A letter to the USA

New York Times
Dear Editor,

Contrary to the headline accompanying Mr. Erlanger’s report, it is not up to the United States and its new president to solve the Mideast problem. Aside from the implication that the United State’s inflated sense of importance has turned it in to the world’s policeman, I would argue that well meaning interference by the great powers has prolonged the struggle between the Palestinians and Israel. For example, the refusal of neighboring Arab countries to absorb Palestinian refugees has institutionalized these people turning them into the ward of the United Nations. This has instilled in them a sense of rage and victimization that has been used to delegitimize and destroy the Jewish state which is exactly the goal of the aforementioned Arab countries. Another example would be the intense international pressure on Israel to stop short of destroying Hamas in Gaza, that if it had been accomplished would have made reconciliation with Israel and Fatah possible. The readiness of wealthy states to pour billions into the reconstruction of Gaza will also strengthen Hamas that will further retard peace with Israel and Fatah. The United States and the world community has forgotten that only after Israel defeated Egypt and Jordan was it able to make a peace treaty with them, a treaty that has lasted for over 40 years. That Israel is no longer allowed to win its wars will only stir up animosities and complicate efforts for peace in the region.

Sincerely yours,

Here is a support letter for the preceding letter to the editor of the NY Times:

Oy! How true! Has anyone ever thought of where a Palestinian state would fit and not be a life-threatening danger to Israel? Both Bush and Obama have said that such a state must be contiguous - not 'Swiss cheese" but doing that would mean that little Israel would be cut in two , rendering her even more vulnerable than she is.



The truth is that until 1948 Jews were called 'Palestinians' because that was the name that the Romans had given Judea 2000 years ago, in order to sever the emotional tie of Jews to the land. Only with the rebirth of Israel did her residents become 'Israelis'. The Arabs here only some 40+ years ago began to refer to themselves as 'Palestinian' prior to that always declaring themselves part of the larger Arab people. Those who had emigrated from Syria, for example, called themselves 'southern Syrians'.



When it became politically expedient, the Arab residents of the territory began to call themselves 'Palestinians', using the old well-established name which they thought would give them greater legitimacy and allow them to demand a state which they could have had many years ago but really don't want. The only reason that they continuously say that they do is to take some of the territory that Israel has today, weakening us to the point where we can be eliminated. No one ever asks about an 'East bank' since the name 'West bank' is bandied about. That entity is known as Jordan today and was called ' Eastern Palestine' when it was established - for Arabs only -- in other words, an apartheid state!! Today it is at least 60% 'Palestinian'.



When today's Jordan was to have been part of the Jewish homeland (with what is all of Palestine today) voted upon by the League of Nations - it was specified that the whole area was to be open to all religions. Then, suddenly, Churchill's illegal act of arbitrarily lopping off 78% of the land had an invisible sign 'Muslims only!' . Of course, this history has never been made an issue by Israeli leaders who were willing to accept whatever was in order to have a peaceful state. This we do not have and, sadly, will not have as long as there is a global war against a common enemy - radical Islam.



I have been receiving emails about the Muslim anti-Israel/anti-Semitic rallies in Los Angeles and the rest of the country. "Back to the ovens" and "Praise Hitler" are the banners being raised all over the world - in the US and even in Germany!! This is beyond anti-Israel action; it is the resumption of the somewhat dormant (but never dead) anti-Semitism that is poison to civilization. It astounds me that this civilization that has benefited from the brilliance of Jewish thinking - and I am not speaking just of religion but in general - for centuries, is attempting to destroy a vital part of its ability to make progress in a challenging world.



Just as the worm in the apple cannot see the whole fruit, so is there limited vision regarding the dangers facing the U.S. and Western civilization. Here in Israel we straddle both worlds - East and West. My work includes monitoring anti-Semitism worldwide and we see frightening alliances that endanger the planet.

Simply put, there is an international network of terrorism that reaches every corner of the earth. There may be different names for its many branches but they are of one purpose: the creation of a worldwide caliphate with sharia - strict Islamic rule as the law. This is not a secret; its intentions are announced publicly. The 'infidels' - anyone not a Muslim - is urged to voluntarily convert to Islam or face war and defeat whereupon it will be forced upon us.



