Israel's Choice

By Douglas V. Gibbs

The headline reads, "Israel has only two choices: Eliminate the Palestinians or make peace."

The statement is based on the premise that the conflict in the Middle East is the fault of the small Jewish State.  The statement is based on the premise that the violence in the region won't end until Israel decides to stop their part of the fighting.

However, the reality of the situation says otherwise.

Current Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, once said, "If the Arabs lay down their arms there will be no more war, but if Israel lays down its weapons, there would be no more Israel."

Islam refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.  ISIS, as it rips through Iraq, and is turning its crosshairs towards Jordan, has been slaughtering Christians, and will have no remorse if they get a chance to slaughter Jews.

A friend of mine, my good friend Tim "Loki" Kerlin, God rest his soul, once said to me that the only way to stop Islam from destroying civilization, from slaughtering every Jew and Christian, and in the end, every non-Muslim, on this Earth, is to kill them all, first.  I was appalled by his statement.  As much as I recognize the danger of Islam, the genocidal nature of the ideology, I also recognize in the end that the people are not the root of the problem.  The people are irrelevant, just like the Germans were under the onslaught of Nazism, and they are tools that have been deceived to act in a manner that is a danger to civilized society.  Muslims, in the end, are only people that have been deceived, that believe the ravings of a false prophet, and the violent ways of a political system rooted in tyranny, barbarism, and totalitarianism. . . presented in the guise of a religion.

My friend is not the first to come to such a frightening conclusion. Israeli lawmaker Moshe Feiglin has said something similar, and his words are being presented gleefully by the leftist media - because the Left wants you to believe the Israelis are the homicidal, genocidal war mongering ones in this fight.

As a moral people, we are appalled by such statements.  If we feel we must stand against Islam because of the genocidal nature of the ideology, is it reasonable for us to demand violence against them and be genocidal in return?

The good person inside of us immediately says, "No."  We are sickened by such thinking.  The Good Lord tells us to love our enemies. . . but to love them is not to submit to their ideology, to no longer fight the good fight, run the long race, or keep the Faith.  What if a great war is necessary?  What if it is indeed a "kill them before they kill us" scenario?

In the fighting in Gaza, Israel has only targeted military targets, while Hamas has targeted civilian targets.  Israel has sent warnings by radio, television, and pamphlets to ensure women and children have a chance to escape any attacks, while the Muslims are using children, churches, and ambulances as shields for their barbaric attacks.  Islam has repeatedly voiced that their aim is the complete destruction of Israel, the death of all Jews and Christians, and then the death or conversion of all other non-Muslims.

The Religion of Peace.  Islam believes there will be peace one day, when all of their opposition is dead.

Yet, the media blames Israel, and though Islam has proclaimed that every Jew must die, any defensive measures by the Jewish State is labeled as aggressive, and the blame for the violence is being placed on Israel.

Gaza is a part of Israel.  The Jewish Nation gave up the land in the hope for peace, and in return they received more war.  

Israeli lawmaker Moshe Feiglin says the way to stop the fighting is to annihilate the Palestinians.  He believes that they will never stop, will never temper their attacks against Israel, and that the only way for Israel to survive is to completely stop the enemy.  He echoes the words of many Israelis - a feeling that is understandable when you consider the constant barrage of missiles and terrorist attacks Israel receives from her neighbors.

According to "The Week," The last time Israel's military undertook to bomb Gaza into submission, in November 2012, the son of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wrote in The Jerusalem Post, "The residents of Gaza are not innocent, they elected Hamas. The Gazans aren't hostages; they chose this freely... We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza." More recently, Amos Regev, the editor of Israel's most widely distributed daily (the Sheldon Adelson–funded Israel Hayom) called for the destruction of Hamas' fighting capacity until all that's left "would be stones." Parliamentarian and fellow coalition member Ayelet Shaked quoted another writer favorably: "[The Palestinians] are all enemy combatants, and their blood shall be on all their heads... This also includes the mothers of the martyrs, who send them to hell with flowers and kisses. They should follow their sons."

The reality is that Palestinians won't stop until they are eliminated, or Israel is eliminated.  This fantasy the liberal left holds to that Muslims simply want a Palestinian State to coexist with Israel is untrue, and unrealistic.  When the Israeli land was under control of the Ottoman Empire prior to World War I, the Muslims did not want the land.  Muslims did not settle the land.  They only want it now because a Jewish State exists.  Israel's only hope may be, in the end, to rid itself of the enemy.

The current battle over Gaza is one of many skirmishes with the Muslims Israel has had to endure in order to stop Hamas from killing innocent people in Israel with repeated Missile attacks, and terror attacks.  Both Gaza and the West Bank have been a constant battle, not because Israel has occupied the land they rightfully won in wars with the surrounding countries, but because the surrounding countries want Israel to cease existing.  The war will never stop.  The violence will be never-ending.  Islam will never stop assaulting Israel, and Israel will never be able to stop defending themselves.  If ever they do, they will cease to exist.

In "The Week," the writer states that the violence will stop if Israel was to embark on a mission of eliminating the Palestinian threat.  But that is where the writer misses it.  This is not about Palestine.  The Palestinian name didn't even exist before the creation of the current State of Israel in 1948.  Even if Israel was to eventually rid itself of any Palestinian threat, the violence would not end.  "Palestinian self-rule" has never been the issue, or the goal.  The issue is the elimination of Israel, and ultimately worldwide domination by Islam.

Negotiations will never work with the Islamic countries.  Sanctions will never be effective.  Violence is all they know, and the destruction of Israel is their primary aim. . . period.

Israel's choice is clear.  Fight to continue to exist, or lay down their arms and be destroyed.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary