The Real Zionist Threat

With Israeli forces pounding Lebanon, the Zionist threat has once again been exposed. It is not a Jewish conspiracy to take over the world or control the world’s finances. The real Zionist threat has nothing to do with Israel’s actions but in the west’s willingness to allow it.

Ever since the creation of the Israeli state in 1948, our collective guilt over the holocaust has caused us to consistently overlook Israel’s violations of United Nations resolutions and International law. Like a schoolyard bully, Israel continually demonstrates an aggressive nature with little regard for the consequences of its actions and no demonstrated recognition of the gift it has been given.

The idea, when the United Nations created the state, was to allow the Jewish people to have a homeland in which they could flourish in peace. From day one, they abused this privilege with the tacit approval of the western countries. Rather than creating a state where all people could live in peace and harmony, they made heroes of people who would be considered war criminals in any other country.

This country, many of whose citizens have suffered persecution at the hands of others, has perpetuated the very acts that were the basis for the creation of their country. They have participated in the mass murder of civilians, the execution of prisoners of war and assassinations. There are many documented cases of incidents such as the 1953 massacre at Qibya, Jordan, where Israeli’s used machine guns to herd people into their homes which they then blew up killing 66 civilians.

The U.S. State department denounced the massacre and demanded those responsible be “brought to account”. The result? The unit responsible was made part of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) paratroops corps with their leader, Ariel Sharon, becoming Prime Minister in 2001. A little over a year after he became Prime Minister, the IDF conducted a raid on the Palestinian refugee camp at Jenin that was said to be modeled after the Qibya slaughter.

Now, in response to an incursion by Hezbollah into Israel, they have once again over-reacted by mounting massive attacks on Lebanon and killing hundreds of civilians. The United States and Canada have both called them “measured” responses.

That is were the threat comes from.

For years, the west has enabled Israel to disregard International Law in an effort to ensure the survival of the only pro-western democracy in the Middle East. In the process, we have undermined any credibility we might have had with the surrounding, predominately, Arab countries. We appear hypocritical in their eyes, and are viewed with mistrust.

But now, pro-western sentiment in the region is starting to emerge within the Arab nations. Lebanon currently has a pro-western democracy; Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are becoming more open and Iraq is slowly becoming democratic. As this happens Israel will become more and more irrelevant in western eyes.

The problem is a huge part of Israeli wealth comes from the foreign assistance that has been pouring into it for decades. A country of only seven million people, they have managed to produce the best equipped fighting force in the region. According to official estimates, Israel, who has a smaller population than Ontario, spends 7.7% of its Gross Domestic Product, or $9.5 billion, on its military, an amount similar to Canada. Still, they manage to field an impressive military force.

However, as their importance to the west wanes, the economic benefits to Israel of this aid will also decrease. With that comes the risk that Israel will attempt to destabilize the region in order to emphasize its importance. Thus, they will show the need for continued military support while reaping the economic benefits. This may already be the case in Lebanon.

Our nations need to stop enabling this sort of behaviour by ensuring it is more costly for them to create war than attempting to live in peace with their neighbours. They must join the fold of responsible and law abiding nations or face serious international consequences. To do nothing risks war and innocent deaths every time Israeli importance declines.

Just like the schoolyard bully, they must be stood up to and put in their place. Then, maybe, they’ll finally figure it out.