May 18: 'Nakba Day' protests

But we must look to ourselves for the naivete of our own leaders in assuming that the Nakba Day demonstrations would be peaceful.

By JERUSALEM POST READERS
letters (photo credit: JP)
letters
(photo credit: JP)
Sir, – The “Nakba” protests, recklessly orchestrated by desperate Arab regimes as a distraction from their own woes, were a somewhat purposeless exercise.
Anyone with a smattering of historical education knows the catastrophe was entirely self-inflicted, when all the Arab states rejected the 1947 UN Partition Plan to divide Palestine into an Arab and a Jewish state, preferring to launch a war to destroy the fledgling Jewish entity at its birth.
Surely, it would be far more intelligent for Palestinians to accept irrefutable facts and negotiate with Israel a mutually acceptable solution to this conflict.
RAYMOND CANNON Netanya
Sir, – The Palestinians have aptly named “Nakba Day.” The catastrophe they are commemorating is of their own making. They have only themselves and their current and previous leaders to blame.
But we must look to ourselves for the naivete of our own leaders in assuming that the Nakba Day demonstrations would be peaceful.
How dare Ehud Barak allow our borders to be invaded by Arab protesters from Syria. They had no fear, knowing that we would not shoot to kill, as Assad does. How dare Barak believe his own delusions and ignore the tumult throughout the Arab world and assume we would remain somehow insulated from it all.
Would the US, Britain, France or Russia allow the invasion of their territories and remain indifferent? What message was sent to these infiltrators for the future? Liberal ideas and democracy do not provide answers to uncontrolled mobs threatening the stability and harmony of our land.
Bullets and force would be US President Obama’s answer without “due process of law,” and he would be proud.
These were the first shots for the Right of Return.
JOSH AND BLOSSOM WIESEN Haifa
Sir, – As always, Caroline B. Glick relentlessly hits the nail on its head (“Ehud Barak’s latest Nakba,” Our World, May 17) Incredulously, despite numerous failures and disastrous mismanagement of his ministry, our defense minister is still arrogantly strutting his stuff thanks to the unassailable trust and support of his old army buddy, Bibi Netanyahu, who should be warned that his misplaced loyalty rather than the security and well-being of his electorate will cost him dearly!
GISH TRUMAN ROBBINS Pardesiya
Sir, – Where was the United Nations on Sunday? Where were UNDOF and UNIFIL, its observer forces and peace-keepers? Did they do anything to stop the rioting and aggression? Where were they hiding?
HELA CROWN-TAMIR Neveh Ilan
Sir, – In view of the masses who tried to break through our borders, it would seem that we are prematurely hailing the rise of democracy in the Arab world. I think we are in more danger from mobocracy than from dictatorships.
For a long time there was a debate: Are Arab dictators preventing peace with Israel while their masses would love to make peace, or are the Arab masses so full of hatred for Israel that their leaders dare not make peace for fear of their lives? I prefer dictators who make peace with Israel than anarchic mobs who want to destroy us by flooding our borders.
JACOB CHINITZ Jerusalem
Sir, – Am I confused, or is the invasion of Israeli territory by her enemies an act of war? Just how is this invasion to be considered peaceful when the obvious objective is to do harm? One too-many red lines has already been crossed.
DINA ROSENBERG Kiryat Tivon
Sir, – Thank you for your expanded coverage of the “Nakba Day” events, especially by Ruth Eglash (“Tweeting the ‘Nakba,’” Comment & Features, May 17).
As Eglash states about the commemoration, it “never before enjoyed so much international attention or local ferocity.” All the more reason to emphasize that Israeli Arab pain, in particular, should be directed to the surrounding Arab countries and to their own leaders of that time.
Even more so, the plight of the Palestinian Arabs would most likely have been even worse had the invading Arab armies defeated the Palestinian Jews. Had the foreign invasion succeeded, the Palestinian Arabs would still not have had a state. Instead, continual war would have ravaged them and the land as the conquering Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian armies fought among themselves for control. All the Arabs in the land would have been forced to choose sides, thereby increasing their catastrophe.
So, as far as Israel’s Arab citizens are concerned, the establishment of the country and its victory over the invaders were the best things that could have happened.
More so, the juxtaposition of Israel, separating the Arab dictatorships one from the other for the past 63 years, has been and remains the best thing for the people of those countries. They have been saved from countless internecine wars, much bloodier than anything suffered from their repeated aggressions against Israel.
The world may not be willing or able to stop the current bloodbath in Syria, but at least the existence of Israel prevents it from spilling over existing borders.
So the next time any Arab says that the creation of Israel was a disaster, tell him or her to think again! But then, of course, how difficult it is for anyone to say, like the old cartoon character Pogo, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”
AARON BASHANI Jerusalem
Sir, – My congratulations on your hard-hitting editorial “Repeating the Nakba mistake” (May 13).
The real Nakba is the catastrophic legacy of a 1,400-year-old ideology that has no place in the modern world.
Back in the seventh century, the Arabs united vast lands through warfare, and Islam was fashioned as a doctrine to justify and regulate those conquests. The Muslims became a ruling elite and prospered from taxes levied on their non-Muslim subjects. Times were good. But times have changed.
The same task of unifying vast lands has arisen for the Arabs once again, but it cannot be done by force. It must be accomplished through diplomatic skills that respect diversity and human rights.
One need only look at America to see it is possible to peacefully unite a diverse population.
The persistence of the jihad mentality is responsible for much of the chaos gripping the Middle East, and blaming Israel is not going to fix it.
DAVID KATCOFF Jericho, Vermont
Sir, – It was not surprising to read “Herzl would be disappointed with the Jewish state, 39% of Israelis say” (May 15).
We have given Nakba Day such a high profile by bringing in yet another restrictive law aimed at only one sector of our citizens, albeit a large sector. On the other hand, the Arabs in Israel are using their democratic rights.
We have humiliated and exploited foreign workers who come to do menial jobs that Israelis refuse to do or for which they demand a realistic wage. Interior Minister Eli Yishai is now angling for another law to prevent them from working in certain cities.
This reminds me of the British who in the 1940s denied German Jewish “aliens” access to major cities and forced them to work on farms or in the mines. The difference is that at the end of World War II they were given rights to become full-blown citizens.
Herzl would have been proud of our hi-tech and academic achievements for which we receive worldwide acclaim, but would have found us wanting on wisdom, vision and tolerance at home.
If you will it, it is no dream. Have we lost the will?
ZELDA HARRIS Tel Aviv