Although it is frustrating that Israel is held up to a standard that no country could possibly uphold (i.e. to fight a war against terrorists that use civilians as shields without harming any civilians), consider that the Arabs are not held to any similar standard by anybody. Sure, Hezbollah’s attacks are deplored, but nobody suggests that they or Hamas take care to “avoid harming Israeli civilians.”
“Hey Hezbollah, be careful with those rockets…”
Yeah, right!—their raison d'être is to harm Israeli civilians.
Based off of the constant statements put out by the UN, EU and others, it would seem to be a bygone conclusion that some Arabs, collectively, do not care about the lives of their civilians, and certainly not Israeli civilians. Without saying it explicitly, the world seems to understand intuitively that the Jews and Arabs operate using vastly different moral standards. The Jews are held to a higher standard, because they generally behave in a morally superior manner. The Arabs, on the other hand, are not held to such a standard, or perhaps any standard.
Believe me; I take no joy out of saying that. And please consider that I said “collectively” and not “individually.”
I’ve had this thought before, but it came to fruition after reading Eygptian Sandmonkey’s recent frustrated and exasperated blog post:
"
The never ending warThis is what this feels like: A never-ending war. The Battle that will never end, mainly because the Israelis are willing to Kill to stay alive, and because the arabs are willing to die to kill them. I don't think Peace is possible, mainly because you need a common ground for peace, and a level of acceptable losses. The Israelis will always reach a point where their losses become unacceptable, and they will push for Peace. Not for our side. Our acceptable losses are limitless, as long as we win. When your acceptable loss is your own death, what is there to compromise on?
The Israelis want to destroy Hezbollah, but they can't, because
it's a culture and a nation. You want to destroy Hezbollah? You have to kill every single person who supports Hezbollah and its Ideology. You have to eleiminate almost all of the Shia in Lebanon. You have to engage in ethnic cleansing, and you can't do that! Now, since YOU CAN'T DO THAT, you will lose. It is inevitable. In order for the gun to kill the idea, it has to kill everyone who holds the idea. Since you can't do that, the idea will always win. The cause will always survive. The Israelis maybe willing to kill for Israel, but the arabs are willing to die for the cause. There is no winning for the israelis. Only degrees of losing!
But let the folly continue anyway…"
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I, of course, disagree with ESM in one area: I believe that Israel can hold on long enough for the Arab “idea” to change. Perhaps I am naïve, but if you don’t have at least a little hope, you are left with nothing but despair.
In any event, the Arab “idea” that persists in the rejection of Israel is also the same “idea” that prevents the Arabs from reaching their full potential. It is the same fanaticism that brought us 9/11; and it is the same mindset that foments so much inter-Islamic and inter-Arab strife that has nothing to do with Israel in the first place.
Furthermore, despite the Lebanese Shiite support of Hezbollah, over in Shiite Iran the majority of the population bristles under the rule of the Mollahs. The Islamic Republic of Iran—the country that exported Shiite fundamentalism to the Shiites of Lebanon can’t—doesn’t even have the support of its own citizenry and stays in power through brute force and oppression alone. They can’t hold on to power forever. When they go, support for Hezbollah will dry up. If the “idea” has already died among the bulk of Iranians, it can die elsewhere.
The Jews didn’t survive (barely) 2,000 years of persecution and homelessness only to return to our ancestral land and be wiped out in less than 100 years. ESM is frustrated and I understand his frustration. But what he doesn’t notice is that not all Arabs share the death wish idea. He doesn’t, for example. Like the wars of the past, this one too will end. We’ll all come back to our senses, and life will go on.
The conflict the Arabs and Muslims have with Israel is symptom of their disease, not the cause.
