Lev is a fourth-year business economics student.
By Justin Lev
After likening Israel’s leaders to Nazis and its policies
to lies, it’s interesting that Fadi Amer’s article
(“Extreme actions
inflicted on “˜frustrated’ culture,” Daily
Bruin, Viewpoint, Oct. 11) still calls for peace and mutual
respect. But mutual respect entails two sides of a story with all
the facts on the table. This is the other side of the story.
I find the comparison of Israeli leaders to Nazis particularly
despicable. Such preposterous claims serve only to reduce the
credibility of and sympathy for many legitimate Palestinian claims.
What Amer fails to mention in his article, though, is that the
Palestinian population continues to teach and perpetuate a
systematic hatred of Jews.
To quote a children’s textbook currently used in areas
controlled by the Palestinian authority: “One must beware of
the Jews, for they are treacherous and disloyal.” (Islamic
Education for Ninth Grade p. 79). I join Amer in urging you to do
research. Check out
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/ for just a small sample of
such quotes.
It’s true that Israeli guns have killed 87 Palestinians to
date, but the bullets do not hail exclusively from our side. As the
leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, Arafat himself
is no stranger to murder. This same organization was responsible
for countless terrorist attacks, bus bombings and the like.
 Illustration by JARRETT QUON/Daily Bruin To this day, the
PLO covenant still does not recognize the existence of a Jewish
State, although its acceptance was one of the agreements made
between the Israeli and Palestinian governments. How can Israel
work toward peace with an organization that does not even recognize
its right to exist?
What of the 279 Israelis killed by Palestinians since the Oslo
accords, a tally taken over two years ago.(http://www.nandotimes.com/newsroom/)?
Palestinian rioters have fired guns and tossed Molotov cocktails
and grenades at Israeli soldiers even in the recent riots.
Recently, Arabs in Ramallah seized two Israeli soldiers,
brutally tortured them, murdered them and paraded their remains
throughout the city to be beaten to a pulp by locals. What are
Israeli soldiers expected to do, just stand by and be killed? Once
again, I urge you to view a listing of Palestinian violations of
the Oslo accords since inception.
Israel is praiseworthy in continuing with the peace process
despite the fact that Palestinians continue to release Hamas
terrorists even at the height of the most recent terrorist attacks.
A few days ago, Palestinian rioters attacked a funeral procession
of a Jewish settler named Hillel Lieberman, who they killed. Would
you continue a peace process when the Palestinian authority
policemen stand idle as rioters destroy and burn a yeshiva and its
holy books? Wait, I think that Nazis did that too.
Too many lives have been lost on both sides. I beg the
Palestinian leadership: don’t threaten the lives of soldiers
and Israelis, and there won’t be 89 Palestinian deaths.
Don’t hold your children in front of you while you throw
stones at Israeli soldiers, and children won’t get hurt.
Don’t shout “Kill the Jews” as you stone an
Israeli police station in the Old City, and maybe the cycle of
violence will cease.
I don’t wish to imply that I think Israel is infallible or
blameless. I too find Ariel Sharon’s visit provocative,
perhaps even a little spiteful. In no way, however, was it a cause
for violence. Amer’s article quite rightly points out some
reasons for Palestinian anger: economics, education and
sovereignty. But are these really Israel’s problems?
Just recently, I visited Israel and hiked through the Galilee.
At one point, I crossed right through an Arab village. Two-story
houses flanked me on every side, people drove Mercedes-Benzes or
rode the occasional donkey, and the streets were clean. These
people weren’t angry at us. How is it that these Arabs live
in peace with an open Israeli town just across the street while
Jewish settlements in Gaza have to be surrounded with thick barbed
wire?
Granted, the situation is not quite so clear cut. Many Israeli
Arabs have also associated with the Palestinian cause, but only
recently. Economically speaking, at least, Israeli Arabs
don’t seem to be fairing too poorly. Economic problems among
Palestinians abound much more in Gaza. Where are the millions of
dollars that Americans pay to the Palestinian authority for the
purpose of establishing an economically viable country?
When Israel brought out thousands of refugees from Russia, they
were put in refugee camps in tent housing. Soon thereafter, the
Russians had jobs and housing as well as full integration in
Israeli society. Israel took pains for their integration. Many of
the Palestinian authority refugee camps are under the control of
the Palestinian authority which chooses not to do anything with
them.
Again, where are the millions of dollars that Americans pay to
the Palestinian authority? What are they used for if their
government turns a blind eye to its own refugees? And what of the
degradation of Hebron and Ramallah? Who’s stopping Arabs from
building cities as beautiful as Tel Aviv? The Jewish section is a
tiny fragment of Hebron, the vast majority of which is controlled
by Arabs who maintain the city as it is by choice, not mandate.
My point is that the anger is an internal problem. It is the
leaders of the Palestinians themselves who incite violence and
continue to indoctrinate their youth in the culture of hate. I
understand that they are an oppressed people, and that this
oppression has sadly and regrettably come from Israel at times,
just as the Jews were oppressed by the Arabs before the inception
of the State.
Maybe if all that anger were channeled into rectifying the
problems of a fledgling country, the economics, education and
sovereignty issues, the Palestinians would have less to riot about
and we would all have more to celebrate.
From a standpoint of camaraderie the Arabs are our brothers and
I too wish for peace between two brother nations, but not at the
expenses of security and the desecration of my forefathers’
tombs. Amer is right ““ If the Palestinian authority really
wants peace, mutual respect is essential. It’s time people
started hearing the other side of the story.