Jews Who Find Israel Imperfect

I was going to title this piece, "Jews Who Hate Jews," but I felt that the word "Hate" generated excessive heat.  Anyway, let me get to the point.  What prompted me to write this item was a question posed to me by my daughter-in-law.  "I have a friend with whom I communicate on Facebook.  The other day she posted an item that declared that Israel's army, the IDF, was criminal.  I'm so upset.  What should I do?  Turn my back on her?  I really don't want to speak to her anymore."

This was my advice:  "Don't disconnect with her.  Better to give her information that might lead her to see the error of her statement.  People who speak as she speaks really don't understand Israel.  Help them out."

Many people can't be dissuaded from some of their opinions.  There's nothing much you can do about that.  But, at least show them a reality that, somehow. escaped them.

First and foremost, it is important to know that what the Palestinians say depends on whom they're talking to.  To the Israelis and the outside world, they speak, "peace, peace, peace."  Many in the west are taken in by that.  But organizations that take the words of Palestinian leaders, spoken to their own people in Arabic, show a very different picture.  When you translate what Abbas says in Arabic, he sounds pretty much Hamas.  They encourage their Palestinian people to remain steadfast until the day they can dislodge the Jews from Israel and regain their lands.

"Nakba," is he Arabic word that denotes the day their land was taken from them and given to the Jews.  They view their land as having been illegitimately taken by Israel.  If your friends, who berate the Israelis, think that what I've just said is too extreme, have them check out what the Palestinians teach their children beginning from the first grade.

How can you justify the behavior of a people who honor men who would climb aboard buses filled with Israeli school children for the purpose of setting off explosives to kill as many kids as they can?  On the west bank, they honor such murderers by naming streets after them and providing their families with pensions.

The borders between Switzerland and Germany, Italy, and France need no walls or fences.  No one has any interest in attacking Switzerland.  The biggest problem faced by the Swiss are the illegal immigrants who want to enter, either to settle, or to transit on to another country.  Compare that to Israel with Gaza on the west, Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Syria on the north, Jordan on the east, and the Sinai on the south.  Israel's border with Sinai is increasingly coming under attack by ISIS.

And who protects these borders?  The sons and daughters of ordinary Israelis.  And, to some small extent, they are aided by men from the Druze, Bedouin, and Christian communities.

There are many other issues your friend should be aware of; namely, the lack of interest on the part of the Palestinian leadership in "normalization,"  in their use of NGOs to malign Israel.  And as she might know, well funded Muslim campaigns on American campuses to promote the BDS agenda.

Your friend should also aquatint herself with the Arab culture and how it manifests itself as to their relationship to women and gays.  Pro-Palestinians like to refer to the facts regarding Muslim attitudes toward gays as "pink-washing."  They should take care not to get too close to pink-washing lest some of the pink-wash gets in their eyes.  Then too there is the very nature of the clan oriented Islamic community where the prime objective of the extended Muslim family is to enhance the wealth and power of their particular family.

There are other Islamic concepts anyone who wishes to understand the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians should be aware of.  They include an understanding of the shades of meaning between the words, "truce," "hudna," and "lasting peace."

I believe once your friend has acquainted herself with an understanding of the differences between the Israelis and the Palestinians she will be less glib in her condemnation of the IDF and Israelis in general.