by T. M. Beeker

Created on: January 20, 2009

"It ain't over till a grunt puts a flag on it." In an age of 'surgical strikes' and other media created fantasies of warfare its easy to forget the simple logic of war. One nation wins and takes territory while the other sides loses. I often find it interesting when people get up in arms about Israel's actions within its own borders. Maybe I am too simple but shouldn't a nation have the right to protect itself from unruly neighbors?

Gaza was territory gained in bloody warfare against the combined might of Arab nations which vowed to wipe Israel and its people from the face of the earth. The Palestinian minority living in this region have likewise made similar vows to kill the people of Israel. If the tables had been turned would it be reasonable to expect victorious Arab nations to set aside portions of land for the Jewish state? "To the victor spoils, to the vanquished woe." That is a reality of warfare that seems to be lost on supposedly 'civilized' peoples far removed from the Middle East. The cold hard reality is Israel had every right to throw every Palestinian out on their butt back in the 60s when they supported Arab forces.

Israel has shown incredible restraint as it set aside land (which is at a premium) for a Palestinian State. In addition going so far as to allow self-rule only to see the Palestinians take a break from killing Israeli's to killing their own people. Hey if I set aside land for a guest to build a home on my property and they start a fire-fight with their cousin bet your bottom dollar I am stepping in with superior firepower. To tell Israel it can't protect its people within its own borders is just plain wrong. Would Americans oppose armed intervention if the Sioux erupted in violence that resulted in the deaths of Americans outside of the reservation? The Israeli nation has set aside land for a tribal group that does not even like its own sub-groups which results in violence. How would any sovereign nation handle such a situation?

It should likewise be noted that Palestinians are not welcome in nations outside of Israel. Egypt met refugees with armed forces and turned them back toward Israel. Same situation in Lebanon and other Arab nations that claim to share religious views but not solidarity with the Palestinian minority. Israel has been handed an impossible situation in that it must find a way to live with a people sworn to destroy them that no other Arab nation wants living in their territory.

What I find interesting is when Arab nations poo poo Israel's heavy handed use of force loudly but get real quiet when asked if they will open their borders to allow Palestinians in. Tribal differences then come into play same as the conflict between Persians, Turks, and Kurds in Iraq and Turkey. Yes, they all share Islam as a predominant faith but that does not preclude tribal differences going back centuries.

All of this discussion is merely window dressing for the original idea. Israel won in blood its right to exist. This nation has shown an incredible amount of compassion that it would not have experienced had things turned out differently. The world over since the Diaspora the Jewish state has been marginalized if not out right hunted and slaughtered. Now, as a sovereign nation its being pressured to make nice with a lousy neighbor that has not legal or historic claim to land it occupies. An Israeli grunt put a flag on it. Therefore, Israel is justified to treat a former foe however they please. Especially when that foe endangers the peace of the nation that has given them land.

Learn more about this author, T. M. Beeker.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.