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Essays, Opinion, & Commentary |
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January 27, 2008 Gaza And The Pharaohs - Shut It Off And Keep It Off by Gerald A. Honigman
It appears that the Pharaohs accepted, for one reason or another, the settlement of the area along the coast between Egypt and Canaan by "the Sea Peoples," the Philistines--the Plishtim of the Hebrew Bible, non-Semitic immigrants from the Aegean Sea area around Crete whom the Jews called "the uncircumcised ones." Five cities in that coastal area, including Gaza, became their domain, for long a major headache for the Jews. David slew the warrior Goliath from another one of those cities, Gath; Samson had Philistine girlfriend problems; and so forth. The Hebrew Prophet Amos (9:7) proclaimed, "Are ye not as the children of the Ethiopians unto Me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD. Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor (Crete)…? " That last sentence above is especially interesting. If you really want to know the essence of Hebraic monotheism, read the Hebraic Prophets…such as the one above. So much for the Jews' "chosenness" as allegedly meaning that they have some sort of chip on their shoulder. The Prophets relayed to the world a vision of behavior and moral expectations revolutionary for its time and a model for much of the world today… "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy G_d ?," Micah 6:8. Okay…I'll end the sermon now, but pay close attention to that last quote above for what comes a bit later below. In modern times, Egypt's latter day Pharaohs seized Gaza from the Mandate of Palestine in an updated attempted conquest of the Jews in the war over the rebirth of Israel in 1948. For most of the previous four centuries, Gaza was part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire… not "Arab" land. And when Arabs did rule it for several centuries, they got it the same way Turks did--via imperial conquest after the Arab invasions of the 7th century C.E. From 1949-1967, Egypt ruled Gaza. Transjordan--itself created out of the lions' share of the original 1920 Mandate of Palestine--seized Judea and Samaria (renaming it, in partnership with British imperialism, the "West Bank") at the same time. Note that for almost two decades the two Arab states above had control over both Gaza and Judea and Samaria…and no one called for the creation of a second Arab state in Palestine. After Pharaoh Jamal 'Abd al-Nasir I threw out the UN Peace keeping force stationed in Sinai after the 1956 war, amassed over 100,00 troops on Israel's border, blockaded Israel at the Straits of Tiran (a casus belli), publicly stated he was launching a war for Israel's annihilation, etc. and so forth, Nasser's plans backfired big time. From 1967 onwards, Israel, as in Biblical days, once again gained control of that narrow Gazan coastal strip which served as the millennial Egyptian invasion route into the land of the Jews. The last bullets had barely stopped flying in the Six Day War when the Jews offered a virtual total withdrawal from territories occupied in that defensive war fought for Israel's very life. Few --if any--nations have ever been so generous with an enemy which rejects its very right to exist. Borders and possessions have changed constantly over wars…including America's. The Arabs' collective response to Israel's offer was "the 3 Nos Of Khartoum"--no peace, no negotiations, no recognition. So, Israel came back to Gaza, and a flourishing Jewish farm and industrial community emerged on this strategically important land. Israel's renewed presence, however, was a mixed blessing for the Jewish State. While it is true that, despite fluctuating numbers, Jews had lived in Gaza for millennia; that, since the days of the Pharaohs, Gaza had been used as an invasion route into Israel by those aiming to subjugate it; that Gaza had become a hotbed for terrorists aiming to destroy Israel; that Jewish communities set up in Gaza were not on Arab-owned land; etc. and so forth; it is also true that many Israelis were looking for a way out of Gaza if proper conditions presented themselves. Many of us had trepidations over Prime Minister Sharon's decision to cave into international pressure and withdraw from Gaza a few years' back. Under the right conditions--and they had to be right on the money--the withdrawal could make sense…Israel would have to spend less of its blood and capital to secure its virtual forward defensive outposts there; could concentrate defense on a shorter border farther distant from a huge, hostile population; and could give the Arabs a test at how they would govern themselves after a complete Israeli withdrawal. Furthermore, terror would henceforth have an official address for an official response. Well, after Israel's complete withdrawal