You. Yes, you folks who love to tell Israel what to do from your keyboards in America and Europe and Asia. The foreigners, foolishly believing that if we just hug our enemies a little tighter they won’t hate us anymore. The recent olim who are reeling from the disappointment that Israel isn’t like their previous country, only Jewish. Their shock at Israel’s security policies, and their compassionate albeit naïve tendency to listen to and take seriously Palestinian stories about how said policies are oppressive. They meet very kind Arabs who claim to “just want peace” – failing to realize that their definition of peace requires the “right of return,” which would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish State. Those who mistake Israel for any other country.
No, JStreet, B’tselem, and Breaking the Silence are not good for Israel, nor are they an integral part of Israel’s democracy. Follow the money and you’ll find that they are funded by groups who want to undermine Israel from within. They are even funded by the Palestinian Authority, which has a clear agenda to wipe out Israel. Don’t be deluded enough to believe they want two states unless it’s a segway into a homogenous Palestinian state. Don’t be deluded into believing they want to live in peace with us side by side when they have fought us at every turn and continue to indoctrinate their children to fight us. Don’t be deluded into believing that the bill promoted by Im Tirtzu and various government ministers serves to undermine or silence the left – all it requests is transparency in funding sources for NGOs, which is necessary in figuring out their agenda. It does not silence NGOs at all, and arguably might not be going far enough and doing what it should be doing, which is not allow any NGOs that are deliberately fighting Israel’s existence. Canada takes charities off the registered nonprofit list for much less.
Stop calling Israel fascist. If you were under the same threats Israel is, you’d also implement self-preservation policies out of necessity that may appear “fascist” were the country implementing it a “safe” country like Canada, the USA, Australia, or anywhere in Europe.
Stop complaining that Jews aren’t treated equally to Arabs. Racial profiling has foiled thousands of terror attacks preventing more innocent Israelis from being needlessly killed. It sucks, but it’s necessary. When Palestinians start acting like peaceful grownups, we will treat them as such. Otherwise we have the choice to either treat them the way we currently are, or be wiped out. We can’t take chances.
Same goes for the “occupation” – checkpoints, searches, and the like. The Palestinians haven’t put their efforts into statebuilding as we have seen following the Gaza pullout in 2005. They don’t want a state, they want the end of Israel to fulfill a pan-Arabist dream. Read the Hamas charter or any history book about Nasser or Haj Amin Al-Husseini. Get your head out of the clouds and face reality or else your head will go from the clouds to the chopping block. Hamas and ISIS are cut from the same cloth. Get it through your (currently attached) head.
Call me hardhearted. Call me a cynic. Call me whatever you want, but once upon a time, I was an idealist too. And you know what destroyed it for me? Experience. Opening my eyes, trusting my gut, and learning from my mistakes. The leftists who live in a politically correct fantasy land are the ones who are ruining it for the rest of us, allowing themselves to be duped. While I definitely believe kindness is the language of coexistence and that there is nothing wrong with being kind, I think a line needs to be drawn, a line that is necessary to protect the future of the Jewish State, because sadly, as great as kindness is, it is often viewed as a weakness by traditional Arab culture – a weakness that must be taken advantage of in the tribal Middle East. They can smell it from a mile away and they will pounce.
That won’t stop me from being kind. I refuse to compromise my own values, because the second I do so, they win. However it’s important to speak up when a leftist decides to cover her ears and refuse to acknowledge reality that is right in her face. It is important, because if the leftists allow themselves to be deluded into giving in to Palestinian demands, it will mean the end of Eretz Israel that we all love.
Israel is not America. Israel is not Europe. Acting like it isn’t surrounded by enemies that constantly want to destroy it, will only destroy it. Refusing to acknowledge the special needs that a country like Israel has due to its surroundings and its hostile neighborhood is like assuming that the popular kid in high school who is surrounded by a protective shell of adoring friends requires the same amount of support and protection as the loner who is bullied and ostracized constantly and has to eat her lunch in the bathroom to avoid being pelted with french fries. It is not only unfair to Israel, it is dangerous to Israel’s survival.
That’s why when I see someone who is treating Israel like another America or Europe, I am not afraid to speak out. Recognize Israel’s precarious situation. Recognize that tiny Israel is in danger if she allows thousands of Syrian refugees (who are typically ethnically and ideologically identical to Palestinians). Stop holding Israel to impossible standards. When you see an article in the media about Israel’s latest “horrible transgression” research why it happened based on Israel’s unique situation before having an emotional outburst. Catch yourself when you’re in the mindset that if you don’t criticize Israel nonstop, you aren’t loyal to your host country or a “good Jew.”
Israel is Israel. Love her that way, give her the benefit of the doubt, know that unlike the rest of the world, dozens of countries have the explicit agenda to slander her. Before you criticize Israel, think about the problem that is being solved by the policy you are criticizing and if the policy is a better alternative to the problem. Most importantly, think about what Israel should be doing instead and look into why it’s not being done already. And if you can’t think of a better, realistic alternative that won’t put our lives in danger, Israel will be better off if you keep your mouth shut.
