Mark49:

Mr. Purrington:

Israel is more properly a Jewish State rather than a Democracy.

It is often forgotten that "terrorism" was an important component in the founding of Israel.

Irun and the Stern Gang in the 1940's used tactics similar to those used by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Among their more well know attacks are the bombing by Irgun of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on July 22, 1946 and the Deir Yassin massacre (conducted by both Irgun an the Stern Gang on April 9, 1948.

Thank you

Mr. Purrington

 

 

You have left out a few details, Mr. Purrington. Israel was a British protectorate at the time, and Arab bombings and acts of terror were commonplace. Irgun began as a group to defend Israeli settlements from Arab acts of terror. In fact, their policy was one of reprisals, not of initiating violence. When the British approved the MacDonald White Paper in 1939, which severely restricted Jewish immigration and prevented the sale of land to Jews, Irgun began attacking the British. Menachem Begin was a leader of Irgun, and they did commit terrorist acts, but they were a small minority of Jews, and their tactics did not have widespread approval among the Jews. To compare Irgun and Hamas severely distorts reality and history. They are not comparable. The Jews in Palestine did not want to kill the Arabs, they wanted a state of their own and were willing to buy the land. They were prevented, not only from buying land, but could not immigrate from the holocaust in Europe to Palestine. Millions of Jews were being slaughtered in Europe and were not allowed to flee the mass killings. Palestine was never a country, it was a name given to an area of land designated under British control after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, an area of land that had Jewish and Arab history going back to Biblical times. This is why Golda Meir said ":There is no such thing as a Palestinian people." The state of Israel was approved by the UN in response to the holocaust. It would never have gotten support if that had not happened. By the way, Israel's government is a parliamentary democracy and it allows freedom of religion.

Mark  

Mr. P. left out more than a few details.   It's worth noting that Ben Gurion ordered the army to destroy Begin's ship, the Altalena, which was carrying weapons for the Irgun.   This suggests how the early Jewish state struggled with and responded to terrorist elements from within.   Menachem Begin later made peace with Sadat -- two former terrorists turned peacemakers.

Unfortunately, neither Arafat nor his successors are made of the same stuff as Sadat and Begin.   They have all lacked the courage to make peace.   Peace would threaten their personal power, the sustenance of which requires oppression and brutality, restricting access to information and education, and above all, maintaining an enemy to take the blame for every misfortune and misery.