-Dean Drake
Throughout history, nations have either been in conflict or open war with nearby nations, but none have been as speciously accused as often as Israel. The United Nations, an international organization, has and continues to make many dubious accusations against Israel for violating international standards. Anti-Semitism abroad has been more common than in the United States, and the large influx of immigrants from predominantly Muslim nations into historically Christian European nations has increased anti-Semitic protests under the guise of supporting “Palestinians” in their supposed plight against “Zionist” Israel. Israel has even been sanctioned by the UN just for attempting to exercise normal functions of a nation in managing its own national security. However, anti-Semitism is not limited only to contemporary protests in Western nations – Israelis have been fighting for their survival as a nation throughout their ancient history. The Jewish struggle has continued in modern times. Since the holocaust of WWII and the beginning of its official restoration as a nation in 1948, Israel has had to fight several wars against the predominantly Arab nations of the Middle East, and endure frequent terrorist murder sprees and bombings over the past several decades.
Reasonable people may consider claims of anti-Semitism to be overblown, or may have come to think that a nation so often and severely sanctioned must have committed violations merely because they have been accused so often. However, a few statistics actually demonstrate the opposite: the global bias against the Jewish people is indeed real. The UN Human Rights Council from its creation in 2006 through 2016 has adopted 135 resolutions criticizing countries for human rights violations of which 68 were against the tiny country of Israel. Further, the UN General Assembly adopted 83 of 97 resolutions criticizing Israel from 2012 through 2015. Israel is disproportionately sanctioned by the UN whose membership includes nations with far more severe civil rights violations, but it votes to coerce Israel’s compliance with standards other nations cannot or refuse to meet. Israel’s attempts to protect its own citizens is deemed racist, yet its society is far more diverse than the nations which criticize it. A clear examination of Israel’s actions would reveal that the Jewish nation is freer than most other nations represented in the UN. Israel protects the civil liberties of women, and affords the immigrants to their country far more freedom and opportunity than most UN member nations.
Another major criticism of Israel is its sovereignty over the land on which the nation rests. Although the historical claim to the land currently controlled by Israel dates to antiquity, Israel is the only nation whose sovereign right to use its own territory is constantly challenged by the international community. In addition, it is the only nation routinely coerced by the UN to offer up sections of their own land to their enemies as appeasement. Even if one discounts God’s promise to Abraham, the Jewish people have a legitimate claim to their land dating back to the initial conquest of Canaan around 1406 BC (decades after the Exodus from Egypt). Further, the Jewish people have maintained connections to their ancestral homeland even after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman army under Emperor Vespasian’s son, Titus, in 70 AD, which actually prompted the Jewish diaspora. Finally, when the land of Israel was officially restored through the Balfour Declaration (a 1947 UN resolution), and following its admission to the UN in 1949, almost every nation recognized Israel’s sovereign right to their land, but sadly even that recognition was short-lived.
Unfortunately, the gradual increase of anti-Semitism toward Israel in the last generation has expanded beyond its neighboring countries (which are religiously or otherwise predisposed to dislike Jews) to much of the Western world. As addressed in the first article of this series (see part 1 of 3), even America – formerly Israel’s strongest proponent – has gotten on the bandwagon of criticizing our ally for actions the United States itself has taken or would take to defend itself from terrorist threats and to reasonably conduct its national affairs. It is my sincere hope that America will not continue to succumb to the propaganda of much of the rest of the world that Israel is not a legitimate sovereign nation. Rather, I would desire that the United States will once again afford Israel and the Jewish People the respect and support they are due as one of the few remaining democratic republics, and the only bastion of freedom in the Middle East.
Part (1/3): Anti-Semitism: Alive And Growing In America
Part (3/3): In Progress