Why I Stand For Israel

I stand with Israel because I believe in Israel’s progress in an era of Middle Eastern turmoil, because I support the democratic values upon which the foundation of Israel was paved and because I stand in solidarity with Israel’s struggle to resist the oppressive outside forces from Syria and other hostile countries. I hope the United States continues to uphold Israel’s cause and that we give this small country surrounded by aggression more room to breathe. The growing trend of anti-Israel sentiments amongst liberal Americans and sympathy for the radical Hamas regime endanger our connections with the only democracy in the Middle East. U.S. media misconstrues Israel’s important position in the global stage and, in doing so, fosters unnecessary tensions with one of our most faithful supporters and partners worldwide.

The Holocaust, the most devastating genocide in history, murdered six million Jews, about two-thirds of the Jewish population at that time. Hitting all the countries that came under Hitler’s grasp, the Holocaust left a deep imprint in European societies, and when its atrocities were revealed to the world, compassion and sympathy were generated for the the surviving European Jews. After the U.N. General Assembly established a Special Committee on Palestine in May 1947, Resolution 181 was passed by a vote of thirty-three to thirteen. The resolution recommended the termination of the British mandate and asked for the partition of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state.

Contrary to popular belief, the Jewish state does not desire Jewish theocracy, but rather the recognition of the Jewish people’s right to have a state of their own, in the spirit of self-determination. Challenging the legitimacy of Israel on democratic grounds assumes that Israel’s Jewish culture undermines or rejects the democratic principles upon which it was founded. The term “people” implies a mixture of individuals with similar linguistic, cultural and religious backgrounds. With that mind, one must recognize that the majority of Israel’s population is Jewish, and therefore the collective identity of the people is determined by Jewish culture and traditions. That stipulation, however, poses no threat to the minority groups of Israel, as the Jewish people’s rights to a sovereign state are compatible with the acknowledgment and inclusion of minority interests. In fact, the U.N. partition resolution in 1947 called for the importance of respecting religious autonomy and rights. The present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as the tensions between Jewish and Arab populations naturally subject the aforementioned mandate to criticism, but they do not invalidate the idea of a Jewish state.

With a noticeable rise in the efforts of many countries and terrorist organizations including Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas to delegitimize Israel’s status as a nation-state, the United States must support Israel’s political and legal validity. Failing to do so furthers the physical threat of Israel’s regional enemies and places the U.S. on their side. The U.S.-Israel relationship carries with it a plethora of mutual benefits including the development of security and strengthening of economic ties. Large Israeli companies look to the U.S. to spread their industries and spur growth in markets, and likewise the U.S. military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel provides vital resources to the country and helps to maintain peace in the region. Of course, the two countries still have a long way to go in their efforts to establish a solid, effective partnership, but I hope that we, the people of the U.S., do not give up in this humanitarian campaign, that we do not throw our hands up in the air and say that Middle Eastern peace is impossible. Because it is possible; if we can come together as nations for a common cause, great things will happen.