So, Class...What's The Real Lesson Here?
By Gerald A. Honigman (07/18/06)
Amid the kidnappings, murder, and terror Israel has been subjected to by Arabs in territories it has totally withdrawn from, there is an obvious--if politically inconvenient--truth emerging day by day in both Gaza and Lebanon.
Gaza had been used since the days of the Pharaohs as a major invasion route to attack Israel’s Jews. Despite this, Israel consented to total withdrawal a year ago.
Since the June ‘67 Six Day War, Arabs had been quite vocal about their new strategy for Israel’s destruction. They would henceforth work first to get Israel to return to its 1949, U.N.-imposed, microscopic armistice line existence and then, at the opportune moment, aim for its jugular.
Most of Israel’s population and industry lie in a ridiculously narrow waistband roughly nine to twenty miles wide. Most people travel farther just to go shopping or to go to work. Arabs are well aware of this.
Before the recent outbreak of full-blown hostilities, the world--with America at the lead--was forcing Israel to cave in to the Arabs' destruction in phases plans. The latter was given a new name…the “road map.”
Before the ascendancy of Hamas, the Jews were constantly being pressured by the American State Department to yield tangibles such as territory to Mahmoud Abbas and his Arafatians despite the fact that these folks are no different than the Hamas crew when it comes to the subject of the survival of a Jewish Israel. While their tactics might sometimes differ, both of their charters still call for Israel’s destruction--despite what Abbas’s whitewashers say--and a look at any of their websites, maps, and other publications should put this subject to rest for those who have eyes that function.
Abbas, the “good guy,” did nothing to stop the disputed--not “Palestinian”--territory given back to him from being used as launching pads to attack Jews…in Israel proper as well as in the disputed lands. His own good cop Fatah affiliates have as much or more Jewish blood on their hands as the bad cop Hamas/Islamic Jihad half of this team.
As most of us knew, Israel was simply making one-sided concessions to an enemy which only perceived such things as weakness, allowing their destruction in phases plans to proceed as planned.
The alleged Arab “moderates” had long said that the real goal was to create a purely Arab Palestine from the River to the Sea and that any negotiations with the Jews would just be a Trojan Horse. They would then use the lands they received to build bases of attack that much closer to Israel’s main population centers.
After being squeezed relentlessly to make additional concessions to prop up Abbas, Prime Minister Sharon agreed to the Gaza withdrawal. While a case could be made for this, the no strings attached manner in which it was done simply allowed Arabs to do their predictable rejectionist thing.
Sure enough, rather than focus on nascent state building--the Arabs #22 and second, not first, one to be created within the original 1920 borders of the Mandate of Palestine (Jordan having been formed earlier on some 80% of the total area)--they focused, instead, on continuing to try to destroy the Jews’ lone resurrected Israel.
But what Arabs must understand is that Gaza was an extremely important test…And they flunked it--both the Arafatians and the Hamasniks--horrendously.
There must be lasting consequences of that failure.
An Arab entity taking root in Gaza and willing to build a truly peaceful future with Israel could possibly be allowed to expand further.
But, as most of us knew, this was not to be.
While others tried to say that the Arabs would moderate their rejectionist positions, Gaza is blatant proof as to what Israel can expect from any other one-sided concessions it might offer to those who, after all, have been honest all along as to what their long term goals are vis-à-vis the Jewish State. The West’s darling, Abbas, ran on a platform for Israel’s destruction. And we all know what Hamas’ more honest agenda calls for.
With mortars and rockets now hitting cities in Israel proper from Gaza after Israel has withdrawn from it, this has to be seen as acts of outright war from sovereign territory Arabs now control. How would other nations react to such continuous aggression?
The next stage of proposed one-sided Israeli concessions lie in an even more vulnerable area…Judea and Samaria, aka the "West Bank.” This is the area adjacent to Israel’s miniscule waistband mentioned above.
Returning disputed territories here will victimize most of Israel’s population and vital infrastructure the same way other parts of Israel are currently being hit today...Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport, etc. and so forth.
Turning north, Israel has been out of Lebanon for six years. It was forced there earlier for the same reason that it’s there again now…a weak Lebanese government that wouldn’t or couldn’t stop others from using its sovereign territory to attack its Jewish neighbor.
But the same thing occurred here as in Gaza. After Israel withdrew, it was still repeatedly attacked.
As all with functioning neurons have long understood, “occupation” was never the problem…unless by occupation one means all of Israel proper…as most Arabs and their stooges actually do.
So, Class, what have we learned here?
It better include all of the following…
Under no circumstances will Israel be forced back to its suicidal, pre-’67 Auschwitz/armistice lines. As U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 called for after the '67 War, Israel was entitled to secure and recognized borders...not a forced return to the status quo ante.
Israel must tell its dear American friends thanks but no thanks once the Foggy Folks start twisting its arms again if and when Hamas ever gets relegated to the back burner. The barbarism and atrocities which accompanied the fiasco of the "Oslo Peace" occurred with Abbas's folks at the helm.
Israel must draw its own borders in Judea and Samaria taking into account the range of Arab missiles, potential infiltration of suicide bombers, and so forth. Arabs don’t accept a 9-mile wide Israel, so forget about their consent to anything bigger. Hence the necessity for Israel to act unilaterally. Keep in mind that the land in question falls into the category of non-apportioned territories of the original Mandate…lands that were open to both Arabs and Jews for settlement. While Israel will not want to bring the bulk of the area’s Arabs into its fold, it must allow itself enough of a territorial compromise which will permit a reasonable defense against those who--regardless of what Israel offers--will still aim to destroy it.
Furthermore, there must be no further withdrawals from any other territory until actual treaties of peace--not hudnas--are signed by Arab partners with the strength to actually abide by them.
In short, Gaza and Lebanon are obvious models of what Israel can expect down the road if it caves in on these issues. Israel's five million Jews can't afford to absorb the hits over two hundred million surrounding Arabs can.
America, Great Britain, Russia, and other nations have gone to war and have acquired territories far from home in the name of their own national security interests. Indeed, many nations have lost territory to others after said territory was used to launch aggression.
Having been repeatedly attacked by neighbors sworn to its destruction, an Israel that one needs a magnifying glass to find on a world map must insist on some territorial adjustments as well.
Any proposed 22nd state for Arabs must not come at the expense of the Jews’ lonely one.
And that’s the real lesson of the rockets, mortars, and missiles raining death and destruction upon Haifa, Ashkelon, Sderot, Acre, Kiryat Shemona, Nahariya, and elsewhere as this piece is being written.
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