Why Israel Matters

Today I want to share an essay written by Barbara Ann Zweifler. Barbara is a Jewish woman who lives in New York. She shared this with me, and I wanted to share it with you. I asked her permission and she graciously allowed me to post it. She wrote this as a tribute to Israel's Independence Day and is dated April 22, 2004.

Why Israel Matters

by Barbara Ann Zweifler

Israel is the only nation on earth where the legitimate land spoils of defensive wars are referred to as occupied territory. No one calls Texas occupied territory. We immigrant Americans have less authentic claim to our great land than Israel does. Manifest Destiny pales in comparison to forty centuries and the word of God. Still, I stand ready to defend America against terrorist invaders with a rock and my last breath, if need be. In America, I can sit contented at my computer, confident that this land is mine, and that the world in it’s entirety dares not dispute that without risking grave consequences.

Not so for Israel. Since moments after it’s birth in 1948, the State of Israel has been repeatedly attacked without provocation. Her enemies were and are today intent on destroying her completely, to the last man, woman and child. The Arab’s open declaration of war, which was first uttered against the State of Israel in 1948 and robustly proclaimed to this day is - “We will drive the Jews into the sea…” This is the ultimate grudge match. The Arab rancor against the Jewish people spans the millennia from this day to the Exodus.

Israel defended, countered, and conquered, on every occasion. The God of Abraham delivered them again and again from the hands of the proverbial Egyptians, when in reality, any military expert could have told you that it was virtually impossible for Israel to survive.

And yet their tiny land, the size of New Jersey, is referred to in the year 2004 as occupied territory. The Israelis are portrayed as either militaristic or religious maniacs, and the Palestinian aggressors are marketed as victims of Israeli ppression. College students across America mobilize, proselytize and opine mightily for the Palestinian “cause”, which is sold to them by expert propagandists bent on America’s destruction. Anti-Semitism is rampant in our halls of higher learning, and Muslim groups on campus regularly disrupt, harass, and attempt to intimidate Pro-Israeli and Pro-American speakers, educators and students.

Israel’s plight has more to do with the war you and I are facing in America than you may realize. From the Jihadis point of view, there is absolutely no distinction. We are the Great Satan, Israel is the Little Satan, and Bush is a Zionist Stooge. If the Islamists can only succeed to drive the Jews into the sea, the rest of you will surrender like Frenchmen - because you are nothing without the direction, money, intellect and influence of the Zionist Infidels. Kill the Jews is the doctrine. From our enemies perspective, Israel is the head of the snake, and America is a Jewish country.

There is an explanation for all of this, but you aren’t going to like it. It is dangerous to awaken a sleepwalker they say – and the West is fast asleep, clutching their assumptions and premises, dreaming it will all go away. Complacency is our most insidious enemy. The best trick the devil ever pulled was convincing you that he doesn’t exist, and the hardest thing for a person to face is their own shattered premises. And it is here that the explanation must begin.

Tomorrow I will post the second half of Barbara's essay. It is well worth our time, thoughts, and attention. Thank you Barbara for sharing this with us.