# 415 – Some Answers

Some answers

A good friend cared enough to comment on my last letter, admitting still to some doubts about the situation. I took the time to respond, and this is what we wrote:

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Dear Stephen –

Unfortunately I did not see or hear the interview to which you refer so my comments may miss the point as I am nothing like as well informed as you.

As far as land ownership is concerned both parties feel that the land in dispute is theirs.
It is clear that the Palestinians will never recognise the State of Israel.

In view of the International apathy generated by repeated failures to even arrange a peace conference , it seems  to me that Israel-has given up any hope of settlement and decided that it must protect itself and its population at all costs and take back land from time to time when the opportunity arises.

There is little general press sympathy for the right-wing  Israeli government here and the BBC probably reflects this although murders of Israelis by Palestinians are not condoned.

Every time there is an Israeli led reprisal attack far more Palestinians than Israelis are  killed  including children although this is sometimes questionable. The death of any child is difficult to justify..

Israel in terms of armaments has an overwhelming military advantage when it attacks.

Israel appears to be losing the  PR battle  and is prepared for criticism and  may have got to a stage where it appears to ignore it.

The young Arabs willingness to die for their cause makes it even more difficult to justify the many more killings of Palestinians than Israelis.

Remembering Auschwitz much of the early support for Israel has gone.

I should be very surprised if by 2050 any progress will be made for a peaceful settlement.

Do you see any possibility of blue skies ahead?

Yours sadly,

………

(My Answer)

Saturday morning….our Sunday….coffee at my side. (Have always wondered why the rest of the World decided to make Sunday or Friday the Sabbath/Sabbado/ Saturday).

Let me go through your comments…

 – I’ve been aware of BBC’s left-wing and anti-Israel views for many years. But, for various reasons, laziness and ex-pat being among them, I continue to go to BBC for much of my news. Except TV – we don’t get BBC on our regular cables…

Interesting that I’ve received several replies from English folks referring to BBC’s history of prejudice.

– ‘Palestinians’ – Like everyone, you are falling into the trap of generalisation. The tribal mentality of the Palestinians is common across the Middle East, Africa and many other parts of the World. Shiites and Muslims hate each other. Alawis hate both. I can assure you that a majority of the Palestinians living in Israel as Israelis live in absolute peace as a thriving minority in the country. They see and know what life would be like in a neighbouring country, and know that the Palestinians are not ready for ‘decent democracy’. I can assure you that they have recognised the state of Israel.

– ‘Given up hope’ – Yes, that’s generally true, at least for the foreseeable future. And we don’t need to take this conflict as an example. The World is full of such messes.

– It’s easy to criticise the current Israeli govt. And the constant history-making protests here prove that point. Each side claims that they are following the rules of Democracy, yet you may have noticed that I see that as part of the problem: the hundreds of ugly versions of Democracy. ‘We won. Therefore, we have your approval to do what we want (even though we mentioned little of it in our manifesto)’.

– ‘Take back lands’ is itself a subject. We have no way of knowing what would have happened had the Arabs accepted the 2-state UN resolution in 1947. One thing is 100% certain. At the time, Israel officially accepted the partition, and the Arabs didn’t.

It is easy to assume that, had they accepted, we would today have 2 states, living side by side in peace, with Jerusalem as a fantastic international city. And Israel’s capital, of course. Not sure which city would have been Palestine’s capital. But Jerusalem was then not their first choice.

But that did not happen. They started several wars. The ‘taking of land’ can be understood as ‘taking back the Biblical Land of Israel’, but the fact is, it’s the price of war. You lose, and therefore must accept the consequences.

– Your words about casualties are, to put it mildly, wrong. We are not 2 medieval armies marching towards each other blindly. Israel is a sophisticated country, putting as much emphasis into protection as in aggression. So many subjects, but let’s focus first on the age of militants. Our soldiers are minimum 18 – still ‘children’. Yet I never see them described as such, even when they die in the field.

The Palestinians use ‘under-18s, who, despite their intentions, are commonly described as children. Why?

And then the civilians.. A well-worn subject. We protect our people; they don’t. They don’t have funds for such protection? They do. But those funds go in quite opposite directions. (One of my letters referred to B.A.D. – The Palestinians have constantly been the recipients of enormous funds, certainly enough to Build Another Dubai.

But those funds go elsewhere, including the pockets of the leaders. The BBC should have a report on the luxurious lives of the Palestinian leaders).

– Children? How about international opinion interviewing Israeli and Palestinian 17 year-olds? Or try confiscating the 2 sets of educational material. It is sad to see the naivety of the international community.

– The IDF? Many years ago, I had an argument with someone who focused on the Israeli army’s killing of children. Apart from being 100% wrong, I argued that they built our army. Not us. And now they complain.

We had no army in 1948. Jews came to Israel with spades, brains, dreams and a background of (interrupted) education. But no arms. Golda Meir was famous for her part in begging countries for military support. Following the miraculous defence against the Arab armies (some call it a victory), Israel built an efficient army. And now they complain. Israel was internationally popular in 1967 when David defeated Goliath. How did we overnight – in international opinion – become the Goliath and they the David?

– The PR battle? I often think about that. Many say we are losing the propaganda war. I am not sure I agree, and have mentioned this many times in my letters. Our PR, like my letters, go mostly in one ear and out the other. It’s not only that the World does not care. It’s also biased. If the BBC, the UN and the EC are anti-Israel, what hope have we got to change people’s minds?

– Remembering Auschwitz. Had there been acceptance of the 2-state resolution – and at that time, just 3 years after the Holocaust, the Jews so clearly deserved a home – the Holocaust would not need to be more than an obvious annual memorial.

I so often beg the World to leave Israel alone for a couple of generations. Give it and the region a chance to settle in peace. But that’s not happening. We’ve built this incredible country despite the never-ending tension.

– 2050? Why is the status of Israel such a subject? How about…..China, USA, Russia, Sudan, France, UK, Swedenstan, Turkey, sinking Antarctica and nuclear terrorism? How about where AI is leading us? Why is the subject of Israel so high on the list?

Note that I have not mentioned terrorism, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaida, Qatar, Saudi’s involvement in 9/11, Iran, Antisemitism and religion….

My coffee is cold….

Stephen

July 20, 2023