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There are many who are convinced that the existence of Israel and its “alien” presence in the predominantly Moslem Middle East is the “root cause” of the ongoing and never-ending violence in the area and of terror in the world. And that if it were not for Israel, peace would prevail and terror would cease. That premise is assiduously advocated by the Arab and Moslem nations. What are the facts? Israel is a tiny country, with only six million inhabitants (a million of whom are Arabs). It is surrounded by 22 Arab countries, with 300 million people. Their combined land area is greater than that of all of Europe. Despite this disparity in size and population, Arab propaganda has convinced the world, even many well-meaning people in the United States, that Israel is the mighty Goliath compared to the puny Arab states. It is a supreme irony that six million Israelis, surrounded by implacable enemies who are fixated on their destruction, are considered a mortal danger to the Arabs and perhaps even to the peace of the world. And that if it were not for the Jews, were it not for Israel, peace would descend and terror would cease. Israel, despite constant propaganda to the contrary, is not the “root cause” of this strife and turmoil in the Middle East. Violence and war are endemic in Arab society and in Arab history. Israel was not involved in the deaths of the millions who died in the Iraq-Iran war. Arab-Moslems killed over a million black Christians and animists in the Sudan and brought intolerable suffering to that impoverished region. The Sudanese government, dominated by Arab-Moslems, didn’t lift a finger to help its citizens. Israel is certainly not involved in that. The thousands whom Hafez Assad, the father of the current president of Syria, slaughtered in the city of Hama have no connection with Israel. Abdal Gamel Nasser, the self-appointed president of Egypt, mortal enemy of Israel and instigator of the Six-Day War, did not invade Yemen and gassed its people because of Israel. Saddam Hussein did not torture and kill tens of thousands of his own people and did not invade Kuwait because of Israel. The Lebanese did not stage their civil war and kill thousands of their own because of Israel. And there are many more examples of intra-Moslem or intra-Arab slaughter and mayhem. Israel was uninvolved in any of those. All of this would have taken place if Israel had never existed. And how about terror? Again, many believe that Israel is the “root cause” of the terror that Arab-Moslems have visited and continue to visit upon the world. The attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, the destruction of the two U.S. embassies in West Africa, the bombing of trains in Spain, the murderous attacks on the London subway system, and so many other acts of cowardly terror would have taken place even if there were no Israel. And, many believe that if only the United States would withhold its support from Israel (and get out of Iraq), terror would cease and the world would no longer have to fear the scourge of suicide bombings, the devilish invention that Arab-Moslems have visited upon the people of the earth. Many claim that Arab-Moslem terror is the result of despair, hopelessness, and poverty. But that is patently absurd. The Arabs are some of the richest people in the world, although, instead of using their enormous wealth to benefit their people, they squander it in bizarre luxury excesses for a privileged few. It is obvious nonsense that Arab-Moslem terror is the result of poverty. The nineteen hijackers were not poor or desperate. They were, without exception, well-educated people, members of upper-middle-class families. The leaders of such Arab-Moslem terror organizations as Hamas, Hezbollah or Islamic Jihad are educated people, from the upper reaches of their societies. And if hopelessness, deprivation of their “national rights,” and poverty would give rise to terror, how come that, even in the worst and most evil days of Jim Crow, American Negroes never engaged in systematic terror against their white fellow citizens? How come Tibetans don’t use terror against their Chinese overlords? How come the sub-Saharans of Sudan and other countries of Africa do not use terror against their Arab-Moslem oppressors? No, terror is the customary response of Arab-Moslems to express their grievances. It is a result of their culture and of their history. It has nothing to do with Israel and would not be any different if Israel had never existed. The proclivity to war and to terror on the part of the Arab-Moslems has nothing or little to do with Israel. It is the result of their culture and of their history. It is a symptom of a crisis of identity and of confidence. For centuries, the historical Moslem empires of the Middle East were confident societies, which long led the despised Christian West in terms of science and economic well-being, as well as in military power. But then a lasting reversal and decline set in, in which the loss of Spain and the ascent of the West and its towering achievements in every human endeavor played a key role. This thirst for war against each other and against the hated infidels — foremost among them the Israelis — and the lust for terror will not end until Arab-Moslems come to terms with the West and accept its predominant role. But that may take a very long time – in fact, it may never happen. “… the lust for terror will not end until Arab-Moslems come to terms with the West and accept its predominant role.” This ad has been published and paid for by
Gerardo Joffe, President
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