask Carrie Filipetti point blank if she supports the bombing of the King David hotel in Jerusalem. Add the "clearing" of entire Arab cities by general Ariel Sharon thereafter for good measure.
So... How many Arab states were present in the UN when these negociations took place?? Was Jordan? Lebanon? Egypt? Iraq? Syria? Anybody care to take a stab at that one?
What other country on earth gets away with continuously expanding its borders by force - forcibly removing people from their homes at gunpoint who have been living there for generations, bulldozing the entire area, and then allowing only jews to replace them? I don't think this would go over too wekk in Vermont or Illinois.
You see, killing and invading can be so easy, so long as you can dehumanize your victims - and claim you are forever defending yourself from those who want to destroy you. Hitler used the exact same rationale to start WW2.. So did Bush. And while I suppoort Israel's right to exist and defend itself, the reality is that they have - at present - no plans to stop expanding or to stop making life for their neighbors as miserable as possible so they can use the response as an excuse to steal more land - and continue with their ten to one kill ratio. As Mr. Rabin said many years ago, their policy is one of perpetual war - which is fine with them as long as they keep expanding, invading, and killing as they wish.
Beyond the propaganda of both sides, the reality on the ground is quite stark. Have a look at Google Earth in this region. It won't be hard to discern where the world's largest prison is. And as for human rights, rockets fired randomly into cities is also a human rights abuse. But, in reality, here is what happens to you if you dare call the BBC during a pointless bombardment and tell the world what is happening around you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nYof-8_uWg
Pretty much the same fate that awaited Mr. Rabin for daring to take on the imperialists and Zionists. Indeed, I think the good doctor would have prefered to have been killed himself rather than his family. HE was the one calling the BBC. He's longer working in a maternity ward inside israel. He and what remains of his family have fled to Canada.
Gershon Moshe
(10/06/10 11:13pm)Report
Good job Carrie! If Hamas and Hezbollah laid down their arms (missiles, rockets, suicide bombers), there would be peace and the Palestinians could live in peace. Unfortunately, if Israel laid down its arms, its citizens would be murdered and its society destroyed by the fanatic jihadists of Hamas and Hezbollah who do not want peace, only revenge and Jewish blood. Israel is not a perfect society, but no country is. However, Israel maintains an independent judiciary, trains its soldiers to avoid loss of life, and contributes to the world community though science and technology. Why is is that Gazans can't create such a life for themselves, since Israel pulled out of there completely in 2005? Singapore is a tiny country, and its citizens thrive. Why not Gaza? The answer is not "Israeli blockades." The answer is that Gaza is run by murderous fascists who hide bombs in schools and mosques, terrorize women and gays and anyone who doesn't subscribe to their ideology, and rule via a reign of terror. For all who condemn Israel -- a free, open and Western society -- go try living under Hamas rule in Gaza or Hezbollah rule in S. Lebanon, and see how long you survive there. If the Palestinians want peace they can have it, but it seems that many of them want perpetual war and murder instead. For those interested in real history, try Ephraim Karsh's "Palestine Betrayed" or Alan Derschowitz's "A Case For Israel"