[Vision2020] Comments?

[Sunil Ramalingam]

Dick,

I think this article is full of mis-statements or lies; I have but one 
comment right now.  The writer says, 'In order to establish peaceful 
relations with its northern neighbor Lebanon, Israel abandoned the security 
zone of southern Lebanon.'

Seems to me the correct version would be that Israel left Southern Lebanon, 
which it had invaded, after Hezbollah made their occupation too expensive.  
Or we could say that Hezbollah made their occupation too expensive or 
difficult.  I don't think a showing of goodwill had anything to do with it.

Okay, two comments.  This ad is not an attempt to promote discussion; 
rather, the last paragraph makes it clear that the only people who would 
take a position adverse to theirs are either ignorant or have a death wish 
for Israel.  This too is false.

Sunil


>From: "Dick Sherwin" <rvrcowboy at clearwire.net>
>To: "Vision2020" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>Subject: [Vision2020] Comments?
>Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 16:53:13 -0700
>
>
>Myths About the Israeli-Arab Conflict (I)
>Is "occupation" the cause of this conflict?
>
>
>
>
>In the decades in which the Israeli-Arab conflict has raged, certain myths 
>have been repeated so often and so insistently by Arab propaganda that most 
>of the world has come to believe them. Today, we briefly examine one of 
>those myths.
>
>What are the facts?
>
>The myth of "occupation" being the cause of conflict. The very concept of 
>"occupation," as applied to Gaza and Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank"), is a 
>myth. When the Egyptians were in possession of Gaza for almost twenty years 
>nobody accused them of being occupiers. The Jordanians, who were in 
>possession of Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank") and much of Jerusalem for the 
>same length of time, were not considered occupiers by the nations of the 
>world and by the inhabitants of the area. The Israelis were considered 
>"occupiers" when, after a war of extermination against them, they prevailed 
>and came into possession of these territories. The oldest rule of warfare 
>is that to the victor belong the spoils. Do people expect France to return 
>Alsace-Lorraine to Germany? Do they expect the Czech Republic or Poland to 
>return the German territories awarded to them after Germany's defeat in 
>World War II? Of course not! Those countries evicted most of the original 
>inhabitants or caused them to flee. Israel, in contrast, has never evicted 
>a single Arab from these territories. On the contrary, lured by the 
>prosperity the Israelis have created, tens of thousands of Arabs from 
>adjacent Syria and Jordan have come to live there.
>
>Israel's "occupation" of those territories is a myth. But even so, the hope 
>that Israel's abandonment of any territory - the same old "land-for-peace" 
>formula - would bring about peace is an illusion and a fallacy. In order to 
>establish peaceful relations with its northern neighbor Lebanon, Israel 
>abandoned the security zone of southern Lebanon. But instead of 
>acknowledgment and gratitude, the result has been never-ending attacks with 
>Katyusha rockets, led by Hizbullah, the "army of God," which is supported 
>and egged on by Iran and by Syria. It makes life on Israel's northern 
>frontier almost unbearable. Israel, unilaterally and in order to appease 
>the Palestinians, the United States and world opinion, vacated Gaza and 
>evicted thousands of Israeli families and abandoned their homes, 
>institutions, extensive agricultural installations, and valuable 
>infrastructure. Not a single Israeli citizen, not a single Israeli soldier, 
>remains in Gaza. But, in the few months since it has abandoned that 
>territory, Israel has been provoked to bloody warfare and has been 
>subjected to daily attacks by Qassam rockets. It is only a matter of time 
>until one of those devices will crash into a school or into a hospital 
>causing untold casualties and destroying vital infrastructure.
>
>Destruction and almost civil war. Instead of using their newly won "liberty 
>from occupation," the Gazans have engaged in what is practically a bloody 
>civil war and have destroyed most of their meager infrastructure. They have 
>demolished and vandalized the valuable and extensive greenhouse 
>installations that the Israelis had created, which could have been the 
>basis for a prosperous agricultural economy and of substantial export 
>income. But they focus their efforts and their energy on digging tunnels 
>under the wall that separates them from Israel, in order to attack Israeli 
>military, killing and kidnapping their soldiers, and thus bringing added 
>misery upon themselves. Having the disastrous examples of the withdrawal 
>from the southern Lebanon security zone and now from Gaza, it is easy to 
>imagine what would happen if Israel would not have learned from experience 
>and - under pressure from the U.S. and world opinion - would commit the 
>folly of abandoning Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank"). While Gaza is 
>isolated, surrounded by Israel and the sea, the "West Bank" is connected to 
>Syria and Jordan. Within days of Israel's abandonment of that territory, 
>Syrian tanks, Syrian aircraft, Syrian artillery, and Syrian and perhaps 
>even Iranian troops would be stationed on the ridges of the Judean hills 
>that dominate Israel's heartland. That heartland is only nine miles wide at 
>its narrow waist. Israel's population centers, Israel's military 
>installations, Israel's industrial capacity, Israel's utilities, and 
>Israel's international airport would be in the gunsights of the Arabs, 
>sworn to the destruction of Israel. The attack against Israel, the 
>hoped-for final assault against the hated Jews, would begin within days or 
>weeks and might well be successful.
>
>The Palestinians, along with most other Arabs and Moslems, are 
>single-mindedly focused on the destruction of Israel, to "wipe it off the 
>map." If Israel were pressured into ending the "occupation" of the 
>territories, it would not bring peace. On the contrary, it would bring 
>about bloody warfare, just as in Gaza and Lebanon, and could well be the 
>end of Israel. Those who advocate the ending of the "occupation" do so 
>either out of ignorance or because they have a death wish for Israel.
>
>This ad has been published and paid for by
>
>
>
>
>Facts and Logic About the Middle East
>P.O. Box 590359
>San Francisco, CA 94159
>
>Gerardo Joffe, President
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