(no subject)
What evergreen lacks is a sense of history. When students on campus call Israel's actions despicable and hurtful, they say so without remembering how that country began.
The day Israel was founded, the surrounding nations attacked. Israel has been under siege ever since. Sometimes the attacks are carried out by organized militaries, but more often they are the result of loosely organized terror groups.
Israel has NO desire to kill Palestinians, but the government cannot sit idly by while acts of terror are committed. 3 buildings being destroyed in the United States caused our own country to begin a war thats lasted longer than both world wars put together. How can we, as Americans, condemn the actions of Israel?
When the Israeli government regulates what goes into the Palestinian Territories, it does so to protect. The Israeli Armed Forces want to ensure that groups that have called for the destruction of the nation-state have no way to make that vision a reality. Not only do these inspections help protect Israeli civilians from terrorist attacks, but they protect Palestinian civilians as well.
As the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq show us, retaliating against terror is difficult at best. When the military retaliates, terrorists often hide behind civilians. The death toll climbs ever higher. If we in the states had a way to deny the terrorists their weapons, would we do so? You can bet your behind we would.
Israel is doing just that: denying terrorists the supplies needed to create their weapons of terror.
What happened this weekend was unfortunate. When the aid flotilla entered Israeli waters, Israel asked that they dock in Ashod, an Israeli port, so that the aid material might be inspected. The government guaranteed that all the supplies would be delivered to the Palestinians. Whether or not the supplies were entirely legitimate is besides the point. When the flotilla decided to bypass the inspection, the Israeli military had to take action. A government has an obligation to defend it's people. If the shipment was truly humanitarian aid, why would the flotilla elect to avoid the checkpoint?
Although the resulting deaths are unfortunate, this weekend's incident must be viewed in the context of Israel's ongoing struggle for the safety of its citizenry.
The day Israel was founded, the surrounding nations attacked. Israel has been under siege ever since. Sometimes the attacks are carried out by organized militaries, but more often they are the result of loosely organized terror groups.
Israel has NO desire to kill Palestinians, but the government cannot sit idly by while acts of terror are committed. 3 buildings being destroyed in the United States caused our own country to begin a war thats lasted longer than both world wars put together. How can we, as Americans, condemn the actions of Israel?
When the Israeli government regulates what goes into the Palestinian Territories, it does so to protect. The Israeli Armed Forces want to ensure that groups that have called for the destruction of the nation-state have no way to make that vision a reality. Not only do these inspections help protect Israeli civilians from terrorist attacks, but they protect Palestinian civilians as well.
As the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq show us, retaliating against terror is difficult at best. When the military retaliates, terrorists often hide behind civilians. The death toll climbs ever higher. If we in the states had a way to deny the terrorists their weapons, would we do so? You can bet your behind we would.
Israel is doing just that: denying terrorists the supplies needed to create their weapons of terror.
What happened this weekend was unfortunate. When the aid flotilla entered Israeli waters, Israel asked that they dock in Ashod, an Israeli port, so that the aid material might be inspected. The government guaranteed that all the supplies would be delivered to the Palestinians. Whether or not the supplies were entirely legitimate is besides the point. When the flotilla decided to bypass the inspection, the Israeli military had to take action. A government has an obligation to defend it's people. If the shipment was truly humanitarian aid, why would the flotilla elect to avoid the checkpoint?
Although the resulting deaths are unfortunate, this weekend's incident must be viewed in the context of Israel's ongoing struggle for the safety of its citizenry.