The international community has rediscovered Israel. Sources in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office say they are overflowing with letters of praise from around the globe.
Many world leaders have requested meetings with Sharon. The New York Times and Washington Post are thrilled by his leadership, The (London) Guardian has complimented the prime minister on his "courage," and Le Monde has remarked favorably on his "vision."
The question that begs to be asked is if this new found love for Israel by the nations of the world is really in Israel’s best interests?
Let’s see if you can find a pattern here:
1) Menachem Begin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Camp David Accords in 1979, where Israel ceded the entire Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, abandoning enough oil to have made Israel entirely self sufficient, state of the art military installations, as well as the expulsion of Jews from their homes and the destruction of Jewish communities at the hands of the IDF.
Of course, Egypt, as a result of signing this accord with Israel has been able to stockpile billions of dollars a year worth of US weaponry (for use against whom, I wonder), has one of the most virulently anti-Semitic / anti-Israel propaganda machines in the Middle East, and has sponsored and encouraged countless acts of terrorism against the Jewish State of Israel.
2) Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres share the Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Arafat, for the signing of the Oslo accords. Of course, since the signing of the accords in 1993, over 1,000 Jews have been murdered and 10's of thousands wounded in Arab terror attacks whose aim is the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel.
3) Ariel Sharon has already received consideration as a worthy candidate for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, for his role in the destruction of the Jewish communities of Gush Katif and the Shomron.
So, what do these 3 things have in common? Shaul Rosenfeld of Yediot Achronot shares the answer with us:
Israel is loved when it suffers a blow, such as a deadly suicide bombing, but only on condition it does not respond. The international community has followed this pattern for the past 12 years. Exploding buses bring us global empathy, but a reasonable Israeli response invariably brings the wave of compassion to an end.
The international community’s love is conditional. The world loves us as long as we concede land and refrain from responding to terror attacks. Love hurts.
Just as the seer Laocoon warned the Trojans of the wooden horse and expressed his concern over the “gift,” so too should we fear the world’s compliments.
The choice that lies before the People of Israel, the State of Israel and the leaders of Israel is which type of Jew (and Jewish State) do we wish to be? Do we wish to be loved by the nations of the world, at the expense of Jewish blood, Land and self respect, or do we wish to live as proud Jews in our Land, all the while being viewed as a “stiff-necked people” by the nations of the world?
I have no doubt, if one were to ask the thousands of Jews who have been murdered (or the loved ones they left behind), wounded or expelled from their homes over the last 25+ years as the “sacrifices” of our blind desire to attain the false peace and goodwill of our neighbors, what their answer would be.
Cross Posted at Israel Perspectives: Feeling 'Right' At Home
False Praise...
By Ze'ev Orenstein
In an Article in Ha'aretz, Akiva Eldar argues, that in order for Israel to "get" acceptance, praise and support from the nations of the world, Israel must be prepared to "give".
In return for Israel’s expulsion 10,000 Jews from their homes, and her willingness to hand over the land to the very ones who seek to destroy her, she has received lavish praise from the nations of the world. This can be seen most recently with the upcoming visit of the King of Jordan to Israel, the developing relations between Israel and Pakistan and Indonesia, and PM Sharon being invited to address the UN General Assembly this coming week.
As Yediot Achronot reports:
The question that begs to be asked is if this new found love for Israel by the nations of the world is really in Israel’s best interests?
Let’s see if you can find a pattern here:
1) Menachem Begin was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Camp David Accords in 1979, where Israel ceded the entire Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, abandoning enough oil to have made Israel entirely self sufficient, state of the art military installations, as well as the expulsion of Jews from their homes and the destruction of Jewish communities at the hands of the IDF.
Of course, Egypt, as a result of signing this accord with Israel has been able to stockpile billions of dollars a year worth of US weaponry (for use against whom, I wonder), has one of the most virulently anti-Semitic / anti-Israel propaganda machines in the Middle East, and has sponsored and encouraged countless acts of terrorism against the Jewish State of Israel.
2) Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres share the Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Arafat, for the signing of the Oslo accords. Of course, since the signing of the accords in 1993, over 1,000 Jews have been murdered and 10's of thousands wounded in Arab terror attacks whose aim is the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel.
3) Ariel Sharon has already received consideration as a worthy candidate for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, for his role in the destruction of the Jewish communities of Gush Katif and the Shomron.
So, what do these 3 things have in common? Shaul Rosenfeld of Yediot Achronot shares the answer with us:
The choice that lies before the People of Israel, the State of Israel and the leaders of Israel is which type of Jew (and Jewish State) do we wish to be? Do we wish to be loved by the nations of the world, at the expense of Jewish blood, Land and self respect, or do we wish to live as proud Jews in our Land, all the while being viewed as a “stiff-necked people” by the nations of the world?
I have no doubt, if one were to ask the thousands of Jews who have been murdered (or the loved ones they left behind), wounded or expelled from their homes over the last 25+ years as the “sacrifices” of our blind desire to attain the false peace and goodwill of our neighbors, what their answer would be.
Cross Posted at Israel Perspectives: Feeling 'Right' At Home
Posted by Ze'ev Orenstein at September 5, 2005 02:58 PM