Checkmate - Part Iby Ross C. LeiberAug 29, '04 / 12 Elul 5764...

Checkmate - Part I
by Ross C. Leiber
Aug 29, '04 / 12 Elul 5764

[This article is dedicated to all Jews killed, maimed, harmed, harassed and persecuted over the last 2,000 years.

It is appropriate reading for those who understand there are a number of ways through which Israel may be destroyed in the not-so-distant future, ranging from demographics to capitulation to total annihilation. It is targeted at those who have concluded that the existence of Israel as a Jewish State in the Jewish land is not accepted by the Arabs, and, therefore, come hell or high water, she must either disappear or surprise a foe or two by breaking away from existing paradigms.

The reader may consider playing Antonin Dvorak's Symphony #9, "From the New World", while going through the document.]

First Movement: Adagio - Allegro molto

Introduction

This essay presents how Israel can save herself and help the world. It provides the necessary rationale, followed by a decisive way out for Israel, without her using weapons of mass destruction. She protects her population, punishes the Arabs and teaches a lesson to the West for 2,000 years of anti-Semitism. Can it be done? The answer is yes, and the timing could not be more propitious. However, time is short.

On the other hand, if Israel forgets that Judaism is a religion based on reason, and continues to abide by Western dogma and miracle doctrines, she may be doomed. Miracles are neither easy to come by, nor are they cheap these days. Using reason also means understanding, accepting and acting upon the realization that it is not possible to reason with certain groups and individuals loaded with borrowed or self-developed hate and fanaticism. This applies even when such entities are supported by a major power.

The "peaceful" intentions of Iran were clearly detailed by its former President, Hashemi Rafsanjani, in 2002. He suggested that the purpose of Iranian nuclear weapons would be to erase the "Zionist appendix" from the map of the Middle East. He said: "If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in its possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate, because application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel, but the same thing would just [cause] damage in the Islamic world. The Islamic world could suffer any blow Israel would give and still survive, while one nuclear weapon would put an end to Israel." (my emphasis - RL)

Sorry, "Hashi Rafsi", the italicized sentence above is wrong. The Islamic world may not survive; for non-nuclear reasons you can not even imagine. It's up to Israel to show how.

The difference between terrorist organizations and established Arab States is only in the approach, as far as Israel is concerned. Their intention is the same. Existing Arab states are more dangerous to Israel. She can't wait until it is almost inevitable a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) will be launched and then retaliate. It is better to do something meaningful to deter the threat, to send a hard message now. Never has an opportunity been so favorable to Israel. The present situation of the world due to terrorism is a blessing in disguise. It is a chance not to be missed.

If the US fails in Iraq, the urgency of following through with this article's recommendations will increase even more. Those afraid of alienating the US should recognize that changing America's foreign policy would be all to the good. Expelling the settlers and creating a Palestinian state to please the US State Department is at worst suicidal, and at best a suicide attempt. No matter which party the US president belongs to, the policies of the State Department to encircle, shrink and jeopardize Israel's security never change. They must be changed against their wishes. The American people are very supportive of Israel. So is the US Congress, but, unfortunately, its resolutions on the matter are non-binding on the Administration. Furthermore, Israel does not have oil.

A good friend of Israel would have cautioned the prime minister against pursuing the flagrantly undemocratic policy of disengagement. This is how things are done in the Arab world, not in Israel. To my knowledge, no journalist has commented that the US, by nudging Ariel Sharon along this undemocratic path in the name of "democracy", has made a mockery of the Administration's proposals for democracy in the Arab world. Arab leaders must be watching and laughing all the way to the oil bank. Just as they were when "respect" for Israeli democracy was shown by the US, EU and UN during the Geneva Agreement "world tour" - another dagger in Israel's back by the world community.

Where is it written that Israel must be eternally on the defensive; particularly at present, after the last 11 years since Oslo? Where does it say that Israel can not turn the situation around?

It would be extremely dangerous for Israel to bide her time until the oil runs out in Arabia. Even if this were to happen tomorrow. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is but a small subset of the Arab-Israeli struggle. No Jew should, at this day and time, believe it is the other way around. No matter how many international politicians say so. The world would have easily solved a boundary dispute a very long time ago, in 1948, or even earlier.