This is antithetical to the Western way of thinking but, ironically, the freedoms inherent in our society are being used by the enemy to achieve its goal - the destruction of the West!! We even help then by being so politically correct that we refer to the fight as the 'war on terrorism' rather than by its accurate name - radical Islam - with terrorism being the weapon.



Israel's conflict with the Arabs is an old story. Jews who lived in their countries for generations were treated as dhimmis - second class citizens. Nearly 1 million came to Israel after the War of Independence, forced to leave their possessions behind, and this country absorbed them, giving them citizenship and a sense of dignity and belonging. In contrast, the Arabs have kept their own brethren as 'refugees', given handouts by UNWRA, an organization that is considered worthless here. Were it not for the UN support, the 'refugees' would have been forced to start being independent and would be in a different place today.



Israel is at fault for this, too, because we have accepted the guilt about the state of their existence and some of our leaders, having Western thinking - believe that we have to 'give' in order to make it right for them. BS!!!! in capital letter! We are now getting ready for elections and need a more rightwing government that will stand up to the pressures that will be put upon us by the 'great powers'. With Geo. Mitchell expressing that peace is attainable we can expect that the US will attempt to impose a solution on the M.E., not realizing that the past failures have to do with the reality of the situation and not with lack of effort. Rice was here 25 times and was on the side of the Arabs but could not make a go of it. Her pressure on Israel only encouraged the aggression against us; imagine, we have been in 2 wars in 2 years!! It is our cowardly leadership that has enabled the enemy to become stronger; this is not how one deals with the Middle East!



Our despicable leaders have adopted the language of the enemy. Olmert has said that 'we are tired of winning' and other such nonsense. Barak thinks that he is a little Napoleon. Livni is an empty head. They all hate each other. And we do not love them. Olmert and Livni jumped on the Sharon bandwagon with all of the other opportunists who joined him when he created Kadima - shameful. All three refer to us as 'occupiers' which we are not. The Arabs who live in Israel have a better quality of life than most others. Despite that they rioted during the Gaza War. They are represented in the Knesset although they are a fifth column in our midst. One of their MKs -Taba - was the one who suggested kidnapping of Israeli soldiers - one of whom, Gilad Shalit, has been a prisoner for 940 + days, with no Red Cross visits, no contact with anyone, despite the rules of conduct in war. We don't even know his state of health; we, on the other hand, through our corrupt government, have released thousands of terrorists with blood on their hands. We are a sick society.



Speaking of imprisoned terrorists, Obama plans to close Guantanamo and we are wondering what he will do with those who are now incarcerated. Why would one inflict them on an American population - even if they are still in prison? Has anyone anticipated that there might be a terrorist attack in the US in which they would be freed? or high U.S. officials kidnapped and the price of their freedom would be the release of all terrorists! A page right out of Israel's book! Or maybe Abbas would accept them and then he would have some more terrorists for his army - unless they abscond to Hamas! Does anyone think of possible scenarios and consequences?



Meanwhile, the Arabs will continue to insist that we leave the 'Palestinian territory' which of course they don't often define. We should understand, of course, that 'Arab' and 'Palestinian' are not synonymous. They want the whole thing. Today I read a comment by an Arab who said that we should be going back to the 1946 borders - with no Jewish state!



My last thought which I have said before and will repeat many times: Iran will fill in the void if Iraq is abandoned; it will then sweep over that country, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and Israel, and establish a paradise for radical Islam from which to attack Europe and the U.S. Obama has come out with a statement about speaking without prior condition to Iran and offer it rewards to stop its nuclear program or be faced with

more economic sanctions or something like that. Here is a new president, wet behind the ears, not under-standing the thinking of the M.E. or radical Islam, believing that he has the power that no others have had. So many have tried to speak to Ahmadinejad, Assad, and other dictators and it has not moved them..Even Carter tried! Would Obama try to offer something to Osama bin Laden in order to change his thinking?!! This is naivete of the first order and the Muslims are laughing at the new American president and his ideas! No wonder that during the election campaign they all came out for Obama and contributed money to him illegally. (e have substantiated information about this.) They felt that he would cater to them by being 'even-handed'. It is not a contest between equals; it is a conflict between 2 sides - one representing a free society and the other advocating totalitarianism; one promoting individual freedom as opposed to the negation of the individual in favor of a stifling,imposed religious dogma.