Israel’s fight for survival: a short history

UPDATED Sept 16/10 — My parents lived in Nazi-occupied Holland and watched Jews taken away to be murdered. I grew up learning about the Holocaust and, while in my teens, read Pastor Martin Niemoller’s famous poem, ‘No one was left to speak for me.” (I once had the honour of meeting Niemoller’s widow at a Holocaust Remembrance Week event in 2007.) 

This, and my experiences as a UN peacekeeper seeing the aftermath of war due to a lack of rule of law in the Middle East (where the VoC header photo was taken) are the key reasons I gave up my real estate career in 2006 to work full time as a volunteer opposing native extremism and racial policing in Caledonia.

As I would later discover, native criminal organizations operating in Caledonia such as the Mohawk Warriors and the Haudenosaunee Men’s Fire work in solidarity with anti-Israel and/or anti-Semitic groups and individuals.

  • VoiceofCanada,  May 31/10: CUPE extremists supporting Muslim extremists supporting Native extremists
  • Caledonia Victims Project, March 28/10: Caledonia’s Fifth Column: How radical unionists, anarchists, anti-Israel groups and terror group sympathizers are aiding and abetting native militants in their quest for ‘aboriginal sovereignty’ in Caledonia and Brantford [PDF, 6p] 

Although I am by no means a Mid-East expert my tour of duty in Egypt/Israel led me to follow events there the best I can, and I have done quite a bit of reading on the history of the various attempts by Israel’s ‘neighbours’ to wipe it off the map.

Propaganda vs. Facts

Islamic Thinkers Society at 2010 Israeli Day Parade, New YorkAs with Caledonia, it always amazes me just how uninformed the media are, and how disingenuous the anti-Israel and/or terror group supporters are with their lies and propaganda. That’s why I don’t blame the average person on the street for believing their propaganda that things would be just fine in the Middle East if those mean, heartless, murdering Jews would just give back all the land they deliberately set out to steal from innocent, defenceless Arabs.

Before we begin, I want to say that I don’t necessarily agree with everything Israel does or has done, and I am not opposed to criticism of its actions. After all, I am a vocal critic of my own government. I simply want readers to understand the basic historical facts as I make my case that Israel is the victim of aggression, not the perpetrator.

A SHORT HISTORY OF ISRAEL AND ITS FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL

1. Israel created by United Nations vote, 1947

Islamic Thinkers Society at 2010 Israeli Day Parade, New YorkIsrael is a vibrant democracy and it could be argued that it is the most ‘legitimate’ country in the world having come into existence by a Nov 29/47 United Nations vote by the General Assembly that was to have created a Jewish state and an Arab state side-by-side (what today would be known as the ‘Two State Solution.’

Terror groups and their supporters don’t mind quoting the UN when it’s convenient, but definitely prefer to ignore Israel’s UN-sanctioned creation, and the fact that the Arabs in the area also would have had their own state if they had chosen peace instead of war. Unfortunately, they didn’t want a state – they wanted to destroy the Jewish state.

2. Israel attacked – the War of Independence, 1948

I once wrote a letter to the Hamilton Spectator in response to a doctor who tried to convince readers in an op-ed piece that Israel was the aggressor because it occupied Palestinian land in 1948. His deceptive piece ‘forgot’ to mention the War of Independence which began the day after the UN-authorized creation of Israel took effect on May 14/48 during which Israel was attacked by Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Any land ‘occupied’ at that time by the Israel Defence Forces was done so during unprovoked hostilities by Arabs who refused to recognize the 1947 UN resolution.

3. Attacks on Israeli civilians & shipping: The Sinai Campaign, 1956

After the War of Independence Arab terrorists launched raids inside Israel to which Israel retaliated. According the Jewish Anti-Defamation League 260 Israeli citizens were killed or wounded by these ‘fedayeen.’ Egypt also blocked Israeli ships from using the Suez Canal and tried to block traffic through the Straits of Tiran, the water link between the Israel port of Eilat on the Gulf  of Aqaba/Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea.

When Egypt nationalized the canal in 1956 Israel, Britain and France launched an attack to seize control of the canal and (for Israel) to stop the cross border raiding and the Tiran blockade. The U.S. pressured Israel to withdraw from Egyptian territory which it did. 

