Predictable, Tired Arguments on Israel

On the way home from work I usually listen to the Ed Schultz Show. With the showdown between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon there have obviously been a lot of calls on the issue. I like the show because Ed always gives callers a chance to say their piece without regard to their position. I have heard a number of pro-Arab callers on the show the last few days and they never fail in returning to the same predictable, tired arguments which sound like everyone received the same talking points memo.

The first point that gets recited is that Israel is killing innocent Lebanese civilians. This is generally said without any acknowledgement that innocent Israelis are being killed by the Hezbollah rockets aimed at northern cities and towns in Israel. It also does not take into account the sad and unfortunate fact of war that innocent people get killed despite the latest technological advances in warfare. The next argument is that Israel's military response to the current situation is disproportionate. My question to them is what would be the response of any other country to a terrorist group operating with impunity on one of its borders. Should the Israeli government and military planners have done some kind of worldwide conference call to find out what the "appropriate" response should be?

It then does not take the callers very long to get to the heart of their argument which is that the current situation is all due to the plight of the Palestinians. This is followed by a recitation of how the Palestinians were thrown out of their homes and it would all be solved if they could go back. One caller even talked about a relative still having the keys to a house. With this type of thinking, it is logical that no solution has yet been reached. Whether the Arab and Muslim communities of the world like it or not, in 1947 the United Nations partitioned British-controlled Palestine into independent Jewish and Arab states. I suggest people read UN General Assembly Resolution 181 which details the plan. The stock pro-Arab answer to the UN Partition Plan is that it does not matter that an Arab state was created because people still had to leave their homes and it does not matter they were given another home. An unfortunate fact of history and world events is that nations are created, nations cease to exist, international borders get drawn and redrawn, and people get displaced. If the Palestinians and the world Arab community do not come to grips with this reality, then the Mideast will continue in a cycle of violence, death and destruction.

I believe that it is still possible to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through negotiations. It will take courageous leaders on both sides who are willing to die to further peace such as Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin. The fundamental question that the Arab world must answer is whether Israel is entitled to exist as a nation within secure borders. If we keep hearing the same old tired arguments, we regrettably already have our answer.