Ghandian Forbearance

Jews reached a singular place in the minds of a world looking in on the horror visited upon them through Nazi Germany's attempt at total annihilation, when the world, in its inimitable way, absorbed the enormity of the holocaust, and felt limitless compassion for the Wandering Jew. European Jews, no longer wanderers, settled throughout Europe, considering themselves legitimate and comfortable citizens of any country they resided in for centuries. Much like German Jews, who considered themselves cultured and enlightened, and German first, Jews second.

Hitler handily disposed of that little affectionate conceit, revealing to the Jewish diaspora how expendable they were, how foreign, how exotic, how different, and how insignificant their lives. That newly-found responsibility toward and even low-grade affection - or at the very least tolerance - for Jews slowly dissipated after WWII. In concert with the establishment of the Jewish State of Israel, and its ongoing, often-desperate attempts to defend itself from the equally-determined assaults of its neighbours to unseat it from the geography.

Now, with Israel no longer battling in self-defence against the Arab and Muslim countries of the Middle East - with the notable exceptions of Iran and Syria - instead, defending itself from the violent depredations foisted on its people by Islamist militias, concern for Jewish well-being from within the international community has reached its low ebb of tolerance. Israel, goes the phrase, has a right to defend itself and its people - BUT.

That equivocation speaks volumes about the larger esteem in which Jews, as a whole, are held globally. It was ever thus. The Arab population of the original area of Palestine is now, in public opinion - dispersed among other Arab countries and internationally and held within the Palestinian Territories - seen as undeserving victims of Jewish entitlement to land granted to the State of Israel at a time of international emotional upheaval and guilt.

This is a situation not lost on Arab Palestinians. They have embraced a culture of grievance, complaint and resentment, exerting their own quotient of guilt upon the countries of the United Nations to support them economically as refugees in perpetuity. Adamantly refusing to accept the reality of proportional geographical entitlement, and using their portion to establish a viable state to advance the interests of the Palestinians, autonomous for the first time in history.

This avenue of achieving normalcy and becoming a united people, capable of fending for themselves, using their vast energies and potential to become a proud nation of achievers was rejected. Thanks in no small part, initially, to their use as a pawn of universal Muslim resentment against the incursion of a 'foreign' religion in the land of Islam. That the ancient heritage of Israel and Jewry preceded that of Islam, and that the historical record supported this was immaterial.

Ongoing provocations by proxy militias comprised of piously violent jihadists posing as messengers of Allah whose sole purpose in life was to attain divine martyrdom on behalf of Islam, has kept Israel busy defending its existence. No amount of placatory offerings have been seen to suffice to encourage Muslim countries to accept the legitimate presence of Israel in the Middle East. No appeals to reason and co-operation to achieve a peaceful settlement to allow the two solitudes to go their separate ways have reached success.

Goad a country too far by continual attacks, and any country, however reluctant, has to recognize its existential duty to itself and to its people to respond in kind. After having reached a modicum of success in reaching a peace agreement with Egypt and with Jordan, and reaching out to Saudi Arabia, the other Gulf States, and now Syria, for a reasonable level of mutual accommodation, Israel had no option but to respond to continual rocket attacks against its people from Gazan terrorists.

Hamas obviously feels itself to be invincible; its verbose rhetoric of defiance and promise of the ultimate destruction of Israel, encouraged by Hezbollah, Syria and Iran, had its effect. A placebo of power unequalled by the conventional military of the state next door. The useful myth that Hamas encourages the Palestinians to believe, that its purpose is to defend their best interests, gives them the support of the people, even while Hamas is singly responsible for the dire plight of that same people.

Any population can be successfully manipulated; even though Josef Stalin tyrannized and brutalized the Russian population with purges, deportations and labour camps that resulted in the deaths of over 20 million Russians, popular opinion now in Russia has elevated him to the position of being named among the greatest Russians ever to have existed. Much like the reverence bestowed upon Yasser Arafat, the accomplished political terrorist who could have achieved everything for the Palestinians and chose instead to undermine their best interests.

Now that the Israel Defence Forces have launched their air strikes on Gaza, attempting to strike at all of the Hamas offensive positions, rocket launching sites, system of tunnels whereby weapons have been smuggled into the territory, Israel is once again perceived by the international community as a brutal aggressor. It is the Hamas leadership which planned and placed munitions depots and rocket launchers within heavily civilian-populated areas, with the distinct knowledge that should Israel strike, it would be impossible for it not to harm civilians.

This represents their transparent, but ultimately successful ploy to evoke sympathy from the international community at the plight of the Palestinians, and pointing out the courage of violent Islamists at facing off against a powerful enemy. Measures certain to create a greater outcry internationally and within the Muslim world, and increasing the prestige of Hamas in the process. The Palestinian population, caught between the offenders and the defenders, ally themselves naturally with those of their own culture and traditions, preparing themselves to support those who purport to support their interests.

And, remote from the reality of the situation, world leaders express their dismay and condemnation of Israel, and its 'disproportionate' response to unendurable provocation. Everyone is 'deeply concerned'. Everyone demands an immediate cessation of hostilities. And Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is more than a little comfortable with the idea of obliterating Israel from the map of the Middle East, claims "Whoever is killed in this legitimate defence is considered a martyr".

Oh, right, the first portion of that statement from the spiritually enlightened lips of Islam's holy warrior was: "All Palestinian combatants and all the Islamic world's pious people are obliged to defend the defenceless women, children and people in Gaza in any way possible." Perniciously serene at the prospect of encouraging further and endless conflict in the name of Islam.

Whereas the other messages from world leaders distinguish themselves by their ambiguity, their biased 'neutrality', their malicious obloquy, their pathetic irony. As, for example, China's foreign ministry spokesman: "China expresses serious concern about the escalation of the tense situation in Gaza, denounces actions that cause injuries and deaths to ordinary people, opposes the use of military force in resolving disputes, appeals to related parties to exercise maximum restraint and to settle differences through dialogue."

Most certainly the Tibetan people and the Dalai Lama would approve of the statesmanship of that declaration. Or, as the Turkish foreign minister has stated in his great good wisdom: "It will be more difficult to carry out Israel-Palestine peace talks healthily in 2009 under these circumstances. (Israel) might aim to weaken Hamas with the operation in Gaza. We do not share this view. Many people, some groups in the Muslim world, who see this tragedy in Gaza will feel more sympathy for Hamas because they are the victims now."

Indeed.