The Occupation

Ari Bussel





There is something wrong in the Middle East. A tiny Jewish presence continues to anger her neighbors and her existence drives the whole world mad.



It is easy to blame all the faults of the world on “them, the Jews,” and more particularly it has become acceptable to channel the rampant anti-Semitism against Israel. Irrespective of what Israel does, she is deemed guilty. Judge, jury, God and His armies on earth, all conspired and decided there is one root cause for all the ills in the world.



So rooted is this anger and so well defined its true cause, that the world does not spare expense to perpetuate this myth-became-reality. Billions are spent arming the new “rightful owners” of the land, and additional billions are channeled to ensure that refugees remain in their miserable condition, unchanged despite all the money and effort invested. The United States now secretly agrees with the consensus of nations that a grave mistake was made in the United Nations in 1948 and steps must be taken to correct the wrong.



Even more billions are raised from good people, Jews included, to promote “PEACE,” just the image of all the humanitarian activists makes a person feel good like a warm blanket in a freezing day. The UN, the PA, NGOs and a plethora of tax-exempt organizations all exist because of Israel, as do the perpetual refugees. This is a huge industry in and of itself.



But maybe the idea of eliminating Israel is not such a good one after all.



Who will Iran seek to eliminate next? It has already shown its inclination to attack its Arab neighbors. Europe? The USA? Europe forgets that like Israel, it is within range of Iranian missiles, and the Missing Imam’s return is not contingent only upon the destruction of the Jews, but of all non-believers and infidels. Admittedly, the Jews are a greater nuisance and so much easier to kill. Europe can be dealt with swiftly later. All that beautiful art in the Vatican gone, but, ah, such is life.



The Palestinians, now dancing center stage starring in their smash hit as the “VICTIMS” and the “REFUGEES,” driven away from their land by the colonial Zionists and oppressed under Zionist Occupation, will surely not benefit from Israel’s disappearance either.



Earlier this week, a two-hour brainwashing session in Palestine’s eternal and historical Capital focused on the future of two sovereign states living side by side. I was thrilled, although only briefly. I thought that these two states already exist: A Jewish State called Israel and a Palestinian State called Jordan, in an area once earmarked for the Jews (1920 British Mandate for Palestine) then divided into two (a national home for the Jews over 23% of the area and Trans Jordan over the remaining 77%).



Allow me to ignore the unimportant semantics—for the Palestinians all of Israel is OCCUPIED, not only the so-called “West Bank” and “Gaza,” although for the sake of current effort, they restrict themselves only to the latter not the totality of Israel. All they wish is the end of OCCUPATION. But do they really want to change the status quo?

Their rhetoric claims they want a separate state, one that has control over its airspace and landscape, one that controls its waters all the way to international waters. But they require, and it is Israel’s obligation to ascertain, open borders. Palestinians will come to work in Israel. Israelis will buy Palestinian products. Palestinians will be able to come over whenever they want.



But does this really describe two separate states, for then there would be another Apartheid Wall, they would still live in a Ghetto and Israel would still be the reason for anything and everything wrong. What they are describing—although not calling it by its true name—is a Palestine with no an existence of Israel.



Israel continues to be at fault for everyone else’s failures. I can no longer bear hearing this nonsense about ending the occupation. Israel is the Sovereign, better get accustomed to it. Would Turkey allow the Kurds to become a nation, at the cost of eliminating part of Turkey? How about the United States allowing Mexico to reclaim California?



I am sickened when I am told over and over and over again by no other than liberal, post-Zionist Israelis, that the Jews are at fault. They call for a boycott to sanction Israel, to divest away from their own quarry.



They are smart to badmouth the devil from the safety of the very freedom Israel affords them. Clearly they would not dare move to live among their Palestinian protégés.



It is time to end our preoccupation with the occupation. It is time to focus on Israel. Those who are otherwise unhappy still have the right to leave. Perhaps they should consider this option.





In the series “Postcards from Israel—Postcards from America,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers to view and experience an Israel and her politics through their eyes, an Israel visitors rarely discover.



This point—and often—counter-point presentation is sprinkled with humor and sadness and attempts to tackle serious and relevant issues of the day. The series began in 2008, appears both in print in the USA and on numerous websites and is followed regularly by readership from around the world.



© “Postcards from Israel—Postcards from America,” July, 2010

Contact: aribussel@gmail.com