A poll before Operation Protective Edge showed that a majority of people in Gaza and the West Bank want a one-state solution that does not, surprise, include a Jewish state. They may not want to see Jews killed, but they don’t want a two-state solution, either. So why can’t the Jews have a state? The Jewish state doesn’t force anyone to become Jewish. You don’t have to be Jewish to be a citizen, to vote, to enjoy protection under the law. A Jewish state doesn’t try to make everyone Jewish. The State of Israel protects and gives access to the holy sites of other religions. In fact, it’s sometimes easier to practice other religions than it is to practice non-Orthodox Judaism in Israel. (We really are the stiff-necked people). A Jewish state fosters religious pluralism. Of course, it has to be majority Jewish. And that’s why, eureka, Israel has tried to help create a Palestinian state. Israel doesn’t want to occupy or administer territory. Israel has shown a willingness to give up land to create peace. Just not to give up total control until the other “peacemakers” stop trying to destroy their benefactor. So why can’t the Jews have a state? Christianity is the state religion of more than 20 countries. Islam is the state religion of more than 20 countries. Only one country has a majority of Jews, or even a significant plurality. Like the United States and its Christian majority, Israel is ethnically diverse even within its Jewish majority. There are two chief rabbis (neither of whom went to the Hebrew Union College). You don’t have to be Jewish to be Israeli, and you don’t have to be native-born to become the head of state like you do here. The Jewish state is not exclusively Jewish, and has as its official languages Hebrew and Arabic (and maybe English). So why can’t the Jews have a state? The land that is today the State of Israel has been central to Judaism for thousands of years. Jewish history and folklore are set against its backdrop, and Jerusalem is home to what was once the central shrine of the Jewish people. Through several exiles, it was to this place that Jews returned and remained. Jews are not johnnies-come-lately to the scene, claiming land all of a sudden in 1948. There have always been Jews in the Land of Israel. So why can’t the Jews have a state? We’ve proven that we’re deserving, capable and responsible. Because unlike other countries that expel dissenters and crush their enemies, Israel shows restraint and tries to make peace. Because Israel frees terrorists committed to its destruction in exchange for captured soldiers. Because the Jewish state dares to think it can be judged fairly in a body of nations that is set up to keep the real oppressors in control. Because maintaining a Jewish state requires treating fairly and compassionately a people that should have already had its own state, but has not yet given up hopes of destroying the one next door. Apparently the Jews can’t have a state because the Jewish state fights fairly, even at the costs of its own popularity. Too many people fail to realize that just because a war is happening on live TV and not in sanitized history books, it’s no less justified than the battles that bought their presently-enjoyed freedom. War is hell, said General Sherman. And he didn’t have Twitter. But just wars save civilizations and ultimately protect the innocent. WWII – a just war if there ever was one – ended not with a ceasefire but with unconditional surrender. This is a just war. It’ll end with surrender and peace when the Jews are allowed to have their own state. Still, if you’re willing to let your own neighbors dig tunnels into your basement with plans to kill you and your family, by all means, criticize Israel’s plan to eliminate the threat. Otherwise wake up and see that this horror being brought to you in real time and in living color is but one battle in a much larger war. Today the Jewish right to a state is under siege. But the tunnels undermining Israel’s security and legitimacy can stretch farther than we thought possible. If the Jewish state doesn’t stop them, no one will. And then the question “why can’t the Jews have a state” will no longer be rhetorical. I shudder to think what happens after that.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 15:04:44 +0000
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