Posted by
Patrick Henry on Saturday, January 10, 2009 7:52:35 PM
Britain, which occupied a portion of the area known as Palestine, invited displaced
Jews who had been confined in Europe's ghettoa, tortured in Hitler's death camps or
whose famlies had been devastated by the holocaust to return there to make their home.
In 1948, the League of Nations voted to partition Palestine between the Jewish and
Arab populations and the nation state of Israel was born. The day partition was voted,
the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem launched a new war of annhilation against the Jews,
causing the United States and other western countries that had voted for partition to
take Israel's side.
Over time, borders stabilized and Israel proved both its ability to build a thriving
democracy in a part of the world where such a form of government was unheard
of, and to defend itself robustly against Arab attacks. In 1967 Egypt, Syria and
other Arab powers thought the balance of power was right to finally push the
Israelis out of Palestine. They badly miscalculated, and were handed their heads in
the short, costly war. Worse for them, Israel staked terrirotial gains in Gaza, the
West Bank and the Golan Heights which they refused to give back, citing the need
for a buffer zone of self-defense. Later, some of those areas were populated by Israeli
settlers.
The biggest bone of contention was Jerusalem, a holy city for Judaism, Islam and
Christianity. In the war, the Jews asserted complete control over the city and, again,
refused to yield it. Many Palestinians were displaced to the Arab sectors in Gaza and
the West Bank, but still worked in Israel and thought of it as home. Hatred and
resentment simmered just below the surface in the Arab community, and "resistance"
organizations were born. Yasser Arafat's Fatah party assumed leadership of the
resistance, openly encouraging armed attacks on Israel including suicide bombings and
kidnappings. Stung by the slaughter of its civilians, the toughened Israeli Defense
Force struck back hard, practicing "eye-fo-an-eye" tactics. Due to military inequality
far more Palestinians than Israelis died in these running battles. Other organizations
such as Islamic Jihad and the Black September movemmement arose, attacking Jews
not only in Israel but elsewhere, and culmiinating in the massacre of Israeli athletes at
the Munich olympic games. Israel's response was the covert "Sword of Gideon"
operation authorized by then Prime Minister Golda Meir, that resulted in the
assassination of a number of leading Arab terror figures.
Another group, Hamas, came into being with a charter that overtly called for
the detsruction of Israel. Backed and armed by Israeli-hating Iran, and Syria
which, to this day, provides safe harbor and comfort to Hamas kingpin Khaled
Meshaal, the group began a reign of terror against Israel spraying a barrage of
the inaccurate Qassam rockets into Israel's south, and recruiting suicide bombers
and hit squads to mount attacks inside Israel's borders.
Israel's main ally has been the United States of America, which has staunchly
supported its right to existence and self-defense, and provided state-of-the-art
armament and shared intelligence to the IDF and Mssad. The U.S. has also often
used its Security Council veto in the United nations to protect Israel from condemnation
for striking back hard against the terrorists.
In 2007, Hamas overthrew the legitimate Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas
(Abu Mazen) and threw Fatah out of Gaza, setting itself up as the governing authority.
Already under periodic assault from Gaza, Israel responded by closing their border with
the territory and setting up a sea blockade to choke off supply lines to Hamas. Hamas
responded by digging a series of tunnels under the Egyptian border through which the
Iranian and Syrian arms, as well as other supplies could flow. The border closure and
blockade, regarded by Israel as neceassry for its own security, has caused untold
poverty and hardship among the Palestinian people which some foreign observers
have likened to South Africa's apartheid. In December 2008, Hamas arbitrarily
ended a prologed cease fire, and began raining rockets on southern Israel once
again. The IDF responded with a massive air bombardment followed by a ground
invasion that has sliced Gaza into three parcels, destroyed many of the supply
tunnels and laid siege to Gaza City itself. Due to the density of population, the
smallness of the area and the propensity of Hamas fighters to fire from civilian
locations such as hospitals, schools, mosques and private homes, civilian casualties
have mounted, causing many in the international community to condemn Israel's
tactics as "disproportionate" and "ruthless."
War continues to rage in Gaza, with Hamas demanding a complete lifting of
the border closures and blockade and total withdrawal of Israeli troops, and Israel
demanding a permanent cessation of rocket fire into Israel and an international
force to assure that the tunnels are closed and that Hamas is not allowed to re-arm.
Both sides have thus far rejected international cease fire proposals.
Where is this going, and what lessons can be lkearned from it? Is this the beginning
of the legendary world-ending battle of Armageddon? For more, read the next post
on this blog, and feel free to throw in your own comments.