EYELESS IN GAZA 2 — WHAT IS THE REALLY REAL?

By James Wilson

            Since 1948 Israel has asked only to live in peace.  Her enemies have demanded war and extermination, per the charters of both Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization.  So why do the United Nations repeatedly condemn Israel as the aggressor, and especially in the current conflict?  Can it be this objective organization, dedicated to world peace, is not as objective as its press releases declare?

            According to the New York Times the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – UNRWA – is the second largest employer in Gaza.  Known locally as “the agency,” it runs hundreds of schools and medical centers for Gazans.  These are the same schools in which students drill daily in hatred for Israel.  They are the same schools and hospitals in which Hamas rockets are stored and tunnels are buried.  When Israel found caches of rockets in three UNRWA run schools the rockets were turned over to UN personnel who promptly returned them to Hamas.

            Israel warned the first school it is accused of attacking days before the attack came.  The UN evacuated its personnel but waited several days before promising to evacuate the civilians.  As the busses approached the school was rocked by three to five explosions; sixteen were killed and dozens wounded.  Israel denies firing on the school and even the UN has published no conclusion to its investigation of the cause.  But no matter, Israel has already been blamed for a crime it has no reason to commit. Hamas, on the other hand, has a track record and an interest in maximizing civilian casualties on both sides – from sheer hatred on the one and political expediency on the other.  Granted, the explosions could be the result of ordinance malfunctions from one side or the other, shots falling short or long, and the like.  But there is no reason to believe Israel maliciously attacked a civilian enclave; they have never done it before and it defies their policies and history.

            Detractors of Israel love to point to firing the first shots of the 1967 War as proof of Israeli aggression, and it is true the opening salvo was from Tel Aviv.  I ask myself, and recommend readers ask themselves, “What would I do if I saw an armed mob walking up my driveway shouting threats of murder on my children?  Would I wait until they were in my living room astride my children before I opened fire, or would I shoot the moment I could and hope to take as many down as possible before they breach my front door?”  Critics will say I over simplify the issue, but the issue actually is just that simple.  Israel was surrounded by armies poised and promising to strike.  She had been under fire from strategically placed artillery more than two years.  She had been denied passage through the Suez Canal and international waters.  The war was long since underway when Moshe Dayan and Levi Eshkol sent their divisions hurtling into what became the miracle of the Six Day War.

            Israel is the only Middle Eastern power to exercise restraint in the conduct of war.  When an Israeli paratroop brigade took the Temple Mount and raised the Israeli flag over the Dome of the Rock, Dayan immediately ordered the flag taken down and the mosque returned to Muslim authorities.  Israel practices authentic freedom of faith and equally authentic respect for all faiths within her borders.  When Jordan controlled the Temple area the Western Wall of the Temple was an Arab slum. 

            Israel has greatly improved the lives of all who call her home. There is terrible poverty in the refugee camps, but none of those camps are Israeli controlled.  I saw many Arabs driving late model Mercedes and living in very classy high rise apartments.  They are able to vote, hold office, and do anything they want other than attack and kill.  There is no comparison between the lives led by Arabs in Israel and those in the Palestinian controlled areas and certainly no moral equivalency between the aspirations of Palestinians to deal death and the hope of Israelis for life and peace in the region.

            Will the United States remain eyeless in Gaza?  The issue of justice is clear.  For us who believe the Christian Scriptures the issue is clearer still.  Israel does not need us; God has her back.  But we need to back Israel if we would stand before God – or even walk in integrity apart from the claims of faith.  The soul of our nation is on the line; it is time to speak up and speak loudly enough that our leaders hear and tremble.