In October 2011, I did not find out that captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was going to be released by reading newspaper articles or watching television reports, but because an entire street was closed off to allow for the singing and dancing brought on by the announcement. Many Israeli teenagers are in the army, making a noticeable difference in the lives of their neighbors. While American college freshmen learn how to read and analyze articles about weapons and warfare, 18-year-old Israeli soldiers are trained in how to protect their families and friends. It is not fair for the rest of the world to judge Israel for doing what it takes to survive. How can we understand the mentality of a country that survives despite a day-to-day struggle? How many other countries have to fight for recognition from their neighbors? How many had to fend off war on three different borders mere hours being declared a country? Would any other country be raked over the coals for standing up to the threat of nuclear war?
U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration have made it their mission to condemn any move that Israel makes to build settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Apparently, the Obama presidency considers Israel’s attempts to provide shelter for its citizens a more serious threat than the killing of political protesters in Syria or, say, the looming threat posed by Iran’s quest to acquire nuclear capabilities.
On Nov. 18, 2011, the International Atomic Energy Agency published a report that calculated that Iran currently has sufficient fuel to produce four nuclear weapons. Instead of concentrating on the threats posed by countries that are actually endangering the lives of civilians, Obama has chosen to keep the focus on the actions of a country that is only interested in doing what it considers best for its citizens and whose actions are not currently endangering lives. While on his crusade to turn the public against the only real democracy in the Middle East, Obama has failed to address the damage that he had a hand in causing: three years ago, Obama extended a hand of friendship to Tehran, stating that Iran should “have some right to nuclear energy, provided… that its aspirations are peaceful.”
Mr. President, do the Iranians possess so little oil that they need to revert to nuclear power? Saying that Iran should have the right to nuclear power “provided that its aspirations are peaceful” is like saying that Bill Clinton’s wife should support his hiring of more young, pretty female staffers, as long as his ‘intentions’ are only for them to complete his paperwork. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been very vocal in his opinion that the world would be better off should Israel decide to relocate to the bottom of the Mediterranean. Not only does Iran continue to fund Hezbollah, an organization widely acknowledged as a terrorist group, but it has also been using Hezbollah’s militant faction as a proxy through which to attack the State of Israel for decades. The bottom line here is that it is ridiculous to not oppose Iran, a rogue state that is a known terrorist collaborator, in its attempts to acquire the plans to a weapon of mass destruction and then expect the Iranians to use these plans “only in the pursuit of peace.”
Obama has attempted to assuage the damage that has been done by assuring the public that Tehran has been the target of an “enormous bite [of sanctions]”. In contrast to Obama’s allegations, a Reuters report found that, somehow, despite the sanctions, Iranian gasoline imports rose 21 percent in October alone. Somehow, I am not comforted by Obama’s assurances.
Neither, it seems, is Israel. In November, The Telegraph reported that, in a meeting with Obama, and other high-ranking United States officials, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu made it clear that, should Israel decide to take military action against Iran, it will not be seeking U.S. permission before proceeding.
We all know how this story is going to end; just as it did in 1981, with the Iraqi nuclear threat, Israel is going to play Jack Bauer, blow up the nuclear facilities and save the Middle East from certain destruction. On the heels of whatever military action Israel deems appropriate, the rest of the world is going to, yet again, condemn Israel’s methods.
This situation is extremely hypocritical. Through television shows and movies, such as FOX’s “24” and Showtime’s “Homeland”, popular media attempts to instill society with the value of fighting for justice at all costs. In North America, almost everything is theoretical; we are aware of what is going on in the Middle East, we see video clips, we read newspaper articles, but we are never literally part of the action. It never has a direct impact on our lives.
Living in Israel has taken my interest in the international political situation to a completely different level; here, even small events have the potential to impact day-to-day life. As cliché as it sounds, right now I really do feel like Israel is my home. The fact that many other countries do not consider Israel a legitimate country, or consider it to be an “apartheid” state, bothers me on a very fundamental level.
As previously stated, the Obama presidency, in addition to many other governing bodies, believes that the land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank does not belong to the state of Israel and therefore, any settlements built on said land, by Israel, are illegal. Just to clarify, it is not in any way illegal for Israel to build in these territories – Israel’s constructing of settlements does not violate any international laws or treaties. The land may be in dispute, but Israel still retains a significant amount of political and military control over the land and it is in no way illegal for Israel to attempt to provide for the people that live in territory under its control.
Israel has more right to sovereignty over these territories than any other nation. Then there are the legal rights; the territory of Judea and Samaria was part of Cisjordan, which was designated, as per many internationally recognized documents (like the original Mandate for Palestine), as land on which the Jewish people were to build a homeland for themselves. It is also interesting that the former President of the International Court of Justice noted, “a country acting in self-defense may seize and occupy territory when necessary to protect itself…a state may [also] require…security measures… to ensure its citizens are not menaced again from that territory.” This refutes many of the claims that settlements in these territories are “illegal, under current international laws.”
This situation has never been remotely fair. The world needs something to blame for the current situation of unrest in the Middle East and Israel is an easy target; it is at the center of many of the Middle East’s current issues. This situation is in no way right, but I, for one, am glad that there is one country in our world that is willing to do what needs to be done, in order to ensure the long-term safety of the international public. It’s just too bad that I am the only one who feels that way.
Eliana Glogauer is currently studying on one of Masa Israel’s 200 programs.