4. Israel threatened & blockaded – The Six Day War, 1967

The 1967 Six Day War was precipitated by the Arabs massing weapons and soldiers on the Israel border, closing the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships, and by Egyptian President Nasser’s expulsion of the UNEF I peacekeeping force put in place after the 1956 Suez Crisis (I served in UNEF II in 1978). Israel was forced to launch a preemptive strike that destroyed the Arab forces. Israel occupied and settled much of the land seized during the fighting.

Israel also seized the Golan Heights from which Syria had been launching attacks on Israeli settlements. The UN passed a resolution against Israel’s continued occupation of the land it claims to need to provide security from future Syrian attacks – a very real threat given that country’s participation in previous attempts to destroy Israel.

To North Americans, it is very difficult to understand that Israel is a very small country in land mass and population. For example, the population of Israel is about 6 million; Eqypt alone has a population of about 71 million. Israel’s land mass is just 8,500 sq/miles, only 70% the size of the ‘Golden Horsehoe‘ area (12,200 sq/miles) at the western end of Lake Ontario which runs from Toronto to Niagara Falls/Lake Erie. Israel does not have the luxury of waiting until it is attacked by a hundred million Arabs before responding to a clear threat to its very existence.

5. Israel attacked – The Yom Kippur War, 1973

The Arabs again tried to wipe Israel from the map in the ‘Yom Kippur War’ of 1973 during a surprise attack on Israel’s holiest days. After initial success Israel – again vastly outnumbered – turned the tide and prevailed again.

6. Israel makes peace with its worst enemy – Egypt, 1978

In accordance with the 1978 Camp David agreements Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, and removed its own settlers from the land.

7. The Lebanon War, 1982

After an assassination attempt on the Israeli ambassador in 1982 and years of PLO attacks on Israeli civilians, Israel entered Lebanon to conduct operations necessary to protect civilians in Northern Israel with assistance from the Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia.

According to the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, Israel’s cabinet and opposition Labour Party approved a limited operation involving sending ground troops a maximum of 25 miles into Lebanon to “wipe out PLO positions in southern Lebanon.” By September 01 14,000 PLO forces had left Beirut and the PLO headquarters transferred to Tunisia.

However, “On Sept 16, 1982, without obtaining prior cabinet approval, [Defence Minister]Sharon  and [Chief of Staff] Eitan  moved Israeli troops into West Beirut and permitted Christian Phalangist forces to enter the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila with the purpose of routing out remaining PLO forces that had evaded evacuation. The Phalangist militias, however, massacred Palestinian civilians. [...]

While many Israelis agreed with the limited objective of wiping out the PLO capability to threaten northern Israel they disagreed with the much larger plan by Sharon and Eitan to evict Syrian forces from Lebanon and facilitate creation of a Christian-dominated Lebanon which would sign a peace treaty with Israel. “For the first time, Israelis took to the streets for anti-war demonstrations.”

8. Israel withdraws from Gaza Strip, 2005

Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, again removing its own settlers. Despite doing so, Israeli civilians were again targeted by Palestinian terrorists with rockets, and civil war erupted between Fatah and Hamas.

9. Israel’s democracy vs. Hamas’s call for extermination

Islamic Thinkers Society at 2010 Israeli Day Parade, New YorkIsrael does not have a charter or constitution or policy of exterminating Arabs as did its neighbours, and as Hamas currently does, nor do they have a policy of targeting civilians as do Arab terror groups like Hamas. One of the groups which attacked Israel in 1948 was the Muslim Brotherhood, which is quoted by the Hamas Charter — which, in turn, was condemned by the UN for its genocidal objectives towards Israel. The UN statement against Hamas includes these clauses:

4. Regarding peace, its Article 13 is totally negative: “Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. [...] There is no solution to the Palestinian question except by Jihad. All initiatives, proposals, and International Conferences are a waste of time and vain endeavours.”

5. Religious hatred of Jews (not only of Israel) is espressed by a hadith or ‘saying that concludes Article 7: “The Day of Judgement will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews) when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say: O Muslims (…) there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.” [...]

6. Article 8, the slogan of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas (widely quoted by clerics and others) is a blueprint for jihadist terrorism: “Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its Constitution; Jihad is its path, and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.”

