Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Most Despised Underdog: Israel

Americans love underdog stories: David and Goliath and the turtle and the hare are great examples. Americans root for underdog teams and have even created organizations that enable the less fortunate individuals to compete, such as the Special Olympics. Our government loves to provide handouts and entitlements to our nation’s poor including food stamps, low income housing, Medicaid, and welfare. Local, state, and federal governments have also created laws such as affirmative action and diversity policies to aid minority’s chances of getting into colleges and corporations. American’s are the most generous people in the world and give literally trillions of dollars to help fight diseases, natural disasters, and poverty around the globe. Yes, Americans will bend over backwards to support the underdogs in our global society.

There may be a few exceptions to the underdog theory. For one, many Americans do not like the United States pushing its military might on the rest of world in the name of national security. For instance, many Americans have been outraged with the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another example is Israel. Yes, many people support Israel and its fight to be a free sovereign state. But an underdog will have over 90% of the people on its side and Israel seems to have well under 25% of the support around the globe. How can this be?

First, many do not view Israel as the underdog; they view them as the aggressor that is oppressing Palestinians in neighboring disputed territories. For instance, take the recent flotilla incident. Israeli troops boarded and killed 9 humanitarian workers who were providing supplies to impoverished Palestinians living in Gaza. Maybe Israel overreacted, but there is no question they were provoked. The Hamas run Gaza strip left Israel no option but to blockade the territory since they have used the region as a launching pad to propel bombs into Israel. Israel solely wants to make sure no weapons are being transported into the territory.

No race or ethnicity has been persecuted more than the Jew in modern times. The state of Israel has about 6 million Jews (80% of the population, which incidentally is the same number that was exterminated during the Holocaust) and about 1.5 million Arabs (20% of the population) in an area about the size of New Jersey. And it is the Arabs the account for over half of all government handouts within Israel. Meanwhile, about the same percentage (20%) of Jews occupy disputed lands in Gaza, the West Bank, and Golan Heights. Remember, the only reason these disputed lands exist is because Israel had to claim them as a buffer zone to protect their state from the constant threat of an invasion. Still, a predominate number of countries around the world want the Jews to stop expanding their settlements in these disputed areas, not the Arabs or Palestinians. Meanwhile, Muslims control 57 nations around the globe and they control nearly 70% of all global oil. Muslim states control over 500 times the land mass as Israel. So it begs to reason, why can’t Muslims live in these undisputed lands? In total, there are over 1.3 billion Muslims in the world compared to fewer than 15 million Jews. And it is not surprising many of these Muslim states preach their distain for the Jewish people and even their annihilation. Iran has made no secret about their intentions when they obtain a nuclear bomb. Neighboring Syria, Yemen, and Jordan are loaded with Muslim extremist groups (al-Qaida, Hamas, and Hezbollah) that are hell bent on killing Westerners and Jews. Extremist can easily manipulate impoverished and uneducated Muslims around the globe to join the jihad because they blame Westerners and Israelis for all their woes. And let’s not forget where President Obama sits on this issue – he has made it very clear he is pro Muslim.

The Jewish people have been a very resourceful, productive, responsible, and accountable race. They are not terrorists, most are in fact, very successful taxpaying citizens around the globe. They are surrounded and outnumbered nearly 100 to one and face constant military threats. Who can blame Israel for using its military power to defend its land? Time and time again Israel has made concessions for the name of peace only to have them refused by Muslim leaders. Face it; Muslims will not be happy until Israel is extinct. However, the world and America side with the Muslim people because it appears they are the poor and oppressed race whereas, the Israelis are the capitalistic and militaristic bullies. But if Muslim states shared in their oil wealth maybe there would be less oppressed and uneducated Muslims. Oil profits are only enjoyed by a few elites. Hence, it is in fact; Muslims turning their backs on Muslims and therefore, oppressed Palestinians and Muslims is not the fault of Israel.

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