Zionist? Take a stand!
Op-ed: Jewish State’s supporters should be advocates for Israel's rights in Judea and Samaria
Did you ever stop to ask yourself what your feelings are about Portugal or India or even Kazakhstan? I wouldn't be surprised to hear that most people outside those countries and their immediate neighbors and descendants haven't given the question much thought. Interestingly, you’d find a total contrast if you asked the same question about Israel.
I think that it is safe to say that the percentage of people who have an opinion about Israel in the world is much greater. Hundreds of millions of people around the world - who have no direct connection to Israel - do have a set opinion about it. Most either love or hate Israel; few are indifferent.
Where do you stand? Do you love Israel or hate it? If you are a lover of Israel, how do you express that love? I have found dedicated lovers of Israel in the most remote and unexpected places in the world. Recently, Newswire reported that a man in Morocco was arrested and prosecuted for flying the Israeli flag in public. Obviously, he and his government both have strong – and conflicting - feelings about expressing support for the Jewish State.
Just the other day, the Israeli flag was defaced at the University of Southern California during a visit from Israel’s oldest social media geek, President Shimon Peres. This is the way local students responded to his flashy music clip "Like Me for Peace." So you can see that Israel’s most basic calls for peace can be seen as a threat demanding a violent reaction.
There, on the university campus, we can find the main fronts on which Zionism is being attacked. You don't need to go there physically. Like Shimon Peres, the anti-Israel activists know their way around the social media platforms. Type "Israel" or "Zionism" on a Twitter or YouTube search, and you will quickly be exposed to campaigns of hate and misinformation about the land and people you love. Read their words and then ask yourself: What are they saying, and what are their ultimate goals?
Passive support isn't enough
I can save you some time. They are saying that Israel is a racist apartheid state that oppresses people merely because they are Arabs, and that Israel illegally occupies a great area of Arab land in order to strip its people of their basic rights. If you read their posts, you will not see any mention of Israel being under any kind of security threat. Rockets being shot from Gaza and terrorists climbing though residential windows to kill children do not exist there - only hot-button terms like “rights,” “justice,” and “resistance.”
Do you express your support for Israel by planning your family vacations there when you have the means available, and by going to hear Israeli speakers when they come to your town? Are you more involved through paying dues to your local Zionist organization or by buying Israeli-made products from your local Trader Joe's? All of that is nice and on behalf of all Israelis, I thank you for supporting our economy. But if you really want to assist Israel in these difficult times, you are going to have to take a more tangible stand.
Realize the simple fact that the “Two State Solution” is really a “No Jewish State” solution. Those who could not eliminate Israel through war are now working tirelessly to erase the country you love though manipulative maneuvers.
Understand that the opponents of Israel are fighting for a Palestinian State in the West Bank - not because it is right, or because that is their ultimate goal - but because it is the heartland of the Jewish State. It is easiest for them to assault Israel from this angle and hardest for supporters of Israel to defend. The threat of a Palestinian State is an existential threat to Israel. They know that. You must realize that and help Israel fight back. This is about the life or (G-d forbid) death of the Jewish State.
Passive support is not enough. We need your help. Become an active advocate for Israel by being an advocate for Israel's rights in Judea and Samaria. Learn the history, know the facts - they are on our side. Not only the history of the Bible, but modern history too - from Balfour through San Remo and the Six-Day War.
Israel has the right to be here, and Israel cannot survive without its heartland. By supporting Israel's control of Judea and Samaria, you are not siding with the extreme, but with the realistic.
Many might not realize that the entire width of Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is only 70 kilometers. Some 55 kilometers of that is Samaria, with its mountains towering over Israel's major population center in the Tel Aviv region. Could you believe that the people who are firing rockets from Gaza into Sderot and Ashkelon would have the ability to do the same to Tel Aviv and Netanya? Rockets aimed at Israel's main airport in Lod would surely close the country to the outside world, and that is the goal of the Palestinian State - to isolate and close down Israel as a Jewish State.
Take a stand. Speak out for the land that you love. Visit Judea and Samaria and see for yourself.