History has shown through comparative examples how easy it would be from a logistic point of view to relocate most Arab Palestinians, end the carnage, and allow enough breathing room for the peoples of both religions who don't fancy living together at the best of times. But it can't be done as proposed by so many supporters of transfer. And it may be too late for that.

For the Arabs, the point of no return may have been reached. The patient - the Arabs - may be beyond psychological help. As the Arab civilization decays morally, politically and technologically, Israel will be more and more a tempting target. If it looks like the choice for Israel is either a quick and painful annihilation or a slow and painful destruction, then this essay offers a third option.

Following on the footsteps of Lavoisier's law of the conservation of mass - in nature nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, but everything is transformed - Israel will neither create nor destroy, but simply rebalance the worry of survival in a more equitable way.

Israel's Mistakes

The outright hostility towards Israel by most of the West, and the unrelenting Muslim desire to destroy the country and its inhabitants is known. The British seized over 75% of the land destined for the Jews in order to create a fictitious state across the Jordan River to "reward" the previous custodians of Muslim holy sites, the Hashemites, who were superceded when Saudi Arabia became an independent nation. Brand new Arab states were created at that time, monarchies instituted and while today they've all failed their citizens, Israel is still coping with the consequences. Unfortunately, Israel was the last state to receive land. In this domino game, it was the last piece remaining on the board to get whatever remained of the Promised Land. But Jews living on this tiny portion of less than half of what was left was not acceptable to the Arabs. They went to war.

Israel's greatest strategic errors were to allow the return of Yasser Arafat and tacitly recognize the Palestinians as a unique people different from their neighbors, the countries where most came from. This followed the mistake of not calling on Jordan and Egypt to put up some of their land for Palestinian Arab settlements. She had the opportunity. Oslo and the Road Map are markers on a downhill slope. Even if peace were achieved tomorrow with a Palestinian state in the whole of the 1967 borders, over a short time the demographic pressure would make it non-viable.

People are now being led to believe that the US gave two guarantees to Israel - which the State Department denies - and that the relationship between the countries will suffer if the prime minister doesn't fulfill his commitment to surrender Gaza and foster a Palestinian state. All Jews, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, are paying and will be paying for years to come, for the weaknesses of the last Israeli governments.

Stupidly, every new prime minister offers the Palestinians a basket of goodies filled with delicious concessions. Consequently, the Arabs have no reason to make peace and, in the process, create bigger problems for themselves.

Israel does not forcefully counter Arab propaganda and this is a mistake. The Arab nations and the Palestinians make unsupported claims while rewriting history to deny Israel's links to the land. Moreover, the government leaves open the subject of Jerusalem. Certainly, the holy part of the city will be taken away, with the full support and pressure from the international community. The remote past is a lot easier to deny than the Holocaust - and incredible as it may seem, there is a cadre of Holocaust deniers. The whole Arab world is on a war footing regarding these issues, including the right of the Jews to even live on the planet.

Of course, the Israeli system of democratic government - where their people do not have representatives directly accountable to the local citizens - is a national disgrace, and a danger to her existence.

A Word on PR

Consistency in policymaking has not been a strong Israeli asset lately. This is reflected in her PR, such as it is. What should Israel's message be? Ariel Sharon is committed to a Palestinian state. But if there isn't a Palestinian people - and there isn't - why recognize any rights for a state or homeland? Out of charity? In Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank? In Jordan? What about the Arab countries trying to destroy Israel by all means? What about international laws being misapplied? What about falsification of history? What is the message? If there is no firm government policy, how can there be a message? And what is the target audience?

The so-called PR battle for more world acceptance of Israel's motives and rights is not likely to produce the desired results. Most people don't care about the history of either ancient or modern Israel. Others are against her anyway, due to their governments' positions or due to anti-Semitism in their press.

The world doesn't want Israel to win the PR battle. The Arabs don't bring up ridiculous accusations like the Protocols, blood libel and Holocaust denial for any reason than that they work. The EU and the UN act as if they were all true. Therefore, they must be. That's what being an accursed people is all about. "Zionism is racism" is back again. For a large segment of the world, no Israel with all their Jews killed would be better than no Israel with the Jews exiled, because once again they would have to be put into ghettos, restricted and discriminated against.

