Since returning from my incredible
year of learning and adventures in Israel, I have been trying hard to keep in
tune with Israeli current events. Between my classes and rapidly growing
workload, I read two articles today on the Jerusalem Post website. These articles were each disturbing in their own way, and incredibly troubling as a series of events. Though I haven’t written anything for a
while, I am back at school and in a more intellectual mode, and I couldn’t let
these articles just slip away.
The first article I saw stated that Hezbollah
has between 60,000 and 70,000 rockets
aimed at Israel.[1] Hezbollah is a Shiite terrorist group based
in Lebanon, Israel’s northern neighbor. At
first glance, one might not realize the severity of this situation, and think
“that’s an exaggeration” or “Come on, are they that serious about wiping Israel
off the face of the map?!” Well to any
skeptics, I say Yes! Let’s remember that
Hezbollah– backed heavily by Iran and Syria- was Israel’s enemy in the Second
Lebanon War of 2006 in which 121 soldiers and 44 civilians were murdered and
another 600+ were injured.[2] Additionally, during this war, Ehud
Goldwasser and Eldad Regev (zichronam Livracha) were abducted and later
returned dead to Israel in exchange for terrorists and other prisoners of
Israeli prisons. This war wreaked havoc
in northern Israel, forcing thousands of families from their homes to seek
refuge and safety with friends, family, and strangers in southern Israel as not
to be killed by the hundreds of rockets falling throughout Israeli cities and
residential neighborhoods. So what’s to
say that Hezbollah wouldn’t start another war like this? Especially at a time
when the world is terrified of the nonsensical Iranian regime that so strongly
backs this terrorist organization?
The second
article I read essentially spells out that the world just doesn’t get it. Right when we thought that we had our hands
full with Iran, with Hezbollah and their potential ability to devastate
northern Israel, with Israel’s internal problems related to army service and
African refugees, United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon delivered a
speech on Monday to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) about
various human rights concerns in the world at large. You might be surprised to
know that Moon spent more time and more words urging Israel to lift its Gaza
blockade than he did speaking about Syria.
Moon said “I urge Israel to lift its harsh
restrictions in order to ease the plight of civilians and bring an end to the
closure.”[3] Now, in case you have been out of the loop
for the past few months, there is a full-scale civil war going on in Syria, and
it is believed that 25,000 people
have ben killed (half of which were civilians).[4] Now, Israel does have a Gaza blockade,
however it is in order to protect herself from the thousands of rockets and
hundreds of other terrorist threats from Gaza.
To give some background, in March, 2002 alone, 140 Israelis were
killed by suicide bombers who came into Israel from Gaza.[5] I don’t think it seems crazy that Israel
realized something had to be done to protect its civilians who were clearly
also susceptible to this bloodshed, so Israel took on the initiative of
building a border between Israel and Gaza (from which Israel would later pull out
all military and 9,000 Israeli citizens living in 21 Jewish settlements).[6] While wild misconceptions fly about the barrier,
97% is a smart-fence. This fence does
not electrocute, but it does have sensors that alert guards when it is touched
so that troops can respond within second of a possible breach. The other 3% of this border is a concrete
wall that is placed only in zero tolerance locations where any potential breach
WILL lead to human casualties (highways, residential neighborhoods, etc.). The Israeli Supreme Court is responsible for
deciding the balance between safety of human lives and standard of Palestinian
living. The court accepts petitions from
ANY person or group (Israeli or Palestinian) who feels that the fence infringes
upon their standard of living, and due to this policy, many changes have been
made to certain parts of the fence.
Additionally, Palestinians can apply for and receive work visas that
allow them to enter Israel. Aside from the
physical divider, Israel sends hundreds of trucks into Gaza on a daily basis to
provide them with things they may need. I
actually have a very close friend who moved to Israel and is in a unit in the
army partially responsible for making sure that these goods enter Gaza and are
distributed.
Let’s get back to the
articles to wrap up before I run to my first collegiate Hebrew class. If you
think that the logical, defense-minded Israeli blockade deserves more attention
from the UN secretary general in a speech to the Human Rights Council than 25,000
people being murdered by their own government, then my uncle is a wonderful
psychiatrist, and I bet he would be happy to talk to you. However, if you have read
and taken into mind what I have written and what is really going on in the
world, then I think you’ll realize the corruption in this series of events.
[1] http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=284549
[2] http://www.defensestudies.org/cds/the-lessons-of-the-second-lebanon-war-five-years-later/
[3] http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=284546
[4] http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/syrian-opposition-groups-must-unite-in-order-to-oust-assad.premium-1.463426
[5]
Israeli Foreign Ministry Seminar – May 8, 2012
[6] http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/c.hsJPK0PIJpH/b.6643945/k.EC2D/Gaza_Border_Press_Kit_Gaza_and_Israel_since_2005_Disengagement__Facts_and_Figures.htm
