Stop Them with a Clear-Cut Victory Part I

I

by Moshe Sharon

1^st part of 5

"We shall fight on the seas and oceans we shall fight with growing confidence… we shall fight in the fields and in the streets…we shall fight in the hills…we shall never surrender."

Winston Churchill 4 June 1940

 

The failure in Lebanon

The year is 2007; it is the beginning of September. I am writing this for readers in the future so that they will be aware of period in which this document was composed.

This time one year ago, the northern half of the tiny state of Israel was under constant attack of missiles that fell not only on villages, and on towns, conveniently called "the periphery" on such occasions, but also on Haifa, the major port of Israel, the centre of its heavy industry, oil refineries, and vital chemical plants. Any normal country would have retaliated by laying waste the territory from which such indiscriminate attacks were aimed at civilians and civilian installations. Any normal country would have declared war immediately on the country from which these attacks came and would have given orders to its army to conquer that country or at least those parts of it that were used as bases for the missile attacks.

The government of Israel did not declare war. Paralyzed by fear of the word "occupation" it announced that it would not conquer the enemy's territory, and prevented the army from responding by attacking civilian settlements even when the Hizbullah used Lebanese civilians as human shields, and turned schools, mosques and hospitals into missile launching sites. Moreover, the government did not understand the importance for Israel of achieving a clear-cut, indisputable major victory in this war; it failed to perceive the unusual harm Israel would suffer in the long run, if the Hizbullah could claim victory as it actually did. It failed to understand that without conquering the territory used for the launching of the missiles and by not retaliating against vital civilian as well as military installations first in Syria and then in Lebanon, the war could not be won.

Extraordinarily grave damage was done. The enemies of Israel, comprising all of the Arab countries in the Middle East (including Egypt and Jordan) as well as the rest of the Islamic world, are now convinced that Israel is a temporary entity that can be defeated and destroyed, and that its Jewish population can be exterminated. This notion has already infiltrated the minds and convictions of many in the West, particularly those who belong to the Left, who believe that the establishment of the State of Israel was a mistake, both moral and political, and one way or another must be eliminated.

Peace in the Middle East – no such option

The Western world, in particular the United States and Israel, have not yet come to grips with the gravity of the global conflict, which is developing rapidly on a daily basis. This is a war that fanatic Islam, which now engulfs the whole Islamic world, has declared on the West. The eradication of Israel by force from what is regarded to be the heart of the Islamic world is regarded to be a much needed major triumph and a necessary step for the successful march to victory in the rest of the world. The naming of Israel as the "Small Satan" represents this idea: once the small abomination is eliminated, the big one will also be destructible.

The failure of Israel and the United States, as well as Europe, to see that the world is in a state of war is characterised by the seasonal birth of "peace initiatives." That Israel has convinced itself that "peace is an option," even "the only option," in spite of the fact that its enemies are actively engaged in preparing its destruction, is one of the astonishing phenomena of our times. The Arabs read the signs coming from Israel correctly, and act accordingly. On the one hand, they are arming themselves to the teeth and preparing for war and, on the other hand, they talk "peace" and occasionally release "peace plans," which aim at turning Israel into an indefensible narrow strip of land that can be conquered in a single attack.

Successive governments of Israel, and the Saudi-influenced American State Department, backed by deluded, uninformed and defeatist media, have convinced themselves and the public over the years that once the Arabs sign an agreement, whether it is called a "peace treaty" or any other "accord," they are bound to honour it. Meanwhile, they have always demanded that Israel pay for such pieces of paper with territory vital for its security. Time and again, the Arabs have proved that they will keep the parts of any agreement as long as it suits them, and for the length of time it suits them.

After the signing of the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, it is said that the late President, Sadat remarked "Poor Menahem (Begin), I gave him a piece of paper, and he gave me the whole of Sinai." How right the Egyptian president was! Of the "peace treaty" with Egypt not much more has remained than a "piece of paper" representing an extended armistice, much like the one which existed between 1956-67, 1968-1973, and 1973-1979.

Egypt leads the world in the publication and dissemination of anti-Semitism, and this is only one of the clear violations of the peace treaty with Israel. Even Jordan, whose sheer existence is dependent on Israel's protection, is not observing all the clauses of the more recent peace treaty that it signed, and its media spreads anti-Israeli venom.

Moshe Sharon

Professor Emeritus of Islamic History and Civilization.

 

Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.