How the Left Sees the World: Power, Race, and Class

Israel has been forced to undertake military action to protect itself numerous times, and has repeatedly succeeded. As a nation still in infancy in 1948, Israel was attacked by surrounding Arab nations. No other international power aided Israel; despite this, Israel was victorious.

On April 16, 1948, Palestinian leader Jamal Husseini told the U.N. that “the representative of the Jewish Agency told us yesterday that they were not the attackers, that the Arabs had begun the fighting. We did not deny this. We told the whole world that we were going to fight.”

The world’s perception of Israel’s military strength began to shift significantly after the 1967 Six Day War, in which Israel achieved a stunning military victory against aggressor states.

Israel survived another all-out attack in 1973, the Yom Kippur War.

Israel has waged multiple successful military campaigns since, all in response to attacks and imminent threats.

The first of two waves of terror, so-called intifadas, occurred in the late 1980s.

In the early 2000s, Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas refused to accept the Oslo agreement and started a second intifada against Israel.

Israel has faced repeated incursions from terror groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hamas has launched thousands of rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip — even after Israel completely withdrew from that territory in 2005.

Despite the wars and terrorism, Israel has sought peace with its neighbors. And it did achieve a peace treaty with Egypt on March 26, 1979.

Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan on October 26, 1994.

Israel and Israeli citizens have been targeted repeatedly by Palestinian terrorists. As Haaretz reports, one of the tactics used against Israelis a number of times over the decades has been plane hijacking: “The 1960s and 1970s saw a large number of hijackings carried out by Palestinian terrorist groups. El Al Israel Airlines quickly developed a reputation for its stringent airline safety.”

Palestinian terrorist group Black September infamously murdered eleven Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

In 2001, Palestinian Hamas terrorists murdered innocent Israelis in a horrific pizza parlor bombing. The Guardian reported at the time that the bombing was “eclipsed in more than 10 months of a Palestinian uprising only by the bombing of a Tel Aviv disco in June that killed 22 people.”

In Hadera, Israel in 2002, a Palestinian terrorist targeted an Israeli wedding, one of several terrorist attacks in the area. PBS reported at the time: “Army radio reports a Palestinian suicide bomber attempted to detonate explosive devices strapped to his body, but security guards stopped him before they went off. The attacker then threw hand grenades into the crowded wedding hall. He is included among the five dead.”

The Left ignores or downplays Palestinian terror, focusing instead on Israel's responses to terror.

Israel is a liberal democracy that extends full rights to all, including women, the LGBT community and Arab citizens. In its Declaration of Independence Israel pledges to protect the rights of all citizens regardless of race or religion.

Arabs, even leaders of Hamas, go to Israel for medical treatment and are not discriminated against.

A 2013 study by a U.S.-based freedom watchdog found that Israel was the only country in the Middle East that didn’t segregate and oppress its minority population.

Related reading: “No, Israel isn’t a country of privileged and powerful white Europeans” – Hen Mazzig, Los Angeles Times

Nearly one-fifth of Israel’s citizens are Muslim.

Muslims enjoy the same rights as Jewish citizens in Israel and occupy key positions in the nation’s courts, press and government.

Muslims have their own parties representing them in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

Israel is the only country in the region devoted to democracy.

Prisoners in Israel, be they Jewish or Arab, are well-treated. Israel has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world.

BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) advocates anti-Israel policies on college campuses, calling Israel an “apartheid” state.

BDS promotes boycotting Israeli products and companies.

Israel has been boycotted by academics such as scientist Stephen Hawking.

It has become commonplace for celebrities to denounce Israel.

Related reading: “Reclaiming Israel's History” – David Brog

Israel has repeatedly offered the Palestinians their own state, and every time, those efforts were rejected for one simple reason: the Palestinians have never accepted Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Palestinian leaders have rejected offers of statehood contingent upon promises of peace numerous times, including in 1938, 1948, 1993, 2001, and 2007.

In the peace talks of 2001 and 2007, Israel offered to give back to the Palestinians almost all of the territory Israel currently occupies in the West Bank. Both times, the Palestinians rejected their offers.

According to a report from The Heritage Foundation, Israel’s “overall regulatory framework promotes efficiency and entrepreneurial activity.”

Despite lacking the rich oil reserves that other Middle Eastern countries have, Israel has the most advanced economy in the region.

Israel’s thriving technology sector was built on the foundation of its defense industry’s advancements.

Israel is known as “start-up nation,” ranking just behind Silicon Valley.

Many key tech components were designed in Israel as well as many life-saving drugs and medical devices.