Israel deserves to exist in security
Reader comment on item: [Michael Oren's] "Six Days of War"

Submitted by Bruce Coleman (United States), Jun 5, 2002 at 10:59

I'm a student of military and other types of history. I'm neither a Muslim nor a Jew, but from what I read and hear, I think Israel has proved that it is an asset to the world, despite whatever flaws it may have(all nations do, of course) and that it deserves its tiny slice of the middle east. In contrast, most Arab "Nations" were cobbled together assortments of tribal land and have generally been ruled by tyrants and practiced warfare as their favored method of political discourse. In Arab cultures, it seems to be "you're with us or you're dead", no plurality and no room for dissent.

Also, there never has been any "Palestine" as a nation. Arabs and Jews have historically all occupied the region known as Palestine. Why should Palestinian Arabs have any more claim to it than a people who actually had a kingdom there 3,000 years ago? If not for the cynical maneuverings of Arab leaders in the past, the Palestinian "refugees" would have all be absorbed into Jordanian, Syrian, and Egyptian populations by now and would have a better life.

Why can't they see that its actually in their best interests to get along with and cooperate with Jewish Israelis? Arab Israelis enjoy a far higher standard of living and greater freedoms than do Arabs in just about any Islamic state. Isn't that really what life is about? Not racial hatred and nationalistic pride? They should remember what the rantings and national ambitions of Hitler did for Germany. Such ambition ultimately got 20 million of them killed, their land occupied, and a significant proportion of their women in eastern Germany raped by invading Soviets. In contrast, West German cooperation and freedom has brought its citizens a very high standard of living and over 50 years of peace.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.