On reciprocity

Most people who only know about the Mid-East problems from what the media tell them have come to believe that the blame lies in the middle. That Arabs and Jews are (at best) equally responsible for all the trouble, the violence, the suffering and grief, or perhaps even that really Israel is to blame.

There was a time that it was not so. There was a time when, rationally at least, people were aware of history and how things came to be the way they are now.
No longer. Israel is perceived as the Goliath, the Palestinians as the underdog. Forget about the wars in ’48, ’67 and ’73, all started by combined Arab armies with the explicit intent to eradicate Israel. Israel is obviously strong and able to defend itself, and the Palestinians really are no threat, just a painful thorn in the side of the Jewish state.

Why doesn’t Israel kill all the Palestinians? Really? Don’t get me wrong, I am against such an idea, but who’s stopping them?
What if the roles were reversed? Is there even ONE person on this planet who seriously contends that – if they had the power – the Palestinians would not kill the Jews to the last man, woman and child? In all their Arab radio- and TV broadcasts, in all their newspapers, on all their websites they explicitly say so.
Israeli’s kill Palestinians, almost always in the course of counter terrorism. If Palestinians would cease their attacks, the Israeli’s would stop their incursions, strikes and demolitions. The reverse is not true, and never has been. Before Israel conquered Judea and Samaria in 1967 from Jordan, who had annexed it, there were terrorist attacks daily (but not one Arab - and this includes Arafat - claimed the land for the Palestinians!). The PLO was three years old already, obviously the occupation of “the West bank” could not have been the reason for its existence.

The simple fact of life is: Israeli’s are decent human beings, and are in fact a lot more moderate in their response to terrorism than the US or ANY European country is or would be in similar circumstances. The Arabs on the other hand are barbarians, led by despots, dictators and religious nutcases who have vowed to destroy Israel, don’t give a shit about the suffering of their own people in the process, and who only listen to force.

The real mystery is: Why is the West so anxious to forget this time and time again?