I don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll begin by mentioning that I’m Jewish. Now does that give me a bias opinion on this matter? Hell yes, it does! But after reading the “point/counter point” in last week’s issue, I don’t see why being biased should keep me from speaking my mind.
First of all, to say that the state of Israel was built on “stolen land” is utter crap. There is archeological evidence to show that the Jewish people lived in Israel at least as long ago as 830 BCE. They go back even further, if you’re willing to take the Bible as evidence. Unfortunately, our land was “stolen” from us not once, but twice.
Secondly, there’s a good reason why the US supports Israel to the degree that it does. Israel the only reliable ally we have in the mid-east. Who are some of our less-than reliable allies? Well, there’s Iran. After they turned on us, we threw in our towel with Saddam Hussein. That relation didn’t work out, either. Speaking of Hussein, we should be very thankful that the Israelis destroyed Iraq’s nuclear research facilities back in 1986. Had they not, It’s very likely that Saddam Hussein would have had nuclear weapons in the Gulf War. It would only have taken one nuke-tipped SCUD to turn our jolly good war with Iraq into a nightmare.
Israel is unreceptive to diplomacy? You have got to be kidding me! It was barely a year ago that Israel had offered to place East Quarter of Jerusalem, where Judaism’s most sacred places are located, under International rule. And Arafat rejected it.