March 13, 2021
Israel lives in a tough neighborhood. The Palestinian Arabs with whom it is expected to make peace have said things like, “The Holocaust was Europe repaying Jews for their “wickedness,” Israel’s newest “war crime” is “killing” Palestinian prisoners with the Coronavirus,” “Snow fell in Jerusalem “to clean it” of Israeli “filth”. And that’s just this month.
These hateful accusations are mild compared with the hate spewed from Jordan’s parliament. Iran is in a class of its own combining disgusting blood libels with plans to wipe out the Jews and their state. Hamas that is armed and supported by Iran can be counted to one up its mentor with even more creative blood libels like Jews are stealing our organs and shooting our babies for target practice. In the Arab world, over 80% of people surveyed harbor anti-Jewish feelings. Getting away with making these bloodthirsty accusations without being called on them is a great victory.
Israel could not exist if it responded to every accusation, instead it has built a powerful military that is fully capable of defending its people who just go along attending concerts and meeting their friends at cafes.
The Arab world now understands that it can’t beat Israel in battle so it chooses one of three alternatives.
One now being tested by some Arab states is to make peace with Israel.
Another is to torment Israel as much as possible at international organizations, and in the media. As PA officials have said, and I paraphrase, our goal is to not leave them one moment of peace.
The third alternative, and one that is most worrisome is going to war to inflict the maximum damage on Israel. Even when Israel retaliates and puts the aggressor nation out of business, this will be seen as a great victory. Iran pretty well fits this description. Hamas too. They would gladly commit national suicide if Israel paid a huge price.
Despite this situation, the blood libels have worked .There is a widespread belief that Israel is an aggressor nation that occupies land that doesn’t belong to it, that neglects and brutalizes the people it occupies. Organizations have been set up to promote boycotts and divestments from Israel and to demand that Israel dismantle its military to I suppose render it incapable of defending itself. This anti-Israel psychosis has metastasized into universities where Middle Eastern Study lecturers and pro-Palestinian student organizations can be counted on to convince students that Israel is the epitome of evil.
This world wide support for the Palestinian Arabs is very intoxicating and very helpful in collecting donations from foreign countries.
A country of their own without a treaty with their hated adversary would result in a permanently dysfunctional state. One can deduce this from the failure of Palestinian governments to properly vaccinate their own people against Covid-19. A victimized people being denied their own country would raise far more money than just another failed state and raising money is what it’s all about. Thanks to international generosity, Palestinian leaders are riding on a very luxurious gravy train
This was understood by the Trump Administration that basically told the Palestinians that their victimhood shtick would no longer dominate the conversation, and then went out and helped Israel make peace with a handful of Arab states. The reaction by the Palestinians was to heighten the hysteria. Their only hope is that the Biden administration will reverse Trump’s policies. After 4 months, the Biden policy appears identical to Trump’s which will either present an opportunity for more peace treaties, or another Nakba for the Palestinians.
Larry Shapiro