making Gaza Judenrein, those who have eyes can see how the latter worked out. But many act like they're indeed missing those wonders of vision. Take the Associated Press for example… In a January 26th article penned by Karin Laub, the AP gave an alleged chronology of the recent chaos and breach along Gaza's border with Egypt. We'll consider that in a moment. Keep in mind that the Arabs of Gaza elected their Hamas leaders who openly call for Israel's destruction and who have constantly walked the walk not just talked the talk regarding the murder of both Jews and their nation…blown buses, restaurants, pizza parlors, teen night clubs, shopping malls, Passover Seders, and so forth--deliberately targeting the most innocent to spread terror. Pregnant women and Jewish children are often especially targeted by Arabs…not accidentally killed because they were used as human shields the way Arab kids sometimes are. Since, after Auschwitz, the American State Department (which fought against Israel's rebirth) can't openly ask Jews to virtually walk into the cattle cars and "the showers" yet again, it has tried real hard to allege a distinction between Hamas bad cops and Arafat and his Fatah successors' good cops. In reality, any objective investigation would soon reveal that such distinctions are a joke when it comes to the permanent acceptance of a Jewish neighbor. Fatah and its affiliates have at least as much blood on its hands as Hamas & Co. , and both Fatah and Hamas's charters still call for Israel's destruction. Back to the January 26th article…The AP gave this sequence of events regarding the current border crisis: …It started last week with what Israel says was the inadvertent killing of a son of (Hamas's) Gaza strongman Mahmoud Zahar…Hamas retaliated with rocket barrages on Israel…Israel struck back by sealing Gaza hermetically and cutting off fuel shipments. Several days later, Gaza militants blew down the border wall with Egypt… Now, reading the entire article, no where is it mentioned that, since Israel's total withdrawal over two years ago, thousands of rockets and mortars have been launched daily against Israeli towns--especially Sderot--causing millions of dollars in damage, death, injury, shock, and terror. Indeed, reading the article, it looks like Israel brought the crisis on itself. I mean, how dare the Jews go after those who repeatedly target them! Turn the other cheek, Jew! Sure, just like all of those Christian nations do when faced with their own enemies. As stated above, Israel's Gaza withdrawal had to be done correctly in order for it to work. No nation would put up with what Israel has put up with from Gaza. Israel has the ability to disintegrate it as America and the Brits did to Dresden, Hiroshima, and so forth. And make no mistake here, the aims of the Arabs for the Jews are no different today than when Muhammad Amin al-Husseini, the Mufti of Jerusalem, made his alliance with Hitler. What would an America, which dwarfs Israel to the point of making the latter virtually invisible, do if Texas border towns were subjected to daily terror and bombardment? Would it limit itself to having to just locate the exact folks firing the rockets, mortars, and such? Indeed, who has tried more than the Jews to indeed do just that…not that it makes any difference to the world's assorted practitioners of the double standard. Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy G_d… Amen, Micah! But justice must work both ways. In caving in to the demand for the creation of the Arabs' 22nd state, and second one in "Palestine" (who's demanding a state for over thirty million stateless Kurds?), Jews should not be expected to sacrifice themselves on the petroleum-greased altar of international hypocrisy for that additional new state to arise. Israel owes the Arabs of Gaza (or anywhere) nothing. It improved their education, health, and other living conditions immensely after 1967. Recall that Egypt held it from 1949 until then. What nation is expected to supply those who seek its destruction with fuel, food, electricity, and so forth? You've got to be kidding, right? But that's exactly what's expected of the Jew of the Nations. Like when, after it was attacked in 1973, Israel was pressured by America to release its stranglehold on the Egyptian Third Army. And just like America would have listened to someone demanding the same of us given similar circumstances…And does anyone want to be my comedy manager? The Arab world holds much of the world's wealth due to its black gold. Instead of paying out tens of thousands of dollars each to families whose relatives--shahids--blow themselves up along with their Jewish victims, the money needs to be spent helping their brethren on a more positive life path. As Jews received anything but help from Arabs in resurrecting and sustaining their sole, tiny state, it's beyond