Thomas Buchwalder
After Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, many media give the impression that on one side of this conflict there are militant Palestinians who are waging a war of liberation, and on the other side a Jewish occupation power that is illegal under international law. It is pretended that the democratic constitutional state of Israel is morally on the same level as the terrorist organization Hamas, which wants Israel dead one way or another.
Hamas is the government in the Gaza Strip. It is not about individual «extremists», but about an official government doctrine (laid down in the founding charter, Article 11). Israel should be destroyed, no peace! In comparison, Israel seeks peaceful coexistence. A majority in Israel is in favor of the two-state solution. In the past few decades, the Palestinians have been offered their own state five times. They have always rejected him because they do not accept a Jewish state.
What would happen if …?
This is kept secret in the left-green milieu. The anti-Semitism inherent in Islam is played down and Israel is demonized. The fact that there were only two independent states on today’s territory of Israel in the past 3000 years is also kept silent: both were Jewish and both were destroyed by invaders. There was never an Arab or Muslim state there. So it is wrong to give the impression that Palestinian aggressors are freedom fighters who want “their country” back.
In this context, a thought experiment would be helpful. One can ask oneself what would actually happen if Israel announced tomorrow: “We are no longer fighting! We lay down our arms and give up! ” Israel’s neighbors would annihilate the country and completely wipe out the Jews in the region. And what would happen if, conversely, Syria, Iran or Iraq announced: “We are no longer fighting! We lay down our arms and give up! ” Israel would not attack these countries, but peace would return.
Giuseppe Gracia (53) is a writer and communications consultant. His new novel “The Last Enemy” has been published by Fontis Verlag, Basel. He usually writes in Blick every other Monday.
Published: May 25th, 2021, 40 minutes ago
Last updated: May 24th, 2021, 3:17 pm