7. Article 28 widens the circle of hate to include all Jews: [...] The Charter in its preface quotes Hassan al-Banna, founder of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, as saying: “Israel will exist and continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”

The Canadian Arab Federation has supported both Hamas and Hezbollah since at least as early as 2006 when it issued a foreign policy paper calling on Canada to remove them from its list of banned terror groups:

6. List of Banned Organizations in Canada

Under pressure from the pro-Israel lobby and the US government, Canada has banned both Hezbollah and Hamas. Both of these groups are legitimate political parties, with grassroots support, and are represented in the legislature and the cabinets of Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority respectively. Both groups are resisting the illegal Israeli occupation of Lebanon and Palestine respectively which right is guaranteed under international law.

Recommended Course of Action

· Remove Hezbollah and Hamas from the list of banned organizations.

10. The Israeli perspective on Hamas

Islamic Thinkers Society at 2010 Israeli Day Parade, New YorkThe Israel Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre has produced a highly detailed, 349 page report with photos, video links, diagrams and statistics that will explain everything you ever wanted to know about Hamas, its terror activities against Israel civilians, and its illegal use of Palestinian civilians, government buildings, hospitals and mosques as shields from IDF actions:

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) and the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs operate YouTube channels:

An Israeli NGO called Palestinian Media Watch monitors the indoctrination of hate and genocidal attitudes against Jews by Palestinian media and in schoolbooks. Its resources are extensive – and shocking:

11. The Palestinian perspective

Arab civilians have unintentionally died during Israeli military operations, and illegal killings and mistreatment of Palestinians have taken place in the heat of battle. The video below, for example, tells the story of how a Palestinian woman died because Israeli soldiers did not evacuate her in time, and how the IDF tried to suppress the evidence.

According to the Jewish Anti-Defamation League regarding the Palestinian Intifada which began in December 1987 “Israeli abuses occurred” by troops acting in self defence against “a well organized revolt of violence and civil disobedience. Masses of civilians attacked Israeli troops with stones, axes, Molotov cocktails, hand grenades and firearms.”  

Despite unfortunate incidents of abuse and mistakes, however, it is ridiculous to claim that Israel has a policy of targeting innocent Arabs. Firstly, if Israel truly was targeting civilians in Gaza, the casualties would be catastophically higher given its military capabilities. Second, Hamas uses civilians as human shields and places weapons in places that would normally be off-limits to military strikes such as schools, mosques and hospitals. 

The only groups in the Middle East who had – and still have - policies of targeting innocent civilians are Arab terror groups. Unlike the Israelis, Hamas, Hezbollah, Fatah and the PLO have never admitted making a ‘mistake’ in killing or mistreating Israeli civilians as did the IDF spokesperson in the video above who admits they made “a mistake” in not evacuating the Palestinian woman who died.  In fact, the official representatives of the Palestinians (including Mahmoud Abbas) and their media outlets regularly glorify Palestinians who have murdered Israeli civilians:

Summary

Israel never had a chance to live in peace after it was created by the UN. It has been attacked over and over again by racists trying to destroy Jews and their state. Arabs have no one to blame but themselves for land seized and settled by Israel while it defended itself against their aggression.

Imagine if the Golden Horseshoe area (the most populated area of Canada on western end of Lake Ontario; includes Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton) was surrounded by 100 million people trying to exterminate us since 1948 who were sending homicide bombers and thousands of rockets at us with the expressed intention of killing civilians. I’m pretty sure you, me, all of us would be screaming at our government to do whatever it took to stop it, including enforcing a lawful blockade to ensure weapons weren’t getting to those who wanted to destroy us.

It’s easy to sit here and criticize Israel from the safety of our snug homes (just as it’s easy for those who also support native extremists in Caledonia to dismiss the suffering of innocent victims there, and criticize those of us who speak out for them), but if the terror rockets were landing on our heads, we’d do whatever it took to make it stop.

If the pictures in this article of Muslims promoting the anihilation of Jews don’t help you understand that not much has changed since 1948, nothing will. The idea that peace will reign supreme if only Israel gives back land it paid for with the blood of its sons and daughters in defensive wars it did not want is just plain foolishness and wishful thinking by those who would have lauded Neville Chamberlain with thunderous applause. Extermination of Jews was the goal in 1948. Extermination of Jews is the goal in 2010. Nothing has changed.

