Israel’s “Fence” – The Continuation of a Dangerous Lie
By Dr. Jerome S. Kaufman
National Secretary of the ZOA

Confusion and conflict continue to reign supreme over the existence, extent, route and composition of the “Fence” that Israel is now constructing in an attempt at protecting itself against the lethal, painfully effective terrorist destruction and demoralization of its own people.

Why the confusion and conflict? The reason is quite simple – the Israelis themselves and their supporters around the world live in a state of self-induced misinformation and delusion as to the entire scenario. What is the fence for? Is it to protect Israeli citizens? Yes, but will it be effective? Has there ever been a fence of any great length effective against a marauding enemy or an enemy truly dedicated to circumventing or destroying that fence? Was the Maginot Line of the French effective against the invading German blitzkrieg of WW II? Was the Great Wall of China effective against hoards of Mongol invaders? Are the Rio Grande, the border patrol and their fences effective against migrants dedicated to entering the United States?

Does a fence make any military sense? If one has an enemy dedicated to his destruction, does one hide in the cellar like the Jews of the shtetels of Poland and Russia? Was that effective against the Cossacks pounding on the cellar door? Does one build a ghetto along a slender Mediterranean corridor packed with more Jews per square inch than any other place in the world, in order to isolate these Jews from their enemies? Yes, the Germans did that to the Jews of Warsaw and that ghetto wall was very effective. The only problem was that ghetto wall was effective in killing Jews rather than saving them.

And, what if one has the great advantage of overwhelming force and power? Does one follow the rules of engagement that cater to the weaknesses of one’s enemy? Does one create another Lebanese security zone within Israel itself? How effective was that? Does one allow his own power to be neutralized and allow one’s enemy to continue to wreck havoc upon his greater forces or does one use one’s overwhelming force to finally destroy the enemy and stop the killing?

Suppose your declared friends and allies discourage you from using this power. But what about these “friends and “allies? Did the Americans or Europeans use Marquis of Queensborough Rules in WWII destroying Cologne, leveling Berlin or dropping atomic bombs upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Do the Arabs use Marquis of Queensborough rules in their endless internecine warfare? Was that the format in Iraq vs. Iran or Iraq vs. Kuwait or Jordan vs. the Palestinian Arabs or Hafez Assad vs. his own citizens in Hama or Saddam Hussein vs. his own Kurds or his own Shiites in Iraq or his own sons-in-law for that matter?

In any case does Israel need an excuse or a dispensation from the rest of the world to protect its own citizens? What does the rabbi say? Is he going to repeat his sermon about tikkun olam when your wives, children and land are bleeding to death and another Holocaust of Jews, but this time in their own land, transpires before our very eyes?

But, in fact, that all begs the question. The real question always remains, whose land is it? Is 5764 years of Jewish history a lie? Because the rest of the world, besmirched in its centuries of anti-Semitism, continues to blame the Jews for every hangnail that surfaces and delights in accepting the gross lie of Arab pre-possession and Israeli “occupation” does that make it true? Should many Jews and many Israelis continue to be so uninformed as to buy into this gross lie? Does any knowledgeable person not know that the “settlements” are on Israeli land and it is the Arabs that are the ‘occupiers.” And does anyone really care if it is a lie or not?

What only matters in practice is the fact that Jesus was misinformed. The weak do not inherit the earth – at least not in our lifetime. Perhaps we should leave that possibility to the Messioch and Jesus Christ and anyone else involved in the First or Second Coming, depending upon one’s religious persuasion. Perhaps the Israelis should use their full power to protect their people right now. Forget creating another ghetto for Jews. Forget the ridiculous hypocrisy of a fence that is itself destructive and ineffective and instead continues to promote and delineate the lethal abomination of a “Palestinian State” invented for a previously non-existent “Palestinian People.”

Jerome S. Kaufman, Political Commentator
www.israel-commentary.org