Author’s Note:
I posted this column on Nov. 26, 2012. I am posting it again because the situation now is even worse than it was then. Large demonstrations in London, Paris, and elsewhere condemn Israel for its air and ground assault on the Gaza Strip.
The protestors – who maintained a stony silence while thousands of missiles rained down on Tel Aviv and even a suburb of Jerusalem – now cry bitter tears for the Palestinian casualties. But civilian casualties are inevitable in any war, especially when Hamas places missile launchers next to schools, hospitals, and apartment blocks. The blood of the civilian casualties is on the hands of Hamas, which started the current war with its incessant missile barrage.
The right to life necessarily includes the right to defend it. If I am attacked with deadly force, I have a right to respond with deadly force. If a man kicks in my door and comes at me with a knife, I can shoot him. I am not required to turn my back, run to the kitchen, and try to select a knife of exactly equal length. If I am lucky, the assailant will be dead and I will be unhurt. Would I deserve to be accused of making a “disproportionate” response to the attack? Must I allow the assailant to kill one of my family members before I shoot him, in order to make things more “proportionate”?

What the European protestors really mean when they complain about the “disproportionate” Israeli response is that there are too few dead Jews. You will excuse me if I do not share this opinion.

● ● ●
           
Israeli children hide in concrete pipe from Palestinian rockets

You want to understand the current violence in the Mideast? You want to grasp why there were multiple Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip, with many civilian casualties? Then consider this timeline:

Terrorist organization Hamas wins election in Gaza Strip by wide margin.
− News item, 2005

Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza Strip and forcibly remove all Jewish residents.
− News item, 2005

Palestinians destroy Gaza Strip greenhouses that produced vegetables for export. Americans contributed $14 million to buy greenhouses for Palestinians, and Israelis left them intact when they withdrew.
− News item, 2005

Hamas seizes government offices in Gaza Strip, shooting some political opponents and throwing others off tall buildings.
− News item, 2007

After Israeli withdrawal, Hamas launches over 1000 rockets and mortar shells at Israel, most at Sderot, a nearby town of 20,000 inhabitants. The response of the “world community” is to do nothing.
− News item, 2008

Israel launches series of air strikes against Hamas headquarters and rocket-launcher sites in Gaza Strip. Civilian casualties are inevitable because the sites are located in populated areas.
− News item, 2008

Muslim Brotherhood wins Egyptian election, and their candidate Morsi wins presidency. Among Brotherhood’s aims are establishing Sharia law and eradicating Israel. Morsi soon assumes dictatorial powers and refuses to talk to Israelis or even to say the word “Israel” – not a hopeful sign for peace talks.
– News item, 2012

Israeli air strike kills Hamas military (that is, terrorist) leader, but Israelis wait to hit his car until it is not near other vehicles.
– News item, 2012

Rain of rockets from Gaza increases, with over 1947 fired at Israel thus far in 2012. Rockets are longer-range than before, are suspected to come from Iran, and are aimed at Israeli population centers.
– News item, 2012

Gazans launch rockets hitting the outskirts of Tel Aviv and – for the first time – the outskirts of Jerusalem. Iron Dome missile defense proves effective but not infallible.
– News item, 2012

Israel retaliates with multiple air strikes and considers ground invasion.
– News item, 2012

Civilian casualties in Gaza mount, in part due to Palestinians placing rocket launchers in densely populated areas near schools, hospitals, and mosques.
– News item, 2012

Far Left and far Right blame Israel for inflicting more casualties on the Palestinians than Israel suffers. But this is due partly to where the Palestinians site their rocket launchers, and partly to the success of Iron Dome missile defense – but not to any restraint on the part of the Palestinians.
– News item, 2012

After Tel Aviv bus bombing that injures 27, Hamas prays for “black body bags,” while Palestinians (in both Gaza and West Bank) celebrate in streets and hand out candy to children.
– News item, 2012

