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Saturday, November 2, 2024 - 12:41 PM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

On October 7, 2023, the terrorist organization Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, savagely attacked thousands of innocent Israeli citizens. It has been called Israel's 9/11. But the reality is far worse. Israel is a small country of roughly 10 million people. In the first five days of the attack, 1,200 civilians were murdered. By comparison, the United States has 330 million people, and as Messianic Jewish author Joel C. Rosenberg said, an attack of "the same magnitude for America" would have involved Americans "waking up [to] news stories of about 30,000 Americans murdered in 5 days." What's more, since October 7, more than 14,500 rockets and mortar rounds have been fired into the tiny nation of Israel.

Adding to the level of shock, these were not soldiers who died in a military skirmish. These were civilians and included babies beheaded in front of their mothers and mothers being cut down in front of their children. The terrorists also raped and sexually assaulted women, young and old, and seized 253 innocent civilians as hostages. While some hostages have been released, over 100 remain in captivity. Those who have been released have testified to horrific conditions that include starvation and sexual assault. Many remaining hostages are believed to have died while in Hamas' hands.

For a few days after the heinous violence, the non-Muslim world seemed united in its condemnation of Hamas and support of Israel. Israel announced that it would eradicate Hamas, and its armed forces ("IDF") began a careful strategic assault on Hamas positions in Gaza. Since then, the IDF has been systematically rooting terrorists from their 500-mile-long network of tunnels and destroying countless weapons caches, many of which are inside or beneath hospitals and schools. Israel has made every effort to limit the deaths of non-combatants, and thus, its military campaign has taken longer than expected and remains ongoing.

The unified support of Israel quickly yielded to the shrill cries of progressives' anti-Semitic campaign. Crowds of college students, leftists, and American Muslims have accused Israel of "genocide" and called it an "occupier" while demanding genocide against the Jewish people with the jihadist chant, "From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free."

The liberal press, meanwhile, has predictably reported daily stories of Gazan deaths and suffering, playing willingly into the Hamas propaganda operation. Now, only five months after the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Joe Biden and other world leaders are lobbying for an immediate cease-fire and imposition of a "two-state solution," even though Hamas has not yet been eradicated and no safe or thoughtful plan exists for the creation of a Palestinian nation-state.

The truth is that a two-state solution is no solution at all and should be resoundingly rejected.

A "two-state solution" is no solution because radical Palestinians have no desire for peaceful co-existence with Israel. Muslim Palestinians hate Israel and passionately want to eliminate it. A poll released in December shows 57% of Gazans and 82% of West Bank Palestinians approve of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

To implement its so-called two-state solution, the Biden Administration is urging Israel to allow Mahmoud Abbas to lead a united Palestinian state. Abbas is the current president of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank. Biden's idea is a non-starter. Palestinians cannot stand Abbas.

Historically, Israel has made many attempts to broker peace with their enemies, but every time, the Muslim Palestinian leaders have refused whatever agreement is placed in front of them. One only needs to read the preamble to their charter to understand Hamas' true mission:

"Our battle with the Jews is long and dangerous, requiring all dedicated efforts. It is a phase which must be followed by succeeding phases, a battalion which must be supported by battalion after battalion of the divided Arab and Islamic world until the enemy is overcome, and the victory of Allah descends." —Hamas Charter, Preamble.

It is not Israel but the Palestinians who have refused to consider two nation-states in the Land. This refusal by Muslim leaders goes back to the founding of the modern state of Israel.

The land given to Israel under the Partition Resolution was roughly the size of New Jersey. And yet the land was given by God in Gen 15:18 and Jos. 1:4 includes all the land it currently possesses, all the territory occupied by the Palestinians (the West Bank and Gaza), and parts of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. Israel has made no attempt to take back all that truly belongs to them. Instead, they desired to dwell in the land of their ancestors, having a haven from the violent pogroms that had followed them since the Diaspora.

From 1993 through October 6, 2023, Muslim terrorists have killed more than 4,100 innocent Israeli civilians. This does not include Israeli soldiers and police, nor the more than 1,200 people who died on October 7.

Creating an independent Palestinian nation-state (on both sides of Israel) is, simply put, an insane idea. Such a state would be a sovereign terror base, protected by the privileges and immunities of international law, from which Muslim jihadi radicals would erect armies and inflict even more death on Israel.

There is now only one pathway to peace. First, Israel must conquer the terrorists on its borders, and the United States must stand up for Israel's fundamental right to do this. Second, Israel must be allowed to establish military, intelligence, and police operations in Gaza and the West Bank that are sufficient to impose and maintain law and order.

In short, the time has come to face the truth in the Holy Land. Israel is entitled to defend itself. We must support all necessary activity by Israel to secure its people. We would insist on nothing less if the United States were the victim of such attacks, and there is no reason why we should accept anything less for our ally, the free and democratic nation of Israel.