Nadene Goldfoot
In reading about the Fogel massacre in Itamar, I was shocked to read in an article from McClatchy-Tribune found in the Oregonian on the 14th, a word that slanted the whole meaning of historical facts.
It said, "Most of the international community views the "settlements" as illegal because they are built on land SEIZED by Israel during the 67 war."
The fact remains that the land was not seized by Israel. It was GAINED, and that's a big difference. However, seized makes the reader feel that the bloody massacre was acceptable because the family or the community shouldn't have been there in the first place. It's how the Hamas Gazans take it. They rejoiced and celebrated in a carnival-like atmosphere whereby they passed out candies in celebration.
I'm finding that even young adult American Jews, whose parents were busy blending into society, seem to have forgotten or never learned about the historical facts of the 67 war along with all the other "I hate history" buffs. It just happens that Israel was attacked by all the surrounding Arab neighbors in 67 where no gambler would have taken odds that they could come out of it and win in 6 days, BUT that's what happened. Because of this massive attack, they GAINED back Judea and Samaria, land that was originally part of the Jewish land of bible days. It was land that was promised to them when dealing with the English who held the mandate and were divving it up. The Jewish people were to be given back their land due to Chaim Weizmann, whose invention saved England and thus all of Europe in the 1st World War. Then along came a sheik they must have been afraid of who demanded a kingdom for himself, and this is how the King of Jordan gained his country. Jordan changed the name to "West Bank" to destroy its Jewish history. Then again, it was Jordan who held onto Judea and Samaria and lost it to Israel by attacking her in 67. They had taken it away from Israel in their lust and greed and lost it again for the same reasoning. England was never known to favor Jews, anyway. I guess Muslim sheiks held more status.
Reporters keep choosing words that affect a reader's attitude and knowledge. Facts are easy to find that Israel has just stopped the ship, Victoria and have found it to be loaded with ammunition which was intended to reach Gazan Hamas terrorists. The Oregonian's Washington Post-Bloomberg version uses the word, "intercepted what officials ALLEGED was a ship carrying Iranian weapons".... as if to say that hey, those nice people wouldn't do a thing like that, would they? They are just being accused. Facts remain that Israel even took pictures of the weapons that they found, but they still wrote "alleged".
Israel's birth in 1948 was a legal deal, done through the United Nations, the League of Nations,and land was bought legally and everything was done according to Hoyle. I never thought I'd see the day when it's existence was in jeopardy, but it has been ever since its birth. I was so naive at the age of 14 that the UN would make things fair and square. Israelis are constantly having to fight for their right to survive against the anti-semitic tendencies of the world who obviously hasn't managed to shake them.
Israel's enemies can kill and have no humane standards and that's acceptable. The world just turns a blind eye. It's like lovers who don't see each other's faults. Everyone is in denial . It's always the Jews that are at fault and they are viewed under an electronic microscope. As long as even many of our own American Jews can find one infinitesimal fault in their eyes, Israel stands accused, accused of existing, I suppose. It's been said that we'd have a Mideast peace if the world would stop holding Israel to the highest possible standard and would hold her enemies at least to the lowest ones. The writer, Bret Stephens noted that "Israel's mistake since the peace process began about 18 years ago was to think that our displays of reasonableness and moderation would cause the opposition to act likewise. The reality has been closer to the opposite.
We have given Gaza only to see it be used as a staging ground to shoot at Israel.
The sad thing is that in the creation of Israel, our forefathers forsaw an Eden where Arab and Jew would live together in peace, all rejoicing in the fruits of their labors and living happily ever after. Whenever Israel bent over backwards giving the Palestinians a better life, they were met with hatred and death. Israel had excellent intentions that just were impossible to carry on. The million plus who are citizens are living a much better life than they would be in an Arab country. I guess Israel's attempts at being righteous have not been in futality.