chutzpah that Arabs expect that Israel will continue to assist them in any way while they continue to launch death and destruction against Jews. Should be a no brainer… Making its controversial decision to withdraw, Israel must now cut itself off completely from Gaza and treat it as any other nation would if attacked from it. And it must ignore the outcries from those who fire bombed or nuked innocent German, Japanese, and other civilians when circumstances of war prevailed (not that the latter were any better in their own conduct). Make no mistake about this, Israel is constantly fighting a war for its very survival, and blunders it's forced into making for the sake of powerful "friends" today will come back to haunt and bite it no less than the Czechs were bitten after Chamberlain and the Allies forced the transfer of the Sudetenland to Hitler at Munich in the days before World War II. The Arabs must grow up and not expect the world to constantly pull their derrieres out of fires that they themselves start. Individuals and nations must be held accountable for their actions. Up until now, much of the world's continuing collective Jew or Jew of the Nations problem has helped Arabs to avoid this political maturity. So Israel gets the special Jew treatment and is forced to act against its own national interests and security as no other nation would be expected to do. It's up to Israel to have the backbone to resist this. Any hardship suffered by Arab civilians must henceforth be placed on the Arabs' own doorsteps. The pain and suffering of Israel's Sderot isn't going to be relieved by Saudi and other Arab oil despots…but the latter can help fellow rejectionist Arabs in Gaza. Let the former pour in the money to build infrastructure, power plants, and so forth. Let Egypt deal with its Gazan Arab brethren for food, medicine, and such…after all, it's already allowing the smuggling of huge quantities of armaments and explosives to kill Jews. Recall that Egypt has a "peace treaty" with Israel… Israel must proclaim publicly that each time it is attacked, it will cut off all of its contacts with Gaza for a given period of time. With each subsequent attack, besides exponential military retaliation, that period for fuel, electricity, medicine, and food cutoffs will be increased as well. Note that the Jews forced to withdraw from Gaza grew their own food and got whatever else they needed from fellow Jews. Israel must give Gaza's Arabs a set reasonable period of time to build their own infrastructure and such. After that time, all non-military contact with Gaza must cease until the day that Israel has a true partner for peace there…not one still aiming at its destruction. Gaza will thus openly know that the day is shortly coming that it must devote more of the billions of dollars coming in from Western sycophants of the oil spigot to development than to waging war against Jews. But, it is undoubtedly always easier to destroy than to build…an Arab specialty. Notice I use the word "must" above in terms of how Jews deal with their enemies. I do so because I do believe in the G_d-inspired words of Micah and my people's other Prophets. Others--like the Arabs themselves--would think nothing of leveling and eradicating such a murderous enemy as Gaza. Indeed, Arabs have done just that with Kurds, black Africans, Berbers, and others who merely sought a modicum of political and cultural rights. Indeed, Assad the Elder wiped out over 20,000 Arabs in a month for opposing his rule in Syria…his "Hama Solution." Finally, there is actually a hint that what I'm calling for may indeed be on the drawing board. Another AP article from January 25th stated that Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai caused a stir when he said that Israel sought to gradually relinquish responsibility for Gaza. As the American State Department and Defense Department are often at odds in terms of policy, let's hope that new Israeli elections will finally produce leadership with the backbone to follow through with these and other such important decisions. Gerald A. Honigman is a Florida educator who has done extensive doctoral studies in Middle Eastern Affairs. He has created and conducted counter-Arab propaganda programs for college youth, has lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has publicly debated many Arab spokesmen. His articles and op-eds have been published in dozens of newspapers, magazines, academic journals and websites all around the world. Visit his website at http://geraldahonigman.com/.
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Ever
since the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479-1425
B.C.E.), Gaza has been a major invasion route for
Egyptians into the land of Canaan/Israel. Shoshenk
I recorded the cities he crushed in Israel.
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