They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.
− Hosea 8:7

Shortly after Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, newspapers published a photo of a Hamas member standing on a desk in a government office, wearing a ski mask, carrying a Koran in one hand and an AK-47 in the other. The man seemed unaware that desks in government offices are made to sit behind while governing, not to stand on while waving automatic weapons. Can the Palestinians find nothing better to do with their newfound independence than to kill one another, while lobbing almost daily rockets into Israel?
This sad situation raises a fundamental question: What determines the fate of nations?
It is obvious that the fate of individuals often is not determined by their merits. We see innocent children stricken by cancer, and good people killed by drunk drivers. We see obnoxious people living long, healthy lives. What happens to individuals, at least in this world, often has little to do with their virtues – or lack of virtues.
But the situation may be quite different when it comes to nations.
In 1933, the world was in the grip of a severe depression. Unemployment was widespread, hunger was common, and social and political unrest were pervasive. On January 30, Germany chose Adolf Hitler as chancellor. On March 4, only a month later, the United States inaugurated Franklin Roosevelt as president. Those choices proved fateful for both nations.
Hitler revived the German economy with a huge buildup of armaments. But he began murdering political opponents, and then precipitated the bloodiest war in history. At the war’s end in 1945, only 12 years after Hitler came to power, Germany was defeated and disgraced. Its cities were flattened, its industry was in ruins, and many millions of its people were dead. It took decades for Germany to regain its place among the nations, though even now it remains considerably reduced in size, power, and prestige.
Roosevelt, less successfully, tried to revive the American economy with social programs. But he overcame political opponents at the ballot box. Then he led the nation to victory over Nazi Germany and imperial Japan. At the war’s end in 1945, America was victorious, honored, and richer and more powerful than before.
Other factors were at work, including size, population, allies, and perhaps luck. Some might add Divine intervention. But the fact remains that by their choices of leaders, Germany and America determined their national fates.
Yes, there were anti-Nazi Germans, and there were pro-Nazi Americans. But there were not enough of them to matter. When Allied bombs caused firestorms in Dresden and Hamburg, the anti-Nazis were incinerated with the Nazis. A nation’s fate is determined by what the majority of the people allow the government to do. The minority, who oppose these policies, share that fate. This may not be fair, but it is reality.
And it is also true that Hamas runs social-welfare programs. So did the Nazis. Hamas gives money to the poor. So did John Gotti. Tyrants and crime bosses do some obvious good in order to gain popular approval, but this can never justify the vast amount of harm they do.
When Palestinians went to the polls, they chose Hamas by a wide margin. They showed the world that they endorse terrorists who openly call for the destruction of Israel, who sponsor suicide bombers, and who want all the Middle East, like Gaza, to be judenrein − “cleansed” of Jews.
The Palestinians chose a Nazi-like organization that espouses a Nazi-like program. Then why should anyone be surprised when that organization acts like Nazis? Why should anyone be surprised when that organization murders political opponents? Why should anyone be surprised when that organization takes over the schools and enforces its hateful program to indoctrinate the next generation? Why should anyone be surprised when all Jews are expelled and Christians are severely restricted? That’s what Nazis do.
The Germans at least had the excuse that nothing as awful as the Nazis had existed in modern times. They could fool themselves into believing that Hitler was exaggerating to get votes. They could delude themselves that there would be less violence after the Nazis took power. They could deceive themselves until it was too late, and the Nazis had achieved absolute power.
But what excuse do the Palestinians have? They saw what happened when a nation chose genocidal fanatics to lead it. They saw the horrible suffering that resulted, for the Germans themselves as well as for their victims. They saw German cities flattened and German people − both Nazis and anti-Nazis − killed by the millions. They had the lesson of history, yet they ignored it. If you elect Nazis, you should expect them to act like Nazis – and you should expect your nation to suffer the same fate as Nazis.
The Nazis bombed Rotterdam and Coventry, so they had no right to complain when the Allies bombed Hamburg and Dresden. The Nazis killed civilians, so they had no right to complain when their civilians were killed. The Nazis unleashed a genocidal war, so they had no right to complain when terrible destruction was visited on them. The Nazis caused children to hide in cellars, so they had no right to complain when their own children were forced to hide in cellars.
Those who celebrate bus bombings with candy have no right to complain about civilian casualties. Those who throw political opponents off roofs have no right to complain about lack of self-determination. Those who cause schoolchildren to cower in fear in concrete pipes have no right to complain about anything. Those who pray to God for body bags deserve to have their prayers answered. You may call this unfair. You may call it tragic. You may call it disproportionate. I call it reaping the whirlwind.

Israeli child is 16 months old; what land did he “steal”?

Contact: dstol@prodigy.net. You are welcome to publish or post these articles, provided that you cite the author and website.
www.stolinsky.com