Jews should fight this PR battle, as long as Israel does not lose the war. History will take care of the rest. It always does. After 9/11, US President George Bush called Islam a religion of peace, and he's apologized to the Arabs for the recent prisoner abuses. Israel must act, and then let him say that Judaism is a religion of peace. Or not. Remember, when the foreign policy of most Western countries is anti-Israel, there is just so much good PR can accomplish. People tend to believe their own. No PR has led to the US moving its embassy to Jerusalem. No PR is likely to stop the US from pressuring Israel to give up holy Jerusalem and the Temple Mount for peace as the last step on the Road Map. No PR will pressure the Palestinians to do so instead. No PR has made the Red Cross accept Israel's Magen David Adom as a partner, because the Red Crescent opposes it.

Arab Plans for Israel

Yasser Arafat and his crowd deserve some credit. They mislead everybody in terms of their intentions, strategies and tactics, but not about their ultimate goal of destroying Israel. Press them at the appropriate places and the truth comes out. With over twenty Muslim states in the neighborhood, they still ask questions like "Who has ever heard of a Jewish state?" Jewish history in the land is discarded, denied and destroyed. On the other hand, they were probably not wrong when replying negatively to Ehud Barak's offer. Indeed, who has ever heard of one people owning the Temple Mountain above ground, and another people owning the underground? They also openly admit all refugees must return. What else does Israel need to hear? The Arabs don't just destroy other people's holy sites and replace them with their own, they don't even admit the former have ever existed. And that applies to other peoples, as well.

Of course, with the so-far-unofficial Geneva Agreement, the previous issue is solved. The Palestinians get to keep the whole Temple Mount, lock, stock and barrel. Another step in the denial of history would be completed. Historical evidence? Archeological findings? Nothing seems to matter. If the Jewish Temple is not going to be rebuilt when Israel is in control of Jerusalem, then the Arabs states, the UN and all other terrorists have already won. Meanwhile, mosques are popping up and down the Temple Mount. Even Barak's nonsense offer must now be changed; at best, Israel can only own the sub-underground.

To those who believe the whole of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, the solution of the refugee problem must be in the hands of the Arab states and their allies around the world. They created the problem and they must solve it now, but not in Israel. More than one Palestinian leader has admitted that a Palestinian people doesn't exist and that once Israel is gone, the area will be reunited with Jordan.

If the Arab refugees are allowed to return, an independent Palestinian state in place of Israel would not last the month. After all the defeats they suffered in the wars against Israel, countries like Egypt and Syria will take by force what they rightly "deserve". Egypt will take over Gaza and the Negev, in order to have a link to the east. It will likely treat Palestinian Arabs as badly as it did until 1967. Syria would take the Golan and the whole of northern Israel. It might absorb Lebanon entirely in the process. Jordan, if allowed, would take its reward as well. Poor Palestinians again. There is no justice among thieves. No one should expect a UN resolution in favor of the Palestinians then.

Unfortunately, Muslim leaders realize Israel is weaker now, both internally and abroad, due to Muslim control of so many international institutions and even organizations they are not members of - the EU, for example. Concepts of right and wrong have no meaning in a world that manages to be both immoral and amoral. "Right" prevails because the winners of war declare they're right. Nazi race theories were wrong because Germany lost the war; otherwise they would be "right" - as the Arab press reminds us every day.

Israel wasn't created on the back of any existing country. Therefore, when one sees how the Arabs have denied her any rights of existence, even today, one is well advised not to engage in debate, but to accept it as fact, and act on this information. An American Congressman from New York, Jerrold Nadler, commenting on Palestinian suicide bombings, said that any country facing a similar situation would carpet bomb the enemy. He suggested that if it were happening to America, B-52 bombers would be used. Israel, however, has bigger fish to fry.

It is time to stop being sensitive about Arab honor. Honor is nobody's inherited privilege. People either have it or they don't. Collectively or individually. It is being used as a political slogan. If the Arab countries want to believe they won in 1973, that's fine. Let the Christian world kowtow to Arab honor. Israel had better not.

[Part 1 of 4]