As one of my readers recently pointed out, “The first casualty of War is Truth,” — a 1918 quote attributed to Calif. Senator Hiram Warren Johnson. It turns out many antisemitics have been spreading lies for much longer than Oct. 7.
All hatred, whether it’s hatred for Blacks, Whites, Indians, Mexicans or Jews, stems from lies.
The hatred for Jews across America we have witnessed since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas has grown from lies spread for years by college professors and reinforced on social media.
Although many know the truth, sometimes a refresher course is welcomed.
We all know that the indigenous people of America are Indians, and the Aboriginals are indigenous to Australia. Do those college students around the country chanting “from the river to the sea” — which means the eradication of Israel and Jews — realize the indigenous people of that region are Jews? Would those same protesters call for genocide against Indians and Aboriginals?
According to the Bible, Joshua entered Israel in 1,400 B.C. Islam, the religion of the Palestinian Arabs, was not founded until the seventh century A.D. There has never been an independent Arab state in the area that Israel now occupies.
Everyone has heard about the two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. There have been five occasions where Jews agreed to this solution, starting in 1936. Each time, the Arabs rejected it.
In November 1947, the United Nations voted to create two states, one for the Arabs and one for the Jews, with the same results. The Arabs rejected the solution and started a war.
In 1967, Israel fought a war with Egypt, Jordan and Syria in what is called the Six-Day War. After the fighting, Israel took control of the Gaza Strip, part of Egypt, and the West Bank from Jordan.
Israel discussed returning these territories to the Arabs so they could form their own state. Three months later, the Arab League met in Sudan and replied to the offer with the famous three nos: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel and no negotiations with Israel.
In 2000, with President Bill Clinton’s help, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat met at Camp David to discuss peace. Barak offered Arafat a Palestinian state covering all of Gaza, 94 percent of the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital. According to Clinton, “Arafat was here 14 days and said no to everything.”
President Barack Obama brought the two sides together again in 2008, believing he could bring about peace in the region. Israel added more land to the 2000 offer, all in the name of peace. The new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas turned the deal down.
In 2005, Israel withdrew from Gaza, giving the Palestinians complete control. That is when Hamas took over. Ever since then, they have been firing rockets in hidden residential areas into Israel.
Israel has consistently recognized the right of the Palestinians to have their own state. The problem is that the Palestinians refuse to give this same right to the Jewish nation.
Many Democrats, such as Rep. Rashida Tlaib are accusing Israel of genocide — a lie — as they call for the extermination of the Jewish state.
Israel’s army is there to defend itself from outside attacks. All nations have that right. Israel’s fight is with Hamas. That is why they dropped fliers from airplanes into Gaza with a message for residents to leave their homes and head to “known shelters.”
Meanwhile, Hamas prevents people from evacuating from the northern part of the Gaza Strip, even shooting at them.
Another lie being spread is that Israel is an apartheid state. Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. Arabs make up 20 percent of the population of Israel; they vote in Israeli elections and have the same rights as Jewish citizens. Arabs even have a party to represent them in the parliament.
Khaled Kabub, an Arab, sits on the Israeli Supreme Court. Arab Muslims have served, of their own free will, in the Israeli army. Arabs living in Israel have more freedom than anywhere else in the Middle East.
In Israel, homosexuals are treated as equal citizens. In Gaza, there are no Jews allowed. There have been no elections in Gaza since 2005, homosexuals are killed, and women have no rights. That is the truth.
NOTE: As a reminder, links to every fact in my columns can be found at GasconadeCountyRepublican.com