I would suggest that it is long past time for Palestinians and their supporters to put down their guns, hang up their murder/suicide vests, examine the hate and racism within their own hearts, and then follow the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King to achieve their goals. I believe they would find Israel a willing partner for peace – history proves this: if Israel can make peace with Egypt it can make peace with the Arabs of Palestine.

Here is the final paragraph from a poignant letter  written by an advisor to President Shimon Peres to former White House correspondent Helen Thomas in reply to her comments that Jews should get the hell out of Israel and go back to Germany and Poland: 

[...] As someone, who throughout his adult life has been a member of the Israeli “peace camp,” notwithstanding you and your strange and angering views, my friends and I (and I hope also my government) will continue to turn over every stone and scour every corner to attain peace. Peace, which will enable us to the smallest extent to live and our neighbors, the Palestinians, to establish a country and to flourish and prosper. To achieve this, we are prepared to make great concessions, to give back all the territories gained as a result of wars which our neighbors forced on us. There is only one thing we want in return – life. A quiet life, a life without terror, a life without missiles, a life like the one you have in Washington and which I, in Israel, also deserve.

I have long spoken out on behalf of the native victims of racial policing and lawlessness by extremists in their community. Just as native people have been victimized by the native thugs who attacked Ipperwash and Caledonia, the Gazan people have been victimized by the racist Arab maniacs who use their own children to blow themselves up to kill Jews. When the people of Gaza who cheer Hamas begin to care more about their children than killing Jews, then peace will be possible.

Until that day arrives, Israel has both the right and the obligation to defend itself.

Gaza Flotilla incident

At the time of writing Israel was being criticized for killing ‘peaceful’ activists who attacked IDF soldiers boarding a ship trying to run Israel’s anti-weapons blockade against Hamas. I have prepared a list of key references to counter the outrageous allegations:

1. That the IDF massacred peaceful ‘humanitarians’ who simply wanted to deliver aid to Gazans;

2. That the actions of the IDF were in violation of international law;

3. That Israel has been refusing to allow humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza.

Gaza Flotilla to Hamas – 2011

More truth to expose more lies that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza that can be cured by breaking the blockade of weapons to Hamas:

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Middle East peace process

The Canada-Israel Committee has produced an excellent chronology of the Mid-East peace process that shows how Palestinians and other Arabs (with the eventual exception of Egypt and Jordan) have consistently rejected peace in favour of violence against the Jewish state:

Thanks

My thanks to Josephine, who blogs as ‘Lumpy, Grumpy & Frumpy’ for:

1. For identifying Ali Mallah as one of the marchers in a picture – see CUPE extremists supporting Muslim Extremists Supporting Native extremists – taken at an anti-Israel protest where Mohawk Warrior flags, Six Nations flags and CUPE flags were seen with portraits of the leader of the terror group Hezbollah.

2. For capturing the disgusting hate messages carried by Muslim protesters at a New York counter-protest by the “Islamic Thinkers Society’ against the 2010 Israeli Day Parade.

Mark Vandermaas
Editor, VoiceofCanada
info@voiceofcanada.ca
Founder, Caledonia Victims Project

References

One Response to Israel’s fight for survival: a short history

  1. Louise | June 6, 2010 at 12:51 pm | Reply

    Wow! Great work! Godspeed to you and best wishes for success. I’m going to link to you from my blog.

    VoC REPLY: Thanks for the links and kudos, Louise, including your post linking to ‘Israel’s Fight for Survival: A Short History.”

    Stubble Jumping Redneck, June 06/10: Just Wow! Great link on history of Arab-Israeli conflict

    Much appreciated. Thanks for taking time to write. Mark

  2. Dan Beverly | February 14, 2012 at 2:38 pm | Reply

    Greeat job! Can you provide an even briefer version of all the above (into a brochure format for distribution)? My wife and I are starting on a church-to-church speaking tour to bless Israel by educating churches and challenging them to come out of the woodwork more in showing their support for Israel through their prayers, actions and words. Thanks!

    VoC REPLY: Hi Dan, thanks so much for the compliment, but especially for the great work you are doing! As a fellow Christian (I’m assuming from your remarks that you are, too) I wish you the very best in this endeavour, especially since I am working on a very similar project that I can’t talk about yet. Unfortunately, that project and my Caledonia work plus some other non-activist urgencies won’t allow me to create a brochure in the immediate future – although I will need one myself eventually.

    I’m going to be sending you a private email. Thanks again, Mark

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