A MIDDLE EASTERN LESSON: GUY BECHOR
A MIDDLE EASTERN LESSON
by Guy Bechor, ynetnews.com
Here’s one of Aesop’s fables: One day, the wolves sent a delegation to
the sheep and asked to make eternal peace with them. “The dogs are at
fault for the conflict between us,” the wolves told the sheep. “They
are the source of dispute. They bark at us, threaten us, and provoke
us. Banish the dogs and there will be nothing to prevent eternal
friendship and peace between us.” The foolish sheep believed this and
banished the dogs. And so, without the protection the dogs used to
offer, the sheep became easy prey for the wolves.
Now that the world is horrified by the brutality of the Syrian regime
of terror, which mercilessly butchers its own citizens, we can see
what would have happened to Jews in the Middle East without their own
protective force, the IDF.
In this era, lies, hypocrisy and illusions reign supreme. Many people
among us and in the world believe in eternal Mideastern peace,
democracy and wonderful friendship among nations, and in the repeated
propaganda whereby Israel is Goliath and the Arabs are David. Yet then
came reality and proved them wrong.
As we recall, Tom Friedman already reprimanded Israel for failing to
understand the new “era of freedom” in the Middle East; the same
sentiments were uttered by other naïve Jews, a species that did not
show great survival instincts over the history of European Jewry.
When one observes the fate of the Christians in the Middle East, one
realizes what would have happened to the Jews had they been defeated,
heaven forbid, or remained without protection. Christians are being
butchered in states that experienced “democratic change” such as Iraq,
Egypt and Tunisia; their churches are being burned, they’re prompted
to escape, and their property is looted.
The Christians were misfortunate enough not to establish a state with
a clear Christian identity, unlike the Jews. Naively, the Christians
believed in partnership with other ethnicities, and now they’re paying
the price – in Lebanon, where they’re becoming extinct, in the
Palestinian Authority, and very soon in Syria as well.
This is the oh-so-transparent reason why hostile elements wish to
undermine Israel’s national Jewish identity. Their desire to
establish “a state of all its citizens” – a bi-national or
multi-national state – aims to expunge the state’s Jewish identity,
thus slowly eliminating the Jewish presence around here.
Now, the great significance of Jewish nationalism, that is, Zionism,
also becomes clear, after so many already slammed it or argued that
its time has passed. It’s a pity that some Jews still believe these
dangerous notions.
This is also the reason why outside elements – and to my regret
domestic elements as well – try to weaken the IDF via needless
commissions of inquiry, incitement and criticism, propaganda, and an
effort to taint the army’s moral prestige. This is the reason while
arrest warrants for IDF officers are issued worldwide. The main aim
here is to weaken and destroy the only defensive force that protects
Jews in the Middle East.
Yet when we see the real Middle East rising up and butchering its own
people in Syria, it serves as a live history lesson for all of us.
Truth does not shy away and it proves who the menace in this region
is, and who is being threatened with extermination; who the murderer
is, and who the victims are. Suddenly, the Arab propaganda that the
world has been hearing for dozens of years is fading away. It has no
power in the face of truth and history.
In the face of the massacre in the Syrian town of Deraa on Monday, a
continuation of the glorious tradition of the Assad family, always
keep in mind the fable about the sheep, which became an easy pretty
because of their lethal naiveté. There is nothing new about the
brutality and foolishness of nations; Aesop wrote about it in the
Sixth Century already. It is us, Jews, who particularly need to remind
ourselves of this.
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