Israel and Gaza
by Monica McMillen
I see Israel as "the canary in the coal mine."
Mazel Tov to the Israelis for finally striking back at Hamas in Gaza. Every day since 2005 Israel has been hit by No way would we Americans put up with what Israel has patiently put up with.rockets coming in from Gaza targeting Israeli civilians. A total of 6,000 missiles have been shot into southern Israel since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 - sixty on Christmas Day alone.
Before this, from 2000-2005, Israel had to deal with continual homicide bombers blowing up buses, restaurants and malls. This is why the "Wall", or security barrier, was built. No way would we Americans put up with what Israel has patiently put up with over the years with Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Before the first attack, Israel dropped leaflets warning Palestinian civilians to stay inside, as they were targeting only Hamas enclaves. Israel has tried everything to reach calm without using force - including Prime Minister Ehud Barak promising Yasser Arafat everything but the kitchen sink to stop the attacks. What happened then? Arafat started the Intifada in 2000, right after the Camp David meeting with President Bill Clinton and Barak.
Recently, Israel agreed to a truce brokered by Egypt that was quickly violated by Hamas, which continued to target Israel, hold Gilad Shalit (kidnapped young IDF soldier), and build up its arms with help from Iran and Syria.
Israel continues to act to prevent a humanitarian crisis and has opened a border crossing for supplies to get in for civilians. Unfortunately, Hamas cynically abuses its own civilian population by placing rocket launchers in civilian areas and ensuring their suffering for propaganda purposes. At the same time, Egypt is shooting Palestinians trying to cross into Egypt. Some "brotherly love" there.
While confronting Hamas, Israel continues to believe in the two-state solution and remains committed to negotiations with the legitimate Palestinian Authority. I personally don't agree with this compromise, as it assures nothing but the "same old-same old" ability to attack Israel, but this is not my call to make as an American.
I see Israel as "the canary in the coal mine." Long ago, to test for gases in a mine, you would drop a canary in a cage into the mine. If it came up alive, it was safe for the miners to go in. If the canary was dead, you wouldn't send men in. By saying I see Israel as "the canary in the coal mine," I mean that America needs to watch what happens in Israel very closely; as Israel goes, America will go.
I believe there will be a day in America where we see bombers in our malls, attacks at large athletic events, etc. - Do whatever you must to survive as a Jewish nation - things Israel experiences on a daily basis. Will we be prepared? Unfortunately, I doubt it. We are a soft, indulged society, more concerned with being "politically correct" than being prepared.
Israel is a strong and wonderful country, but since 1967 she has seemed to allow the world to make decisions for her. I believe Israel needs to do what is best for Israel and ignore the willy-nilly politicians in other countries who think being "nice" to the Arabs guarantees peace.
Israel gets criticized no matter what she does; so jumping through hoops for the international community is not going to make them like you. Do whatever you must to survive as a Jewish nation. The world may still not like you, but hopefully they will respect your chutzpah and strength.
Monica "Posy" McMillen is president of the Fort Worth branch of Yad B' Yad (Hebrew for "Hand in Hand"), an organization of reconciliation between Christians and Jews which she founded in 1998. She is also head of a pro-Israel activist group called HaShomer ("The Guardian"), as well as representative of the Jewish Federation of Fort Worth and Tarrant County on the Texas Coalition for Holocaust Education. An evangelical Christian, Posy wrote and teaches a twenty-two week course entitled "Anti-Semitism and the Church". She received the 2002 Israel Freedom Award from Israel Bonds, the 2002 Four Chaplains' Award from Fort Worth Jewish War Veterans, and the American Eagle Award from B'nai B'rith for her work in Israel and the Fort Worth Jewish community.
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Israel continually fails to do whatever is necessary to survive and thrive, they continue same old, same old, knowing the lying peace process has done absolutely nothing for peace but everything for this war of attrition, dismantling Jewish pioneering communities on the Holy Land of Israel to become terrorist training ground for Nazi Muslims... Didn't Einstein say that to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity? Where Israel's rosh Yehuda? It appears they lost it when they rejected Kahane and embraced Arafat. So Israelis and "Palestinians" continue to be insane partners in this danse macabre.
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