A Play for Propaganda, or a Play for Peace?

Have you heard the outrage over the story of a Palestinian man "forced" to play his violin at a checkpoint in Israel? You can read an account of this at News.Telegraph. It is amazing that this story is a story at all! So let's get a straight up look at this story.

"A man arrived at the roadblock north of the West Bank city of Nablus carrying a violin case. An officer ordered him to take out the violin and play as part of a security check."

We will start by taking a look at the list of the victims of Palestinian terror attacks since Arafat walked away from the Camp David Peace talks in 2000. The list speaks for itself. Every name on this list is a reason these men working the checkpoints cannot risk failure. The comments of Horit Herman-Peled over this event are purely inflammatory. The substance of his words are drowning in the reality of what the Israeli citizens face at the hands of a people that do not seek peace, but seek only the destruction and annihilation of all Jews. I am not overstating this situation. The fact is that the Palestinian people have established in their own charter that they will not settle for anything less than the complete and total end to Israel as a nation.

Now, let's take a look at the words of Horit, a volunteer for the Israeli human rights group Machsom Watch:

"She said the scene reminded her of images from the Holocaust when Jews were forced to play for Nazi officers to save their lives."

Here are some REAL IMAGES from the Holocaust: (Warning: images may be upsetting)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Then there is this paragraph in the article:

"I am shocked beyond words," said Zahava Galon, a legislator for the Left-wing Yahad party. "On the face of it, it is a bizarre, incomprehensible incident. Yet it is a blatant example of the harsh reality of the Israeli occupation." (the Yahad Party)

If THIS VIDEO is "a blatant example of the harsh reality of the Israeli occupation," then I would love to know what their take on Airport Security in the U.S. for International Flights would be. My point is not to make light of the Israel/Palestine issue. My point is that if we are going to truly seek a peaceful future, it is time we get honest and stop these ridiculous claims that only inflame the situation. This incident in NO WAY mirrors the Holocaust and the treatment of the Jews by Hitler.

Israel has no designs on exterminating the Palestinian people. Israel has shown sincere and bold moves to further the peace process, the summit at Camp David in 2000, is one great example. Arafat, in representing the Palestinian people refused. He knew that peace was against the charter of the PLO. The worst part is that when he returned and called for violence with Israel, the people not only signed up, but they are willing to send their own children to die in order to achieve it, and regard this as heroic! The most telling part of this equation is the way Arafat is held up in such reverence. If these people truly sought peace, and their own state, Arafat would be regarded as the man that denied them this. Comparing a man playing a violin at a checkpoint (CREATED to protect innocent Israeli citizens from the terrorism "forced" upon them), to the treatment of the Nazi's on the Jews is obscene.

Israel seeks peace. Israel seeks an end to the terror attacks on its people. Israel is not the agressor. Hitler's policies against the Jews has NO comparison to a man proving that the violin he carries is not a terror weapon.

Let's start to be responsible in our discussions on this issue. Then, and only then, will we be able to reach peace.